Salt Lake City building department

Salt Lake City Building Services reviews plans, issues permits, inspects construction, and handles civil enforcement inside incorporated Salt Lake City. The Building Permits office is at the City & County Building, 451 South State Street, where staff and public computers are available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., to help with online submissions. The city links to Salt Lake County’s jurisdiction-boundary map so you can confirm an address before applying. Magna, Kearns, Emigration Canyon, and other unincorporated areas are served by the Greater Salt Lake Municipal Services District, not the city.

Start at the Planning Counter for bigger projects

For a new building or addition, a commercial change of use, or exterior work in a historic district, the city says your first stop should be the Planning Counter. It is in Room 215 of the City & County Building, open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and reachable at (801) 535-7700. Check your property’s zoning before you prepare plans.

What needs a permit

City ordinance says you need a permit before you erect, construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, improve, remove, convert, or demolish any building, or change any electrical, plumbing, or mechanical system. The Building Services FAQ adds that permits are required for:

• Reroofing
• Fences and retaining walls
• Driveways
• Interior demolition
• Decks, patios, and sheds, often depending on size or height

Work in the public way also needs a separate Public Way Permit.

The FAQ lists these exemptions:

• Painting, flooring, papering, and other cosmetic or finish work
• Playhouses, sheds, and similar structures under 200 sq ft for residential use, or under 120 sq ft for commercial use
• Retaining walls up to 4 feet from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, unless they support a surcharge
• Movable cases, counters, and partitions no taller than 5 feet
• Water tanks on grade up to 5,000 gallons, with a height-to-width ratio of 2:1 or less
• Window awnings on R-3 and M occupancies that project 54 inches or less

Who can pull the permit

If the home is owner-occupied and is your primary residence, you can get the permit yourself. You must include the state Owner/Builder Certification with your plan review documents. Rentals and commercial properties need a licensed contractor. The one exception is non-structural maintenance or repair valued under $3,000, which an owner or representative can permit. Roofing counts as maintenance, but cutting in a window or moving a load-bearing wall does not. The owner-builder guide explains the state rules.

If work is done without a permit, the city issues a Stop Work (red tag) notice. You may then be charged double fees and cited. Eventually the city can record a Certificate of Non-Compliance on the property title, which can hold up a sale.

Applying: Citizen Access and ProjectDox

All permit applications go through the city’s Accela Citizen Access Portal. Register, then apply under the Building tab. The process works like this:

1. Upload plans. If the project needs plan review, ProjectDox sends the project contact an email invitation to upload construction documents. Complete the “Applicant Upload Task” to send the project to review.
2. Pre-screening and payment. Pre-screening staff must accept the submittal before it enters the review queue. You also pay the plan review fee through Citizen Access. The city publishes separate pre-screening checklists for commercial, residential, and site development projects.
3. Concurrent review. Every approving agency reviews the plans at the same time. That can include Building, Structural, Fire, Zoning, Planning, Public Utilities, Engineering, Transportation, and Urban Forestry.
4. First comments. The city aims to send first-review comments within these times after a project enters its queue:
   • 14 business days for one- or two-family homes and townhomes
   • 21 business days for apartments
   • 30 days for commercial projects
5. Respond within 180 days. You have 180 days from the review email to answer comments or pick up the permit.
6. Pay and issue. Once approved, you add a contractor and pay the building permit fee and any impact fees. Electrical, plumbing, mechanical, fire alarm, and fire suppression permits may be separate.

Permit fees are based on project valuation, meaning materials plus reasonable labor or the contractor’s bid. The fee rules are in Ordinance 18.20.050 and the city’s Consolidated Fee Schedule, and you can get an estimate through OpenCounter. Pay online through Teller, through Citizen Access, or at the Cashier’s Office, 451 South State Street, Room 225. The city warns that it never asks for wire transfers by unsolicited email.

Inspections and certificates of occupancy

Request an inspection before 3:00 p.m. to get it the next business day. You can request one in any of these ways:

• Through Citizen Access
• With the SLC Building Inspections app
• By calling the automated line at (801) 535-6000, option 2

Whoever pulled the permit, owner or contractor, is responsible for getting the inspections done and passed. After the final approval, the certificate of occupancy is posted under the documents for that permit in Citizen Access. Citizen Access has certificate of occupancy records from 2008 on and permit and inspection records from 1979 on; older records are in Laserfiche. See the certificate of occupancy guide for more.

Contacts

• Permit processing: (801) 535-7968
• General building code questions: (801) 535-7155
• Building inspection questions: (801) 535-7224
• Inspection scheduling and certificate of occupancy information: (801) 535-6000
• Civil enforcement: (801) 535-7225
• Planning and zoning: (801) 535-7700
• Public Utilities Development Services: (801) 483-6727
• Refund requests: (801) 535-6629