Short answer: in Kansas City, Missouri, most building, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work needs a permit from the Permits Division. The city exempts a short list, including detached sheds with up to 200 square feet of roof area and decks no higher than 30 inches that aren't over a basement. Call (816) 513-1500 to confirm.
If you own a house in the city limits of Kansas City, Missouri, and the next job is a rear addition, a new circuit, or a deck off the kitchen, the office that takes the building permit is the Permits Division of the City Planning and Development Department.
The department page heading uses City Planning & Development Department and the about sentence spells out City Planning and Development Department, so this guide uses both. This guide covers Kansas City, Missouri only, not Kansas City, Kansas, and not Johnson County. The code-questions page sends combining or splitting existing platted lots to the county that has jurisdiction; that is about lots, it does not name the county, and it does not send the house building permit to a county building department.
No kcmo.gov page linked here hands a house building permit inside the city limits to another city, so if the house is outside those limits, don't use this page as the rule. PermitCove is an independent guide, not the City of Kansas City or its Permits Division, and nothing here approves your project. The rules below come from kcmo.gov pages and the information bulletins, homeowner permit guide, and plumbing-and-service-line sheet they link, all listed at the end; fees and forms change, so check CompassKC before you pay.
Last verified: October 4, 2026, against the City of Kansas City, Missouri, City Planning and Development pages linked below.
KCMO Permits Division on the 5th floor of City Hall
A house permit, is a City Planning and Development permit. The department page says the department guides development by issuing permits, reviewing plans, and enforcing development policy. The permits page says the Permits Division issues construction-related permits, zoning determinations, zoning clearances for business licenses, and zoning conformation verification letters. That page lists "conformation." The same page says the division processes construction-permit applications from the first submittal through issuance, and that staff oversee contractor licensing. The inspections division, on the department page, is the field office for permitted work on private property. It names framing, fire protection, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, and elevators. Public Works and Water Services inspect work in the public right-of-way. That split is in the inspections bulletin, below.
The doors do not list one floor. The permits page, the exempt-work page, the electrical page, and the plans-review page put the permit counter on the 5th floor of City Hall, 414 E. 12th Street, Kansas City, MO 64106. The department contact block lists the same street and the same ZIP, and it lists City Hall, 15th floor. The do-it-yourself page lists 414 E. 12th St., City Hall, and does not list a floor. If you are filing a house permit, the permits page says 5th floor. If a sign still says 15th floor, ask which counter is open.
The hours do not list one clock. The permits page says walk-in customers may speak with a permit technician Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM, excluding observed holidays, and that you should be on the 5th floor no later than 3:45 PM. Walk-ins are first come, first served. The same page then says exceptions to these walk-in hours are emergency permit situations, homeowners for work being performed by the homeowner, zoning clearances for business licenses, and a permit-technician staff meeting every Tuesday from 9:00 to 10:00 AM.
The page does not say whether those four are hours when the counter is closed, or groups that may be seen outside the posted window. The department page says general office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, except holidays, and, under a permits heading, that the department will be open to walk-in customers from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM on weekdays.
The code-questions line on the department page is staffed 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The inspections bulletin takes inspection calls from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The contractor-license page lists the same 8:30-to-4:00 walk-in window and does not list the Tuesday meeting.
The phones split by desk. The permit counter, on the permits page and the exempt-work page, is (816) 513-1500, or cdpermits@kcmo.org. The permits page adds option 1. The electrical page, for an inspection by phone, says (816) 513-1500, option 1, sub-option 1. The contractor-license page says (816) 513-1500, extension 1, option 2, or cdlicensing@kcmo.org. The BizCare licensing page lists (816) 513-1500, extension 1, option 2.
Code questions are (816) 513-1511 or codequestions@kcmo.org. The department contact email is planning@kcmo.org. CompassKC technical problems go to compassKC@kcmo.org. Questions about a City Planning submittal go to concierge@kcmo.org. Many of these pages also print 816-513-1313 in the City Hall footer. The department contact block does not assign that number to the permit counter. A drive-approach question, on the code-questions page, goes to Public Works at (816) 513-2670 after a zoning review.
A fence question on that page goes to Neighborhoods and Housing at (816) 513-3200 or 311. A variance, on the garage bulletin, goes to Development Management at (816) 513-8801. A culvert question, on the plan bulletin, goes to Land Development at (816) 513-2551. A water-service permit, on the plumbing sheet, goes to Water Services at (816) 513-2174. Those are not Permits Division permits.
The filing portal is CompassKC. The CompassKC page says you submit permits and plans there, and that City Planning and Development uses it for building permits, inspection scheduling, plan review, and contractor licensing. The swimming-pool bulletin lists https://compasskc.kcmo.org/. The image on the CompassKC page points at https://compasskc.kcmo.org/EnerGov_Prod/SelfService#/home. The same page says other departments also use the system, and it names Fire Prevention, Parks and Recreation for park permits other than events and film, Public Works for excavation, hauling, and parking, Regulated Industries, and Water Services.
A park permit is not the house building permit. You need an account to apply. The homeowner permit guide, a four-page file titled Compass KC Home Owner Permit Guide 2020, walks through that account. It is a click-path, not a code book. It is quoted below, under who can file.
Kansas City exempt-work list vs. the code-questions page
The exempt-work page says permits are required for most building, electrical, plumbing, and heating and ventilating work inside the city limits of Kansas City, Missouri, and then it lists the exceptions. It says work that does not need a permit still has to meet the Zoning and Development Code and the Building and Rehabilitation Code. The electrical page says the same thing in shorter form.
Certain minor repairs are exempt. Everything else needs a permit and an inspection before the work can be approved. That sentence covers new buildings and work that changes an existing building. A building-permit exemption is not a pass on zoning. The exempt-work page cites Chapter 18, Section 18-16, of the Code of Ordinances, and it lists ordinance numbers at the bottom, the latest of which is Ord. No. 120375, May 24, 2012. Where a 2025 bulletin or a code-questions answer uses a different cut, both are below.
Read the roof sentences one at a time. Exemption (k) on the exempt-work page is reroofing, which it defines as replacement of roof coverings, of one- and two-family residences with light roof covering, or reroofing of other structures when the materials and methods meet the code. The same item says exempted reroofing does not include replacement of roof sheathing or roof deck, and does not include structural modifications or alterations.
Item (t), separately, is replacement of soffits and of wall or roof sheathing less than 32 square feet for one- and two-family dwellings. Exactly 32 square feet is not "less than 32 square feet." The code-questions page says replacing the roofing material, the underlayment, and no more than 32 square feet of decking does not require a permit.
Exactly 32 square feet is inside "no more than 32." If more than 32 square feet of decking is replaced, that page says a building permit is required and the contractor must have a current Kansas City, Missouri business license. If roof rafters or other structural members are repaired or replaced, that page says a scope of work or a formal plan is required, and the contractor needs a residential contractor license in addition to the business license.
Exactly 32 square feet of decking is inside the code-questions exemption, outside item (t), and inside the thing item (k) says exempted reroofing does not include. Call (816) 513-1500 before you treat a tear-off as free because one paragraph allows 32 square feet of decking.
Windows, doors, and siding are shorter, and they are not the roof rule. Item (m) is replacement of exterior wall coverings for detached one- and two-family dwellings. The page lists "detached." Item (n) is replacement of doors and windows in existing openings where fire resistance, smoke control, and opening protection are not required by Article II.
A new opening is not that sentence. Item (o) is repairs of holes in plaster or gypsum board. Item (p) is installation or replacement of wall or floor mounted cabinets. Item (q) is painting, papering, carpeting and other floor coverings, and similar finish work. Item (r) is exterior gutters and downspouts. Item (s) is tuck-pointing brick or stone.
Item (u) is interior or exterior trim. Item (v) is boarding up vacant buildings. Item (w) is walks, patios, and driveways constructed on existing grade. Item (y) is swings and other playground equipment for one- and two-family dwellings. Item (aa) is ordinary maintenance of an existing parking surface, including resurfacing a parking surface that already complied. A driveway that leaves the existing grade, or a drive approach in the street, is the driveway section below, not item (w).
A fence, a low wall, a low deck, a short awning, a shallow pool, and a small shed are also on that list, and each one has a second rule somewhere else. A fence does not need a building permit. Item (e) is the whole rule on that page. It does not list a height. The height is in the zoning section below.
A retaining wall does not need a building permit if the height does not exceed 4 feet, measured from grade on the low side, unless it supports a surcharge, impounds flammable liquids, or is adjacent to a public right-of-way. Exactly 4 feet is inside "does not exceed." The fence bulletin lists the same wall as "not over 4ft," with the same unless-clause.
A window awning supported by an exterior wall of a Group R-3 or Group U building, projecting no more than 54 inches, is exemption (i). Exactly 54 inches is inside "no more than." A platform or deck not exceeding 30 inches above grade at any point, and not over any basement or story below, is exemption (g). Both have to be true.
Exactly 30 inches is inside "not exceeding." A deck over a basement is not in the exemption even if the floor is low. A prefabricated swimming pool accessory to a Group R-3 occupancy, less than 24 inches deep, with the walls entirely above the adjacent grade, and not over 5,000 gallons, is exemption (j). Exactly 24 inches is not "less than 24 inches." Exactly 5,000 gallons is inside "does not exceed." The pool bulletin uses one- and two-family dwellings instead of Group R-3, and it adds a temporary inflatable pool. Both are below.
The small-building exemption is item (a). It is a one-story detached accessory building used as a tool and storage shed, a playhouse, a garage, a carport, or a similar use, if the projected roof area does not exceed 200 square feet. Exactly 200 square feet is inside "does not exceed." The code-questions page says any detached accessory structure less than 200 square feet does not require a permit, and that a detached accessory structure greater than 200 square feet needs a building permit.
Exactly 200 square feet is outside "less than" and outside "greater than." The same answer says a Board of Zoning Adjustment variance is required for sheds, storage buildings, pool houses, and similar buildings greater than 200 square feet, and that those structures need plan review under Information Bulletin IB100. The garage bulletin, which is older and which says the ordinance governs if the bulletin and the ordinance conflict, limits a storage-shed footprint to 200 square feet in the districts it lists. That is a zoning sentence. All three are under sheds.
Trade exemptions are their own lists, and a building exemption does not erase them. A mechanical permit is not required for portable heating, ventilating, cooling, or evaporative equipment, for replacement of a part that does not alter the appliance's original approval, for refrigerating equipment that is part of equipment already permitted, for replacement of grills and diffusers on existing ductwork, or for a self-contained refrigeration system with 10 pounds or less of refrigerant or a motor of 1 horsepower or less.
Exactly 10 pounds is inside "or less." Exactly 1 horsepower is inside "or less." A plumbing permit is not required for repairs that involve only the working parts of a faucet or valve, for clearing a stoppage, for repair or replacement of a defective fixture or valve when the piping is not altered or extended, or for replacement and repair of lavatory and sink traps.
A new shower that adds pipe is not that list. An electrical permit is not required for minor repair, including replacing lamps or plugging approved portable equipment into an approved permanent receptacle, or for replacement of snap switches, receptacles, and fixtures other than ceiling fans, where the circuit is not altered or extended. A ceiling fan is outside "other than ceiling fans."
The electrical page repeats the faucet, the appliance part, and the switch or light fixture as examples, and it points at the full list. No city page linked here says a new circuit is minor repair because the shed might be under 200 square feet.
Homeowner affidavit (IB146) or a licensed KCMO contractor
The electrical page is the short version for the trades, and it is stricter than "I own it, so I can pull every permit." If you own a single-family dwelling, that page says you may obtain electrical, plumbing, and heating and ventilating permits for any work on the premises if you occupy the dwelling and you perform the work yourself. Other people who want those permits have to be licensed contractors. For a two-family dwelling, a multifamily building, or any other commercial building, that page says those trade permits may be issued only to licensed contractors. A two-family house is not the single-family sentence.
Information Bulletin IB146 is a second version, and it is not the same sentence. The index dates that form April 16, 2020. The file says it was revised August 29, 2023. The bulletin says the owner of a single-family residence may obtain building-trades permits if the owner occupies the building as the principal personal residence, and if the owner and family members or friends personally buy the materials and personally do the work, except as noted for building permits.
The affidavit on the same form also allows a box for an owner who will occupy the house as a primary residence when the work is done, and it asks for the address where that owner lives now. The electrical page says you occupy the dwelling and you do the work yourself. It does not list the "will occupy" box, and it does not list family and friends.
If a family member or friend is hired as a contractor, IB146 says that person applies and is subject to the licensing rules. The affidavit says you have not contracted with, and will not pay, any other person to do the work, and then it lists the building-permit exception.
The building-permit exception in that bulletin is the part people skip. A homeowner-occupant may obtain a building permit without a residential building contractor license, and may contract and direct building-trade subcontractors who are not otherwise required to be licensed under Section 18-14. The examples are excavation, foundation, rough framing, drywall, finish carpentry, roofing, and other subcontractors doing building construction under the homeowner's direction.
Electrical, plumbing, mechanical, and other trades that Section 18-14 requires to be licensed may be hired, and those licensed subcontractors have to obtain their own permits and do the work with their own employees. The examples don't mean every roofer in the city is unlicensed, and the "do the work yourself" sentence on the electrical page doesn't cancel the building-permit exception in IB146.
The bulletin says using an unlicensed contractor, or pretending you will occupy a house you will not occupy, can cancel the permit, stop the work, and lead to Housing Court. A letter from the owner is required if someone else signs and pays. The city then issues the permit to the owner, and the other person signs as agent.
The homeowner permit guide is the click-path for that filing. It is the 2020 CompassKC guide linked from the CompassKC page. You register, choose the permit type, add the address without periods, write E instead of East and St instead of Street, and keep the "th," "nd," or "rd" on a numbered street. The guide's example is 123 NE Maple Ave or 508 W 23rd Rd.
Under contacts, the guide says a business, which it lists as a licensed contract, is required. You search "Homeowner," then add "CPD Homeowner." You accept the statement. You enter a permit valuation, you enter 0 in fields that do not apply, and you enter the total in the field labeled Value Used in Fee Determination. You attach the homeowner affidavit from IB146.
If a required attachment is missing, the guide says the application will not be reviewed. After approval, the guide says you get an email with payment instructions. A PDF of the permit is under the attachments tab the day after the fee is paid. The electrical page doesn't include that "day after" sentence. The electrical page says you pay after the plans are approved, or you pay the remainder when the valuation is $100,000 or more.
A contractor is a different stack, and the license is not the building permit. The contractor-license page says the Permits Division registers and renews licenses inside the city limits of Kansas City, Missouri, under Article XII of the building code. The order on that page is a business license from the Finance Department, then a certificate of qualification for the person who will supervise the trade, then a contractor license for the business.
Both of the last two are filed in CompassKC. Information Bulletin IB118, revised March 19, 2026, on the file, says a residential building contractor may construct, structurally alter, or enlarge a one- or two-family detached dwelling or townhouse, including detached accessory buildings in excess of 400 square feet, as regulated by Article III. Exactly 400 square feet is not "in excess of 400."
That sentence describes what the license covers. It is not a finding that a 300-square-foot shed needs no permit. The building exemption is still the 200-square-foot roof test above. IB118 also lists license fees. They are license fees, not the fee for your addition. A certificate application is a $60 non-refundable fee. The certificate is issued at no further charge for the first four years if the other requirements are met, and the renewal printed there is $181 every four years.
A contractor license application is $60, nonrefundable, and the issuance fee printed there is $181, with $181 to renew every four years. A company-name or ownership change is a new application, another $60, and another $181. A supervisor change is the $60 application fee plus any renewal already owed, and it has to be reported in writing within 10 calendar days.
Plumbing, demolition, fire-protection class I and II, residential building, and sign contractors need insurance with a minimum aggregate limit of $1,000,000 per occurrence, naming the City of Kansas City, Missouri as additional insured. Fire-protection class I and II and plumbing contractors post a minimum $500 cash deposit with Finance on the first floor, at 816-513-1135. A restoration deposit of $2,500 or $50,000 may be required by Public Works or Water Services before some permits.
BizCare says a business license through QuickTax, or the RD-100 form, typically takes 7 to 10 business days, and that a visit to City Hall, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, can issue the business license on the spot. Questions on that system go to (816) 513-1120, extension 3. That is Finance. It is not the 5th-floor permit counter, and 8:00 AM is not the 8:30 AM permit window.
Filing in CompassKC: the PDF set and survey
Applications go through CompassKC. The permits page says walk-in applicants are expected to apply online before they come to City Hall, and to bring the CompassKC application number or the address. You may be asked for identification. The examples printed are a driver's license and a KC Fountain Card. The plan bulletin, Information Bulletin IB100, revised May 28, 2025, on a file the index dates May 29, 2025, says every application is online, and the plans are one PDF uploaded to the plan case.
The survey or site plan is a separate PDF. Drawings are to scale, in feet and inches, clear enough to show the work, and they have to note the 2018 International Residential Code and the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code. The first sheet shows the total page count, or the set has a table of contents. The front page shows the square footage of the house, of each floor, of the garage, of decks, and of covered decks.
An architect's or engineer's seal is not required unless the design leaves the prescriptive parts of the 2018 residential code. The examples of an engineered feature are a structural slab and a retaining wall. Those sheets come with sealed calculations.
Plan review is not the same thing as a permit. IB100 says plan review is required for work on one- and two-family residences that follows the 2018 residential code and the 2021 energy code, and then it lists exceptions. The exceptions include construction, removal, or relocation of non-load-bearing walls. They include installation of roof sheathing and lightweight roof coverings. They include doors and windows not exceeding 4 feet in width in a load-bearing wall.
Exactly 4 feet is inside "not exceeding." They include a new closet or bathroom that does not build, remove, or move a load-bearing wall. They include a basement finish with no structural change, and they point at Information Bulletin IB132. They include repair in kind, including minor structural repair such as a few joists, studs, or rafters. They include an electrical service under 400 amps with no generator, and they point at IB160.
Exactly 400 amps is not "less than 400." They include uncovered, conventional, light-framed, open porches and decks, and they still want the site plan or survey in Section B of the checklist. They include residential swimming pools, and they point at IB119. When plans are not required, IB100 says you still submit a written scope of work for the permit, and it points at the exempt-work page.
A plan-review exception is not a finding that the job needs no permit. The code-questions page, for a single-family remodel, a bathroom, a kitchen, or a basement finish, says to submit a written scope and existing and proposed floor plans with an interior-remodel application, and then says a basement finish simply requires a permit application with the work done per IB132. Those two sentences are on the same page.
The survey rule starts January 1, 2024, on both the plans-review page and IB100. New structures, additions including vertical additions, and changes that expand or reduce the exterior envelope need a sealed land survey of the existing and the new work. Two exceptions need a site plan and not a sealed survey. One is a one- and two-family open deck greater than 5 feet from a property line.
Exactly 5 feet is not "greater than five feet." The other is a one- and two-family dwelling or its accessory structure greater than 10 feet from a property line. Exactly 10 feet is not "greater than ten feet." IB100 says the distance is determined by KCMO GIS or other vetted documentation, for both exceptions. The plans-review page says KCMO GIS or other vetted documentation for the deck, and KCMO GIS Parcel Viewer or other vetted documentation for the house and the accessory.
The site plan itself, when you need one, shows the address, a north arrow, a scale, the legal description, property lines, platted setback lines and easements, drainage, distances to other buildings and to the property lines, projections past the foundation, the streets, the parking and the driveway and what they are made of, the percent of the front yard and the street-side yard that is paved, and the width and length of a public sidewalk and a drive approach.
A note in that checklist says the width of the driveway at the property line is a minimum of 7.5 feet and a maximum of 22 feet. That is the note in IB100. It is not a width listed in the driveway answer on the code-questions page. On a street with no curb, gutter, or storm sewer, the same note says a culvert goes under the drive approach.
You do not start because you clicked send. The homeowner guide says you wait for the approval email, then you pay, then the permit PDF appears the next day. The checklist on the permits page says a permit is not valid until the fees prescribed by law are paid. The plans-review page says a written scope for a minor job may be issued as a one-stop permit at the counter after a cursory review, and that the scope is still reviewed.
Review time is a table, and the table does not have one row for every house. The plans-review page lists these goals. New buildings, building additions, and changes of use or occupancy, 20 business days. Tenant finishes, remodels, and resubmittals, 10 business days. Site improvement and private grading, 10 business days. One- and two-family dwelling review, 7 business days.
A scope-of-work permit, 5 business days. Express review and a comment meeting are by appointment. IB100 lists a turnaround goal of seven business days for the first submission and for any successive submission of the residential projects that bulletin covers. A room addition can be read as the 20-day additions row and as the 7-day one- and two-family row.
Priority review, on the plans-review page, cuts the printed turnaround in half and charges two times the plan-review and building-permit fee, under Section 18-20(c)(5). You ask for it in the CompassKC description and in an attached letter. The city can deny it. If it is denied, the page says you are not charged the doubled fee.
The same page says this priority service is not available for one- and two-family residential reviews, and it points at Information Bulletin IB115. The code-questions page says you may ask the express reviewer, at (816) 513-1500, option 1, for the Plans Review Division. One row says 7, but that is not a promise that a house addition clears in seven days.
Certified plans are three different sentences. IB100 says plans certified by a Missouri-registered architect or engineer, using Information Bulletin IB103, have a turnaround goal of five business days, and that master plans and certified plans are not allowed if any part of the building, including a projection, is within five feet of a property line. Exactly five feet is not "within five feet" if you are reading "within" as closer than five.
The bulletin index says certified plans are not being accepted at this time, on an IB103 line dated November 4, 2024. The department page says the city is introducing a certified permitting program for new one-family houses, with a target of four business days, launching in late July 2026, to be evaluated after 12 to 15 months. The description it links sits on a file host. Today is after July 2026. The page still lists "launching."
The code the plan bulletin tells you to use is the 2018 International Residential Code and the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code, as the Kansas City Building and Rehabilitation Code amends them. The building-code page says the City Council approved an update to the 2018 International Building Code effective June 28, 2020, and an update to the 2021 energy code effective July 1, 2023.
During a 90-day grace period, plans could be submitted under the 2012 or the 2021 energy code. Plans submitted after September 29, 2023, at 4 PM, had to meet the 2021 energy code. That date is in the past. The same page lists the 2018 residential code, the 2018 mechanical code, the 2018 fuel gas code, the 2018 private sewage disposal code, the 2018 Uniform Plumbing Code, and the 2017 National Electrical Code.
It also posts 2024 drafts and says they are proposed. The code-questions page says an ice and water shield is required, and it cites Table R301.2(1) of the building and rehabilitation code. IB100 says footings meet or exceed a minimum frost depth of 36 inches, and that soil bearing is presumed to be 2,000 pounds per square foot or less.
The inspections bulletin repeats 36 inches and 2,000 pounds per square foot, and it says concrete is a minimum of 2,500 pounds per square inch. IB100 says compressive strength is 2,500 to 3,500 pounds per square inch minimum, depending on location. A missing energy sheet voids the plan, under IB100.
The city pages don't spell out a historic-district rule for a house addition. The department site has a Historic Preservation Commission. If you are in a district, ask before you order siding. The map the department page links for the parcel is http://maps.kcmo.org/apps/parcelviewer/.
What the KCMO fee schedule charges
The building-permit dollar table is not in this guide, because it was not on a page that rendered. The permits page says the development fee schedule, in its entirety, is in Section 18 of the building code, and it links the Municode section numbered 18-20. The fee-schedule page says the same schedule is in Article 1, Section 18, and it links the same section.
A permit is not valid until the lawful fee is paid, and paying the building-permit fee does not pay every other fee the law requires. The code text did not load. Both pages also link a fee calculator, and the two links are not the same file. The permits page links one Google Drive file. The fee-schedule page links a different Google Drive file.
Both say you download the calculator and type in a valuation. The electrical page says that after the plans are approved you pay a permit fee, or the remainder of the permit fee for a project valued at $100,000 or more, based on the total cost of construction. Exactly $100,000 is inside "valuations of $100,000 or more." That sentence does not list the rate. Call (816) 513-1500 before you write the check. Do not pay a building-permit amount from this page.
A few other dollars are listed, and they are easy to attach to the wrong job. The contractor-license amounts in IB118 are above. They are not the structural permit. A copy of an existing certificate of occupancy, or of an occupant-load certificate, may cost a $36 reproduction fee plus staff time, on the code-questions page, and only for an existing use with no change. Priority review is two times the plan-review and building-permit fee, and it is not offered for one- and two-family reviews.
A reinspection fee is named in the inspections bulletin and is not given a number there. A penalty for a limited-service permit that is late is named in that bulletin and is not given a number there. The pool bulletin says the valuation used for the pool permit should not include electrical or plumbing, because those are separate permits. That is a warning about what not to put in the valuation. It is not a fee.
KCMO zoning bulletins IB121 and IB122
A building permit is not the zoning decision. The exempt-work page says exempt work still has to meet zoning. The garage bulletin and the house bulletin both say that if the bulletin and the ordinance disagree, the ordinance governs. The numbers below are the numbers those bulletins print, for the districts they name. They are not a citywide front yard, and they are not a citywide side yard. The parcel map is the link above. A variance, if the project misses the ordinance, goes to the Board of Zoning Adjustment. The phone the house bulletin and the garage bulletin print for that application is Development Management, (816) 513-8801.
There is no single front-yard number for every house. Information Bulletin IB121, revised October 3, 2025, on the file, and dated October 2, 2020, on the bulletin index, covers a new house or an addition in a conventional development in districts R-10, R-7.5, R-6, R-5, and R-2.5. For other districts it tells you to read Section 88-110-06. In the five districts it does cover, the front yard is 25 percent of the lot depth, but it need not exceed 30 feet in R-10, R-7.5, and R-6, and it need not exceed 25 feet in R-5 and R-2.5.
The side yard is 10 percent of the lot width, and it need not be more than 8 feet from an interior lot line. A side yard on a street is at least 15 feet. The rear yard is 25 percent of the lot depth, but it need not exceed 30 feet in R-10, R-7.5, R-6, and R-5, and it need not exceed 25 feet in R-2.5.
Exactly 30 feet is inside "need not exceed 30ft" where the bulletin says that. A platted building line or an easement can require more. The bulletin points at Section 88-820 for measurements and exceptions. Lot width and lot area are "as required by Table 110-2."
Parking and pavement are in that same bulletin, and the section number does not match the driveway answer. One off-street space is required for each dwelling unit. Parking is not in the front-yard setback or the street-side setback unless the code says otherwise. A residential space for a detached house, an attached house, or a two-unit house may sit on an approved driveway in the front setback.
No more than 40 percent of the front yard, and no more than 20 percent of the street-side yard, may be paved or used for vehicles. Driveways serving one- and two-family dwellings are paved with asphalt or concrete as required by 88-420-12. The code-questions page, for a new driveway, a resurfacing, or an expansion, lists Section 88-420-012.
That answer says a vehicle area has three parts: the drive approach from the street to the property line, the driveway, and a parking space. Only the drive approach, in the public right-of-way, needs a permit and an inspection. The driveway and the parking space do not need that permit, and they still have to meet zoning.
You get a zoning review on the 5th floor or by email to cdpermits@kcmo.org. If a drive-approach permit is needed, the approved zoning review goes to Public Works at (816) 513-2670. The building exemption for a driveway on existing grade does not erase the approach. The city pages linked here don't include a citywide driveway width outside the 7.5-foot minimum and 22-foot maximum listed in the IB100 site-plan note.
Accessory buildings are a different bulletin, and the districts are a different list. Information Bulletin IB122, revised December 14, 2012, covers detached garages and storage sheds in AG-R, R-80, R-10, R-7.5, R-6, R-5, R-2.5, R-1.5, R-0.5, and R-0.3. It does not say those setbacks apply in every other district. In the districts it names, the building is not in the front yard or the street-side yard, meaning it is not closer to the street than the house.
The rear setback is at least 1 foot 6 inches, except that a garage on an alley may sit on the rear line next to the alley. The interior side setback is at least 1 foot 6 inches, with the same alley exception. The building is at least 10 feet from other accessory buildings and from the house on the same lot. If it is less than five feet from a property line, the wall on that line needs a one-hour rating.
The bulletin's typical assembly is one layer of 5/8-inch Type X gypsum on each side of the studs. It then excepts a detached accessory whose projected roof area does not exceed 200 square feet and that is exempt from a permit under the building code. Walls between 3 feet and 5 feet from the line may have openings up to 25 percent of the wall. A projection closer than 5 feet needs one-hour construction on the underside.
Closer than 2 feet, the projection may only be 4 inches. Exactly 5 feet is not "less than five feet." Exactly 2 feet is not "closer than 2ft." The house bulletin's fire note is similar and not identical. It cites Table R302.1 and says a wall less than 5 feet from the line is a one-hour assembly, openings between 3 and 5 feet may be up to 25 percent, and projections between 2 and 5 feet are one-hour.
A fence is not a building permit, and the height is not one sentence. The exempt-work page exempts fences and lists no height. The code-questions page says fences are governed by Chapter 27. It says the fence may not exceed 4 feet in the front yard and in the street-side yard if the lot is a corner lot, and it may not exceed 6 feet in the interior side yard and the rear yard.
Exactly 4 feet is inside "may not exceed 4 feet." Exactly 6 feet is inside "may not exceed 6 feet." That page sends questions to Neighborhoods and Housing at (816) 513-3200 or 311. Information Bulletin IB129, revised November 7, 2025, says a fence on a residential lot is limited to 4 feet in the front yard and the street-side yards, and to 6 feet on the side and rear yards.
It does not add the words "if on a corner lot." It says a fence built after March 20, 2000 has to meet the adopted zoning requirements, and it sends questions to codequestions@kcmo.org. Electric fences are not permitted on residentially zoned property, on that bulletin. A barbed-wire fence in a residential zone is declared a nuisance. The pool fence, which is a different 4 feet, is with the pool rules below.
Room additions in Kansas City, Missouri
An addition is construction. The code-questions page says a room addition or a garage addition needs a full plan submittal, review, and approval before the permit is issued, under IB100. The city pages linked here don't include a size under which a room addition is ordinary repair. The survey rule above applies to additions, including a vertical addition, unless the open-deck exception or the greater-than-10-feet exception fits. A garage addition is not automatically the shed exemption. The drawings are the IB100 set: each floor, the foundation, including footings for covered decks and porches, the wall sections, and the roof, including covered decks and porches. Trusses, if you use them, are the sealed drawings the bulletin describes.
The fee, if there is an invoice, is the valuation fee the city did not list as a table. Ask which valuation they want in the fee field. Sewer and water are not the same permit as the room. The plumbing sheet, revised June 5, 2023, says City Planning and Development permits plumbing inside a structure, water lines from the house to an accessory building, and sanitary sewer work on private property.
In CompassKC that sheet says to search "Plumbing General - Residential" or "Plumbing General - Commercial." Water Services permits the water line from the main to the meter and to the shutoff and any service backflow preventer inside the building, and it permits storm and sanitary connections to the main, and repairs, when the pipe is in the right-of-way or in an easement.
The phone on that sheet is (816) 513-2174. A septic tank, on the code-questions page, needs a plan under Information Bulletin IB105 and has to meet zoning Section 88-405-05-C. If the floodplain is on the parcel, IB100 says the site plan is sealed and shows the 100-year floodplain, the one-foot freeboard, the lowest floor including a basement, and the lowest adjacent grade, on the NAVD 1988 datum. Work inside the current FEMA 100-year floodplain plus that one foot needs a floodplain development permit under IB120.
A second dwelling on the lot is not a shed with a stove. Information Bulletin IB170, revised August 28, 2023, says an accessory dwelling unit is regulated by Section 88-305-15. The bulletin defines it as a household living use on the same lot as a principal detached single-family house. It has to have a kitchen with a sink, an oven or stove, and a refrigerator, a bathroom with a toilet, a sink, and a tub or shower, and living and sleeping space for at least one twin bed.
A half-bath does not meet the bathroom line. The fixtures are permanent. If those three parts are missing, the bulletin says the building is a detached structure, not an accessory dwelling. The owner lives in the house or in the accessory unit and records a deed restriction before the certificate of occupancy. No added off-street parking space is required.
Any parking you do build still has to meet Section 88-420. An attached unit uses the setbacks of the house, sits in the rear or side yard, and is built like a duplex under the residential code. A detached unit sits in the rear yard. Its height does not exceed the house or 25 feet, whichever is less.
Exactly the height of the house is inside "not exceed" and is the cap if the house is the shorter of the two. The setback is 5 feet from all property lines, including projections, except a street-side yard, where it is 5 feet including projections or the same as the house, whichever is greater. The footprint is 60 percent of the house footprint or 25 percent of the rear yard, whichever is smaller, and it does not exceed 800 square feet.
Exactly 800 square feet is inside "shall the footprint exceed 800sqft" as the cap, not as a size you may pass. The floor area is 800 square feet or 90 percent of the house floor area, whichever is smaller. The bulletin also says all other accessory setbacks still apply, and that the combined footprint of detached accessory buildings cannot exceed Section 88-305-02E.
Stairs to an upper unit are allowed only on the sides that face the inside of the lot. Plans follow IB100. From September 29, 2023, the energy code applies. That date matches the energy-code page. It is not a second energy code.
Kansas City decks, the 30-inch line, and covered porches
Use the building exemption before you decide a low platform is free, and then read the plan bulletin, because they do not answer the same question. The exempt-work item is a platform or deck not exceeding 30 inches above grade at any point, and not over any basement or story below. Both have to be true. Exactly 30 inches is inside "not exceeding." A deck higher than that is not in the exemption. A deck over a basement or over a story is not in the exemption even when the floor is under 30 inches. That item doesn't mention a porch. Do not paste the 30-inch sentence onto a covered porch.
IB100 treats uncovered, conventional, light-framed, open porches and decks as a plan-review exception, not as a permit exemption. The permit application still needs the site plan or the survey in Section B. A covered porch is outside "uncovered." The foundation checklist includes footings for covered decks and porches. The roof checklist includes covered decks and porches.
No city page linked here says a porch under 200 square feet, or under 30 inches, is exempt. No city page linked here gives a guard height, a riser height, or a footing size for a deck, other than the 36-inch frost depth the plan bulletin lists for footings. The 2026 fee pages do not list the word "deck" as a dollar. Ask which valuation is on the invoice.
The survey exception for an open deck is the greater-than-5-feet line above. A deck that is not greater than 5 feet from the line is not in that exception. An open deck can be inside the 30-inch building exemption and outside every survey sentence at the same time, because a permit that is not required does not need the survey the permit application requires.
The survey exception doesn't create a permit the building list does not require, and the building exemption doesn't cancel zoning. The city pages linked here don't include a reduced rear setback for an uncovered deck. If the deck is an accessory structure in a district the garage bulletin covers, the placement sentences in that bulletin are the ones to read, and the bulletin says the ordinance still governs.
Kansas City sheds and the 200-square-foot roof area
Count the roof, then notice which sentence you are in. The building exemption is one story, detached, used as a tool and storage shed, a playhouse, a garage, a carport, or a similar use, and the projected roof area does not exceed 200 square feet. All of that has to be true. Exactly 200 square feet is inside "does not exceed." The code-questions page says less than 200 square feet does not require a permit, and greater than 200 square feet does.
Exactly 200 is in the building exemption and in neither half of that answer. The same answer says a variance is required for a shed, a storage building, a pool house, and similar buildings greater than 200 square feet, with plan review under IB100. The garage bulletin says the footprint of one detached storage shed may not exceed 200 square feet, in the districts it lists. Exactly 200 is inside "may not exceed."
A garage, in that bulletin, may be up to 800 square feet, or 1 square foot of footprint for each 10 square feet of lot area, whichever is greater. A carriage house may be up to 1,500 square feet. In AG-R and R-80, an accessory building may be up to 8,000 square feet. Those are zoning caps in the bulletin. They are not a building-permit exemption. A 300-square-foot garage is outside "does not exceed 200" on the exempt-work page even if the zoning bulletin allows a larger garage.
Height is zoning, on that bulletin, and it is not the permit test. A detached garage shall not exceed 16 feet. A detached storage shed shall not exceed 10 feet. For a roof steeper than 1 inch to the foot, the height is the average of the top plate and the ridge. In AG-R and R-80, an accessory building may be up to 35 feet. Exactly 10 feet is inside "shall not exceed 10ft."
The building exemption says one story and does not list 10 feet. A one-story shed under 200 square feet of roof can still miss the zoning height. The building also has to be subordinate to the house, on the same lot, and built with the house or after it. More than one detached garage or shed is allowed if the combined footprint of all detached accessory buildings and structures does not exceed 40 percent of the rear yard.
Exactly 40 percent is inside "does not exceed." The city pages linked here don't include a 3-foot rear setback. The rear and side number in this bulletin is 1 foot 6 inches, in the districts it names, with the alley exception and the fire-rating note when the wall is less than 5 feet from the line. The 5-foot setback in the accessory-dwelling bulletin is for that dwelling. It is not a finding that every shed is 5 feet off the line.
Power to the shed is not decided by the roof size. The electrical exceptions do not exempt a new circuit because the shed might be under 200 square feet. The fire-rating exception in the garage bulletin applies to a detached accessory whose projected roof area does not exceed 200 square feet and that is already exempt from a permit. It does not exempt the wiring. A detached garage over that roof size, or a second story, is outside item (a). The residential-contractor sentence that says "in excess of 400 square feet" describes that license. It is not a permit waiver for the band between 200 and 400.
KCMO electrical permits for owner-occupants
The Permits Division is the office on the electrical page for an electrical permit inside Kansas City, Missouri. No city page linked here sends house wiring to Kansas City, Kansas, or to a county building department, for the permit itself. The state shows up as the 2017 National Electrical Code on the building-code page, and as the state business registration IB118 says a contractor keeps in the same name as the city license. The electrical license itself, on the contractor page, is a city certificate. The categories include an electrical supervisor, a master electrician, and a master limited electrician.
What needs a permit is the exempt-work list, read backward. Minor repair, a lamp, a plug into an existing approved receptacle, and replacement of a snap switch, a receptacle, or a fixture other than a ceiling fan, without extending or altering the circuit, do not need an electrical permit. A new circuit does. A ceiling-fan replacement does, on that "other than" line. The plan bulletin's exception for a service under 400 amps, with no generator, is a plan-review exception.
It points at IB160. Who may apply is the split above. The electrical page says an occupying owner of a single-family house who does the work may obtain the permit. IB146 says family and friends may do unpaid work, and that a licensed electrical contractor, if you hire one, pulls the electrical permit and uses that contractor's own employees. A two-family house, on the electrical page, is licensed contractors only.
The limited-service program is not that homeowner path. Information Bulletin IB108, revised December 30, 2024, lets a licensed electrical, plumbing, or mechanical contractor do listed minor work and certify it, instead of calling for a city inspection. Some of that work may start before the permit. The permit is then due within 7 days of the start, or a penalty fee applies, and the certification is due within 7 days of the finish.
The penalty amount is not printed. Eligible electrical work, for the class the bulletin names, includes one new circuit supplying not more than two devices, an extension serving not more than two devices, and hard-wired smoke detectors. Other work on an existing one- or two-family dwelling is eligible when the value is $1,000 or less, with the exceptions the bulletin lists for alarms, replacement air conditioning, and a building sewer.
Exactly $1,000 is inside "or less" where the bulletin says that. New construction and additions are excluded. The bulletin does not say a homeowner may start a circuit and file seven days later. The certification goes to cdpermits@kcmo.org. The property owner may still ask City Planning and Development for an inspection.
Scheduling, when the inspection is a city inspection, is the list on the electrical page and in IB104. CompassKC sends a confirmation email. Email to buildinginspections@kcmo.org sends a confirmation email. The electrical page lists BuildingInspections@kcmo.org. The phone is (816) 513-1500, option 1, sub-option 1, on the electrical page, and 816-513-1500 between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM in the inspections bulletin. No city page linked here says a homeowner schedules an electrical inspection on a different line from a building inspection.
The inspections bulletin says separate rough-in inspections are not performed. Framing, electrical, piping, and ducts are looked at together. If the job is not ready in every trade, the inspection is disapproved and the building is not inspected. A gas-service or electrical-service inspection can be requested with the rough-in or later, as long as the piping or the grounding is not covered. The city pages linked here don't include a separate electrical-only final for a house. The bulletin says separate finals are not performed.
KCMO plumbing, mechanical, and service-line permits
Plumbing and heating permits are department permits, with the same split between the electrical page and IB146. The exempt list is the faucet works, a cleared stoppage, a fixture or valve that does not change the piping, and a lavatory or sink trap. A water heater that needs a new vent, new gas piping, or a new circuit is not that list.
The limited-service list does include replacement of a water heater on the existing vent, gas piping, or circuit, by a licensed plumbing contractor, and one new fixture with its supply and drain, and a limited repair of house-side piping. That is the contractor program. It is not a finding that a homeowner may replace a water heater with no permit.
Heating exemptions are the portable appliances and the part that does not change the listing. The limited-service list adds a humidifier or an electrostatic filter, ductwork extended not more than 10 feet, and replacement of air conditioning on an existing system. Exactly 10 feet is inside "not more than 10ft." A new duct run longer than that is not the exemption and is not that limited-service line.
The pipe in the yard is a different department once it leaves the house. City Planning and Development, on the plumbing sheet, permits plumbing inside the structure and the water line from the house to an accessory building, and sanitary sewer work on private property. Water Services permits the service from the main to the meter and the control devices inside the building, and the connection of a storm or sanitary service to the main when the pipe is in the right-of-way or an easement.
The phones are (816) 513-1500 and (816) 513-2174. A kitchen remodel doesn't go to Water Services, and a new tap in the street doesn't go to the building counter alone. Access to a sanitary manhole or a storm junction box, that sheet says, is an infrastructure review with Land Development. Septic is the IB105 plan.
Pools are their own bulletin, and then the exemption. The exempt-work page exempts a prefabricated pool accessory to Group R-3, less than 24 inches deep, walls entirely above grade, capacity not over 5,000 gallons. IB119 says a permit is required for any above-ground or in-ground residential pool, hot tub, or spa, except a prefabricated above-ground pool accessory to a one- or two-family dwelling with a fill level less than 24 inches, walls entirely above grade, and a capacity of 5,000 gallons or less, or a temporary inflatable pool.
"Group R-3" and "one- or two-family" are not the same words. "Deep" and "fill level" are not the same words. Exactly 24 inches is outside both "less than" sentences. Exactly 5,000 gallons is inside both caps. The inflatable exception is on IB119. It is not on the exempt-work list. Code still applies when the permit does not, on both pages.
The fence around a pool is zoning, and a fence by itself still does not need a building permit. IB129 says a swimming pool with a depth of more than 2 feet must be enclosed by a protective fence at least 4 feet high, with self-closing, lockable gates or entrances when a responsible person is not there. IB119 says a pool, spa, or hot tub with a fill level greater than 2 feet is enclosed by a fence of at least 4 feet, maintained by locked gates when it is not monitored, and the gates are self-closing and self-latching.
Exactly 2 feet is not "more than 2ft" and is not "greater than 2ft." A lockable cover may replace the fence for a spa or a hot tub, not for a swimming pool, on IB119. The walls of an above-ground pool that are 4 feet or greater may be the barrier, and a ladder still needs a self-closing, self-latching, locked access.
Exactly 4 feet is inside "4ft or greater" on that wall sentence and inside "at least 4ft" on the fence sentence. The pool plans have to show the fence and a note about the alarm. Where a house wall is part of the barrier, IB119 quotes the 2018 pool and spa code. An operable window with a sill lower than 48 inches, or a door, needs a listed water-hazard alarm, or the pool has an ASTM F1346 cover, or another approved protection that is at least as good. The alarm switch height is 54 inches or more, except in accessible units, where it is not greater than 54 inches and not less than 48 inches.
Where the pool may sit, IB119 lists a zoning summary for residential districts, including AG-R, and it says the rules are in Sections 88-305-07 and 88-305-02-B and in Chapter 18. The bulletin says the pool is in a side yard or a rear yard, not closer to the street than the house. The side setback it lists is 10 feet. On a corner lot, an accessory building or structure may not be closer to the street than the house's rear building line, or it is set back at least 15 feet, whichever is less.
A pool 10 feet or closer to a building on the lot may need a structural review. Exactly 10 feet is inside "10ft or closer." No pool in a dedicated easement. Overhead service conductors do not pass above the pool or within 10 feet horizontally. Underground conductors do not pass under the pool or within 5 feet horizontally. The valuation for the pool permit leaves out electrical and plumbing. Those are separate permits.
After you file in CompassKC: review and IB104 inspections
File in CompassKC if you are following the permits page and the plan bulletin. Use the 5th floor of City Hall, 414 E. 12th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106, if you are following the permits page for a walk-in after the online application exists. The 15th floor is what the department contact block lists for City Planning and Development.
The hours to carry with you are 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM for the permit counter, with the Tuesday morning meeting and the homeowner line sitting in the exceptions list the page does not explain, and 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM for the department office and the code line. Pay when the permit page says the fee is due, which is before the permit is valid, and pay when the homeowner guide says to pay, which is after the approval email.
The review table is the 20-day, 10-day, 7-day, and 5-day rows, in business days, and IB100's seven business days for the residential submissions that bulletin describes. The pages say the figures are goals. They are not a promise for your address.
The inspection order is in Information Bulletin IB104, revised May 29, 2025. You need the permit type and number, the address, the inspection type, whether it is a reinspection, the date you want, and your name, company, and phone. Requests are taken all day and handed out once a day. A morning or afternoon request is something they will try to meet.
If you ask, they call about 30 minutes before they expect to arrive. The goal is that a request received before 4:00 PM is answered the next business day 95 percent of the time. A request after 4:00 PM is for the second business day. Concrete, a footing, a foundation, a garage slab, a basement slab, or a masonry throat is a two-hour effort if you call before 1:00 PM.
After 1:00 PM, it is scheduled between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM the next business day, and the bulletin says to talk to a person, not only to leave a request. Ninety-five percent is the bulletin's goal. It is not a promise that your footing is seen in two hours. The work has to be ready when you ask.
The lot needs a sign with the address or the lot number. Approved plans, including the site plan, stay on the job, or the inspection can be disapproved and a reinspection fee can be assessed. The amount is not printed. Plans are not required on site for a backfill, for a slab where the fill is not over 24 inches of compacted sand or gravel or 8 inches of compacted earth, or for an electrical service, a gas service, or plumbing groundwork.
The department page adds a different paper rule. A reinspection of an inspection after May 3, 2024, where a paper report was left on site, needs that paper report on site until further notice. A paper permit issued during a system outage has to be on the job until CompassKC issues the permanent number. No city page linked here says a house permit must be visible from the street.
The sequence in that bulletin is the footing before concrete, the foundation wall before concrete, groundwork before the base course is finished, the slab before concrete, backfill after the drain and the waterproofing, a throat inspection on a masonry fireplace before the chimney continues, a rough-in before insulation and drywall, electric and gas service, and a final before anyone lives there.
The heading on the final lists "Finial Inspection." The final wants the lot graded and stabilized, sidewalks, driveways, and trails done, and water, gas, and electric on. A temporary certificate of occupancy is available if the safety items are done and weather or something else blocks the grading or the walks. Erosion control stays up if the lot is not stable.
Third-party reports have to be in at least five business days before a final, or the final is not scheduled. Footing, foundation wall, slab, backfill, retaining wall, and a masonry throat may be done by an authorized third party under IB102. Reports are emailed to the applicant. The duty supervisor, then the inspections manager, then the building official, are the disagreement path, all at 816-513-1500.
Closing the permit is not one certificate for every job. The electrical page says that when the work matches the approved plans and the codes, a certificate of occupancy is issued, or a written approval is provided, and that a new or remodeled structure cannot be occupied until that certificate or approval is issued. The code-questions page says a certificate is not issued until the project is done and the structure may be occupied or used, and that not every certificate is for occupiable space.
The examples include a cell tower, a roller coaster, an uncovered porch, a deck, and a pool. CompassKC shows the certificate as a CICO. A signed historical copy is a records request, and the $36 fee plus staff time is the figure printed there. A deck doesn't get a certificate of occupancy just because the electrical page mentions one, and the code-questions page doesn't describe occupying a new house on a written approval. Ask which document they issued.
Expiration is more than one clock, and the code-questions page is the page that lists them. Approved plans are good for 180 days, which that page calls approximately 6 months, from the date of approval. Once the building permit is issued, the plan is locked to that approval. If work stops, the plan may expire because of the stoppage or because the city adopted a new code.
The grace period after a code change is "a determined number of days." The page does not list the number. An issued permit is good for 180 days from the date of approval. The sentence says "from the date of approval," and it also says "good for good for." If work is moving and inspections are happening, the 180 days extends automatically to the date of the last inspection.
If work stops, or the required inspections are not finished, the permit can expire, and the plans can expire with it. An application that is filed and not issued expires 180 days after the filing date unless it has been pursued in good faith or a permit has been issued. The page cites Section 18-19(a)2 and Section 18-19(c)1.
An extension is one or more periods, not exceeding 90 days each. The request is in writing. Email to cdpermits@kcmo.org is enough. You have to show a justifiable cause. The building official decides. Abandoned plans may be returned or destroyed. Starting again means new plans and a new plan-review fee under Section 18-20(c)1. Six months is the page's paraphrase of 180 days. Ninety days is the extension. It is not a second 180.
KCMO exempt-work quick check
| Project | Exempt from a building permit if… |
|---|---|
| Shed, playhouse, garage, or carport | One story, detached, projected roof area not over 200 sq ft |
| Deck or platform | Not over 30 inches above grade at any point and not over a basement or story below |
| Retaining wall | Not over 4 ft from grade on the low side, with no surcharge, flammable liquids, or adjacent public right-of-way |
| Fence | Listed as exempt (zoning rules still apply) |
| Reroofing a one- or two-family house | Light roof covering only; not sheathing, deck, or structural work |
| Walks, patios, driveways | Built on existing grade |
Source: KCMO Building Permit Exempt Work. Exempt work still has to meet the zoning and building codes.
A Kansas City pre-filing checklist
- Confirm the house is inside the city limits of Kansas City, Missouri. This is not Kansas City, Kansas, and it is not a Johnson County permit. The permit office on the permits page is the Permits Division, City Planning and Development, 5th floor, City Hall, 414 E. 12th Street, Kansas City, MO 64106, (816) 513-1500. The department contact block lists the 15th floor at the same street address. No city page linked here sends a house building permit in those city limits to a county building department. A platted lot split, on the code-questions page, goes to the county that has jurisdiction over the lots. The page does not name the county.
- Ordinary repair is the exempt-work list, not a shrug. Painting, cabinets, gutters, trim, a patch in drywall, and tuck-pointing are on it. A roof covering can be on it, and replacement of roof sheathing is both excluded by the reroofing item and allowed under 32 square feet by another item. The code-questions page allows no more than 32 square feet of decking with the new covering and the underlayment. Exactly 32 square feet is inside one sentence and outside another. More than 32 square feet needs a permit on that page, and the contractor sentences there name a business license, and a residential contractor license if rafters are replaced. Do not pick the sentence that lets you start.
- A shed of exactly 200 square feet of projected roof area can sit inside the building exemption only if it is also one story and detached and used as the accessory the item names. The code-questions page says less than 200, and greater than 200 needs a permit and, for a shed, a zoning variance. The garage bulletin caps a storage-shed footprint at 200 square feet in the districts it lists, allows a larger garage in those districts, and says the ordinance governs if they conflict. The city pages linked here don't include a 3-foot rear setback. The bulletin's side and rear number is 1 foot 6 inches, with an alley exception and a fire-rating note under 5 feet.
- A deck is not one rule. The building exemption is a platform or deck not exceeding 30 inches above grade at any point, and not over a basement or a story below. An uncovered open porch or deck can skip full plan review and still need a permit application with a site plan or a survey. A covered porch is not the 30-inch item. A permit fee for a deck is not a line the fee pages name.
- An occupying owner of a single-family house may apply for the trade permits if that owner does the work, on the electrical page. IB146 also lets unpaid family and friends do the work, lets an owner who will move in when the work is done sign the affidavit, and lets that owner hire unlicensed building subcontractors on the building permit while licensed electricians, plumbers, and mechanical contractors pull their own permits. A two-family house is licensed contractors for those trades, on the electrical page. A friend with a truck is not automatically your electrician. The limited-service seven-day rule is for licensed contractors, not for an owner who has not filed.
- Do not email a sketch and start demolition. File in CompassKC, or come to the 5th floor after the application exists. Drawings that need review are one PDF, to scale, noting the 2018 residential code and the 2021 energy code, with the survey in a second PDF unless a printed exception applies. The review table shows 20, 10, 7, and 5 business days for different rows. IB100 shows seven business days for the residential submissions it covers. An addition can be read on more than one row. The pages call these goals.
- The building-permit fee table did not load from the Section 18 link, and the two calculator files are not the same link. Do not write a building-permit check from this page. The dollars we did see are license fees in IB118, a possible $36 records fee for an old certificate, and a doubled plan fee for priority review that one- and two-family houses cannot use. The $100,000 figure is a valuation cut for paying the remainder of a fee. It is not the fee.
Historic Preservation Commission review in Kansas City
If your house is in a local district or on the Kansas City Register, the Historic Preservation Commission gets a say before the Permits Division does. Here is how the city's design-review page describes that step.
What gets reviewed
If your property is listed on the Kansas City Register of Historic Places, the Historic Preservation Commission must review any exterior change that will be visible from the public right-of-way. The city's page is direct about the order: you can't get a building permit until the commission approves the application and issues a Certificate of Appropriateness (KCMO: Historic Design Review).
The standard is the city's Urban Design Guidelines, written for renovations to designated residential properties and based on the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. The same page links three supplements: fences and walls, trees and planting beds, and sustainability. If you're planning any energy upgrade on a side of the house people can see from the street, read the sustainability supplement first.
Staff approval or a hearing
Not every certificate goes to a commission meeting. The city publishes a Design Review Table that sorts types of work into those staff can approve administratively and those placed on an upcoming commission agenda. Required submission materials depend on the scope of the project. The page also says every application has to be submitted through CompassKC, the same portal used for permits.
The city's step-by-step CompassKC guide for a Certificate of Appropriateness has two practical tips. You choose the administrative or regular application depending on the review type, and if you aren't sure which one you need, it says to call the Historic Preservation Office at 816-513-2902. When you add the project address, skip any search result marked "ROW," because those addresses are in the street, not on your lot (KCMO: Applying for a Certificate of Appropriateness in CompassKC, PDF).
A short checklist for a house in a Kansas City district
- Confirm whether the house is on the Kansas City Register or in a local district before you design anything visible from the street.
- Read the Urban Design Guidelines and the supplement that matches your project: fence, trees, or sustainability.
- Check the Design Review Table to see whether your work is administrative or goes to the commission, or call 816-513-2902.
- File the Certificate of Appropriateness in CompassKC with the submission materials the city lists for your type of project.
- Apply for the building permit after the certificate is issued, not before.
Last checked: October 2026.
FAQ
Can a homeowner pull a building permit in Kansas City, Missouri?
Yes, if you meet IB146. A homeowner-occupant may get a building permit without a residential contractor license and may direct building-trade subcontractors who aren't otherwise required to be licensed. You sign an affidavit as part of the filing.
Do I need a permit for a shed in KCMO?
Not for a one-story detached shed whose projected roof area does not exceed 200 square feet. Larger sheds need a building permit, and the code-questions page says they also need a Board of Zoning Adjustment variance and plan review.
Do I need a permit to replace a light switch or outlet?
The exempt-work page says replacing snap switches, receptacles, and fixtures (other than ceiling fans) doesn't need an electrical permit when no circuit is altered or extended.
Where do I file?
Online in CompassKC. The permit counter is on the 5th floor of City Hall, 414 E. 12th Street, and the phone is (816) 513-1500.
Across State Line Road: permits in Kansas City, Kansas
A Kansas City mailing address doesn't tell you which permit office you're dealing with. Everything above is Kansas City, Missouri. If the house is on the Kansas side, the permit comes from the Building Inspection division of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, based at the Neighborhood Resource Center, 4953 State Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66102 (UG: Building Inspection). CompassKC, the KCMO bulletins, and the Missouri fee schedule don't apply there.
The Kansas side runs on email. The UG permits page says homeowner and contractor applications are emailed to the Building Inspection division, in messages of 25 MB or less. Every residential application needs scaled drawings. A sealed plot plan is also required for a new house, a room addition, a swimming pool, or an accessory structure, but not for interior alterations or repairs that leave the footprint alone (UG: Building Inspection Permits & Requirements).
The fee formula is printed on that same page. For a project valued up to $30,000, it's a $30 base fee plus $0.75 for every $100 of work. A $20,000 deck comes out to $30 + (200 × $0.75) = $180. Above $30,000, it's $255 plus $0.50 per $100 over $30,000. Inspections are booked at (913) 573-8620 with 24 hours' notice. The stamped plans and the survey have to be on site. Re-inspections cost $100 the first time, then $150, $225, and $337.50 (UG fee schedule and inspection rules).
The sewer line splits on the Kansas side too. Building Inspection checks the run from the house to the property line. The section in the right-of-way needs its own permit from the Water Pollution Control Department, which the UG lists at (913) 573-5400.
Official sources
- City Planning and Development Department, including the 15th-floor contact block, office hours, and the parcel-viewer link
- Permits Division, including the 5th floor, walk-in hours, and the fee-schedule pointer
- Building permit exempt work, including Section 18-16 as that page lists it
- CompassKC, including the homeowner permit guide
- Electrical, plumbing, and mechanical permits
- Code questions, including roofs, sheds, fences, driveways, and the 180-day clocks
- Plans review, including the survey rule and the turnaround table
- Building and rehabilitation code, including the 2018 codes and the 2021 energy code
- Building and development fee schedule
- Contractor licensing
- BizCare contractor licensing, including the business-license steps
- Information bulletin index
- IB100, one- and two-family plan submittal
- IB104, one- and two-family inspections
- IB108, limited service and repair
- IB118, contractor licensing
- IB119, residential swimming pools
- IB121, zoning for one- and two-family houses and additions
- IB122, zoning for detached garages and sheds
- IB129, fences and walls
- IB146, homeowner affidavit
- IB170, accessory dwelling units
- CompassKC homeowner permit guide, 2020
- Plumbing permits and water service line permits
- KCMO: Historic Design Review
- KCMO: Applying for a Certificate of Appropriateness in CompassKC (PDF)
- Unified Government of Wyandotte County/KCK: Building Inspection
- UG: Building Inspection Permits & Requirements, with the fee table and inspection rules
Next steps for a Kansas City project
Not sure the job needs a permit at all? Start with do I need a building permit, in plain English, or use the permit checker. Other cities are listed on building permits by city.
For a typical deck or shed, the general limits are in our deck permit guide and shed size limits, and how much a building permit costs shows how other cities set their fees. On the Missouri side, the Permits Division bulletins above are the ones that count.
PermitCove has no connection to the City of Kansas City, Missouri, or its City Planning and Development Department. Only the Permits Division can issue your permit, set your fee, or approve your plans.
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