Nashville Building Permits: When You Need One and What to File

By PermitCove Editorial · · 5 min read
A Nashville craftsman cottage with a new covered back porch being framed in the yard

If you own a house in the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County 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 Department of Codes and Building Safety.

The residential procedures page says a property owner who lives in a single-family house, or intends to, may get the permit, and the department calls that a self-permit. PermitCove is an independent guide, not Metro Nashville, and nothing here approves your project; the nashville.gov pages, forms, and fee schedule behind each rule are linked at the end. No Codes page linked here hands a house building permit to a different city inside the county, so don't use this page for a house outside Nashville and Davidson County. Fees and forms change, so check ePermits before you pay.

Last verified: October 4, 2026, against the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County pages linked below.

Metro Codes is the Nashville permit office

A house permit is a Metropolitan Government permit issued through the Department of Codes and Building Safety. The department's own description says it administers the Metro building code and the Metro zoning code, and that it is the umbrella for the permit process. The building-permit process page says the department is the hub for the other Metro reviews on an application.

The director reports to the mayor. The adopted-codes page says the local amendments sit with the model codes. Questions about the residential building code, the addition and deck pages say, go to the Building Division at 615-862-6550, and they point at Chapter 16 of the Metro Code. The sentences in this guide are the ones listed on the department pages and PDFs.

The doors do not all list the same address. The department homepage, updated August 3, 2026, lists 800 President Ronald Reagan Way, 1st Floor, Codes Department, Nashville, TN 37210, phone 615-862-6500, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., closed Saturday and Sunday. The contact list, updated June 15, 2026, uses that same street for the counters and then splits the floors.

Zoning review and permit payment are the first floor. Building inspections and use-and-occupancy letters are the third floor. The Building Permits Central page, updated June 13, 2024, lists the same street, the same weekday hours, and a different phone for the Codes Help Desk, 615-862-6510. That 615-862-6510 number is also the Zoning Help Desk number on the contact list. Permit issuance, for payment, bonds, and the e-permits login, is 615-862-6517, on the first floor, at permitissuance@nashville.gov. Zoning questions go to zoninghelpdesk@nashville.gov.

Older paper is still in the stack. The residential application, the April 2024 file, lists the self-permit pages as Metro Office Building, 800 2nd Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37210, and it calls that office Codes Administration. The September 2022 project list that Building Permits Central still links lists 800 2nd Avenue South, 3rd floor, and the ZIP 37219-6300. The inspection brochure the publications list still links lists the Howard Office Building, 700 2nd Avenue South. The two 2026 pages, the homepage and the contact list, both print President Ronald Reagan Way. If you go in person, use that address and ask which floor has the homeowner window that day.

The same contact list does not agree with the addition page about two other offices. The addition page, updated December 4, 2025, lists the Historic Commission at 615-862-7970 and historiczoning@nashville.gov. The June 15, 2026 contact list lists the Historic Zoning Division at 615-880-4900, same email, at 800 President Ronald Reagan Way, mailing address P.O. Box 196300. The addition page lists the Register of Deeds at Bridgestone Arena, 501 Broadway, 615-862-6790. The contact list lists 300 Deaderick Street, same phone, rod.infodesk@nashville.gov. Call the number on the page you are using, and if the room is wrong, ask.

One spelling on the process page is the page's. The list of agencies includes "Nashville Department of Transpiration." The contact list spells it Nashville Department of Transportation, at 750 South 5th Street, 615-862-8782. The front door of Building Permits Central also lists "Nashville-Davison County." That is the spelling on the page. The government name on the application and on the permitting one-pager is the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County.

Nashville permit triggers where Metro pages disagree

The residential procedures page, updated October 31, 2025, is the list with a date after the 2024 code adoption. It says a building permit is required to construct a new residential building or an addition. To place or replace a mobile home, or a modular or double-wide. To move a previously built house onto the property, and that move also needs a moving permit issued at the same time, with what the page calls a strict completion period.

The page does not list the number of days. To build an accessory structure or add to one. The examples are garages, carports, patio covers, decks, porches, and storage buildings, including portable storage buildings of 100 square feet or more. To construct or install a swimming pool. The same list item says below-ground and above-ground pools require a 48-inch-high barrier or fence around the pool, and then it says a site plan is required for items 1 through 6.

The parenthesis never closes on the page. To convert an accessory area, such as an attached garage, an unfinished basement, or an attic, to habitable space. To install siding, roofing, fireplaces, or solar panels. To repair, alter, or rehabilitate beyond normal maintenance, including removing or altering load-bearing timbers, replacing supporting walls, or moving partitions. To demolish any structure or portion of one.

The same page defines what it says does not need a permit. Normal maintenance is repairs to an existing building, including exterior and interior painting, papering, glazing of windows and doors, floor finishing, minor repairs to chimneys, stairs, porches, and underpinning, and repairs to an existing roof not to exceed 33 percent of the roof area. "Not to exceed" includes a repair of exactly 33 percent. "Including but not limited to" means the list is not the whole exemption. It is still a definition of maintenance, not a pass for a new roof structure or a new wall. The page does not say that.

Roofs are four texts, and they do not say the same thing. The October 31, 2025 procedures page puts "install roofing" on the required list, and it puts roof repairs not over 33 percent of the roof area in the maintenance definition. The renovation page, updated January 17, 2025, has a table for one- and two-family dwellings. "Roofing, New Layer or Replacing More Than 1/3 of The Roof" is marked Yes, which that page's legend calls a building permit or a rehab permit.

"More than 1/3" does not include a job of exactly one-third. Exactly 33 percent is inside the procedures page's "not to exceed 33 percent," and it is not inside "more than 1/3." The property-standards page, updated February 7, 2025, says building permits are no longer required for roof replacements or repairs. It does not list a percentage. The September 2022 project list that Building Permits Central still links says, for one- and two-family dwellings, "Roofing, New Layer or Replacing More Than 1/3 of The Roof" is No, and it says Yes only in the column for buildings that are not one- and two-family.

That 2022 sheet also says it is for work that is not a new building and not an addition. The 2022 "No" doesn't cancel the 2025 "Yes," and the property-standards sentence doesn't cancel the procedures page. A fifth file, the inspection brochure the publications list still links, says a permit is required if the house is being re-roofed, regardless of cost. That brochure names the 2000 residential code. Call 615-862-6550 before you start a tear-off, and write down what they say for that roof.

The renovation table is the interior list, and the page says it is not how you add onto the house and not how you create an apartment. For one- and two-family dwellings, these rows are marked No. New, replacement, or additional kitchen cabinets. Cabinet installation with no electrical or plumbing. Door replacement when the opening does not change. Floor laying, refinishing, and carpet laying. Glass or window replacement, as its own row.

Guards on a door. Gutters and downspouts. New insulation. Interior decorating, painting, and wallpaper. Replacing dishwashers, garbage disposals, or refrigerators with ice makers. New screens on doors or windows. Ceramic and nonceramic wall tile. Vanities without electrical or plumbing. Wallpapering, again, on its own row. These rows are marked Yes, meaning a building or rehab permit on that legend. Carpentry that replaces a joist, rafter, stud, or other structural element, and roof decking more than 64 square feet.

A new or relocated ceiling. A chimney that is new, enlarged, given a new flue or liner, or repaired over 25 percent. A chair lift, elevator, or dumbwaiter. A new door or a relocated door. Drywall repair or replacement greater than 100 square feet. Electrical relocation of a fixture, switch, or outlet. A new or repaired fire escape, and demolition of one. A new or enlarged brick fireplace.

Guards on windows. Paneling that is new, or repaired, larger than 100 square feet. A new shower or bath enclosure. Sink and counter tops, on a row that says "see kitchen cabinets" and is still marked Yes, while the kitchen-cabinet rows above it are marked No. Stairs that are new, or remodeled by changing the tread or the riser. A wall removal, even if the wall is not load-bearing. Windows that change style or size. Glass that changes the window area, smaller or larger. A swimming pool above or below grade.

A few rows are not a building permit. They name the trade. An attic fan, and smoke detectors, are Yes-E, which the legend calls an electrical permit only. A ducted cooktop, an exhaust fan, a fireplace insert, and a wood stove are Yes-G/M, a gas or mechanical permit only. Relocating a plumbing fixture, or a new plumbing fixture in that row, is Yes-P, a plumbing permit only.

A window unit is not on this table. A furnace is not on this table. The 2022 sheet, which is a longer list and is limited to work that is not a new building or an addition, marks a new air conditioner and a replacement unit as Yes-G/M for a house, a furnace or condenser repair as No, and a furnace replaced with a different size or a different fuel as Yes-G/M. The January 2025 table does not have those furnace rows. If the job is a change-out, call.

The 2022 sheet disagrees with later pages in more places than the roof. For a one- or two-family house, and only when the work is not a new building or an addition, it marks new fences No, and it says they must still meet the zoning code. Fences in a historical district are also No on that sheet, with a note to call the historical commission.

New siding is Yes. Siding repair or replacement of more than 100 square feet is Yes. The property-standards page uses "replacing damaged siding" as an example of maintenance that does not need a permit, next to light switches and window panes. Exactly 100 square feet of siding is not "more than 100." A new patio is Yes on the 2022 sheet only if it is more than 6 inches above average grade.

The sheet does not list a No row for a patio at 6 inches or under. A pergola is No on that sheet. The procedures page, in the site-plan bullets, names a pergola as an accessory structure. That bullet is about when a site plan is attached. It is not a sentence that says a pergola needs a permit.

Foundations larger than 400 square feet are Yes. Foundations of 400 square feet or smaller are No for a one- or two-family house on that sheet, and Yes for other buildings. The January 2025 renovation table does not have a foundation row. The October 2025 procedures page doesn't include that 400-square-foot line. Do not use it to skip a footing on an addition. The sheet says it does not cover additions.

The zoning examinations page, updated March 31, 2026, says a comprehensive permit list sits below the heading and tells you to download it. The link on the page is marked deleted. We did not recover that file. The sentences above are the pages that did open.

Nashville homeowner permits vs. a licensed contractor

An owner can apply for the building permit in a narrower set of cases than "I own it." The procedures page says an owner who presently occupies, or intends to occupy, a single-family residence may obtain the permit to construct or repair it. The construction-and-permits page says the same thing, owner or licensed contractor. The owner, on a self-permit, takes responsibility for zoning, building, and trade codes. A contractor has to be licensed and bonded with the department, and the permit has to stay inside that license. A self-permit cannot be pulled for a detached accessory dwelling unit. That sentence is on the procedures page.

The dollar limits are not all on the same page, and exactly $25,000 is not treated the same way in each sentence. The renovation page, the deck page, and the front-porch page each say that if the house is owned by an LLC or a trust, a self-permit can be pulled only for work under $25,000, and that a homeowner can pull a permit for a rental or investment property if the work is under $25,000.

"Under" does not include a job of exactly $25,000. Those three pages point at the affidavits in the residential application. The procedures page, which was updated later, on October 31, 2025, does not list that dollar cap. The addition page, updated December 4, 2025, requires the affidavits and does not repeat the LLC sentence. The renovation page's cap doesn't apply to every addition, and it still applies to a deck even though a later page is silent.

The affidavit you have to sign is stricter about why the work is being done, and it is a certification, not a fee. The April 2024 application packet, which is also the self-permit file on the publications list, says you are not obtaining the permit for a contractor. It says you have not been issued a permit, and have not applied, for construction of a duplex or a single residence within two years.

It says you do not intend to construct a single-family residence, or make an addition, of $25,000.00 or greater, for resale, lease, rent, or any similar purpose. Exactly $25,000.00 is inside "or greater" on that affidavit. It is not inside "under $25,000" on the renovation page. Both sentences are on department paper. Do not average them into one test.

The same affidavit talks about the contractor you hire. It says a contractor's bond, $10,000.00 or $40,000.00, can be used to repair a code violation, and that an owner who takes the permit out loses that bond protection. The grammar on the form is that the only recourse left is to sue the contractor in civil court. The form's own words are "sue the contractor is Civil Court." For bids under $25,000.00 but over $3,000.00, the form says the person giving the bid has to be registered with the state as a home-improvement contractor or a residential state contractor.

For bids of $25,000.00 or greater, it says a state-licensed contractor. It says accepting a bid of $25,000.00 or greater from an unlicensed contractor is a Class A misdemeanor, and it lists the penalty as 11 months and 29 days in jail. Read the affidavit before you sign it. The form also says separate permits are required for electrical, plumbing, and gas or mechanical work, and that those permits are not part of the building permit.

There is a second notarized page, and the section numbers on it do not match each other. The heading cites T.C.A. section 13-7-211. The paragraph cites T.C.A. section 13-8-211 for proof of workers' compensation insurance. The application spells the document "AFFIDAVIT OF EXEPTION." The choices on the form are that you are not required to carry the coverage, that you are performing the work on your own property in your own county of residence, or that you are directly supervising that work. Do not check a box from this paragraph.

Trade permits are the split to read twice. The process page says electrical, plumbing, gas or mechanical, and low-voltage wiring need separate permits and inspections, and that those permits can be obtained by a licensed subcontractor after the building permit is issued. The application tells you to select the trade permits that the subcontractor will apply for. The e-permits page says only a registered licensed contractor can get an online account, and that a homeowner who wants a permit must come into the office because the online registration system will not create a homeowner account.

The property-standards page says only a properly licensed contractor may obtain permits or perform the work in Davidson County, and then it says a homeowner may be permitted to perform work on the homeowner's own personal residence or residential property. Any electrical, plumbing, or mechanical work a homeowner does on a house, that page says, has to be approved by the chief inspector or the appropriate Metropolitan board, under the Metro code.

A self-permit for the building is not an electrical permit. Doing the wiring yourself because you own the house is not a path the process page describes. If the property-standards sentence is the one you are relying on, call the trade line and ask for the chief inspector's approval in writing before you buy the wire.

Applying in ePermits: plans and site plan

The front door for a homeowner, on the procedures page and on the application itself, is an email to zoninghelpdesk@nashville.gov. You attach the residential application and, where the page asks, the site plan, the elevations, and the floor plan. The application says the parcel ID is required and tells you to get it from the Parcel Viewer. It asks whether the house is a primary residence or an investment or rental property, whether you are on sewer or septic, and whether the job is renovation only, addition only, or both.

A Zoning Examiner is assigned. The page says you will be given a date by which you should have an application number. Questions come back by email or phone. You can look the application up on ePermits, at the address the application lists, epermits.nashville.gov. You do not need to guess which other agencies sign. The examiner sends a checklist. The process page says not to decide the reviews yourself.

If you skip a line on that checklist, the permit waits. The page also says each department has its own timeline. The city pages linked here don't include a table of days for an ordinary house plan. The five-business-day line on the zoning examinations page is for a zoning letter, not for a building permit.

A registered contractor can file a residential building permit in ePermits instead. The login is not self-serve. You email permitissuance@nashville.gov for the username and password. The e-permits page says the system is open 24 hours a day for registered users, and that those users can apply for some building permits and for plumbing, electrical, and mechanical permits, pay, and schedule inspections.

That account is not the homeowner account. The September 3, 2025 e-permits page still says a homeowner must come into the office. The October 31, 2025 procedures page still says to email the application. Both are department pages. Email the packet. If the examiner tells you the self-permit has to be approved in person, the process page is the one that says to contact Permit Issuance to have a self-permit approved and to pay.

What you draw depends on the job, and the procedures page disagrees with itself about house plans. One paragraph says construction plans are required for residences exceeding 5,000 square feet of floor area, and that elevation drawings are required for detached accessory structures to show the height. A later paragraph says the department does not normally require construction plans for single-family construction at the time you apply, and that plans are reviewed for homes containing more than 5,000 square feet or more than 3 stories.

"Exceeding 5,000" and "more than 5,000" are the same kind of cut. The three-story test is only in the second sentence. Exactly 5,000 square feet is not "exceeding" and it is not "more than." Exactly three stories is not "more than 3 stories." Call before you treat a 5,000-square-foot house, or a three-story house, as a sketch. The page also says a mortgage-loan survey often works as the site plan, and that zoning looks at setbacks and the other bulk rules.

It says the inspectors field-check the building, electrical, plumbing, model energy, and gas and mechanical codes during construction. "Model Energy Code" is the phrase on that page. The adopted-codes list, below, names the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code.

The project pages ask for more paper than that "normally" sentence. An addition wants the application, a site plan with distances to property lines, existing buildings, and easements, a stamped average-street-setback survey if you are building toward the street, elevations from each of the four corners, and a floor plan with fixtures and appliances.

A renovation wants the application, and a floor plan if the layout is changing. A deck wants the application and a site plan of the deck. A front porch wants the application and a stamped average-street-setback survey that also shows the porch dimensions and the distances to the property lines.

A detached accessory structure wants the application, a site plan, elevations from all four corners, and a floor plan with fixtures and appliances. The zoning examinations page says a site plan for an addition or for new construction has to be drawn to scale by the customer. The accessory page and the front-porch page link a March 2023 application file. The addition, deck, renovation, and procedures pages link the April 2024 file.

You do not start because you clicked send. The application says that after the signoffs you pay, and then you may begin, and that you schedule the inspections. The process page says the same thing in the other order: when every department has approved, you contact Permit Issuance to put the contractor on the permit, to run the bond and license review, to have a self-permit approved, and to pay. An inspection checklist comes with the issued permit. The checklist is what names the inspections for that job. No city page linked here says the email itself is the permit.

Other agencies sit between the email and the payment, and the pages name them without giving you a house-by-house list. Water and sewer, stormwater, the health department if you are on a septic tank, planning, public works, and historic zoning are the examples on the procedures page. A flood-overlay property is pointed at stormwater. A neighborhood conservation overlay or a historic preservation overlay is pointed at the historic commission.

A residential planned-unit development, a specific plan, or an urban design overlay is pointed at Planning, 615-862-7190, and the addition page says not to press option 1. The email there is planningstaff@nashville.gov. Stormwater is where the phones fan out. The addition page lists 615-862-6038 and mws.stormdr@nashville.gov. The contact list lists stormwater and water-service questions at 615-862-7225. The inspection page lists residential infill stormwater at 615-862-7225 and commercial grading at 615-880-2420. Use the number on the checklist the examiner sends.

The codes the application is filed under are on the adopted-codes page, updated July 28, 2025. With local amendments, that page lists the 2024 International Building Code, Residential Code, Existing Building Code, Fuel Gas Code, Mechanical Code, Plumbing Code, Swimming Pool and Spa Code, and Energy Conservation Code, the 2023 National Electrical Code, and the 2017 ICC A117.1.

The books can be reviewed at the Metropolitan Clerk's office. The news release says ordinance BL2025-898 was signed on July 16, 2025, and that it applies to plans and applications submitted after that date. It also says that for projects with preliminary designs under the 2018 International Building Code, the department is using a 180-day grace period.

The release does not list the calendar day that period ends. The fee schedule still defines one- and two-family residential construction by the 2018 International Residential Code. The inspection brochure still names the 2000 International Residential Code. Today is after July 16, 2025. Don't design a new submittal to a retired book just because an old PDF is still linked. Take the adopted-codes page to the counter if a checklist fights it.

Metro Nashville fees on the current schedule

The publications list, updated August 19, 2026, links a fee schedule whose web path is December 2025. The process page, updated December 10, 2024, still links an older file, the December 2022 schedule. The ordinance lines we compared, including the residential building-permit rate and the one- and two-family plans-examination exception, match. The December 2025 file adds an International Code Council valuation table that the 2022 file does not have. The dollar lines below are the ordinance text reprinted in that December 2025 file, which labels them as sections of the Metro code. The file points at bills BL2022-1215 and BL2022-1254 on the council's legislation site. This is not a quote for your address.

The cover of the schedule says the total building-permit cost includes a zoning examination fee of $25, a building valuation fee, a codes tech fee of 10 percent of the building valuation fee, and a building plan-review fee. The ordinance text under that cover is more specific, and it does not read like the cover.

For residential construction, section 16.28.110 says the fee is $5.00 per $1,000 of total valuation. Residential, in that sentence, is one-family and two-family construction and townhouses as defined by the 2018 International Residential Code, and it is not multifamily. A different sliding scale, starting at $40.39, is listed for commercial construction and for everything that is not that residential definition.

Do not use the commercial scale on a one-family house because the first line looked small. The process page says fees for new residential structures are based on the valuation figures, and that fees for residential remodeling, and for all commercial work, are based on the actual value of the improvements. The ordinance reprint does not split new work from remodeling. It says residential construction is $5.00 per $1,000 of total valuation. Ask what is on the invoice.

The same PDF attaches the code council's building-valuation table dated February 2025, and the council's own text on that table says the next update was August 2025. The table has a row for one- and two-family houses. The same text says the table is not intended for alterations or repairs, and that it is a national average. The ordinance line we are willing to print is the $5.00 per $1,000.

Plans examination is a separate fee in the same section, and one- and two-family dwelling building permits are on the exception list, with townhouses, demolition permits, and blasting permits. The cover still names a plan-review fee as part of "the total." The exception says one- and two-family permits are excepted from the plans-examination fee. If a plan-review line shows up on a house permit, ask which sentence put it there. The section also says a plans-examination fee, when it is charged, is not refunded, even if no building permit follows. The refund rule it cites is section 16.28.140, so this guide does not describe any other refund.

A few flat amounts are in the same building section. Moving a building along a public street is $252.00, and the section says that fee is not charged for a temporary construction office shed, a mobile home, or a house trailer. A use-and-occupancy permit or a certificate of compliance, where no building permit was issued, is $55.00.

A reinspection is $50.00. A zoning use-verification letter is $50.00 in this section, and a beer-and-liquor letter is $40.00. The zoning examinations page, speaking as of April 7, 2026, lists $40.00 for a TABC zoning letter and $50.00 for other zoning letters that are not in the DTC, a UDO, a PUD, or an SP zone. It does not list the price of a letter inside those zones. Those letter fees are not the building-permit fee.

Trade fees are easy to under-count if you only look at the $5.00 line. A plumbing permit is not valid until the fee is paid. The minimum is $75.00. Each fixture is $11.00, and the section says each fixture outlet counts even if the fixture is not set yet. A sewer connection, a water-service connection, and a septic tank and disposal field are $80.00 each.

A hot-water heater on the plumbing schedule is $43.00. A plumbing reinspection is $50.00. The classifications include a kitchen sink, a lavatory, a water closet, a bathtub, a shower drain, and a fixed dishwasher. The list is longer than that and includes commercial fixtures we are not copying. Replacing a dishwasher is a "No" on the January 2025 renovation table. The fee line is what the schedule charges when a plumbing permit is issued. It is not a finding that the "No" row was a mistake.

Gas and mechanical permits have their own minimum of $75.00. Each residential gas or mechanical appliance in excess of the first is $11.00. A gas-meter connection is $11.00. A hot-water heater on this schedule is $21.00, not the $43.00 plumbing line and not the electrical line below. Underground fuel piping is $50.00. A reinspection is $50.00. Heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, refrigeration, and ductwork without the equipment are also $32.00 per 100,000 Btuh, or fraction, of the appliances' input.

An electrical permit is not valid until the fee is paid. If electrical work that needs a permit is started before the permit is issued, the section says the permit fees are tripled, on top of any other penalty. The city pages linked here don't include that tripled-fee sentence in the plumbing or gas sections. Do not assume it, and do not assume it is absent, for a pipe.

For lighting circuits and receptacles at 130 volts or less, 10 or fewer outlets are $6.00, and each outlet over 10 is $1.00. A residential electric range is $20.00. A residential electric water heater is $15.00. A residential electric dryer is $10.00. Electric heat, other than a range or a water heater, is $8.00 from one to five kilowatts, $14.00 from five to 10, and $20.00 over 10.

A new service, a larger service, or a relocated service is $12.00 per meter. A 220-volt receptacle, or other equipment the schedule does not name, is $9.00 each. A panel of 200 amperes or less is $10.00. From 201 to 400 amperes is $20.00. The schedule keeps going for larger panels. The minimum electrical permit is $75.00. A reinspection is $50.00. A service release for a one-family or two-family house, except a condominium unit, is $75.00 per service riser. An emergency reconnection is $102.00. The construction-and-permits page says the department gives twenty-four-hour help on an emergency electrical reconnect.

Metro zoning and setbacks in Davidson County

A building permit is not the zoning decision. The addition page says side and rear setbacks are the setbacks in Table 17.12.020 A or the setbacks on the plat, whichever is greater. An addition cannot sit over an easement. In R and RS districts, if the addition comes closer to the street than the house already does, the front setback is the platted setback, the street setback in Table 17.12.030 A, or the average of the four nearest houses on the same block face, whichever is greater.

That average is section 17.12.030 C(3) on the page, and it wants a survey stamped by a survey company. There is no single front-yard number that fits every house in Nashville. Call zoning with the address before you order posts. The help desk is 615-862-6510.

The addition page lists a few height sentences that are not a full district table. In the Urban Zoning Overlay, height is limited to 45 feet within three stories. A bulkhead over a stair to the roof does not count as a story, and it does count as height. A rooftop deck counts as a floor if anything on it is covered. Walls or railings over 4 feet count toward a story and as height.

"Over 4 feet" does not include a rail of exactly 4 feet. That is how the page measures the house. It is not a sentence that says a deck under 4 feet needs no permit. Two detached single-family houses on one lot are sent to a note in the table. The page does not list the note. A contextual overlay can tighten coverage and height further, and it wants its own stamped survey.

The department does not keep the easement file, and it does not decide where the lot line is. The addition, deck, and shed pages all say a plat may show an easement and still not be conclusive, that a title search or a survey is how you find them, and that the utilities, including NES, Piedmont, and Metro Water Services, may have their own. If you do not know the line, the pages tell you to get the deed from the Register of Deeds and, if the deed is not enough, to hire a surveyor. Property-line fights between neighbors are described on the fence page as a civil matter. Metro is not the surveyor of last resort.

Fences are the clearest permit conflict in the stack, and the heights are not identical either. The fence page, updated January 17, 2025, says residents do not have to get a permit "at this time," and that zoning and the building code still apply. The zoning examinations page, updated March 31, 2026, says fences generally do not require permits. The property-standards page says a fence may be erected without a permit if it is built of approved materials.

The August 2026 permitting one-pager, the file the publications list links, puts "Opaque Fences" in the block under "PERMIT REQUIRED," next to houses, decks, sheds, and also next to food trucks and commercial roofing. The one-pager does not say the opaque-fence bullet is only for a business. It still counts even though the fence page is older, and the one-pager's word "opaque" doesn't by itself put a chain-link fence on a permit. Call before you set posts for a solid fence.

Where a fence may stand is listed even if the permit answer is not. The fence page says a solid fence is set back 10 feet from the street-frontage property line, that a solid fence inside that 10-foot front setback is no more than 30 inches, and that an open fence such as chain link or wrought iron inside that 10 feet is no more than 72 inches.

The rest of the front setback, back to the front of the house, is no more than 6 feet. The side or the rear of the house is no more than 8 feet. Height is measured from finished grade on the side with the greater exposure. Cross beams face the yard, not the neighbor and not the street.

An alley is not a street for this setback. The page says there is no required distance from a neighbor's property line. You may build on the line. You may also cross an easement, and you rebuild the fence if a utility has to dig. Corner lots cannot have a fence in the 35-foot visibility zone, except that a corner lot in the Urban Zoning Overlay does not have to meet that zone. The page links a drawing.

The property-standards page uses different words for the same kind of rule, and one of them is not the same place. It says a solid privacy fence is a minimum of 10 feet from the edge of the right-of-way. The fence page says 10 feet from the street-frontage property line. It says two and one-half feet within 10 feet of a street right-of-way, where the fence page says 30 inches.

It says open fences may be six feet there, where the fence page says 72 inches. It says six feet in the remainder of the front setback, which it calls the leading edge of the house. It says eight feet within the required side or rear setback. The fence page says eight feet on the side or rear of the principal structure.

A required setback and "the side of the house" are not the same patch of ground. Materials, on the fence page, include woven wire or chain link, wrought iron, wood or vinyl or metal slats, masonry, and treated plastic. Barbed wire and electric fences are generally prohibited or restricted in residential zones. The page says that, with few exceptions, barbs or sharp projections are not allowed on top unless the fence is five feet or more from a property line, or more than seven feet above grade and projecting inward.

It points the details at Metro Code section 16.04.200. In a historic preservation overlay or a historic landmark overlay, the fence page says you need a preservation permit. It says fencing in a neighborhood conservation overlay does not. That is the opposite of "every overlay is the same."

Room additions in Nashville

An addition is construction. The procedures page lists it in the first required item, with no size cutoff. The addition page says you file with the Department of Codes and Building Safety, and that zoning reviews setbacks, footprint, and height for that parcel's zone. The drawings are the site plan, the four elevations, the floor plan, and, if you are moving the front wall toward the street, the stamped average of the four nearest houses. Maximum building coverage is a percentage in Table 17.12.020 A. The page does not list the percentage. A contextual overlay can lower it again.

The fee, if the ordinance line is the one on the invoice, is the residential valuation line, $5.00 per $1,000, plus the $25 zoning examination fee and the 10 percent tech fee on the valuation fee. The process page's "actual value" sentence for remodeling is the conflict above. An addition is not a coat of paint, and it is not automatically "new residential" either. Ask which line they are using before you write the check. One- and two-family permits are on the plans-examination exception. That does not mean the examiner will accept a napkin. The addition page asks for the drawings in the set it lists. The fee section is not a design waiver.

A garage turned into living space is its own required item on the procedures page, with unfinished basements and attics. The city pages linked here don't include a conversion handout that lists insulation values, window area, or an emergency-escape size. Those numbers are not in this guide. File it as the conversion the procedures page names. If the new space is a second dwelling, the renovation page says to stop and ask zoning whether the lot allows an additional dwelling. A self-permit cannot be used for a detached accessory dwelling.

Historic blocks and floodplains are not afterthoughts. Neighborhood conservation and historic preservation overlays go to the historic commission before you assume the setback table is the only test. The two phone numbers for that office are both printed, 615-862-7970 on the addition page and 615-880-4900 on the contact list. A flood overlay goes to stormwater. Anytime the footprint grows, the addition page says to call stormwater. Digging waits on Tennessee 811, at least three working days before you start. The contact list lists 811 or 800-351-1111, and Tenn811.com. That call is not a building permit.

Nashville decks and porches

A wooden deck and a covered front porch on a Nashville house

Use the deck page before you decide a low platform is free. Replacement of a deck, or a new deck, requires a permit. Tearing a deck down and not building it back does not. Replacing deck boards above 100 square feet needs a permit. Exactly 100 square feet of boards is not "above 100." Any replacement of deck footings or deck framing needs a permit. The procedures page lists decks with the accessory structures that need a permit, and it does not give a deck a square-foot exemption.

The 100-square-foot phrase on that page sits on portable storage buildings. The 2022 sheet marks "decks" as Yes for a house, with no height and no size, and that sheet is the one that excludes additions and new buildings from its scope. None of these pages lists a height at which a house deck is exempt. The addition page's "over 4 feet" railing is a way to count stories. It is not that exemption.

The zoning limits that are listed are short. A deck cannot cross a platted setback, a utility easement, or the side-street setback on a corner lot. An uncovered deck can use a reduced rear setback of 10 feet and still has to meet the full side setback. A covered deck has to meet the full rear setback and the full side setback.

The page sends the full district numbers to Table 17.12.020 A and to section 17.12.030 C(3), and the corner side-street setback to Table 17.12.030 A. It says to ask the Zoning Help Desk whether that side-street setback can be reduced. The application is the residential form, the site plan, and the notarized affidavits if you are on a self-permit. The LLC and rental cap on this page is the "under $25,000" sentence above.

A porch is not a nickname for that deck. The procedures page lists porches as accessory structures that need a permit, and it also lists minor repairs to porches inside the maintenance definition. A repair is not a new porch. The front-porch page says a front porch addition goes through the department, and zoning reviews the setback. A covered or uncovered front porch may extend into the street setback, and not over a platted setback, only if all of these are true.

It extends no more than six feet from the house. It is not enclosed. There is no enclosed space above it. It is at least 10 feet from the right-of-way. The house is not already sitting inside the required front setback. The porch may run the width of the house. The drawing they want is a stamped average-street-setback survey that shows the porch and the distances to the property lines.

The 2022 sheet, for work that is not a new building or an addition, marks a porch enclosure as Yes. The city pages linked here don't include a porch construction sheet that lists a footing depth or a rail height. Do not paste a deck rule onto a masonry porch because this section sits nearby. And do not enclose the front porch and call the six-foot encroachment still available. The exception on the porch page says the porch is not enclosed.

The 2022 sheet marks a new patio as Yes if it is more than 6 inches above average grade, and only in that not-an-addition context. The deck page does not use six inches. A patio and a deck are both on the department's project list as "I Want to Add a Deck or Patio," and the page is written as a deck page. The deck-board rule doesn't apply to a patio, and the six-inch line doesn't apply to a deck.

Nashville sheds and accessory structures

A small backyard shed behind a Nashville house

Count the floor, then notice which sentence you are in, because exactly 10 by 10 is not the same test on every page. The procedures page puts storage buildings on the permit list, including portable storage buildings of 100 square feet or more. "Or more" includes a floor of exactly 100 square feet. The same page, in the site-plan bullets, says a site plan is part of the application for a shed over 10 by 10.

"Over" does not include a shed of exactly 10 by 10. The property-standards page says sheds and carports that are 10 feet by 10 feet or larger need a permit, and later says an accessory structure other than a fence that is larger than 10 feet by 10 feet needs a building permit. Exactly 10 by 10 is inside "or larger." It is not inside "larger than." A garage, a carport, a patio cover, a deck, or a porch on the procedures page is not wearing the storage-building size. Those are listed without a cutoff.

The accessory-structure page is the zoning page for a detached building, and it does not list a permit exemption at 100 square feet or at 10 by 10. Uses it names include a garage, a home office, a home workshop, a home gym, a storage shed, a pole barn, a pool house, and a carport. No bedrooms and no dwelling space. No kitchen. Plumbing fixtures are limited to one toilet, one hand sink, one bar sink, and one utility or slop sink.

A shower is allowed in a pool house only if a pool permit is already on file. The building cannot sit over a platted setback, a side-street setback, or a utility easement. Sleeping in the shed is a different project. The property-standards page says a utility shed cannot be converted to living space, and that a detached garage can, in certain cases, be converted, with permits before the work. It does not say what the cases are.

The size limits that are listed are zoning, and they are not a permit waiver. On a lot of less than 40,000 square feet, an accessory building to the rear of the house that meets the district setbacks is limited to 700 square feet or 50 percent of the house's footprint, whichever is greater, and it still cannot exceed 2,500 square feet.

The page says the total of all detached accessory buildings has to stay under that control. Exactly 40,000 square feet is not "less than forty thousand." On the height rule, a lot of less than 40,000 square feet is held to one story or 16 feet. A lot of 40,000 square feet or more may have a rear accessory building of two stories or 24 feet if the full side and rear setbacks are met. Exactly 40,000 is in the second sentence.

Setbacks on that page are a footprint test. At 700 square feet or less, behind the house, the side setback is half the district requirement and not less than 3 feet, and the rear setback is at least 3 feet. If a garage door or a carport opening faces an alley, the rear setback is 10 feet.

More than 700 square feet takes the full district setbacks. Exactly 700 is in the reduced sentence. Only one rear accessory building gets the reduction. The next one takes the full setbacks. Anything beside the house, or in front of it, takes the full setbacks. In the Urban Zoning Overlay the page lists a different wall height, 16 feet at the side and rear setback lines on a lot under 40,000 square feet, with the roof no steeper than the house, and the top of the accessory building no higher than the top of the house.

At 40,000 square feet or more, the walls may be 24 feet, not counting a pitched roof, if the full setbacks are met, and the top still cannot rise above the house. Those are the limits as the department's page states them.

A historic preservation overlay or a neighborhood conservation overlay is a different enforcer. The accessory page says to disregard the floor-area, setback, and height sections above, because the Historical Commission enforces setbacks, footprint, and height. The use limits, including no bedroom and no kitchen, still apply. You need a historic permit and the Codes building permit. That is two permits, not a substitute.

Power and water are not free because you hope the building permit was the thing you skipped. The procedures page does not exempt a new circuit. The property-standards page requires a permit to install an electrical or plumbing system, and it sends homeowner trade work to the chief inspector or the board. The accessory page's fixture list is a cap, not a promise that the one toilet is exempt from a plumbing permit.

Metro electrical permits

The Department of Codes and Building Safety issues the electrical permit. No city page linked here sends house wiring to another city, or to the state, for the permit itself. The state shows up as a license on the self-permit affidavit, for the contractor you hire. The process page says a licensed subcontractor pulls the trade permit after the building permit is issued. The property-standards page says a homeowner's electrical work on a house needs the chief inspector or the board. Both sentences are in this guide because both pages are the department's. The e-permits page will not make you an account.

The January 2025 table is narrow about what it marks as an electrical permit only. An attic fan. Smoke detectors. The 2022 sheet, for work that is not new construction and is not an addition, also marks a burglar alarm, an increase in electrical service, and a new solar system as Yes-E, and it marks smoke detectors that are new or relocated as Yes-E. Relocating a fixture, a switch, or an outlet is marked Yes on the 2025 table, and the legend calls a plain Yes a building or rehab permit, not an electrical-only permit.

The property-standards page uses "replacing light switches" as an example of maintenance that does not need a permit. Replacing a switch and relocating a switch are not the same row. The example doesn't cancel the relocation line, and the relocation line doesn't cancel a like-for-like switch. If the job sits between them, call the electrical number before you open the box.

Those electrical numbers do not agree. The inspection-request page, updated September 29, 2026, lists electrical inspections at 615-862-6560. The contact list, updated June 15, 2026, lists electrical at 615-862-6528. The old inspection brochure also lists 862-6560, and it is not a current code book. Try the September 2026 inspection line first, and if it is the wrong desk, ask for the electrical chief.

The fee, when the permit is issued, is the electrical schedule above. A service change and a new circuit are not the same line. A panel of 200 amperes is the "200 or less" line, at $10.00, and the minimum permit is still $75.00. Starting the work before the permit triples the electrical fee under that section. A house rooftop array is Yes-E on the 2022 sheet. The procedures page lists installing solar panels as work that needs a building permit. No city page linked here says a house array needs no permit.

Scheduling is by phone unless you are a registered contractor. The inspection page says e-permits scheduling is only for registered licensed contractors. Everyone else calls, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with the Metro permit number. The page does not list a same-day cutoff. The checklist that comes with the permit is what says whether you need a rough-in. The September 2026 inspection page doesn't use the word "rough-in."

Metro plumbing and mechanical permits

Plumbing, gas, and mechanical permits are department permits. The inspection page lists both plumbing and gas or mechanical at 615-862-6570. The contact list lists the same number for both. That part matches. The process page says a licensed subcontractor pulls them after the building permit. The property-standards page puts homeowner plumbing and mechanical work in front of the chief inspector or the board, the same sentence as electrical.

The renovation table marks a relocated or new plumbing fixture as a plumbing permit, and a ducted cooktop, an exhaust fan, a fireplace insert, and a wood stove as gas or mechanical. Replacing a dishwasher, a disposal, or a refrigerator with an ice maker is No on that table. A new shower enclosure is a building-permit Yes. Those are different rows. Do not treat a new shower as the dishwasher row.

A water heater is not on the renovation table at all. The fee schedule prices one three ways, and we are not choosing. Plumbing, $43.00. Gas or mechanical, $21.00. Residential electric, $15.00. The property-standards page requires a permit to install a plumbing, mechanical, or electrical system. No city page linked here lists a water-heater change as ordinary maintenance. Call the trade line and ask which permit they want for that heater. The 2022 sheet's furnace lines, a repair with no permit and a different size or fuel with a gas or mechanical permit, are on the old list only. The newer renovation table does not repeat them.

The 2022 sheet also marks a lawn sprinkler, for the water connection and the backflow preventer only, as a plumbing permit, and a permanent hot tub and a movable 220-volt hot tub as "NO-E." The legend defines E as an electrical permit. It does not define the compound "NO-E." Pools, on the procedures page, need a building permit, above or below ground, and a 48-inch barrier or fence. The renovation table marks pools Yes.

Septic is the health department, not a sentence you skip because the house already has a tank. The procedures page says a permit that involves the work in its items 1 through 7, on a private disposal system, needs Metropolitan Health Department approval before the permit is issued. The contact list lists septic at Septicinfo@nashville.gov and 615-340-5630. Sewer and water availability, if you are connecting, is a Metro Water Services review. The inspection brochure tells a new-house owner to ask Water Services about fees and lists 862-7225.

Inspections use the same phone window as electrical. Have the permit number. The checklist names the inspections. Tennessee 811 is still three working days before you dig, 811 or 800-351-1111. That is the contact list. It is not a plumbing permit.

After you file in ePermits: review and Metro inspections

Building plans spread on a desk next to a laptop, ready for a Nashville building permit application

File by emailing the application to zoninghelpdesk@nashville.gov, or come to 800 President Ronald Reagan Way if the examiner or the e-permits page has told you the self-permit is an in-person approval. Zoning and payment are the first floor on the June 15, 2026 contact list. The department homepage says the first floor, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Pay after the signoffs, through Permit Issuance.

Then the permit and the inspection checklist exist. The process page says the checklist is what you follow to finish the project and to obtain the use-and-occupancy certificate. After the building inspections and the trade inspections, that page says to contact the Use and Occupancy Division for the final letter. The contact is uoletters@nashville.gov, 615-862-6527, third floor. The August 2026 one-pager says a use-and-occupancy letter may be requested after the inspections are approved, and it says a final inspection is required to move a new business in.

"May" on the one-pager is not "every water heater gets a letter." The process page is written for residential and commercial applications and does not list a house-repair exemption from the letter. Ask, when the checklist is issued, whether your job needs the letter or only the final inspections. A certificate when no building permit was issued is the $55.00 line, which is a different case.

The only inspection sequence in a department file is the brochure the publications list still links. It shows a footing inspection, then a foundation inspection, then a framing or rough-in inspection that includes building, electrical, mechanical, gas, and plumbing, an insulation inspection completed with the framing inspection, then the finals, then a use-and-occupancy certificate. It also says the contractor paid for the inspections inside the original building-permit fee. That brochure names the 2000 International Residential Code, the Howard Office Building at 700 2nd Avenue South, and Mayor Bill Purcell.

The adopted code on the July 28, 2025 page is not the 2000 book, and the counter address on the 2026 pages is not 700 2nd Avenue South. It is not the current order, but it is the only sequence still linked, and the September 29, 2026 inspection page does not list it. Use the checklist on your permit. If the brochure and the checklist fight, the checklist is the one that was issued for your address.

Phone inspections are 615-862-6550 for building, 615-862-6560 or 615-862-6528 for electrical, depending on which page you have in your hand, and 615-862-6570 for plumbing and for gas or mechanical. Call between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on a weekday. Contractors schedule in ePermits. Homeowners, on that page, do not. The public e-permits site is a way to look a permit up.

If you see work without a permit, the property-standards page says to report it through hubNashville or the Codes hotline, 615-862-6590. The department homepage, updated August 3, 2026, warns that people are posing as planning and zoning offices and asking for payments. Pay the department, at the counter or through the permit path Permit Issuance gives you. Do not pay a renewal invoice you cannot trace to a permit number you already have.

The department pages don't give a number of days after which an issued house permit expires. The code chapters are linked from those pages. Ask when the permit is issued, and write the date they give you on the permit itself.

A Nashville pre-filing checklist

  1. Confirm the house is in the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. The permit office is the Department of Codes and Building Safety. No city page linked here sends a house building permit to another city inside the county.
  2. Ordinary repair is the maintenance definition on the October 31, 2025 procedures page. Painting, papering, glazing, floor finishing, and minor porch repairs are on it. A roof is not one rule. That page, the January 2025 renovation table, the February 2025 property-standards page, the 2022 project list, and the old inspection brochure do not match. Do not pick the sentence that lets you start.
  3. A storage building of exactly 100 square feet is inside "100 square feet or more" on the procedures page and inside "10 by 10 or larger" on the property-standards page. It is outside "larger than 10 by 10" and outside "over 10 by 10." Those four phrases are all on department pages. Zoning for a detached building is a separate test, including 3 feet, 700 square feet, and 16 feet on the accessory page. Power to the shed is not decided by the building-permit size.
  4. The city pages linked here don't include a height that makes a house deck exempt. New decks and replacement decks need a permit. Board replacement above 100 square feet needs one. Footing or framing replacement needs one. An uncovered deck's reduced rear setback, on the deck page, is 10 feet, with the full side setback. A front porch has its own six-foot, unenclosed, 10-foot-from-the-right-of-way test. A minor porch repair is the maintenance definition. An enclosed porch is not that test.
  5. An owner who lives in the house, or intends to, may apply for the building permit. An LLC, a trust, or a rental is "under $25,000" on the renovation, deck, and porch pages, and the affidavit you sign talks about $25,000.00 or greater and about a two-year gap. Exactly $25,000 is not the same case in both texts. Trade permits are separate. The process page says a licensed subcontractor pulls them. The property-standards page says homeowner trade work needs the chief inspector or the board.
  6. Do not email a sketch and start demolition. File the application, get the checklist, pay, and wait for the issued permit. The drawings a house addition actually asks for are a site plan, elevations, and a floor plan. The city pages linked here don't include a review-time table for an ordinary house, or an expiration period.
  7. The building-permit rate in the December 2025 fee file is $5.00 per $1,000 of total valuation for one- and two-family construction as that file defines it, plus a $25 zoning examination fee and a tech fee of 10 percent of the valuation fee. The process page says remodeling is based on actual value. One- and two-family permits are excepted from the plans-examination fee, and the cover of the same file still lists a plan-review fee. Electrical work started without a permit triples the electrical fee. Do not write the check from this page.

Nashville work in the street: NDOT right-of-way permits

A Codes permit covers what happens on your lot. Anything that puts equipment, a dumpster, or a driveway apron in the public right-of-way is a separate permit from the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT).

NDOT right-of-way permits

NDOT takes all right-of-way permit applications through ePermits, the same portal used for building permits. Its permits page says to apply at least two business days before the actual start date, except for emergency repairs. Excavation work has to be completed and repaired within three months of the issue date, and the permit holder warrants the work for one year from final inspection. Fees are set in Metro Code 13.20.030, and the page notes that new right-of-way fees took effect July 1, 2026 under BL2026-1358 (NDOT: Permits). The same page lists a five-year moratorium on excavating newly paved streets, so ask NDOT before you plan a sewer or water tap under a recently repaved street.

The temporary closure page covers the permits homeowners run into most often (NDOT: Temporary Street Closure Permits):

  • Dumpster, trailer, or storage unit placed in the right-of-way needs a permit.
  • Driveway work in the right-of-way, for a new or maintained residential driveway, needs a driveway permit with an area sketch. The page says construction must be finished within one year.
  • Sidewalk closures need their own permit. A closure of less than seven continuous days can use a template from NDOT's traffic control guidelines; a longer one needs a stamped traffic control plan from a licensed engineer.
  • Starting without the permit triggers a triple fee on the closure and driveway permits, according to the same page. Check the current amounts there rather than relying on an old quote.

Sidewalks, in-house apartments, and rentals

The Codes FAQ answers three questions that come up on house projects (Nashville Codes: Frequently Asked Questions):

  • Sidewalks: they aren't required when you renovate or expand an existing single-family or two-family use on a lot, and a right-of-way dedication is no longer required for those projects either.
  • Converting part of the house into an apartment or mother-in-law suite gets a more intensive zoning review than a regular remodel, and you may have to sign a document limiting how the space is used. Some zoning districts don't allow a single-family house to become multi-family at all.
  • A rental property you own is treated as commercial space with a different permit process. The FAQ gives one example: all the work has to be done by a licensed contractor. Talk to a Codes zoning examiner before you plan to do the work yourself.

The FAQ page was last updated in September 2021, so confirm these answers with a zoning examiner before relying on them for a current project.

Last checked: October 2026.

Belle Meade, Berry Hill, and the other Davidson County cities

A Nashville address doesn't automatically mean a Metro Codes permit. Davidson County has small cities inside it that run their own building departments, and the permit you need depends on which side of their line the house sits.

Belle Meade. The city issues its own building permits for new houses, additions, renovations, decks, fences, pools, driveways, masonry walls, and outdoor fireplaces. It has adopted the 2024 ICC codes, including the 2024 International Residential Code. Its permits page says the applicant needs a state contractor's license and workers' compensation insurance, or the homeowner can pull the permit, and the fee is due when the permit is issued (City of Belle Meade: Building Permits). Belle Meade also has its own zoning code, and the city asks you to call its Planning Department before starting any project, interior renovations included (City of Belle Meade: Zoning).

Berry Hill. The split works differently here. Berry Hill's FAQ says a property in Berry Hill doesn't need a Metro building permit, but it may need a plumbing, electrical, or mechanical permit from Metro, which you apply for after Berry Hill issues the building permit. The city says any alteration needs a building permit unless it's a normal repair or minor improvement that doesn't involve structural changes and costs under $4,000. It lists the 2012 International Building Code and the 2012 International Residential Code (City of Berry Hill: Building Permit FAQ).

So if your house is in one of these cities, ePermits isn't where the building permit starts. Check the city limits before you pay for drawings. Even these two cities don't use the same code edition: Belle Meade is on 2024, Berry Hill lists 2012.

Official sources

Next steps for a Nashville project

If you're still working out whether a Nashville job needs a permit, do I need a building permit, in plain English and the permit checker can help. Other cities are on building permits by city.

For the general rules on decks and sheds, see our deck permit guide and shed size limits. Fees in other places are in how much a building permit costs. Inside Metro, the Codes numbers above are the ones to follow.

PermitCove isn't part of Metro Nashville or the Department of Codes and Building Safety. We can't issue a permit, quote your fee, or approve a set of plans.

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

P
Written by PermitCove Editorial

We research every guide from public city, county, and state building-department pages and model codes, then translate them into plain-English checklists. We are not a government agency and this is not legal advice. How we research · Disclaimer · Report an error

Check locally: permit rules vary by city and county. Confirm requirements with your local building department (AHJ) before starting work.

Comments

Post a Comment