Russell County building department

Russell County Building Inspection handles permits and inspections for unincorporated Russell County. According to the county, the office reviews residential and commercial plans for new construction and alterations, enforces business licensing for general contractors, issues certificates of occupancy, and issues permits for:

• building
• electrical
• plumbing and gas fitting
• HVAC/mechanical
• swimming pools
• demolition
• signs
• moving a house or mobile home

Brian Tice is listed as Chief Building Inspector.

Office hours are on Eastern Time

The county publishes its hours in Eastern Time: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET, closed for lunch from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. ET. Most of Alabama runs on Central Time, so callers from outside the Phenix City area should allow for the one-hour difference. The Planning Commission also schedules its meetings in Eastern Time.

How to apply

There is no online permit portal. The county posts a fillable Russell County Building Permit Application (PDF) on its Building Inspection page. You fill it in, sign it, and email it to [email protected].

The application asks for:

Section	What you provide
Location	Building address, plus a legal description (lot, block, and subdivision, or metes and bounds if there is no recorded map)
Class of work	New construction, addition, alteration, or repair; framing material; building dimensions; total and heated square footage; number of stories, baths, and rooms; heating type; cost of the work or value of the new structure
Occupancy	One-family, multifamily (number of units), commercial, or other; lot dimensions; detached garages, accessory buildings, and any existing buildings on the lot
Plans drawn by	Architect or designer, with their State of Alabama registration number
How constructed	“By day labor” (name the person in charge of the job) or “by contractor” (name and State of Alabama registration number)

By signing, the applicant also certifies three things:

• The lot and floor elevations are high enough to protect against storm drainage and flash flooding.
• Sewage will flow by gravity into the sanitary sewer system.
• The builder will repair, to the county’s satisfaction, any damage their crews or suppliers cause to adjacent public improvements or utilities.

Have your drainage and sewer or septic plan settled before you sign.

Subdivisions, RV parks, cottage developments, and mobile home parks

The Russell County Planning Commission was created under Alabama Code §45-57-260 et seq. It advises the County Commission on subdivision development and subdivision regulations. It meets at 4:00 p.m. ET on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month in the Commission conference room on the 2nd floor of the courthouse, 1000 Broad Street, Phenix City. Meetings may be cancelled if there are no agenda items.

The county’s Group Development Regulations, effective November 21, 2025, cover RV parks, cottage developments, and mobile home parks.

Fees:

Fee	Amount
Preliminary plat review (subdivision)	$125
Permit to develop	$25
Final plat review (subdivision and group development)	$200
Lot fee	$12 per lot, site, or unit, paid at final plat
Road fee	$0.60 per linear foot of roadway built and inspected, paid at final plat

Points that affect building and electrical permits:

• Mobile home parks need at least 3 homes on a site of at least 5 acres. The initial application and preliminary plat go to the County Engineer, then to the Planning Commission. The park must be completed within 12 months of approval or the application expires.
• Mobile home inspection. A mobile home entering a park must be inspected by the County Building Inspector or Code Enforcement Officer. If it fails, no permanent power permit is issued. The owner can request a 90-day temporary power permit to bring the home up to code. If it still fails after 90 days, it must be removed. Tie-downs and foundations must meet Alabama state code, and skirting is required.
• Unfinished streets. If streets in a mobile home park, RV park, or cottage development are not completed within two years of approval, the County Engineer will tell Building Inspections to stop releasing building and electrical permits for units in that development until the streets are done.
• Cottage developments are rental-only. They need at least 1 acre and at least two cottages, and each cottage is capped at 1,250 sq ft of floor area.
• RV parks need at least 1 acre on a single lot of record. Structural additions to an RV are not allowed except for medically necessary or accessible access, and those additions still require building permits.
• Sewage and septic. Sewage systems for these developments must be approved by the Alabama Department of Public Health or the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

State licensing for residential builders

The Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board requires a home builders license for residential work costing more than $10,000. Unlimited and limited licenses are available; an unlimited license is required if the work involves more than one trade or affects structural integrity. Residential roofing over $2,500 requires a roofers license and a $10,000 bond. Working without a required license is a Class A misdemeanor.

The Board asks building officials to deny permits to unlicensed builders. It runs a Builder Watch hotline at (800) 304-0853 for reporting unlicensed work.

Other county offices

The Russell County Commission office (2nd floor, 1000 Broad Street, Phenix City; 334-298-6426) is the Planning Commission’s contact for subdivision filings. Under the group development regulations, road compaction is inspected by the Russell County Engineering Department, which needs at least 24 hours’ notice. Trash service for new developments is set up through the Russell County Sanitation Department.