Greensboro building department

Greensboro’s Development Services is the city’s one-stop office for residential and commercial plan review, permitting, and inspections. Building, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing permits are issued by the Building Inspection Division of the Engineering and Inspections Department. The office is on the Upper Ground level of the Melvin Municipal Office Building, 300 W. Washington St. Business hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free parking is in the City/County lot at W. Washington and Eugene streets. This office covers property inside Greensboro city limits. Addresses elsewhere in Guilford County go to the county or the town with jurisdiction. Greensboro links to Guilford County GIS to help you check.

When you need a building permit

The city’s residential construction page says a building permit is required for all structural work. It’s also required for any construction, installation, repair, replacement, or alteration costing more than $40,000. At $40,000 or less, you still need a permit if the work involves:

• Load-bearing structures (adding, repairing, or replacing them). No permit is needed to replace windows, doors, exterior siding, or the pickets, railings, stair treads, and decking of porches and decks.
• Plumbing additions or design changes. Same-size, same-capacity replacements are exempt.
• Heating, air conditioning, or electrical additions, replacements, or design changes, other than like-kind replacement of electrical devices and light fixtures.
• Materials the NC State Building Code doesn’t allow
• New roofing, not replacement
• Anything covered by the NC Fire Code

A permit is always needed when you “cover new ground,” such as a deck, room addition, accessory building, garage, or pool. Each trade needs its own permit. Fees are based on construction cost. The city’s fee page notes that the minimum building, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing permit fee rose from $75 to $85. The full fee schedules and a building-permit fee worksheet are posted on the Permits, Fees and Procedures page. See also deck permits.

Homeowner permits

Greensboro issues owner permits under three sets of conditions:

Work	Conditions
Building or modifying your own home	You own and live in the house (with proof), sign an affidavit, and oversee the work yourself. The house can’t be for sale or lease at the time, or for at least one year after completion.
Plumbing or mechanical	You own and live in the house, sign the affidavit, and do the work yourself. The house can’t be for sale or lease at the time.
Electrical	Same as plumbing and mechanical

Plan review and applying

Plan review is required for new construction, including additions and accessory structures. Plans are uploaded with a scaled site plan through the Plan Review & Tracking system. Reviews that started on or after September 1, 2021 must use the updated system. It handles uploads, review comments, permit payments, and permit downloads. Residents can also follow submitted plans on the city’s Plan Review Status map.

For interior-only alterations, fill out a Residential Building Permit Application. Bring it to the Building Inspections Division in person with photo ID, such as a North Carolina driver’s license. Pay when you apply, by check, cash, or card. The city also posts separate applications for:

• Residential accessory buildings
• Demolition
• Changing a building from residential use
• Residential reference plans
• Energy-efficiency certificates

Work in the Dunleath, Fisher Park, and College Hill historic districts needs a Certificate of Appropriateness. Lots in a mapped floodplain may need a Floodplain Development Permit. Greensboro enforces the statewide NC State Building Code. The NC Office of State Fire Marshal lists the 2018 codes as currently effective.

Scheduling inspections

Building, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing inspections are booked through APRIL, the city’s automated phone system. Call (336) 373-2400 any time to schedule or cancel, leave a message for an inspector, or check permit and plan-review status. You need the seven-digit permit number from the permit card. Contractors also need their PIN. Requests must be in by 8 p.m. on the business day before the inspection. The city asks that all inspection requests go through APRIL, not the main office line.

The web-based Building Inspections Scheduler lets you look up permits and inspection results by address or permit number. Contractors with accounts can also schedule inspections and enter electrical, mechanical, and plumbing permits there.