Las Vegas Building Permits: When You Need One and What to File

Short answer: in the City of Las Vegas, you need a Building and Safety permit before regulated construction or electrical, gas, mechanical, or plumbing changes. The code exempts finish work, one-story sheds up to 200 square feet, and low platforms. Henderson, North Las Vegas, and unincorporated Clark County have their own offices.

If you own a house in the City of Las Vegas and the next job is a patio cover, a new circuit, or a room on the back, the office that takes the building permit is Building and Safety.

The October 2025 homeowner flyer calls it the Building and Safety Division, under the Department of Community Development, while permit forms and the issuance sheet use Department of Building and Safety, and the live department page is titled Building and Safety. Henderson, North Las Vegas, and unincorporated Clark County run their own building offices, and the city's apply screen asks you to verify that the address is in the city, so don't use this page for a house outside the City of Las Vegas.

PermitCove is an independent guide with no tie to the City of Las Vegas, and nothing here approves your project. The city and Nevada pages behind each rule are linked at the end; fees and forms change, so check them on the live Building and Safety pages before you pay.

Last verified: October 4, 2026, against the City of Las Vegas and Nevada pages linked below.

City of Las Vegas Building and Safety

A house permit is a City of Las Vegas Building and Safety permit. The department page says the 2019 City of Las Vegas Administrative Code is still the rule for how permits are issued and inspected. That code says you need the permit from the Building Official before you erect, enlarge, alter, repair, move, or demolish a building the code regulates, and before you install or change an electrical, gas, mechanical, or plumbing system the code regulates. Commercial construction is a different door. The building-permits page says only a Nevada licensed contractor may obtain a building permit for commercial construction.

The pages do not agree on one counter address. The longer homeowner guide, still linked from the city's forms list, says staff are at 333 N. Rancho Drive, Monday through Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., except Wednesday, when it says questions start at 7:30 a.m. The issuance sheet, marked revised January 2021, does not list Rancho Drive and does not list a Wednesday exception.

It says customer service is Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., at 702-229-6251, press 0, or buildinginfo@lasvegasnevada.gov. It says you can pay in person at the Customer Care Center, 500 S. Main Street, Las Vegas, NV 89101, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The live department page says you can book a priority appointment with a technician at the front counter at City Hall, 495 S.

Main St. The fee-estimator page lists the same City Hall lobby, First Floor, 495 S. Main Street, 89101, and the same 702-229-6251. The city pages linked here don't include Friday hours. Call 702-229-6251 and ask which counter has the homeowner window that day.

Other numbers sit on the building-permits page. Permit technicians are listed at 702-229-1081, and the page's email for that line resolves to techs@lasvegasnevada.gov. Customer service is 702-229-6251, and that inbox is BuildingInfo@LasVegasNevada.gov. The capital letters are not consistent from PDF to PDF. If a message bounces, call. The same page lists a dispatch number, 702-229-6914. The October 2025 flyer adds a zoning and setbacks number, 702-229-6301. The department landing page doesn't include that zoning number. Use it for the question the flyer assigns to it, which is zoning and setbacks, not for paying a permit.

The city pages also do not agree on one director's name. An older online-permits sheet names Kevin T. McOsker. The longer homeowner guide's chart names Christopher Knight. A July 16, 2025 industry notice is signed by Michael Cunningham as Building Official. A May 2026 contact list names a deputy director and, in the administration block, does not list a director line. Call the main number.

Las Vegas permit triggers: Section 301.4 and the homeowner guides

The broad rule is Administrative Code section 301.1. No owner or agent starts regulated construction, or a regulated electrical, gas, mechanical, or plumbing change, until the Building Official has issued the permit. The code's exception is narrow. Emergency repairs of building service equipment that serves an occupied part of the building can be done, and then run temporarily, if you file for the permit and the inspection not more than one business day after the replacement, and before any of that equipment is concealed. That is not a grace period for a patio you already decided to build.

The city does not list one sentence called "ordinary repair." What it lists is a list of work that does not need a permit, in section 301.4, and two homeowner flyers that do not match that list or each other. The code says an exemption is not permission to build in violation of the technical codes or other city rules. A small shed can skip the building permit and still be in the wrong place under zoning.

The October 2025 flyer, the file named When-do-I-need-a-permit-English-10-2025, is the shorter required-work list. It says permits and plans are required if you add to the structure, add a new structure, or open interior or exterior walls, and if you reconfigure a room, garage, patio, or balcony into something new. Its examples are a loft, enclosing a loft, and converting a garage to habitable space. It does not reprint a "you can skip the permit" list. The longer guide, still on the forms page, does. Where the flyer, the longer guide, and section 301.4 disagree, all three are still sitting there. Do not pick the sentence that lets you start.

Finish work is the calmest line. Section 301.4 says painting, papering, cabinets, countertops, similar finish work, and floor covering do not need a permit, with an exception it lists for trim and decorative work. The longer guide lists painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets, countertops, and interior wall, floor, or ceiling covering. The October 2025 flyer does not mention finish work at all. The new flyer's silence on paint doesn't create a new requirement for paint.

Sheds are a real split on the number 200. Section 301.4 exempts a one-story detached single-family accessory building used as a tool and storage shed, a playhouse, or a similar use, when the floor area does not exceed 200 square feet. That sentence includes a shed of exactly 200. It also says the exemption does not eliminate zoning.

The longer guide's required list says a carport, garage, or shed of more than 200 square feet. Its exempt list says a non-habitable one-story detached accessory structure, including a storage structure or playhouse, when the floor area does not exceed 200 square feet and there are no electrical, plumbing, or mechanical improvements. The October 2025 flyer says a permit and plans are required to build, demolish, or move a carport, garage, or shed of 200 square feet or larger.

"Or larger" pulls exactly 200 onto the required list. The code's "does not exceed 200" leaves exactly 200 on the exempt list. If the floor is 200 square feet on the nose, call 702-229-6251 and write down what they say for that address. A second story is not in the code's exemption. The exemption is one story.

Playhouses are only half covered. The code and the longer guide put them in the 200-square-foot accessory sentence. The October 2025 flyer does not mention playhouses. No city page linked here says every playhouse is exempt with no size.

Decks are still not one sentence. Both homeowner guides say a permit is required to build a deck more than 30 inches above grade. "More than 30 inches" does not, by itself, pull in a deck whose walking surface is exactly 30. Section 301.4 exempts platforms, walks, driveways, and similar exterior flatwork not more than 30 inches above grade, not over any basement or story below, and not part of an accessible route.

"Not more than 30" includes exactly 30, if the other conditions are true. The flyers do not mention the basement or the accessible route. If someone has to use the platform as the accessible route, or it sits over a basement, call before you set the posts. The city pages linked here don't include a city deck handout that lists guards, joist spans, or footing depth. Those numbers are not in this guide.

Patios are not small decks. Both flyers say a permit is required to build a patio or enclose an existing patio. The code does not have a matching "every patio" line. A patio cover has its own application, described below. No city page linked here says every open porch needs a permit. Do not borrow the patio line and rename it a porch rule, and do not assume an open porch is free.

Walls are three measurements, not one. The October 2025 flyer says a permit is required for a retaining wall more than 30 inches high, and for a block wall more than 30 inches high. The longer guide says a retaining wall more than 2 feet high, and a block wall more than 2 feet high. Two feet is 24 inches, not 30. The longer guide's exempt list measures a retaining wall from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, not over 2 feet, unless the wall supports a surcharge.

Section 301.4 exempts any wall, including a retaining wall, that is not over 30 inches, measured from the low finished grade to the grade on the opposite side. That exemption does not apply if the wall supports a surcharge, retains flammable liquids, or is a wall of combined materials that exceeds 30 inches. Grade-to-grade is not the same as footing-to-top.

Fences are worse. The October 2025 flyer says a permit is required for a fence of ornamental iron or wood over seven feet high. "Over seven feet" leaves a fence of exactly 7 feet off that required line. Section 301.4 exempts fencing not over 7 feet high, "except for those fences within the front setback of a single family dwelling and those that are not a part of a pool or spa barrier."

We are quoting that exception as printed. Read one way, it removes the exemption from front-yard fences and from fences that are not pool barriers, which would make the 7-foot exemption almost useless. The longer guide says fences not over 2 feet high do not need a permit, unless the fence is a barrier around a swimming pool.

It says a pool barrier is required for a pool, hot tub, spa, or similar structure, over 4 feet of water depth, built after November 21, 1990. A 2-foot exemption and a 7-foot exemption are not the same rule. The hosted zoning chapter points fence standards to section 19.12.075.

A single extra course on a block wall is its own line, and the pages almost agree. Both flyers say a permit is not required to add one course to an existing block wall if the finished height does not exceed the maximum Title 19 allows. The city's single-course guideline says a permit is not required for one course when that course sits on the original construction and no earlier course was added.

It does not mention the Title 19 height cap. It says more than one course needs a permit and structural calculations from a Nevada licensed civil or structural engineer. The Title 19 cap still applies even though the guideline leaves it out, and so does the "original construction" condition the shorter flyer skips.

Roofs do not match either. The October 2025 flyer says a permit and plans are required to add new roofing or install new sheathing when the area is greater than 64 square feet, and also when tile is installed in place of, or over, an existing roof covering. Section 301.4 exempts replacement of roof covering materials other than tile, if no structural component is repaired or replaced and no more than 64 square feet of roof sheathing is replaced.

The longer guide says a permit is required when all of the old roofing is removed or new sheathing is installed, and when tile goes on in place of or over what is there. "All of the old roofing" is wider than "greater than 64 square feet." The live no-plan list, below, is a third sentence.

A few other building exemptions are on the code, the longer guide, or both. Window awnings on a one- or two-family house, projecting not more than 54 inches, are on the code. The longer guide lists swings and playground equipment. The code says non-motorized outdoor playground equipment. The longer guide says prefabricated swimming pools whose walls are entirely above adjacent grade do not need a permit, and that barrier rules are not exempt.

The code's pool line is an on-ground storable pool, as that phrase is used in the swimming-pool code, accessory to a single-family dwelling, walls entirely above grade. Portable spas with the equipment built in, entirely above grade, accessory to a single-family house, are on the code. Door and window replacements are on the longer guide when no structural member is altered. The code is tighter.

A replacement door has to be the same size and type, with no change to the wall framing, and the existing door cannot be part of a fire-resistive assembly. Replacement glazing has to be the same size, type, and thickness, with no framing change, and not part of a fire-resistive assembly. The October 2025 flyer requires a permit to cut a new window or door opening or to widen an existing one. A same-size swap is not a widened opening.

Minor stucco and drywall repair is on the code, with conditions. No framing replacement, the stucco repair not over 32 square feet, and the repair is not a fire-resistance-rated assembly that depends on more than one layer of drywall or on special fire-stopping. The residential submittal sheet says owner-builders cannot apply one-coat stucco. That is an application limit, not an exemption.

Las Vegas owner-builder permits vs. a Nevada-licensed contractor

Nevada law and the city's issuance rules are not the same paragraph. NRS 624.031, subsection 5, as posted by the Nevada Legislature, says the contractor-licensing chapter does not apply to an owner who is building or improving a residential structure on the property for that owner's own occupancy, and not intended for sale or lease. Sale, lease, or offering the newly built structure for sale or lease within one year after completion creates a rebuttable presumption that the work was done with that intent. The owner who wants the exemption has to apply to the State Contractors' Board. The Board adopts the rules for granting it.

NAC 624.015 says the owner submits an Owner-Builder Disclosure Statement to the Board and to the local building official who issues the permit. If the statement is complete, accurate, and signed under penalty of perjury, the Board will approve it. Unless the Board notifies the applicant within 10 days that the exemption is denied, it is deemed approved. The city's residential submittal sheet says the owner-builder affidavit has to be filled out completely and "HAVE approved" if you pull the permit as an owner-builder. "Have approved" and "deemed approved after 10 days unless they say no" are not the same instruction. Do both things the pages actually name. Do not skip the Board because the city also wants a form.

The affidavit the city hosts is a Nevada State Contractors Board form, revised June 2021. It quotes the subsection 5 occupancy language, and then it tells you to complete the affidavit if you want the exemption in NRS 624.031, subsection 4. The owner-occupancy exemption is numbered 5, not 4. Read the box you sign. The form says you will not sell or lease, you will not hire an unlicensed person as your contractor, agent, or construction manager, you will directly supervise the work, subcontractors will be licensed, and anyone who is not a licensed contractor works under your supervision and is your employee, with the payroll and industrial-insurance duties the form lists.

The signature line says "Location of Single Family Residence." The statute says "residential structure." The longer city guide says the exemption applies mainly to single-family homes and does not apply to condominiums or apartments. That "mainly" is the city's guide, not a word in subsection 5.

The city's issuance sheet, revised January 2021, is a third version. It says a residential permit can be issued to an owner-builder if it is the primary residence, or to a licensed contractor. It says a residence owned by an LLC does not qualify for the Contractors Board exemption and needs a contractor. "Primary residence" is not the phrase in NRS 624.031.

The LLC sentence is not in the statute text. If the house is in an LLC, or it is not the place you live, ask before you check the owner-builder box. After the fees are paid, the sheet says the owner-builder permit is issued only after proof of ownership. That is usually done at intake. It can be done at issuance by emailing the deed or the escrow paperwork to buildinginfo@lasvegasnevada.gov.

The longer guide says that, along with homeowners working on their own homes, only licensed plumbers and electricians may legally do plumbing or electrical work in Nevada. If you hire the trades, the issuance rules say the contractor has to be licensed, and a commercial permit is issued only to that contractor. A house is not commercial. The owner-builder path above is the house path, and it is still not a license.

Applying online in Las Vegas: plans and the plot plan

There are two front doors, and the browser note does not match. Permits on the city's no-plan list start at LasVegasNevada.gov/ApplyForPermit. The 2025 instruction sheet says you must use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. You choose Building Contractor or Residential Owner Builder, enter the address with the number and the street name in different boxes and without the suffix, and click verify address.

If the address is in the City of Las Vegas, you continue. You pick the permit type. If the scope is not on the list, the sheet says you apply with plans on the citizen portal. You review, pay, and print a copy. The live Online Permits List page says those listed permits do not require a plan and will be issued at the end of the online submission, and that any other work requires a plan.

That live list and an older "list of online permits" PDF do not match. Use the live page for what you can file tonight, and know the PDF is still on the server. The live page says minor electrical of 12 devices or less can go through without plans, and that a dedicated circuit to a fixed appliance, such as a dryer or a dishwasher, needs plans. The PDF says 5 devices or less, and that a dedicated circuit needs plans.

The live page says a water heater, same for same, including tankless. The PDF says tankless water heaters are not allowed online. The live page says residential re-roofing without plans is tile to tile, or greater than 64 square feet of structural sheathing. The PDF says same-for-same tear-off, and only two layers of shingles. The PDF lists a residential photovoltaic system by the kilowatt. The live list does not. If the job is a sixth device, or a tankless water heater, trust the conflict enough to call before you assume the PDF still controls.

The live no-plan list also includes, for commercial and residential work, water and sewer repairs with no new connections, an electric meter tag or a panel or service change, a gas-line repair or tag, an exact HVAC change-out or repair, miscellaneous repair including drainage or vent piping, water-piping replacement, and water softeners including piping. It says to schedule a 231 inspection for a service change. For residential exterior work it lists three-coat stucco, and one-coat stucco with a certified contractor applicator card, over 32 square feet. A no-plan permit is still a permit. It is not the exemption list in section 301.4.

Everything else is plans, and the plan path is the dashboard at LasVegasNevada.gov/Dashboard. The how-to sheet says you must use Google Chrome. That is narrower than the no-plan sheet, which allows Edge. The ePlan requirements sheet also says Chrome. Create the account, open the activation email from donotreply@lasvegasnevada.gov, and set the password. The sheet says that email is only good for 7 days. Check spam. Then choose Building, then Building Permits with Plans, then Apply.

Put the street number and the street name in different fields. The sheet says not to type anything in the Direction field. Verify the address. Upload the completed application and the plans. Pay the $55 admin fee the sheet says is charged to enter the review queue. Status comes by email. That $55 is not the whole permit fee. The July 1, 2021 fee table, still linked from the resources page, lists a $55 permit issuance fee at submittal for online permits or for paper permits. Ask if both lines show up on the invoice.

The building-permits page says that effective January 1, 2020, all new commercial, residential, and civil plans must be submitted electronically. The department page says the same "must," and it dates the electronic rule to January 1, 2026. The practical instruction on the sheets is to submit on the dashboard. The ePlan sheet says an owner-builder with paper plans can get help, and that the city will accept paper only when there are fewer than 20 sheets.

It says scanning can add up to a one-week delay, the plan-review clock does not start until the plans are processed and the plan-check fees are paid, and the fee is $110 to collate and digitize plus $3.00 a sheet. That is a scanning service. It is not a walk-up paper review.

What you upload depends on the work. The residential submittal guideline says an application is not accepted until the checked items are in it. For an addition, an interior remodel, a garage conversion, and several other residential types, it wants the residential building application, the owner-builder affidavit if that is how you are filing, a site plan, and construction drawings.

The site plan shows property lines, existing and proposed structures, projections, setbacks, adjacent roads, driveways, and easements. Drawings are to scale. The guideline says a Nevada registered architect or engineer must draw, stamp, sign, and date each sheet, and that a Nevada licensed contractor may also draw plans. It also says the city does not accept unstamped plans.

Section 302.2 of the administrative code is softer. If the plans were not prepared by an architect or engineer, the Building Official may require you to show that state law does not require a design professional, and the Building Official may require one. The ePlan sheet says architects, contractors, and owner-builders can use an electronic signature, and that engineers have to use a digital signature under the state engineering board rules, signed but not certified, because a certified file locks the reviewer out.

Sheet size is another small conflict. The residential guideline says fully dimensioned drawings not to exceed 42 by 30 inches. The ePlan sheet says landscape sheets in standard architectural sizes, and it gives 11 by 17 and 24 by 36 as examples. Each discipline is its own PDF. Zip files, PDF packages, and PDF portfolios are rejected. Locked files are incomplete. Results are posted at LasVegasNevada.gov/CheckStatus. Corrections wait until all reviews are done, and then the whole discipline goes back as one PDF, with the correction form and a written narrative.

Structural calculations are required on the guideline when you are not using a standard drawing from the city or from SNBO, and they have to be digitally signed. A soils report less than a year old is required, the guideline says, for structures larger than 599 square feet. The same sheet later says a soil report for new structures of 600 square feet or greater. Truss calculations are submitted with the application or as a deferred submittal. Energy calculations on that guideline are still labeled 2018 International Energy Conservation Code, through REScheck. That label is a problem, and it is in the codes section below. One-coat stucco, again, needs an approved applicator. The guideline says owner-builders cannot apply those systems.

The department page lists review times: 3 weeks for routine non-structural reviews, 3 weeks for routine structural reviews, 2 weeks for land-development review of building permits, and 3 weeks for fire review of building permits. They are not a date for the dumpster. A counter-review guideline offers a shorter path for minor work, reviewed within one business day after submission, if you write "Counter Review" in the scope and the job fits.

Structural parts of that submittal have to be done by a Nevada licensed engineer. A licensed contractor has to be selected, except that an owner-builder may use counter review for minor work at a private residence the owner owns and occupies. The list includes residential room additions or modifications less than 600 square feet, engineered residential patio covers, balconies, casitas, and carports, residential swimming pools, and storage sheds and gazebos with engineering.

It is not a same-day promise for a whole-house remodel. The department page also offers express plan review, by appointment, with plans submitted before you schedule. The building-permits page says the express cost is a non-refundable $550 administrative fee and $660 per hour, over and above the regular plan-review fees, and that a pre-review appointment starts at $176 per hour, scheduled at 702-229-6251. The department page says to schedule express with the permit technicians at 702-229-1081 or techs@lasvegasnevada.gov. Same service, two phones. Call one, and if they send you to the other, that is the answer.

You do not start because you clicked submit. Section 303.1 says the Building Official issues the permit when the submittal conforms and the fees in section 304 are paid. When plans were required, they are stamped or marked reviewed for code compliance, and the work follows those plans. Section 303.2 says one set of approved plans stays on the site while the work is in progress.

Section 303.4 says the permit expires if the work has not commenced within 180 days after issuance, documented by a passed or partial-passed inspection. Each passed or partial-passed inspection extends the permit 180 days. The patio-cover application lists a shorter version: the permit expires 180 days after abandonment, and building permits expire 180 days after issuance if no passed inspection is performed.

"Partial-passed" is in the code and not on that application line, and the code's wording still applies. An extension or a renewal is a written request. The renewal instruction sheet says an owner-builder's letter includes the permit number, why it expired, and the expected completion date, and that the letter goes to techs@lasvegasnevada.gov. Plan review itself expires, under section 304.2.2, if no permit is issued within 180 days after the most recent technical review, with one extension the Building Official can grant.

Las Vegas fees, including the Clark County taxes on the estimator

Section 304 says fees are whatever the City Council has adopted in the current fee schedule. The resources page still links a schedule titled 2020 Building User Fees, effective July 1, 2021. The pages of that file also print April 27, 2020 in the footer. The city pages linked here don't include a later building-permit table that replaces those dollar lines. Section 304.6 says the Building Official may raise adopted fees each year by the Western urban consumer price index.

"May" is the word. We did not apply an index, and we did not invent 2026 building-permit prices. The figures below are the July 1, 2021 table. They are not a quote for your address. The fee estimator says the same thing in plainer language: do not use the estimate as the amount on the check. The final fees are calculated when you apply. Zoning, sewer connection, and other impact fees are not inside that building-permit estimate.

On Table 3-A, a single-family custom or model house, fee line 64, lists plan-check and inspection amounts by size. At 1,000 square feet the table lists $500 plan check and $933 inspection. At 2,500 square feet, $1,200 and $1,649. At 5,000 square feet, $1,300 and $3,282. At 7,000 square feet, $1,700 and $4,304.

At 10,000 square feet, $2,500 and $5,834. A single-family addition, line 67, lists $168 and $361 at 200 square feet, $308 and $641 at 500, $467 and $938 at 1,000, $617 and $1,074 at 1,400, and $797 and $1,359 at 2,000. A remodel with mechanical, plumbing, and electrical, line 68, lists $64 and $227 at 200 square feet, $127 and $337 at 500, $162 and $523 at 1,000, $200 and $628 at 1,400, and $262 and $771 at 2,000.

A remodel without those trades, line 69, lists $64 and $188 at 200, $127 and $257 at 500, $162 and $389 at 1,000, $200 and $457 at 1,400, and $262 and $550 at 2,000. The production or repeat single-family rows did not show a plan-check amount in the text we could read.

Table 3-E, same effective date, is the miscellaneous list. A deck or balcony, each, lists $176 plan check and $290 permit or inspection. A prefabricated carport, canopy, patio cover, or shade structure, each, lists $93 and $156. A custom one lists $116 and $254. Residential re-roofing lists $68 and $119. A private residential garage lists $230 and $353 for the first 1,000 square feet, then $31 and $100 for each additional 500 square feet.

A wood, chain-link, or wrought-iron fence or wall lists $82 and $114. Inspection re-fees print $125. Express plan check on that table lists $550 admin and $660 per hour, which matches the express dollars on the live building-permits page. The issuance sheet says residential payments can be check, cash, money order, or debit or credit card, online at LasVegasNevada.gov/PayPermit or in person at 500 S. Main Street.

Other charges on the current estimator page are not those building-permit lines. It lists a residential construction tax, habitable space only, effective January 1, 2024, of 1 percent of construction valuation or $1,000 per dwelling unit in apartments or condominiums, whichever is less. A January 1, 2024 industry notice lists the residential construction tax as 1 percent of construction valuation or $1,000 per dwelling unit, whichever is less, and it does not limit that sentence to apartments and condominiums.

It also lists, under the heading Clark County Transportation Tax Act, $1,000 per single-family dwelling, a privileged tax of $1.00 per square foot for commercial, industrial, and other development, and a traffic impact fee of $195 per single dwelling, with exceptions reviewed by Traffic Engineering. That tax is named on a City of Las Vegas page. It is not the City of Las Vegas building-permit fee, and it is not a statement that Clark County issues your building permit.

Desert conservation on the same estimator is $550 per acre or portion of an acre, plus a $58 administration fee, for commercial and residential. The sign tag fee on that page is $0.50 per square foot of sign area. A house that is not a sign can ignore that line.

Sewer connection is a separate schedule. The sheet linked from the estimator is titled effective January 1, 2026, based on an ERU of $3,235. A single-family dwelling is 1.00 ERU, $3,235 per dwelling unit. A duplex is the same per dwelling unit. A guest quarters or casita is 0.60 ERU, $1,941 per structure. The footer of that PDF says revised December 2, 2024, and the file path listed on it refers to a 2025 form.

The header and the estimator both say January 1, 2026, and $3,235. The January 1, 2024 industry notice printed a sewer rate of $2,753 per ERU. No city page linked here says every bathroom remodel owes a new sewer connection. Do not add $3,235 to a faucet because this paragraph exists.

If you start work before you have the permit, section 301.1 authorizes an added fee on a graduated scale, with double fees as the minimum, plus an investigation fee if a technical officer has to inspect the site. The printed scale is double permit fees plus an investigation fee on a first offense, up to triple plus an investigation fee on a second, and up to quadruple plus an investigation fee after that.

Section 304.4 says the investigation fee equals the permit fee, and that paying it does not excuse the work. The building-permits page also describes a year-round amnesty program. A homeowner can self-disclose unpermitted or non-code work and, the page says, not face penalties for the required plan-review and permit fees. The email on that page is BuildingInfo@LasVegasNevada.gov, or call 702-229-6251. Amnesty is the self-disclose path. It is not a claim that the graduated scale disappeared for work the city finds on its own.

Refunds are in section 304.5. The Building Official may refund a fee paid by mistake. A written request from the original permittee or designer has to be filed not later than 180 days after payment. Administrative fees and zoning plan-check fees collected for Planning are not refunded. Plan-examination fees can be refunded up to 80 percent if no examination time has been spent, and not at all if any time has been spent.

Permit fees can be refunded up to 80 percent if no work has been done and no inspection time has been spent, and the request is inside 180 days. Nothing is refunded once work has been done or inspection time has been spent. A temporary certificate of occupancy, in section 308.5.1, is $250 or the fee in the current adopted schedule.

Las Vegas zoning and setbacks (Title 19)

A building permit is not the zoning decision. The building-permits page says that before construction there is a planning process that may include zoning, aesthetic review, variances, and permit approval. The October 2025 flyer tells you to call 702-229-6301 for zoning and setbacks. There is no single front-yard number that fits every house.

The city hosts a Chapter 19.08 development-standards PDF. The file's own footer says March 1997. Ordinance notes on the accessory and patio pages run through 2007. The PDF metadata date is March 25, 2010. The setback tables in that file are by zoning district, and the way the columns extracted, footnote marks were mixed into the cells, so this guide does not take a front-yard figure from it.

What the prose in that chapter does say, for accessory structures in residential districts, is this. You do not put an accessory structure on the lot before the main building unless a building permit for the main building has already been issued. A detached accessory structure is limited to two stories, and to 35 feet or the height of the main building, whichever is less.

The total floor area of all accessory structures is not more than 50 percent of the floor area of the principal dwelling. The ground floor of accessory buildings is not more than 50 percent of the rear yard, and lot-coverage caps still apply where the district has them. In the rear yard, a detached accessory structure other than a patio cover is at least 3 feet from the side and rear property lines and at least 6 feet from the main dwelling.

On a corner lot, it cannot sit closer to the side street line than the main dwelling's required setback. In the side yard, the same 3-foot and 6-foot separations apply, again excluding patio covers. Detached accessory structures are not allowed in front of the primary structure, except a side-loaded garage used only as an accessory.

No setback is required on a property line that abuts an alley. The structure has to be aesthetically compatible with the house. It may contain rooms, and it may not contain a kitchen except a Class I accessory structure as that title defines it.

Patio covers, in that same chapter, may come to within 5 feet of the rear and side property lines in the R-D, R-1, R-CL, R-2, R-3, R-4, R-5, R-MH, and R-MHP districts, and to within 15 feet in the U, R-A, and R-E districts. Other residential districts are told to match the principal-structure setback. A patio cover may not enter a required corner side yard.

The setback is measured to the posts. The overhang may not come closer than 3 feet to a property line. A cover that uses the reduced setback may not be enclosed with wood, metal, canvas, plastic, glass, or any other screening. An enclosed cover has to meet the main dwelling's setbacks. Height is not over 12 feet. Those are the chapter's sentences. They are not a survey of your lot. Call 702-229-6301 with the address before you order posts. Master-planned areas can have their own standards.

Eaves, on that chapter, may project no more than 2 feet into a required setback, and they still have to stay at least 3 feet from the property line, and they cannot add living space at the floor. That is one document. The city pages linked here don't include a second official eaves number to set beside it. If a reviewer cites a different one, write that down. Do not average it with 2 feet.

Room additions in Las Vegas

An addition is construction. The October 2025 flyer lists "add a room" as work that needs a permit and plans. The residential submittal guideline has an addition column: application, affidavit if you are the owner-builder, site plan, construction drawings, structural engineering or a standard drawing, and the energy calculations the sheet still labels as 2018. A soils report comes in under the size lines above, larger than 599 square feet on one line of that sheet and 600 square feet or greater on the other. Counter review, if you qualify, includes room additions and modifications less than 600 square feet, with the engineer requirement for structural work, at a house you own and occupy.

The drawings have to show the existing house and the new work. Name the rooms. Show doors and windows. The electrical notes on the guideline say load calculations for an addition or alteration can be skipped if you are adding 12 devices or less. That is a calculation waiver on that sheet. It is not a permit waiver. Twelve new devices can still be the "plans required" side of the live no-plan list if they are not the minor-electrical permit, and a dedicated circuit still needs plans on that list.

A garage turned into living space is an addition of habitable space, not a paint job. Both flyers use it as an example of reconfiguration that needs a permit. The garage-conversion guideline wants a site plan with the distance from the property lines to the building on every side, the intended use circled as bedroom or as family room or office, and the garage-door opening filled in by one of the two options on its detail.

It asks for energy calculations signed by an architect, a contractor, or the homeowner, or digitally signed by an engineer, or else insulation it lists as R-20 or R-13 plus R-5 continuous in exterior walls, and R-38 above the ceiling where there is no conditioned space above, citing IECC Table R402.1.2. The guideline does not say which edition of that table it is using.

The July 16, 2025 code notice says an initial submittal on or after January 5, 2026, is designed to the 2024 codes, including the 2024 energy code. The guideline's R-values don't replace the 2024 table, but don't ignore the guideline either. Submit what the reviewer asks for on that edition.

The same guideline lists light and exit rules that are easy to miss. For a family room or office it wants glazing of 8 percent of the floor area, with the openable part at least half of the window unless a ventilation rate it lists is met, and artificial light of 6 foot-candles. For a bedroom it wants smoke and carbon monoxide alarms inside and outside each sleeping room, tied to the building wiring, with battery backup.

Bedroom glazing is again 8 percent, openable at least half. Emergency escape is a window of at least 5 square feet, at least 24 inches net clear height and 20 inches net clear width, or a door. A fuel-burning water heater that ends up inside the converted garage may need a closet with a listed gasketed self-closing door and outside combustion air, and the sheet says a full plan set may be required. The inspector may require access holes to see concealed work. That comes from the guideline, which does not replace the code book.

Zoning for the addition is the district, not a number we are willing to invent from a 2010 table. If the addition is also a patio that you enclose, the chapter above says an enclosed patio cover loses the reduced patio setback and has to meet the main dwelling's setbacks. Call zoning with the address.

Las Vegas decks and patio covers

Use the 30-inch sentences in the exemption section before you decide a low platform is free. The city pages linked here don't include a City of Las Vegas wood-deck sheet that tells you joist size, guard height, or how deep the footing goes. Those details are not in this guide. If the deck is over 30 inches above grade, both flyers say you need a permit. If it is exactly 30, or it is the route someone uses to get in, read section 301.4 before you call it exempt.

A patio cover is the document the city did publish. The patio-cover application says you submit at the dashboard. Residential projects send a stamped and signed site plan with the patio size and the setbacks to the property lines. A freestanding patio also shows the setback from the main structure. You include this application, the square footage, and the patio type in the scope of work.

If the cover is a city standard design or an aluminum or steel product with an approval number, the contractor path says no plan is needed and you put the design number in the scope, with examples such as an ICC or IAPMO report number. The owner-builder path on the same form says you submit a copy of the approved design with the design highlighted.

Owner-builder is marked residential only, and only on a primary residence. The form also asks whether there is electrical. More than five electrical devices need plans and load calculations, and the form says a fan counts as two devices. That "five" is the patio application. The live no-plan electrical list says 12 devices.

The application distinguishes a solid cover, a deck or balcony, lattice, and a screen room, and it asks whether the cover is a light or heavy standard design. Enclosing it is a different project. The zoning chapter says a patio cover that sticks into the reduced setback stays open. The flyers say enclosing an existing patio needs a permit. Stucco on the cover is its own question on the form, including one-coat and EIFS. One-coat still has the owner-builder ban on the residential submittal sheet.

The July 1, 2021 miscellaneous table prices a deck or balcony separately from a patio cover. Do not pay the patio-cover line and assume the deck fee is included. And do not use a porch as a nickname for either one. The city pages linked here don't include a porch sheet.

Las Vegas sheds and the 200-square-foot exemption

Count the floor, then notice which page you are reading. The code exempts a one-story detached shed, playhouse, or similar building at 200 square feet or less, and it says zoning still applies. The October 2025 flyer requires a permit and plans at 200 square feet or larger. Exactly 200 is the disagreement. The longer guide agrees with the code on "does not exceed 200," and it adds that the exempt shed is non-habitable and has no electrical, plumbing, or mechanical work.

Power to a shed is not a free add-on. The code's general note says an exemption does not authorize work that violates the technical codes. A light and an outlet are the electrical permit, even when the building permit is the thing you think you skipped.

The accessory rules in the hosted zoning chapter still apply under 200 square feet: the 3-foot yards, the 6-foot separation from the house, the corner-lot limit, the ban on the front yard, the alley exception, the floor-area cap, and the height cap. A shed that is small enough to skip the building permit can still be in the wrong place. Call 702-229-6301 before you set it on the property line because a neighbor's shed sits on theirs. If the shed is large enough to need a permit, counter review lists storage sheds and gazebos with engineering. The submittal guideline wants the site plan and the drawings, and structural calculations unless you are using a standard the city accepts.

Turning the shed into a place to sleep is a different project. The zoning chapter says an accessory building may not contain a kitchen except a Class I accessory structure. Do not call a shed an apartment because the building permit was not required.

Las Vegas electrical permits

The City of Las Vegas issues the electrical permit. No city page linked here sends house wiring to the state or to Clark County. The October 2025 flyer says a permit is required to install or alter any permanent wiring or electrical device, to run additional wiring for an outlet or a light, to change, upgrade, or relocate the main panel, and to install a photovoltaic system.

The longer guide's exempt list is the like-for-like work: replacing a broken outlet with the same outlet, except that a decorative change needs a permit and a GFCI the code requires needs a permit; replacing a defective breaker like for like; replacing lamps and tubes; replacing an existing disposal, dishwasher, electric tank water heater, or similar appliance of 30 amps or less; low-voltage wiring for a garage-door opener, cable, or a burglar alarm; phone and cable outlets with listed wire; and replacing a doorbell.

Section 301.4's electrical exemptions are in the same neighborhood and not identical. They include cord-and-plug portable appliances, listed holiday lighting, repair of current-carrying parts of a switch or control, replacement of receptacles but not the box, replacement of an overcurrent device of the required capacity in the same location, power-limited wiring of 50 volts or less associated with a single-family dwelling, and replacement of luminaires within the weight limit it cites in the National Electrical Code. Like-for-like is not a new circuit. A new circuit is the flyer.

A permit and a set of plans are different. The live no-plan list allows minor electrical of 12 devices or fewer without plans, and it excludes a dedicated circuit to a fixed appliance. The older PDF says 5 devices. The patio application says more than 5 devices need load calculations, and a fan counts as two. The addition guideline says load calculations are not required if you add 12 devices or fewer. Four official counts. Match the form for the permit you are actually filing, and call if the job sits between them.

Service changes are on the no-plan list, with a 231 inspection. Panel changes are also on the flyer's required list. Photovoltaic work is on the flyer and on the older PDF, and it is not on the live no-plan list. Assume a solar permit needs whatever submittal the current dashboard asks for, and do not rely on the older PDF's "per kilowatt, no plans" line unless staff confirm it.

The code's inspection list for electrical, which it lists under a pool heading and then describes as required electrical inspections, is a concrete-encased electrode before the foundation pour, underground electrical before the slab, rough electrical before the framing inspection, and a final electrical inspection when the work is done and before use or occupancy. The Building Official can add inspections. If you cover the wiring first, section 305.2 says the city is not liable for the cost of opening it back up. That cost is yours.

Las Vegas plumbing and mechanical permits

The October 2025 flyer says a plumbing permit is required to install or replace a water heater or a water softener, to alter piping inside a wall, a ceiling, or under a floor, for emergency repair or replacement of damaged or leaking concealed piping, to relocate plumbing in a remodel or an addition, including a building sewer, a water service, and exterior drains, to install, alter, or repair gas piping between the meter and an appliance, indoors or out, and to install a solar hot-water system.

The gas-piping examples on that flyer are a barbecue, a fire pit, and a pool heater. The longer guide put gas piping under mechanical, not plumbing, and it used the same examples. Same work, two headings. It still needs a permit, and you file it once.

Section 301.4's plumbing exemptions are leaks stopped in drain, soil, waste, or vent piping, until a concealed defective pipe has to be replaced, which is new work and needs a permit and an inspection. Clearing a stoppage, repairing a leak in a pipe, valve, or fixture, and removing and resetting a water closet, are exempt if you do not replace or rearrange concealed piping.

Replacing a fixture in the same place with a similar fixture is exempt if the only other work is the tailpiece or the trap, and the work does not cut a fire-resistive assembly, including a fire-resistive slab. The longer guide's exempt list is a sink, a toilet, a faucet that is not concealed in a wall, countertops, shower-wall resurfacing, shower heads, hose bibs, a water filter, and a fountain or water feature filled by a hose and 18 inches deep or less.

The flyer does not reprint that list. A new water heater is on the required list on both flyers. The live no-plan page will issue a same-for-same water heater, including tankless, without plans. The older PDF said tankless was not allowed online. File the permit. Do not skip it because the job is "just a water heater."

Mechanical work on the October 2025 flyer needs a permit to install or change any part of a heating or cooling system, to install or change any part of an unvented decorative appliance, and to install bathroom fans, dryer exhausts, kitchen range exhausts, and other appliances that have to be vented. The code exempts steam, hot, or chilled water piping inside heating or cooling equipment, unless seismic supports are required, and it exempts replacement of a component that does not change the appliance's approval.

The longer guide adds portable heaters, portable coolers, portable evaporative coolers set in a window, and furnace-filter changes. A cooler installed in a wall opening cut for it needs a permit on that guide. A new furnace is not on either exempt list. Exact HVAC change-outs are on the live no-plan list. That is a permit without plans, not an exemption.

When the trades are on the same building permit and the same drawings, section 304.2.1 says there is no separate plan-examination fee for electrical, mechanical, or plumbing. When you ask for separate permits by trade, that section says the plan-examination fees are the ones in the adopted schedule.

After you file in Las Vegas: review and inspections

File the no-plan permit online and pay it, or file the application and the plans on the dashboard, pay the review fee the sheet names, and pay the rest when the city says the permit is ready. Print the permit. The patio application says the approved plans arrive by email and have to be listed for the job, and the permit card is listed from LasVegasNevada.gov/CheckStatus. Section 305.3 says work does not start until the approved permit and the approved construction documents are on the premises, where the inspector can use them, and they stay there until final approval.

The person who holds the permit gives the inspector access. Section 305.1 says the work stays accessible and exposed until it is approved. Section 305.4 says you do not go past the next inspection without approval, and you do not cover a failed portion until the Building Official allows it. If the same inspection fails again because a correction from the first visit was not made, a re-fee may apply. The 2021 table lists $125 for inspection re-fees, which may not be the number on a 2026 invoice.

Building inspections in section 305.5.1 include, and are not limited to, these. Foundation, after the footing excavation and the required steel are in place, and after forms are in place for concrete. A pad certification, when required, is turned in at that inspection. Slab or under-floor, after the in-slab or under-floor steel, piping, conduit, and soil preparation are in, and before concrete or floor sheathing.

Rough electrical, plumbing, and mechanical, after the walls and the floor and roof or ceiling are in place, and before the frame inspection. Frame, after framing, fireblocking, and bracing are in, and after the rough pipes, chimneys, vents, wires, and ducts are in. Lath and gypsum board, after they are in place and before plaster or before the joints are taped, with an exception for gypsum that is not part of a fire-resistance-rated assembly or a shear assembly.

Final electrical, plumbing, and mechanical, after the fixtures and equipment are in. Final building, after finish grading, after those trade finals are approved, and when the building is complete and ready for occupancy. The code says there shall be a final inspection and approval on all work before occupancy and use.

Scheduling is the website, LasVegasNevada.gov/ScheduleInspection. The PIN sheets say contractors need a six-digit PIN, not starting or ending in zero, requested on company letterhead by the principal, with a copy of the principal's ID, emailed to buildinginfo@lasvegasnevada.gov. That process is written for a contractor's license. The no-plan instruction sheet says that if you need a PIN for inspections, you email the same inbox.

The city pages linked here don't include an owner-builder letterhead process that matches the contractor one. Email and ask, rather than inventing a PIN. The Fire Department also uses a PIN. The sheet says fire-inspection PIN problems go to Fire Prevention at 702-229-0366. That is a City of Las Vegas fire number. It is not a second building permit.

A certificate of occupancy is a further step, and the pages do not aim it at every bathroom. Section 308.1 says no building is used or occupied, and no occupancy classification changes, until the Building Official issues the certificate, except as that section provides. A final inspection counts as the certificate for occupancy group U. A September 20, 2021 department notice says that, starting October 4, 2021, the department issues a certificate of occupancy for new residential buildings, and that in earlier years it had treated a passed 140 final building inspection as the approval to occupy.

The notice says you schedule a 940 certificate inspection at the same time as the 140 final. When both pass, the certificate is downloaded at LasVegasNevada.gov/CheckStatus. Section 308.4 says the Building Official may issue a certificate of completion when the inspections are done but a new certificate of occupancy is not needed. A new house is the case the 2021 notice actually describes.

Manufactured homes are the one place the city code hands the installation to someone else, and it is not Clark County's building department. Section 301.5 says manufactured-housing installations are under the State of Nevada, the unit needs a seal from a recognized approval agency, and the installation follows the state's manufactured-housing rules and the manufacturer's instructions. A permanent foundation the Building Official approves is submitted like site-built work, and building, zoning, and public-works approvals still come first.

If you want to live in your own manufactured home or RV on the lot while you build the house, the code says you need the building permit for the permanent house, a permit for the temporary placement, and sanitary facilities as the Southern Nevada Health District requires. Occupancy of that temporary unit is not more than one year after the temporary permit, or the term of construction, whichever is sooner, with one extension of up to six months if the Building Official grants it in writing. That health-district sentence is the city's code.

The codes themselves are in a pile, and you should know that before you buy a book. The July 16, 2025 industry notice says the City Council adopted the 2024 International Building Code, Residential Code, Existing Building Code, Swimming Pool and Spa Code, Energy Conservation Code, Fire Code, and Wildland-Urban Interface Code, the 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code, the 2024 Uniform Mechanical Code, and the 2023 National Electrical Code, with local amendments.

It says the effective date is January 5, 2026. Projects submitted before that date could use the then-current codes or the 2024 codes. An initial submittal on or after January 5, 2026, is designed to the 2024 codes. The notice is signed by the Building Official. The department page says the city has adopted the 2024 IBC, IRC, IEBC, ISPSC, UPC, UMC, IEFF, IFC, IWUIC, and the 2023 NEC, that the 2019 administrative code remains in effect, and that the effective date is January 2026.

"IEFF" is what the page lists. The industry notice lists the energy code by its real name. We are not silently correcting the department page, and we are not ignoring January 5. The building-permits page still says the 2021 International Building Code and International Fire Code were adopted in September 2022 and took effect March 23, 2023.

The residential submittal guideline still asks for 2018 energy calculations. Today is after January 5, 2026. Don't design a new submittal to 2018 just because an old checklist is still linked. Take the July 16, 2025 notice to the counter if a checklist fights it.

Las Vegas quick check: code vs. homeowner flyers

Project	Section 301.4 (code)	Homeowner guides
Shed or playhouse	Exempt if one story, detached, floor area not over 200 sq ft	Permit for a carport, garage, or shed over 200 sq ft
Deck or platform	Exempt if not over 30 inches above grade and not over a basement	Permit for a deck more than 30 inches above grade
Retaining or block wall	Exempt up to 30 inches grade to grade, with exceptions	October 2025 flyer: permit over 30 inches; longer guide: over 2 ft
Reroof	Exempt for non-tile coverings, no structural work, up to 64 sq ft of sheathing	Permit and plans over 64 sq ft or for tile
Painting, cabinets, flooring	Exempt	Exempt (longer guide)

Where the sheets disagree, call Building and Safety at 702-229-6251 and write down the answer for your address.

A Las Vegas pre-filing checklist

1. Verify the address is in the City of Las Vegas before you use this page. Henderson, North Las Vegas, and unincorporated Clark County are not this office. The apply screen has a verify-address step. The department page also links a jurisdiction map.
2. If the shed floor is exactly 200 square feet, the October 2025 flyer and the administrative code do not say the same thing. Zoning can still apply under 200. Power to the shed is an electrical permit.
3. A deck more than 30 inches above grade needs a permit on both flyers. Exactly 30 inches, a deck over a basement, and a deck on an accessible route are the code's extra words. No city page linked here gives guard or footing dimensions for a deck. A patio cover is a different application, and enclosing it is a permit on the flyers.
4. Walls at 24 inches and walls at 30 inches are different official sentences, measured in different ways. A single added block course is the case the city describes as exempt, and only with the conditions on the flyer and the guideline. A fence at 2 feet and a fence at 7 feet are also both in print. Call before you build the tall one.
5. An owner-builder file is the state affidavit, the city's proof of ownership, and a house you occupy. An LLC, a rental, and a second house you hope to sell inside a year are the cases the pages flag. Do not hire an unlicensed person to be your contractor.
6. Do not email a set of plans and start demolition. Pay the review fee, wait for the stamp, list the permit and the approved plans, and keep them on the site. The 180-day clock is real. The 3-week review line is the department page, not a promise.
7. The building-permit dollars in this guide are the July 1, 2021 table the city still links. The sewer figure the estimator links is the January 1, 2026 sheet, $3,235 for one single-family dwelling, and an older notice said $2,753. Do not write the check from this page.

Las Vegas historic districts and other late-stage reviews

The sections above stick to the building permit itself. Two other City of Las Vegas rules can stop a project before that permit is ever issued, and both are easy to miss if you're reading generic permit advice written for some other city.

Historic districts: John S. Park and Beverly Green

Las Vegas keeps its own Historic Property Register. The city's preservation page names John S. Park and Beverly Green as the neighborhoods on that local register (City of Las Vegas: Historic Preservation). If your house is on the register or inside a locally designated district, the city's step sheet says any project that needs a building permit needs Historic Preservation Commission approval first, and your building permit won't be approved until that review is done (Steps to Altering a Historic Property, PDF).

The same sheet splits the work into two tracks:

• Minor work, such as replacing roof shingles with the same type of shingle, replacing windows, or replacing an air-conditioning unit, can be reviewed in-house by the Historic Preservation Officer. The sheet says the permit may be approved the same day.
• Major work, such as a room addition, changes to a carport, or a fence that needs a permit, goes in front of the commission.

The sheet also says there is no additional fee for the Certificate of Appropriateness. You'll be asked for drawings of the proposed work, photos of the house as it stands, and any manufacturer brochures. If the commission denies the application, you can appeal to the City Council. The zoning code section behind all of this, 19.10.150, requires a pre-application conference with the Historic Preservation Officer before you submit the building permit, and it says the certificate application has to be signed and notarized by the owner of record or the owner's authorized agent (LVMC 19.10.150, Historic Designation, PDF).

One trap here: a National Register listing and a local listing aren't the same thing. The preservation page links a separate explainer on the differences, so find out which one applies to your house before you assume either way.

New pools: the water district's 600-square-foot cap

Pool owners get caught by this one more than anything else on this page. The Las Vegas Valley Water District's service rules say the district will not serve a single-family customer whose pools, spas, and water features have a combined surface area over 600 square feet, if the pool permit was issued after September 1, 2022 (LVVWD Service Rules, PDF). The district's conservation page says the limit applies to new pools and spas at single-family homes (LVVWD: Drought and conservation measures).

City Building and Safety explained what that means for permits in an August 15, 2022 industry advisory. Starting September 1, 2022, every permit for a pool, spa, or water feature on a single-family parcel has to be approved by the water district before the city issues it. The advisory says the district's review happens inside the city's permitting system, so you don't file a separate submittal, and it lists the district's number for questions as (702) 822-8518 (City of Las Vegas: Single Family Residential Pools advisory, PDF).

Before you sign a pool contract, add up the water surface of the pool, the spa, and any water feature on the drawing. The service rules handle ornamental water features in a separate paragraph, so if your plan has a fountain or a waterfall, ask the district how it will be counted rather than guessing.

Last checked: October 2026.

FAQ

Can I pull my own building permit in Las Vegas?

Often, as an owner-builder working on your own home. Nevada's NRS 624.031(5) exempts owners improving a residence for their own occupancy, not for sale or lease, and you file an Owner-Builder Disclosure Statement. The city's issuance sheet says an LLC-owned house needs a licensed contractor.

Do I need a permit for a shed in Las Vegas?

Not under the code if it's a one-story detached accessory building with no more than 200 square feet of floor area, but zoning still applies. If yours is exactly 200 square feet, ask, because the flyer wording differs.

Can I submit paper plans in Las Vegas?

New plans have to be submitted electronically. The city's building-permits page says that since January 1, 2020, all new commercial, residential, and civil plans must be submitted electronically (City of Las Vegas: Building Permits).

What happens if I start work without a permit?

Section 301.1 allows extra fees on a graduated scale: at least double permit fees plus an investigation fee on a first offense, rising to quadruple on repeat offenses.

Pulling out the lawn: SNWA Water Smart Landscapes rules

Replacing grass with desert landscaping is one of the most common yard projects in the valley, and you can lose the rebate by doing it in the wrong order. The Southern Nevada Water Authority's Water Smart Landscapes program pays single-family homes $5 per square foot of grass removed and replaced with desert landscaping, for the first 10,000 square feet, and $2.50 per square foot after that, per property, per fiscal year (July 1 to June 30). The same page points to an extra $2 per square foot from the Las Vegas Valley Water District (SNWA: Water Smart Landscapes rebate).

The program conditions on that page say not to remove the lawn until SNWA has done a pre-conversion inspection and told you to go ahead. The conversion and your request for the final inspection have to be finished within 12 months of that first inspection. The finished area has to meet SNWA's rules on plant coverage, irrigation, mulch, and weed barrier. The rebate also depends on you granting a conservation easement over the converted area, which restricts how that area can be used in perpetuity. If you sell the house before the easement is recorded, you lose the rebate. Checks go out within 30 days of recording.

The rebate is a water-district program, not a permit. A block wall, a patio cover, or new wiring added in the same yard project is still a Building and Safety question, as covered above.

Official sources

• Building and Safety department page, including the 2024 code list, the January 2026 electronic-plan sentence, City Hall at 495 S. Main St., and the review-time lines
• Building and offsite permits, including the 2021 code sentence, the January 1, 2020 electronic-plan sentence, amnesty, and express fees
• When do I need a permit, homeowner flyer (PDF, October 2025)
• Longer homeowner guide (PDF), including 333 N. Rancho Drive and the 2-foot wall and fence lines
• City of Las Vegas Administrative Code, 2019 edition (PDF)
• Industry notice, adoption of the 2024 codes (PDF, July 16, 2025)
• Online permits list, the live no-plan page
• Older list of online permits (PDF), which does not match the live list
• Apply for permits without plans (PDF, 2025 forms)
• How to apply for permits with plans (PDF)
• ePlan submission requirements (PDF), including the paper-plan scanning fee
• Residential submittal guideline (PDF)
• Requirements for issuance of permits (PDF, revised January 2021)
• Issuance and PIN guidelines (PDF)
• PIN guideline (PDF, 2024)
• Permit renewal and extension instructions (PDF)
• Counter review guideline (PDF)
• Building user fees (PDF, effective July 1, 2021)
• Permit fee estimator
• Sewer connection charges (PDF, header effective January 1, 2026)
• Industry notice, sewer and residential construction tax (PDF, effective January 1, 2024)
• Owner-builder affidavit (PDF, revised June 2021)
• NRS Chapter 624, including NRS 624.031
• NAC Chapter 624, including NAC 624.015
• Patio cover application (PDF)
• Adding a single course to a masonry wall (PDF)
• Garage conversion guideline (PDF)
• Title 19, Chapter 19.08 development standards (PDF, hosted file dated 2010). Not used for a citywide front-yard setback.
• Certificate of occupancy for residential permits (PDF, September 20, 2021)
• Building and Safety contact list (PDF, May 2026). Individual phone numbers from this list are not listed in the guide.
• City of Las Vegas: Historic Preservation
• City of Las Vegas: Steps to Altering a Historic Property (PDF)
• LVMC 19.10.150: Historic Designation (PDF)
• Las Vegas Valley Water District: Service Rules (PDF)
• Las Vegas Valley Water District: Drought and conservation measures
• City of Las Vegas Building and Safety: Single Family Residential Pools advisory (PDF)
• Southern Nevada Water Authority: Water Smart Landscapes rebate and program conditions

Next steps for a Las Vegas project

If you're unsure whether the job needs a permit, start with do I need a building permit, in plain English or the permit checker. Other cities are on building permits by city.

For general deck and shed rules, see our deck permit guide and shed size limits. Fees in other places are compared in how much a building permit costs. Inside city limits, the Building and Safety numbers above are what count.

We're not the City of Las Vegas or Building and Safety, so this page can't issue a permit, quote your fee, or promise your plans will pass.

Edited by Ahmed Khalifa, founder of PermitCove. Sources are linked inline; see our Editorial Policy.