Important
It is important to keep in mind the following when you are assessing whether the proposed work requires a building permit:
- Work exempt from a building permit is not necessarily exempt from a mechanical, electrical or plumbing permit. Review the other dropdowns on this webpage for more information about those types of permits.
- Local land-use (planning/zoning) laws must always be considered FIRST. The building code tells you how to construct something while the local laws will tell you if you can construct something.
- Always start the discussion early with the local land-use authorities. There may be other local requirements that must be met prior to consideration of building.
- Work not meeting all parameters specified by a particular building permit exemption will require a local building permit.
Permits required
A building permit is required to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, or move a residential building or structure. Structural improvements and repairs requiring a local building permit include but are not limited to:
- Adding a room.
- Building or moving a carport, garage or shed of more than 200 square feet.
- Adding, moving, or removing walls.
- Finishing an attic, garage, or basement to make additional living space.
- Cutting a new window or door opening or changing the dimensions of existing openings.
- Applying roofing when all of the old roofing is removed, and all new roof sheathing is installed.
- Building, installing or altering:
- A stairway to the primary door or to porches and decks more than 30 inches above grade.
- A deck more than 30 inches above grade.
- A fence serving as a barrier around swimming pool, hot tub, or spas.
- Building a retaining wall higher than 4 feet (all retaining walls that support a structure or driveway require permits).
Permits not required
The following residential improvements do not require a building permit:
- Building an accessory structure, such as a shed or garage, that is nonhabitable, detached, one-story, less than 200 square feet or less than 15 feet measured from the floor to the average height of the roof.
- Building a patio, porch or deck cover not more than 200 square feet in area or 12 feet in average roof height, and not closer than three feet to any property line.
- Building a porch or deck where the floor or deck is not more than 30 inches above the adjacent grade at any point.
- Installing a fence made of wood, wire mesh, or chain link less than seven feet in height.
- Creating a private concrete sidewalk, slab, or driveway not more than 30 inches above adjacent grade and not over any basement or story below.
- Applying paint, paper, tile or other similar finish work on walls, floors, and ceiling, as well as carpet, cabinets, countertops or similar finish work.
- Installing a prefabricated swimming pool where the pool walls are entirely above the adjacent grade. Barriers around prefab-pools are not exempt from building permits.
- Installing window awnings supported by an exterior wall that do not project more than 54 inches from the exterior wall and do not require additional support.
- Erecting interior walls that are nonbearing, except when creating habitable rooms that are used for living, sleeping, eating, or cooking, or when creating new toilet rooms or bathrooms.
- Repairing or replacing siding not required to be fire resistant.
- Retrofitting or installing insulation.
- Repairing masonry.
- Installing gutters and downspouts.
- Replacing doors and windows with no structural changes.
- Replacing roofing where the weight of the replacement or repair does not exceed 30 percent of the roof's required live load design capacity and is not required to be fire resistant.
- Building or replacing membrane-covered frame structures, that are nonhabitable accessory buildings not more than 500 square feet in area, one story in height and not closer than three feet to the property line.
- Repairs using like materials or materials meeting new construction requirements that do not include any of the following:
- Cutting away of any wall.
- Removing or cutting of any structural beam or load-bearing support.
- Removing or cutting of any required means of egress/exiting.
- Rearranging any parts of a structure affecting the egress/exiting requirements.
Please contact the Planning Division if you are in doubt of whether or not a particular home alteration or repair needs a permit.