Chesterfield County Building Department | Permits, Inspections & Contact

Chesterfield County Building Inspection administers the county’s building-permit, construction-inspection, and property-maintenance programs. The department enforces the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code and related county requirements for projects in Chesterfield County, coordinating with other community-development functions when a project also requires zoning, utilities, environmental engineering, or fire and life-safety review.

Applying through the Chesterfield ELM portal

Chesterfield’s Enterprise Land Management (ELM) citizen portal supports planning, zoning and development, permitting, inspections, utility connections, and code enforcement. The county says users can apply for commercial, residential, multifamily, sign, demolition, electrical, elevator, fire, gas, mechanical, and plumbing permits; upload PDFs; track plan-review comments; pay fees; search permit data; and print permits, plans, receipts, and certificates of occupancy.

For residential work, Chesterfield says a permit is required before constructing, reconstructing, enlarging, altering, or demolishing a structure. The county publishes project-specific inspection tables and examples for pools, retaining walls, additions, slabs, foundations, framing, insulation, and final building inspections. Review the project checklist before submitting because the required inspections depend on the work scope and may include other departmental approvals.

Inspections and certificates of occupancy

After permit issuance, the homeowner or contractor schedules inspections through ELM or the county’s interactive voice-response system at (804) 751-4444. Inspections can be scheduled up to five business days ahead, and a request submitted by 11:59 p.m. is targeted for the next open business day or a selected date within that window. The permit should be displayed, approved plans should be available, and not-ready or repeat inspections may produce additional fees.

Chesterfield states that a certificate of occupancy is issued for a new house, while a letter of completion may be issued on request for work on an existing house that already has a certificate of occupancy. The county also identifies the 2021 Virginia Construction Code as mandatory for permit applications dated on or after January 18, 2025; verify the code edition and final-inspection requirements attached to the current permit.

Official Chesterfield County contact

Building Inspection lists (804) 751-4990 and 9800 Government Center Parkway, Chesterfield, VA 23832; the mailing address is P.O. Box 40, Chesterfield, VA 23832. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with inspection hours listed as 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Use the official Building Inspection and ELM pages for current forms, fees, portal access, and inspection instructions.