Jurisdiction helper
Work out which office has jurisdiction over your property before you prepare anything.
What this tool does and does not do. It reasons over general US building-code practice and routes you to your own jurisdiction's official page. It does not know your local exemption thresholds, fee amounts or review times, and it does not invent them. The office with jurisdiction is the only authority on those.
Why your mailing address does not answer this
Postal routes and municipal boundaries are drawn by different organisations for different reasons, and they frequently disagree. A property with a city mailing address can sit in unincorporated county territory, and it happens constantly on the edges of growing cities. Applying to the wrong office is the most expensive routine mistake in permitting, because you do not find out until intake rejects the package.
The definitive check
Look the property up in the county parcel or GIS viewer by address or parcel number. The record names the jurisdiction. Nearly every county publishes one and it is authoritative in a way no quick indicator is.
The agencies that are easy to forget
Even with the right building department identified, others may hold part of the review, each on its own timeline: the health department for septic and wells, public works or the state DOT for driveway access and work in the right of way, the fire district — often a separate special district from both city and county — for access, hydrants and sprinklers, and state agencies for elevators, boilers, floodplain and coastal work.
A homeowners association is not one of them
An HOA cannot issue a permit and its approval is not a substitute for one. It can, however, independently prevent work that the jurisdiction would happily permit. Both approvals are needed where both apply.
Our jurisdiction guide covers the states where this is hardest.