Johnson City building department

The Johnson City Building Division is part of the city’s Building Services department. It reviews construction drawings, issues building permits, and inspects work inside Johnson City limits. The permit counter is in City Hall at 601 East Main Street. City Hall is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and the counter can be reached at (423) 434-6047. Property in unincorporated Washington County goes to the county’s own zoning and building codes office. Check whether a parcel is inside city limits before you apply.

How permits are submitted

Johnson City accepts permit applications three ways:

• Online through the CityView Permit Portal, which requires you to register an account.
• By email to [email protected].
• In person at the permit counter in City Hall.

Applications and the city’s Building Permit Fee Schedule are posted under “Permit Applications & Fees” on the Building Division’s contractor requirements page. The fee schedule itself could not be retrieved for this page, so check that document for current amounts.

The city describes the permit process as three steps: an application, the fee, and review of construction drawings when the project requires it. Drawing requirements by project type:

• New homes and additions: need a site drawing. Additions include decks and covered porches.
• Accessory buildings and swimming pools: may need a site plan, depending on their size.

The CityView portal also has a property-review lookup for checking permit activity on a parcel.

Who can buy the permit

After review, a permit is released for purchase. Only two kinds of applicant can buy it:

• A licensed contractor.
• For work on a single-family home, the owner-occupant.

Owner-occupants file the city’s Homeowner Permit Affidavit. Every other permit has to be bought by a licensed contractor. See owner-builder permits for how homeowner permits generally work.

Deck exemption

Johnson City publishes its own deck construction guide based on the 2018 IRC. It exempts a deck from permitting only when it meets all four of these conditions:

Condition	Limit
Floor area	200 sq ft or less
Height	No more than 30 inches above grade at any point
Attachment	Not attached to the house
Exit door	Does not serve an exit door

Any deck that fails one of these conditions needs a permit and a site drawing.

Adopted codes

The city’s adopted-codes page lists the 2018 ICC codes:

• International Building Code
• International Residential Code
• International Existing Building Code
• International Fire Code
• International Mechanical Code
• International Fuel Gas Code
• International Plumbing Code

Electrical work falls under the edition of the National Electrical Code listed on the same page, and energy work under the International Energy Conservation Code editions listed there.

Scheduling inspections

The city’s Building Services FAQ says inspection requests must be phoned in. Call (423) 434-6047, press option 1, and leave a voicemail that includes:

• Permit number
• Project address
• Type of inspection
• Name and phone number of the primary contact
• Any special instructions
• The date you want the inspection

The division also publishes a “Guide to Common Residential Inspection Fails.” It lists frequent reasons for failed inspections:

• Missing or incorrect address posting
• Footer and foundation problems
• PVC drain testing and shower-pan testing
• Mechanical installation issues
• Handrails
• Garage door closers

Shower-pan and special-inspection guides are posted alongside it.

Zoning and site review

Zoning review and zoning verification letters come from Johnson City’s Planning Division, not the Building Division. Planning also runs building, site, and use review for commercial and multifamily projects and reviews subdivisions. If you are building on vacant land or changing a property’s use, confirm the zoning and any site-plan requirement with Planning before you submit building drawings. The city’s JC Builds resource page collects the building, planning, and portal links developers use.