Owensboro Building Department | Permits, Inspections & Contact

Owensboro’s development path is coordinated with Daviess County through the Owensboro Metropolitan Planning Commission and local building officials. The city and county are not interchangeable jurisdictions: city projects may involve Owensboro Community Development, while countywide planning, zoning, building, and electrical services are coordinated across Daviess County. The county service path excludes the City of Whitesville.

Owensboro building permits and plan review

For a new building, addition, remodel, change of use, or other regulated work, start by confirming the parcel’s jurisdiction and zoning status. The local one-stop guidance directs applicants to Planning and Zoning for zoning status, development-plan approval, subdivisions, conditional uses, variances, addresses, and floodplain information before building plans are submitted. Building and electrical permit applications and plan-review questions are routed through the local building service contacts.

Daviess County’s state-published local building-official record identifies the local building and electrical permit contacts. The applicable Kentucky Building Code and Kentucky Residential Code remain statewide requirements; the Kentucky DHBC may retain plan-review or inspection authority for project types assigned to the state under KBC Chapter 1 or where a local program does not assume the relevant responsibility.

Inspections, code compliance, and occupancy

Local building and electrical inspections are required at the stages specified by the approved plans and permit. Mechanical, plumbing, electrical, fire, floodplain, stormwater, and zoning reviews can involve different authorities. Use the local permit contact and the state DHBC jurisdiction rules to confirm which agency schedules each inspection instead of assuming every trade is handled by the City of Owensboro.

The OMPC public GIS service provides official parcel, zoning, city-limit, and county-boundary layers useful for confirming whether a property lies inside Owensboro or in unincorporated Daviess County. Existing property-maintenance and code-compliance records are published through the city’s official services site; permit status should be confirmed with the issuing local building official.

Official contact information

Owensboro city services list City Hall at 101 East 4th Street, Owensboro, Kentucky 42303. The local building and electrical permit contact listed for the Owensboro-Daviess County service is (270) 687-8665; planning and zoning uses (270) 687-8650, and building inspection uses (270) 687-8665. Confirm the parcel jurisdiction, current fee schedule, and state-versus-local inspection responsibility before submitting.