Olathe building department

The City of Olathe Building Codes Division, part of Community Development, handles plan review, building permits, inspections and code enforcement for property inside Olathe city limits. The office is on the second floor of Olathe City Hall and is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. Johnson County has other cities and unincorporated areas with their own rules, so confirm the parcel is inside Olathe before you apply.

What needs a permit

New homes, new businesses, decks, swimming pools, furnaces and water heaters all need permits. Olathe amends the building code’s exemption list in Municipal Code 15.02.140. These items do not need a building permit:

Project	Exempt when
Shed, playhouse or similar	One story, detached, and 200 sq ft or less
Fence	7 ft tall or less
Retaining wall	4 ft or less from bottom of footing to top of wall, with no surcharge
Deck	200 sq ft or less, no more than 30 in. above grade at any point, not attached to the house, and not serving the required exit door
Re-roofing	Exempt
Sidewalk or driveway	No more than 30 in. above grade, not over a basement, and not part of an accessible route
Above-ground pool	Prefabricated, under 24 in. deep and 5,000 gallons or less
Finish work	Painting, papering, tile, carpet, cabinets and countertops
Play equipment	Swings and similar equipment at a one- or two-family home

Sidewalk and driveway work in the public right-of-way still needs a right-of-way permit. Minor electrical, gas, mechanical and plumbing repairs are also exempt. Examples include replacing lamps, portable appliances, and clearing stoppages. Replacing defective concealed drain, waste or water pipe counts as new work and needs a permit. For emergency equipment repairs, apply by the next business day.

How to apply

All applications go through the city’s Customer Self-Service (CSS) portal, which runs on Tyler EnerGov. It accepts submittals 24 hours a day. You need an account tied to a unique email address. Accounts without an email are not processed. The portal saves your form data between sessions, but it does not save attachments until you submit. Upload every required document at the time of application. Plan review starts only after the application is accepted.

You can request a pre-permit application meeting, in person or online, by emailing [email protected].

Common submittal items

Construction documents must be sealed by a Kansas-licensed design professional, with some exceptions for residential work. What you need depends on the permit type:

• New commercial building: sealed documents, engineering calculations, geotechnical report, statement of special inspections, specifications, accessibility plan, civil plan and site plan.
• Single-family home, duplex or townhome: construction documents, engineering calculations, a sealed plot plan and a building permit authorization letter.
• Residential remodel, addition, deck or shed: a scope of work. Sealed documents are typically optional. A homeowner acting as their own general contractor files the Homeowner Affidavit.
• Demolition: utility disconnect letters. A KDHE hazardous material analysis may also be required.
• Energy compliance: for the prescriptive path, put the information on the plans. For the ERI/HERS path, submit a pre-HERS report. Commercial projects submit a COMcheck (or equal) compliance plan.

Plan review times

Review type	Typical turnaround
Commercial	15 business days
Residential	5 business days
Express (small residential, Building Codes review only)	1 business day, no extra charge

Larger projects may also go to Planning, Engineering, Stormwater, Utilities, Fire and Traffic. Some items can be submitted after the permit is issued as deferred submittals, including truss packages, joist layouts, Type I hoods and fire suppression or alarm plans.

Permit life

An application is considered abandoned 180 days after submission unless it has been pursued in good faith. An issued permit expires if work does not start within 180 days, or if work is suspended or abandoned for 180 days. Scheduling inspections as work progresses keeps a permit active.

Contractors and homeowners

Before a permit is issued, every contractor must be licensed and active with Johnson County Contractor Licensing, and individual names must be listed as permittees. One exception is in Municipal Code 15.02.130: an owner may act as the general contractor on a single-family home they occupy as their primary residence. Landlords, house flippers and real estate investors must hire licensed contractors for the work.

Fees

Fees come from the city’s 2026 Comprehensive List of Fees. Invoices appear in the portal as the application moves forward, and they must be paid in order. Selected building fees:

Item	2026 fee
New home or residential addition (single-family, duplex, townhome)	$0.48/sq ft, $40 minimum
Residential remodel, alteration or repair	Greater of 0.5% of valuation or $0.22/sq ft, $40 minimum
Residential plan review	15% of building permit fee, $40 minimum
Commercial plan review	30% of building permit fee, $200 minimum
Residential mechanical, electrical or plumbing permit	$50 for the first $10,000 of cost, plus 0.5% above that
Residential pool	$0.29/sq ft, $40 minimum
Demolition	$100
Re-inspection	$100
Inspection outside business hours	$100/hour, 2-hour minimum
Temporary CO, residential (initial / renewal)	$100 / $200 per dwelling
Work started without a permit	Double the permit fee
Renewing an expired permit	Half the original building permit fee

Adopted codes

Olathe adopted these codes effective September 1, 2019:

• 2018 International Building, Residential, Existing Building, Plumbing, Mechanical, Fuel Gas, Energy Conservation, Swimming Pool and Spa, Property Maintenance and Fire Codes
• 2017 National Electrical Code

The city adopted a revision to its 2018 IRC on June 23, 2026 (Ordinance 26-31). The adopted ICC code books are available to read at the Olathe Downtown Library, 260 E. Santa Fe Street, 4th floor.

Inspections

Schedule inspections in the CSS portal. Any contractor or owner who needs to schedule one needs their own account. The required inspections appear in order, and inspectors are typically available the next business day. You can request a preferred time block. On inspection day, the portal shows your inspector’s name and mobile number so you can text about timing. Cancel in the portal before the day of the inspection.

Residential checkpoints include footing, foundation, piers, under-slab trades, garage and basement slabs, sewer and water service lines, rough-in, structural sheathing, and energy (a HERS certification or a city insulation inspection). Before the footing inspection, see the city’s Footing Elevation Certificate requirement. Before your first rough-in, review the Residential Rough-In Priority List. Third-party inspections are accepted only with city approval.

You may be charged the $100 re-inspection fee if:

• the work isn’t ready
• earlier corrections aren’t made
• the address or permit isn’t posted
• the site is locked
• work continued past an inspection without approval

Certificates of occupancy

A Certificate of Occupancy is issued when an occupiable project is 100% complete and every approving department has passed its final inspection. It carries no extra fee. Some projects receive a Certificate of Completion instead. If life-safety items are done but work like painting or landscaping remains, you can request a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy for a fee. Extensions are available for a fee, and each one is valid for 30 days.