City building department · New Hampshire
Keene building department
Permits, inspections, and official contacts for Keene Community Development Building Safety.
Verified Checked against 12 official sources
Contacts & online services
- Phone
- (603) 352-5440
- Office
- City Hall, 4th Floor, 3 Washington Street, Keene, NH 03431
Get directions (opens in a new tab) - Serves
- Keene · Cheshire County
- Online services
- Applications · Permit search · Inspections
Check your address first. Keene Community Development Building Safety handles building permits for property inside Keene city limits. Property outside city limits is usually served by Cheshire County or another municipality, even when the mailing address says Keene.
On this page
Building Safety is one division of Keene’s Community Development Department, which also runs planning and zoning, health and food licensing, the Historic District Commission, floodplain management, and code enforcement from the same fourth-floor office in City Hall. Its staff review and inspect structural, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, accessibility, energy-efficiency, and floodplain development work. The office is open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. In Keene, the Building & Health Official also serves as the Fire Marshal.
The OpenGov portal (since April 2026)
On April 14, 2026, Keene moved permitting, zoning, and inspections to an OpenGov portal at keenenh.portal.opengov.com. It replaced the old iWorQ portal, and any links to iWorQ are out of date. The portal has these sections:
- Construction Permitting: one Construction Application covers new construction, demolition, renovation, alteration, and relocation, plus standalone trade work (HVAC, electrical, plumbing) and sign installation. Fire Department forms in this section cover fire protection systems and fuel gas/fuel oil work (appliances, tanks, and delivery lines). Public Works forms cover driveway (street access), excavation, and water/sewer/storm connections.
- Land Use Permitting: separate applications for zoning relief (variance, special exception, nonconforming-use expansion, equitable waiver, written interpretation), for planning approvals (subdivisions, site plans, change of use, conditional use permits), and for the Historic District.
- Citizen concerns: complaints about housing, property, health, and safety.
Contractors and designers who don’t yet have an OpenGov account sign up through the portal’s Contractor/Designer Registration form. Anyone can use the portal’s address search to see permit and property activity.
Building permit fees
Keene’s Community Development fee schedule (dated August 29, 2018, and still the one linked from the City’s site) charges by project value:
| Project value | Residential | Commercial |
|---|---|---|
| Under $5,000 | $100 minimum | $100 minimum |
| Over $5,000 | $8 per $1,000 of value, plus the $100 minimum | $10 per $1,000 of value, plus the $100 minimum |
The schedule also offers discounts that are uncommon in New Hampshire:
- 40% on commercial projects over 5,000 square feet, or complex projects, when the department approves third-party plan review.
- 15% on a one- or two-family project with architect drawings that state law doesn’t require to be stamped. This rises to 25% if a licensed electrician or plumber is hired, and 35% if both are.
- 10% for an owner-occupied single-family home that hires a licensed electrician or plumber, or 20% if it hires both.
The electricians and plumbers must hold valid New Hampshire licenses.
Zoning, historic district, and other land-use fees
Land-use reviews have their own fee schedule under Chapter 100 of the Land Development Code (2025 updates):
| Application | Fee |
|---|---|
| Zoning variance or special exception | $250 |
| Zoning Administrator written interpretation | $125 |
| Historic District certificate of appropriateness, major / minor | $50 / $25 |
| Floodplain development | $50 + $100 per acre of flood hazard area altered |
| Street access (driveway) permit | $50 |
| Sign permit | $100, plus $10 per $1,000 of project value at $5,000 and up |
The Historic District application is required for new development or exterior changes to buildings and properties 50 years old or older in Keene’s Downtown Historic District.
Rental housing inspections
Community Development has two part-time housing inspectors and runs a voluntary minimum housing and safety inspection program for rental properties. Owners sign up with an online form. The inspection is visual and looks at items such as smoke detectors and means of egress. The City publishes which properties took part, but says the inspection does not certify full code compliance. The program grew out of the Keene Community Coalition, which works on off-campus housing near Keene State College with landlords, police, and fire.
Contacts
| Need | Contact |
|---|---|
| Building, zoning, planning, trade, and sign permits | (603) 352-5440, [email protected] |
| Food licenses and temporary food events | [email protected] |
| Fire Department (non-emergency) | (603) 357-9861 |
| City Hall main line | (603) 357-9804 |
Planning a project?
These guides explain the national model-code rules most departments start from. Keene Community Development Building Safety decides what applies in Keene, so use them to prepare your questions.
More New Hampshire building departments
Not the right office? If your property is outside Keene city limits, one of these may handle it.
Sources
- keenenh.gov — Building
- keenenh.gov — Community development
- keenenh.gov — Build
- keenenh.gov — New online service portal for permitting zoning and inspections
- keenenh.gov — City hours phone numbers
- keenenh.gov — Fee Schedule Poster 1
- keenenh.gov — Land Development Code Fee Schedule 2025 Updates
- keenenh.gov — Voluntary minimum housing and safety inspection
- keenenh.gov — Property housing safety standards
- keenenh.portal.opengov.com
- keenenh.portal.opengov.com — Categories
- keenenh.portal.opengov.com — Record types