Montgomery County, Alabama Building Permit Guide

Montgomery County building permits are issued by the Montgomery County Engineering Department, 100 South Lawrence Street, 2nd Floor, Montgomery (334-832-1310). A permit is required before construction of any structure over 200 square feet begins in the county’s jurisdiction, which lies outside the police jurisdictions of the City of Montgomery and Pike Road, each of which extends 3 miles beyond the city or town limits. The fee is a flat $100 per structure outside flood-prone areas. With about 225,900 residents Montgomery County contains Alabama’s capital, and some construction here also falls under the State Building Code administered by the Division of Construction Management.

This guide covers the department and how to reach it, the code edition that governs a filing here, what permits cost and who may pull them, and how inspections are booked. Rules that apply everywhere in Alabama are summarized in each section, with a link to the full statewide explanation.

This guide covers Montgomery County’s permit jurisdiction, outside the police jurisdictions of the City of Montgomery and Pike Road, each of which extends 3 miles beyond the city or town limits. The City of Montgomery and Pike Road are the county’s only municipalities, and the county does not issue building permits inside their police jurisdictions. State-owned projects follow the Division of Construction Management.

What requires a building permit in Montgomery County?

In the county’s jurisdiction, outside the police jurisdictions of the City of Montgomery and Pike Road, each of which extends 3 miles beyond the city or town limits, a county building permit is required before construction of any structure over 200 square feet begins. The county publishes no separate list of trade or alteration permits.

Not needing a county building permit is not an exemption from floodplain rules, health department septic approval, road access or a licensed contractor. Confirm scope with County Engineering before work starts rather than after.

Which code edition applies

The county’s published fee schedule (effective 1 October 2005) still refers to the Standard Building Codes, and the county publishes no current building code adoption, code inspection schedule or trade permit programme. Its floodplain rules are current: the Floodplain Prevention Ordinance took effect on 16 December 2025. The City of Montgomery enforces the 2024 International Codes, and DCM’s State Building Code operates on its own class of buildings, so a project team working in the capital area should confirm which applies to each building rather than to the site as a whole.

In Alabama, where a project is and what it is decide who reviews it, and whether anyone reviews it at all. There is a State Building Code, but its scope is deliberately narrow. There is a statewide residential code, but it is enforced only by local jurisdictions that run residential permitting and inspection programs (§ 34-14A-12(b)). And everything else — ordinary private commercial and residential work — is permitted and inspected locally, by whichever city or county has taken that job on.

The State Building Code is administered by the Division of Construction Management (DCM), a division of the Alabama Department of Finance (§ 41-4-400), under Title 41, Chapter 9, Article 6 of the Code of Alabama. DCM adopted the 2021 International Building Code effective 1 July 2022, and amended it on 17 March 2025 to pull in portions of the 2024 International Building Code and its companion codes. But DCM applies that code only to work on state-owned property or using state funds, to all public and private K–12 schools, to public postsecondary schools, and to hotels, motels and movie theatres. On municipal and county-owned projects DCM’s jurisdiction is limited to ADA Standards compliance. DCM has no jurisdiction over residential property, and none over commercial property beyond hotels, motels and theatres.

So for most private construction in the county’s jurisdiction, the local step is a flat-fee building permit from the Montgomery County Engineering Department, with floodplain requirements where they apply. From 1 January 2027 a licensed home builder must also build to the residential code even where no one inspects (Code of Alabama § 34-14A-12.1).

From 1 January 2027, under Act 2024-443, a residential home builder must build to the applicable residential code (the Alabama Residential Building Code, or the local code where one applies) even where no building department inspects the work. Since 1 October 2024 the Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board adopts the residential code, and the Licensing Board for General Contractors the commercial energy code. Alabama’s codes and the 2027 change

Who handles permitting in Montgomery County?

The Montgomery County Engineering Department issues building permits outside the police jurisdictions of the City of Montgomery and Pike Road, each of which extends 3 miles beyond the city or town limits, and its Building Inspector can be reached at 334-832-1312. The City of Montgomery permits its own limits, and DCM administers the State Building Code over its own defined categories regardless of where they sit.

The county’s unincorporated territory is largely rural and agricultural, wrapping the capital and its suburbs, while the dense development sits inside the city.

State construction is the structural distinctive. Capitol complex buildings, state agency offices, courts and state facilities are concentrated here, and they run through DCM rather than any local counter. A local fee schedule does not govern that work and the local department is not the reviewing authority — but local zoning and land-use requirements can still apply, which is a distinction worth getting right early.

In 2025, building permits issued in unincorporated Montgomery County authorized 17 new privately owned housing units, all of them single-family homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.

A county’s building code applies in its unincorporated areas; inside a city it applies only with the city’s consent, so confirm for the specific parcel whether the city or the county issues. Outside the city limits, a county code may be enforced in a city’s police jurisdiction only as § 11-40-10(b)(2) provides. County authority and police jurisdictions in Alabama

Permit types

Residential permits

Residential work in unincorporated Montgomery County is predominantly rural and large-lot, with private water and onsite sewage common outside served areas. Those approvals, with access and address assignment, frequently determine feasibility ahead of the building code. The 1 January 2027 residential code duty is significant in rural territory precisely because enforcement infrastructure is thinner there — the obligation will follow the builder regardless.

Commercial permits

Commercial development in the unincorporated county centres on highway corridor retail and service, agricultural support and light industrial activity. Institutional and state-related construction concentrates in the city and follows the DCM path. Larger private projects bring grading, drainage, access, utility and fire review alongside the building set.

Statewide rules also shape Alabama submittals: commercial and multi-family plans must be sealed by an Alabama-licensed design professional where the thresholds require it; a parcel in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area generally needs floodplain approval before the building permit; where adopted, storm shelter (ICC 500) and coastal wind provisions drive the detailing; and no state, county or city body may require residential fire sprinklers (§ 34-14A-12.2). Sealed plans, flood, storm and sprinklers in Alabama

Montgomery County permit costs and fees

Montgomery County charges $100 per structure outside flood-prone areas, provided construction begins within six months of issuance. In flood-prone areas the fee follows a sliding scale on the cost of the structure: $100 up to $3,000; $100 plus $10 per additional $1,000 up to $15,000; $150 plus $2 per $1,000 up to $100,000; $320 plus $1 per $1,000 up to $500,000; $720 plus 40 cents per $1,000 up to $1 million; and $920 plus 15 cents per $1,000 above that. Starting work without a permit adds $100. The City of Montgomery maintains a separate schedule, and state projects under DCM do not follow a local schedule at all.

Fee schedules are revised on each jurisdiction’s own cycle, so ask Montgomery County for the schedule in force on your filing date, and ask separately about plan review, trade, re-inspection and revision charges. How Alabama permit fees work

Trade permits and who may pull them

Alabama licenses contractors through five state boards: the Licensing Board for General Contractors (undertakings of $100,000 or more), the Home Builders Licensure Board (residential work over $10,000, and residential roofing over $2,500), and separate electrical, plumbing and gas, and HVAC boards that license by trade regardless of project value. A local business licence and registration with the building department are commonly required as well. Contractor licensing in Alabama

How to apply for a Montgomery County building permit

Review rules, permit duration, revival and appeal routes come from each Alabama jurisdiction’s own ordinance, so ask Montgomery County which code editions apply on your filing date, how long a permit stays valid and where appeals go. Where a jurisdiction has adopted no building code, no building permit is issued, but zoning, floodplain, health and utility requirements can still apply. Review and corrections in Alabama

Inspections in Montgomery County

The county publishes no inspection schedule. In flood-prone areas the elevation must be certified by a certified engineer, with the first floor at least 2 feet above the base flood elevation. Ask County Engineering what it will inspect before you rely on a county inspection, and on rural parcels settle septic approval with the county health department early.

Where a project falls under the State Building Code rather than the county's, the inspection regime is DCM's rather than the local department's. Do not assume the two are interchangeable, and do not assume a local final inspection closes out a state-administered project.

Do not cover work before the required inspection has been approved. Keep the issued permit, the approved plans, energy documentation, product listings, special-inspection reports and your correction responses available on site.

Montgomery County permit search and official resources

Permit records sit with the authority that issued them, which in Alabama makes record research a jurisdictional question before it is a clerical one. A search of the wrong office returns nothing and proves nothing — and in parts of the state a property may genuinely have no permit history because no permit was ever required. If you are buying, refinancing or renovating an existing building, ask the Montgomery County Engineering Department what it holds for the parcel, whether any permit was closed without a final inspection, and whether the property was inside the enforcing jurisdiction at the time the work was done.

Annexation, changing police jurisdiction boundaries and counties adopting codes at different times all mean that the authority over a parcel today is not necessarily the authority that governed it when a previous addition or alteration was built.

These are the primary sources behind this guide. Codes, fee schedules and portal procedures change, and in Alabama a jurisdiction’s own published packet can lag an adoption by months — the adopted ordinance governs, not an un-updated handout. Confirm the position for your filing date.

• Montgomery County, Alabama
• Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board
• Alabama Licensing Board for General Contractors
• Alabama State Building Code (Division of Construction Management)
• Code of Alabama Title 34, Chapter 14A

Frequently asked questions

Who permits state government buildings in Montgomery?

The Division of Construction Management administers the State Building Code for work on state-owned property or using state funds, and for public and private K-12 and public postsecondary schools. It is not a local building permit.

Are hotels and movie theatres really state-administered?

DCM's State Building Code jurisdiction expressly reaches hotels, motels and movie theatres alongside state property and schools, even though these are privately owned. Confirm the path for the specific occupancy before filing locally.

Does the county permit inside the City of Montgomery?

No. The county issues building permits only outside the police jurisdictions of the City of Montgomery and Pike Road, each of which extends 3 miles beyond the city or town limits.

If DCM reviews my project, does local zoning still apply?

Local land-use and zoning requirements can still apply even where building code administration sits with the state. Treat them as separate questions and confirm both.

What do rural parcels need beyond the building permit?

Private water, onsite sewage, access and address assignment, typically with health department involvement. These frequently determine what is buildable.

What changes on 1 January 2027?

Under Act 2024-443 a residential home builder must build in accordance with the applicable residential building code from that date. The duty attaches to the builder's licence rather than to a local building department, so it applies even where no inspector will attend.

Simplify Montgomery County permitting with Alliance Permitting

In Montgomery County the first questions are whether the parcel lies inside a police jurisdiction and whether the building falls under the State Building Code. Outside the police jurisdictions the county permit itself is simple: a flat fee, with floodplain rules where they apply.

Trusted by leading builders, developers, and national contractors — 21+ years of filing in the jurisdictions we write about.

Contractors and builders choose Alliance for Montgomery County because the work is done by people who have stood at the counter:

• We establish land ownership and building category before choosing a filing path.
• We separate the state code administration from local zoning, which can still apply.
• We confirm county versus city and police jurisdiction on private work.
• We front-load rural water, septic, access and address work.
• We route licensing to the correct one of Alabama's five contractor boards.

Alliance Permitting is a permit documentation and submission company in Alabama. We prepare your paperwork, file it correctly and coordinate with the building department through issuance. We are not a contractor and we do not perform licensed plan review or inspections; that work stays with your licensed team and the jurisdiction.

This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Montgomery County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.