Portland Building Department | Permits, Inspections & Contact

The City of Portland’s Department of Permitting and Inspections is the building-permit and inspection authority inside Portland city limits. Cumberland County does not replace the city as the permitting office for a Portland parcel; nearby municipalities use their own code-enforcement departments.

Portland building permits and Citizen Self Service

Start with the city’s permitting and inspections page to identify the correct building, use, trade, land-use, or development-review application. Portland provides Citizen Self Service for online permit services, application workflows, and permit information. Keep the permit number, approved plans, contractor information, and any required zoning or historic-preservation approvals together when applying.

Inspections, zoning, code compliance, and occupancy

The city’s inspection staff verifies permitted construction and may require staged inspections before work is covered. Schedule the required inspections through the city’s current permitting instructions and do not conceal work that must remain accessible. Portland’s Zoning Administration and Land Use Ordinance are separate from the building code, so a project can need zoning, site-plan, flood, historic, or other land-use review before a building permit is issued.

For a new use, change of use, or completed construction, ask Permitting and Inspections what certificate of occupancy, building-use, fire, or final inspection documentation applies to the project. The city’s official record and current application instructions control.

Official contact information

Portland Building Inspections lists 389 Congress Street, Portland, Maine 04101 and (207) 874-8703. Use the city’s Citizen Self Service portal for online permit access and the Department of Permitting and Inspections for zoning, inspection, occupancy, and code-compliance questions.