Orem building department

Orem’s Building Safety Division, part of Community Development at 56 North State Street, reviews plans, issues building permits, and inspects construction inside Orem City. Utah County does not issue building permits for incorporated cities, so a parcel in Provo, Lindon, or Vineyard goes to that city instead. Orem’s fire marshal reviews fire permits through the same online portal. Building Safety staff will answer code questions but say they do not provide design services.

What needs a permit in Orem

The city’s 2026 “When Do I Need a Building Permit?” sheet says its lists are not complete and asks residents to check with staff when a project is unclear. These are the main thresholds it publishes:

Project	Permit required	No building permit
Decks	Over 30 inches above grade	Under 30 inches, no guard required, no roof
Sheds (one- and two-family lots)	Over 200 sq ft	One-story, 200 sq ft or smaller
Sheds (commercial or multifamily, 4+ units)	Over 120 sq ft	120 sq ft or smaller (site plan approval still needed)
Retaining walls	4 ft or taller from grade, or supporting a surcharge	Under 4 ft with no surcharge
Fences	Masonry or concrete over 7 ft	Other fences need a separate fence permit but no building permit
Pools	Pools, hot tubs, and spas	Prefab pools under 24 inches deep
Storage containers	—	Grade-level, unconnected conex boxes under 350 sq ft, storage only

The sheet also requires permits for reroofing, siding, solar panels, patio covers and enclosures, garages, additions, and basement or room finishes. Furnace, air conditioner, water heater, and boiler replacements need permits, as do gas lines, gas logs, fireplaces, and any electrical, plumbing, or structural work. Replacing windows or doors needs a permit only when the opening size changes. You don’t need a permit for painting, flooring, cabinets and countertops, plumbing-fixture swaps, insulation, light fixtures, switches and outlets, minor roof repairs, or concrete patios without a roof. Drive approaches need an engineering permit, not a building permit. See also the site’s deck permit guide.

Applying through My City Inspector

Orem takes building permit applications online only, through My City Inspector (CityInspect). The city’s registration instructions work like this:

1. Register at the city’s CityInspect registration link. You’ll get an email with a temporary password, which you replace after your first login.
2. Before you submit, check the submittal requirements for your permit type on Orem’s Forms & Applications page and have every document ready as a PDF.
3. File a separate application for each building. Upload plans, engineering, and site plans in their matching fields, and don’t attach the same file more than once.
4. On commercial applications, list the tenant, not the corporate owner.

Simple residential jobs that don’t need plans, such as reroofs, siding, a new air conditioner, or an electrical service change, go through the same portal as “over-the-counter” approvals. They need at least one business day of processing. A tankless water heater needs a gas line drawing that shows all existing and new appliances. Plan review takes longer for anything that needs drawings.

New commercial or multifamily buildings and additions need site plan approval through Orem’s Development Review process before a building permit application can be filed. That approval often goes to the Planning Commission and sometimes the City Council. For permit help, the instructions give 801-229-7059.

Checklists and accessory apartments

The Forms & Applications page has submittal checklists for residential plans, basement finishes, remodels, swimming pools, commercial plans, tenant improvements, demolition, electric service changes, and solar PV. The basement checklist asks for the contractor’s Utah license number, a floor plan with every room labeled (including what unfinished areas will be used for), and electrical, plumbing, and mechanical details. If you add a furnace, it also requires Manual J and Manual D heat-loss calculations. The PV checklist asks for a site plan, mounting and roof-framing details, a one-line diagram, and spec sheets for the modules and inverters.

Orem’s accessory apartment checklist, revised for the June 2022 state-law changes, adds zoning conditions. The apartment must be in a single-family detached home outside the R-5 zone and outside planned residential developments. The owner must live on site, there must be at least three paved off-street parking spaces, and the outside entrance cannot face a street. Interior doors between the units need a 20-minute rating and must be self-closing. See also the site’s ADU permit guide.

Adopted codes and design criteria

As of July 1, 2026, Orem lists these adopted codes, all with current Utah amendments:

• 2021 IRC
• 2024 IBC, IMC, IPC, IFC, IFGC, IECC, and ISPSC
• 2023 NEC
• 2006 Utah Wildland-Urban Interface Code

Its published design criteria are:

• Wind speed: 105 mph
• Seismic design category: D1–E
• Frost depth: 30 inches
• Winter design temperature: 8°F
• Ice-shield underlayment: required

For residential snow loads, the city points to Utah State University’s snow load calculator.

Inspections

Every permitted job needs inspections. The Building Safety page lists (801) 229-7198 for inspections and questions, and inspection results are posted in CityInspect. The division’s July 2025 inspection sheet names (801) 229-7060 as the inspection request line. When you call, have the job address, permit number, and inspection type ready. The sheet lists these inspections in order:

1. Footing (setbacks are measured and the Ufer ground location is recorded)
2. Foundation
3. Underground
4. Shear
5. Weather barrier and flashing
6. Rough
7. Lath and stucco
8. Permanent power (required before Rocky Mountain Power will set the meter)
9. Final

For the final inspection, exterior grading and any required retaining walls must be finished.

Owner-builders and contact

Homeowners building or remodeling their own home file Utah DOPL’s owner/builder certification with the building department. On the form, the owner agrees to use only themselves, licensed contractors, or employees covered by workers’ compensation. For new homes, the owner certifies they have built no more than three homes in the past five years.

Building Safety is at 56 North State Street, Orem, UT 84057. The phone numbers are (801) 229-7198 for Building Safety and (801) 229-7000 for the main Community Development line.