Chattanooga building department

The City of Chattanooga Land Development Office (LDO), part of Public Works, issues building, trade, sign, and land-disturbing permits and handles plans review, inspections, zoning review, and code enforcement inside Chattanooga city limits. The office is at 1250 Market Street, Suite 1000, and applications are filed online through the city’s OpenGov portal. Properties in unincorporated Hamilton County or in other Hamilton County municipalities are not permitted through the LDO.

Who to call at the LDO

The LDO splits its work into divisions, each with its own line and inbox:

Division	Phone	Email
Building permits, plans review and inspections	(423) 643-5894	[email protected]
Trade permits and licensing	(423) 643-5884	[email protected]
Zoning reviews and inspections (signs, STVR, floodplain, historic, form-based code)	(423) 643-5891	[email protected]
Land-disturbing permits and site review	(423) 643-5892	[email protected]
Subdivision and plat review	(423) 643-7800	—
Code enforcement	(423) 643-7307	[email protected]

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; inspectors work 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The LDO accepts checks, money orders, and Visa, Discover, American Express, and MasterCard. It does not accept cash.

Applying through OpenGov

Residential and commercial building permits are both filed in the OpenGov portal. Sign in or create a free account, choose “Apply Online,” pick the record type, and follow the prompts. Commercial plan sets must be split into separate files and titled to match the sheets, or the LDO will reject them. The commercial permit category covers everything except one- to four-family dwellings and townhouses three stories or less, which go through the residential permit.

For a residential permit filed by a contractor, the city asks for:

• A Tennessee contractor license in the BC, BC-A, or BC-A/r classification. BC-A/r is limited to $125,000 projects.
• A workers’ compensation certificate of insurance or a state exemption.
• A Tennessee-issued business license.

Owner-builder permits

A property owner can pull their own permit to build a single residence or farm building on their own property, as long as it is not for resale, lease, or rent. The owner also cannot have received another property-owner permit in the past 24 months. See owner-builder permits for how these rules generally work.

Building permit fees

Residential and commercial building permits use the same valuation-based fee table:

Total valuation	Permit fee
$1,000 or less	No fee, unless an inspection is required ($40 per inspection)
$1,001 – $50,000	$25 plus $5.75 per additional $1,000
$50,001 – $100,000	$306.75 plus $4.75 per additional $1,000
$100,001 – $500,000	$544.25 plus $3.75 per additional $1,000
Over $500,000	$2,044.25 plus $2.75 per additional $1,000

The full fee ordinance is in Chapter 10, Article III of the City Code.

Trade permits and city trade licenses

Chattanooga licenses its own electrical, mechanical, and plumbing contractors, and only licensed contractors can pull trade permits:

• Electrical: commercial work needs a City Class 1 electrical license. Residential work needs a Class 1 or Class 2 license. Electrical permits are valid for one year from issuance, and city licenses renew every two years, in even-numbered years.
• Mechanical: requires a City Master Mechanical license.
• Plumbing: requires a City Master Plumbing license. Published plumbing fees include a $40 permit issuance fee and $6 per fixture, floor drain, or trap. They also include $6 per water heater or vent, $20 for a building sewer, $800 for a lateral sewer connection, and $50 per re-inspection.

Trade work valued at $25,000 or more also requires a Tennessee state contractor license. Trade applicants need a Tennessee business license as well.

Adopted codes

Since May 26, 2023, the LDO has rejected plans drawn to older code editions. The city enforces:

• 2018 International Building, Residential, Fire, Mechanical, Fuel Gas, and Plumbing Codes
• 2018 International Energy Conservation Code with Tennessee state amendments
• 2023 National Electrical Code
• ICC A117.1-2009 accessibility standard

Inspections

Inspections are requested from the permit record in OpenGov. The city moved to a more flexible scheduling system that lets applicants choose an inspection date and time, and it posted a video tutorial on the new process. If the inspection step is missing from your record, call the building division at (423) 643-5894.

Certificates of occupancy and zoning

A certificate of occupancy is required for a change of occupancy classification, such as turning office space into retail or a church into a restaurant. You apply in OpenGov. Published CO fees are:

• $75 for an existing facility
• $50 for a conditional CO
• $125 for a CO tied to a beverage license

The city also issues building-code compliance letters and hears appeals through its Board of Construction Appeals.

Chattanooga adopted a new zoning code. Its grace period, which let applicants choose the old or new code, ran from December 18, 2024 to June 18, 2025. New submittals are now reviewed under the current code. Zoning staff also handle short-term vacation rental (STVR) permits, floodplain management, and historic-zoning review. Check those requirements on the city’s public GIS map before you design.