Fairbanks building department

The City of Fairbanks Building Department reviews plans, issues permits, and inspects all residential and commercial construction inside Fairbanks city limits. It also adopts and amends the city’s construction codes and handles substandard-housing and dangerous-building complaints. Property outside the city but inside the Fairbanks North Star Borough is not under this department, even with a Fairbanks mailing address. Every city building permit also needs a zoning permit from the Fairbanks North Star Borough Community Planning Department, because the borough, not the city, handles zoning.

Do you need a permit?

New or changed uses and almost any construction or alteration need a permit, including work you can’t see from outside. The city’s published exemptions (City of Fairbanks Administrative Code Section 301) include:

Exempt from a building permit	Limit
One-story detached shed, playhouse, or similar	Up to 200 sq ft
Fences	Listed without a height limit
Retaining walls	Up to 4 ft from bottom of footing to top of wall, with no surcharge
Platforms, walks, driveways	Up to 30 in above grade and not over a basement or story
Above-ground prefabricated pool at a house	Up to 5,000 gallons
Water tanks on grade	Up to 5,000 gallons, height-to-width ratio up to 2:1
Window awnings on houses and garages	Projecting up to 54 in
Painting, papering, similar finish work; storage racks up to 6 ft	No limit
Ordinary maintenance of a single-family or duplex	No structural, egress, piping, wiring, or mechanical changes

Exempt work may still need separate plumbing, electrical, or mechanical permits. Replacing a boiler, furnace, condensing unit, or HRV does need a mechanical permit.

How to apply

1. Simple projects that don’t need plans: download and complete the application, then call (907) 459-6720.
2. Projects with plans: complete and sign every numbered space of the Building Permit Application. Attach two sets of complete plans following the Residential Plan Submittal Checklist; commercial projects also need a PDF of the plans. Include the FNSB zoning permit and identify which energy-compliance method you chose. Applications can be emailed to the department’s administrative assistant (address on the Permit Applications page).
3. Plan review for a complete set takes about 6–10 working days. Corrections come back in writing, and major problems may mean returned plans or a meeting.
4. Issuance: when the permit is ready, the reviewer meets with you to go over corrections. You pay the fees then and get one corrected plan set and handouts back.

Plumbing, electrical, mechanical, sign, and street-digging work each need separate permits, usually pulled by subcontractors. All natural gas piping needs a mechanical permit plus a gas piping schematic showing pipe type, lengths, and sizes, the BTU demand of each appliance, and the service gas pressure. A permit is void if work doesn’t begin within 180 days or stops for 180 days without an inspection (Administrative Code 303.4). The city also offers occupancy and landscaping bonds, and a Homeowner Packet.

Licensing notes from the city FAQ

• A City of Fairbanks Master Plumber license is needed only for work under the Plumbing Code. Boilers fall under the mechanical and fuel gas codes, so replacing one does not require a master plumber.
• Where the State of Alaska requires a Mechanical Administrator (boilers in commercial buildings or buildings with more than two units), the mechanical permit must be issued to that administrator. For a single-family home or duplex not for sale at the time, the permit can go to whoever does the work.

Fees

Building permit fees follow Table 3-A, based on the total value of all work, including finishes, roofing, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical (fee schedule effective April 17, 2021, Ordinance 6162).

Valuation	Building permit fee
$1–$500	$17
$501–$2,000	$17 for the first $500 + $2.25 per additional $100
$2,001–$25,000	$50 for the first $2,000 + $10 per additional $1,000
$25,001–$50,000	$280 for the first $25,000 + $7 per additional $1,000
$50,001–$100,000	$455 for the first $50,000 + $5 per additional $1,000
$100,001–$300,000	$705 for the first $100,000 + $4.50 per additional $1,000
$300,001–$500,000	$1,605 for the first $300,000 + $7 per additional $1,000
Over $500,000	$3,005 for the first $500,000 + $4.60 per additional $1,000

Plan check adds 75% of the building permit fee. When new construction includes fire suppression and alarms, a fire review fee of 20% of the permit and plan check total applies; without them it’s 15%. Other fees: $35 permit issuance, $85/hour re-inspections and extra plan review, $750 penalty for work without a permit, $340 change of occupancy without alteration, $360 pre-purchase code inspection, and $170 landscape plan review. Card payments carry a convenience fee of up to 3.6% ($2.50 minimum).

Adopted codes and local rules

The city has adopted the 2018 IBC, IRC, IMC, IEBC, IFC, IFGC, and International Energy Conservation Code, the 2018 Uniform Plumbing Code, and the 2020 National Electrical Code, each with local amendments. Ordinance 6152, adopting the 2018 IBC, passed April 12, 2021. Local practice from the city FAQ:

• Footings must be at least 42 inches below finished grade unless a stamped engineered design is submitted. A typical residential footing is at least 8 in deep and 16 in wide with two #4 bars.
• 20 ft of #4 bare copper must be tied into footing rebar as a grounding electrode, including on additions.
• Thickened-edge slab foundations need a stamped engineered design.
• Stamped truss sheets must be on site for the framing inspection. A local amendment requires hurricane ties such as a Simpson H1 rather than twist straps.

Inspections

Call the inspection scheduling line at (907) 459-6723 at least 24 hours ahead, not the inspector directly. Give the site address, the work to be inspected, and the permit number. The person or contractor doing the work arranges the inspection. After-hours inspections cost $85/hour with a two-hour ($170) minimum, paid in advance.

Required inspections, in order: soils, footings (setbacks verified), foundation wall, dampproofing, underground electrical and plumbing, concrete slab, electrical service, rough plumbing, electrical, and mechanical, sheathing, rough framing, firestopping, insulation and vapor retarder, gypsum board, and final. A final inspection and a certificate of occupancy or completion are required before the building is occupied.