Building Permits

BUILDING PERMITS REQUIRED

1. New Construction of houses, garages, sheds, commercial buildings (including modular, mobile homes, or moving a home or commercial building to a lot.)

2. New accessory structures (Sheds, detached garages, swim pools, etc., including moving a shed or garage on to a lot)

3. Any structural addition to an existing house or building

4. Any alteration to structure involving load-bearing walls, new window and/or door openings or expansions

5. Changing Roof Line (Ex.: Pitched to hip roof )

6. Paved or blacktopped driveways, driveway additions, and parking pads

7. New sidewalks and sidewalk additions (Except sidewalks adjacent to or in the City right-of-way)

8. Electrical:

   1. New wiring

   2. Re-wiring

   3. New service entrance

   4. Changing electrical panel sizes or fuse box to panel

   5. Addition of new lighting, outlets, etc.

9. Plumbing:

   1. New plumbing

   2. Alterations to plumbing system

   3. Alterations to drainage system

10. Mechanical:

    1. New Heating, Air Conditioning or Ventilation

    2. Conversions from one type HVAC to another (ex.: Gas to electric)

NO BUILDING PERMITS REQUIRED

1. Siding, roofing, painting, carpeting, dry wall, insulation

2. Repairs and replacement of existing doors, windows, driveways, sidewalks, fences

3. Plumbing:  Replacement or repair of worn valves, faucets, broken pipes and drains, lavatories, tubs and toilets

4. Electrical: Replacement of switches, receptacles, light fixtures, fans, etc.

5. Repairs and/or replacements of furnaces, water heaters, and central air conditioning, (like to like).  EXCEPTIONS: When replacing gas to electric, or vice versa.

"811" CHECK BEFORE YOU DIG UNDERGROUND LOCATING SERVICE

Effective May 1, 2007, Iowa and the rest of the nation are a part of the new, national “811” call-before-you-dig underground locating system.

“811” is a Federal Communications Commission (FCC)-designated national number for homeowners and professional excavators to call before digging. A national awareness campaign for the new system has been implemented by the Common Ground Alliance (CGA), a coalition of businesses, services and agencies, including: excavators; locators; road builders; electric, telecommunication, oil and gas utilities; railroads; one call centers; public works departments; equipment manufacturers and suppliers; state regulators; insurance & engineering/design officials; and emergency services.

811 will not replace the state and local offices that have been in place – calls to 811 will still be directed to local One Call centers – but represents a national effort to simplify the process of calling to locate underground infrastructure. Currently, there are 62 separate and distinct one-call centers in the United States – which equates to 62 different “800” phone numbers. In Iowa, Iowa One Call will retain its toll-free number (800/292-8989) and this number can still be used for locating purposes, as before. Iowa One Call will still include the original number in materials promoting 811.

www.Call811.com

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