Bowling Green building department

The City of Bowling Green Building Division, part of Neighborhood and Community Services, issues building and electrical permits, reviews plans, and inspects construction inside the city limits. The office at 707 E. Main Avenue is open 8 a.m.–4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Property in unincorporated Warren County goes to the Warren County building official instead. The city and county publish a joint Permitting Resource Guide that lists the contacts for each.

What needs a permit

A building permit is required to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, or demolish a structure or the equipment in it, or to change a building’s use. Alterations that change a building’s structural form need a permit. That includes removing walls, building new walls, covering an existing exit or doorway, or adding window openings. Adding electricity to a shed, storage unit, or garage needs an electrical permit.

The city’s homeowner page says a building permit may not be needed for replacing shingles, countertops, or cabinets; painting; storm windows or panes that don’t alter the structure; excavation or paving under 350 sq ft; and other minor repairs. That work still has to respect setbacks, easements, rights-of-way, and zoning.

Common project rules

Project	City rule
Fence 7 ft or less	No-fee permit with a drawing
Fence over 7 ft	Regular fence permit plus drawings
Fence used as a pool barrier	Regular fence permit, at any height
Residential accessory structure 200 sq ft or less	No-fee permit
Commercial accessory structure 120 sq ft or less	No-fee permit
In-ground pool, or pool addition or alteration	Pool permit plus an erosion control (EPSC) plan; a deck or pool house needs its own building permit
Clearing more than 350 sq ft of land	Site work permit with grade, slope, and elevation plans; over 1 acre adds stormwater plans
Tent over 400 sq ft	Tent permit, $100
Short-term rental	Treated as a change of use; $45 permit and inspections
Permanent sign	$100; 5 copies of a stamped plot plan
Demolition	Permit based on construction cost

Applying

The Building Division takes applications by email at [email protected] and prefers electronic submittals. Its electronic submittal rules:

• Put all plan sheets in one unlocked PDF. Sets over 150 sheets may be split by discipline.
• Send forms as a separate PDF. Files over 10 MB go by cloud transfer. Zip folders are not accepted.

Plans are not reviewed until the fee is paid. You can pay by credit card over the phone after the plans are logged in, or mail a check payable to the City of Bowling Green. Disapproved plans come back by email with mark-ups. Approved permits must be picked up at the building office, and a set of the approved plans must be kept on site.

The ePermits portal (Tyler eSuite) currently lets licensed contractors apply for electrical permits and pay outstanding permit fees. Other permit types still go through email or the counter.

What to submit

For new residential and commercial construction, the plan review page lists the application and fees, a plot plan, an EPSC plan, and dimensional drawings (footing, foundation, floor, floor plans, wall sections, rafters or trusses, elevations). Add REScheck for residential or COMcheck and ANSI 117 for commercial, plus a materials list and a list of subcontractors.

The city’s permit requirements sheet sets plot plan thresholds by size:

• Building anything up to 750 sq ft (structures, additions, fences, decks, accessory buildings) needs a drawing showing the structure’s dimensions and its distance from every property line.
• Building anything or disturbing soil over 750 sq ft needs a professionally signed and stamped plot plan from a civil engineer or surveyor. All in-ground pools need one.
• Enclosing a porch or garage, or adding on, also needs an exterior wall detail.
• Interior alterations need both the existing and the new floor plan.

The standard EPSC form can serve as the erosion plan only if the site disturbs less than 1 acre and has no critical slopes or flood hazard areas.

Fees

Building permit fees

Construction cost	Fee
Up to $3,000	$20
$3,000–$500,000	$20 plus $2.50 per $1,000 over $3,000
$500,000–$10,000,000	$1,250 plus $1.00 per $1,000 over $500,000
Over $10,000,000	$10,700 plus $0.50 per $1,000 over $10,000,000

The city has an online fee estimator for building permits. Plan review is charged separately per square foot by occupancy type: 15 cents for most occupancies (including residential and business), 16 cents for assembly, high hazard, and institutional, and 13 cents for utility and miscellaneous.

Electrical and other fees

Item	Fee
New service or single-family home/townhome	$200 per unit
Additional wiring	$100 per unit
Panel change, change of service, or repair	$75 per unit
Temporary pole	$75 per unit
Re-inspection	$50 per unit
Commercial electrical, cost up to $30,000	$150
Commercial electrical, cost over $30,000	$150 plus 1% of cost over $30,000
EPSC plan, 750 sq ft or more disturbed	$35
EPSC plan, 1 acre or more disturbed	$75
Certificate of occupancy (after approved final)	$3

Codes

Kentucky sets building codes statewide. The 2018 Kentucky Building Code (commercial) and 2018 Kentucky Residential Code (based on the 2015 IRC) took effect January 1, 2019. Bowling Green permits are governed by the current Kentucky Building Code, its referenced codes, and city ordinances.

Inspections

Call (270) 393-3676 or (270) 393-3615 to schedule a building progress inspection. Electrical inspections are at (270) 393-3675. It is the contractor’s job to call for inspections. The city lists these progress inspections:

• Footing excavation, foundation, under-floor, and concrete floors
• Framing, vent/duct rough-in, energy, and sprinkler system
• Lath/gypsum board and penetrations
• Right-of-way and sidewalks/drives
• Final

Plumbing and HVAC are inspected by the state, not the city. The city lists (270) 781-8039 for plumbing and (270) 404-3583 for HVAC.

Contractor licensing and homeowners

Contractors must hold a license from the Bowling Green–Warren County Contractors Licensing Board to pull a permit. The board serves both the city and the county. It is at 1141 State Street, Suite 200, (270) 781-3530, and has an Active Contractor Search on its site. The license fee is $250 for general contractors and $100 for specialty contractors, renewed annually. Contractors also need workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance, plus Warren County and (inside city limits) Bowling Green occupational licenses. Electrical licenses are issued by the state.

A subcontractor list goes to the city’s Occupational License Division before a permit is issued. A property owner doing all the work themselves signs a statement on that form. If the owner later hires anyone, they must file a subcontractor list before final approval, or the certificate of occupancy may be held up.

Planning and zoning

The City-County Planning Commission (CCPC) reviews permits for zoning compliance, binding elements, and plat restrictions. It checks setbacks, accessory structure size, signs, parking, and landscaping buffers.