Conway, Arkansas Building Permit Guide

Conway is the seventh-largest city in Arkansas at just over 70,000 residents, the seat of Faulkner County and known as the “City of Colleges” for the University of Central Arkansas, Hendrix College and Central Baptist College, with a long-standing technology and data-services base. Building permits are issued by the city’s Building Permits & Inspections office at City Hall, 1111 Main Street, for work inside the city.

This guide covers Building Permits & Inspections and how to reach it, the statewide code the city enforces, the Lake Conway and floodplain context, and how fees, submittals and inspections work alongside the state licensing boards.

This guide covers work inside the City of Conway limits. Faulkner County and neighbouring cities — Greenbrier, Vilonia, Mayflower — are separate authorities.

What requires a building permit in Conway?

The Arkansas Fire Prevention Code applies statewide, including rural and unincorporated land, but building permits are issued locally, where a city or county runs a permit program. Inside the City of Conway limits a permit is required for most construction, alteration, demolition, repair, relocation, change of occupancy and trade work.

Exemptions are narrow and local, and an exemption from a building permit is not an exemption from zoning, setbacks, floodplain rules, utility approval or a fire review. Confirm scope with Building Permits & Inspections before work starts rather than after.

Which code edition applies

Arkansas’s building code is the 2021 Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, adopted by the State Fire Marshal and in force statewide since 1 January 2023; building permits are issued locally where a city or county runs a permit program, and the plumbing, gas, mechanical, energy and electrical codes are adopted by separate state agencies. The Arkansas codes

Who handles permitting in Conway?

Building Permits & Inspections handles building permits, plan review and inspections inside the city, and the city issues its own floodplain development permits; Faulkner County handles floodplain permits outside the city limits.

Student-driven housing, a steady technology and data-services base and fast corridor growth keep both residential and commercial volume high in Conway. On lakefront and low-lying parcels, floodplain review sits ahead of the building rules; the recent Lake Conway drawdown and reconstruction have kept shoreline questions especially live.

As the Faulkner County seat, Conway runs the busiest counter in the county; unincorporated work, and floodplain permits outside the city, are county matters.

In 2025, building permits issued in Conway authorized 443 new privately owned housing units, 151 of them single-family homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.

Permit types

Residential permits

Residential work spans student-adjacent housing, established neighbourhoods and fast subdivision growth. Re-roofs, solar installations and additions need permits, floodplain review can apply near Lake Conway, and the $2,000 residential licensing threshold catches most jobs.

Commercial permits

Commercial work runs from technology and data-services to regional retail and university-related development, all subject to plan review and the ACLB commercial threshold of $50,000.

Credentials: three agencies license the trades

Arkansas splits trade licensing across three bodies, so the credential check is not a single lookup. Electrical and HVACR contractors are licensed through the Department of Labor and Licensing; plumbing and gas contractors through the Department of Health; and general contracting through the ACLB. A firm working across trades will hold several credentials from several agencies, and Building Permits & Inspections will expect each to be current before a permit issues in that firm’s name.

The Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board requires a commercial licence for non-residential work of $50,000 or more and a residential licence for residential work above $2,000; roofers instead need a roofing contractor registration. Contractor licensing in Arkansas

Conway permit costs and fees

Budget the city building permit and plan-review fees, separate trade permits, any floodplain review a parcel triggers, and the city’s road and park impact fees on new construction (on the city’s table, from $1,256 to $2,295 per new single-family home depending on size). There is no separate state permit fee.

Fee schedules in Arkansas are set locally and revised on each jurisdiction’s own cycle, so a figure quoted from a neighbouring city, an older packet or a national estimator is not a reliable number here. Ask Building Permits & Inspections for the schedule in force on your filing date, and ask separately about plan review, trade, and any re-inspection or revision charges, which are frequently billed as distinct lines.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Electricians and HVACR contractors are licensed by boards in the Department of Labor and Licensing, plumbers and gas fitters by the Department of Health, and general contractors by the Contractors Licensing Board; many jurisdictions also require local registration. Trade credentials in Arkansas

How to apply for a Conway building permit

Review, corrections and what actually causes delay

Because Arkansas’s technical code is statewide and uniform, correction cycles here tend not to turn on disputed interpretation of the model code. They turn on the local layer and on credentials: a licence in the wrong classification or lapsed; a trade credential from the wrong agency; a floodplain or zoning approval that had to clear first; a submittal that arrived without the sets or forms Building Permits & Inspections requires. Ask what the local department needs, in what form, before filing.

A building permit carries a validity period set by Conway; confirm the expiry on phased or delayed work before it passes. Permit validity in Arkansas

Inspections in Conway

Standard checkpoints include footing and foundation, framing, rough-in trades, insulation and energy, fire systems on commercial work, and final, with occupancy approval before use. Lakefront and low-lying parcels add floodplain elevation verification.

Confirm bookings rather than assuming them, and give the notice the department asks for — an unconfirmed inspection request is a scheduling risk you can remove with one call or visit.

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

Conway permit search and official resources

Permit records in Arkansas sit with the local authority that issued them — Building Permits & Inspections holds the building permit, the inspection history and the certificate of occupancy for work in the City of Conway limits. If you are buying, refinancing or renovating, ask what it holds for the parcel, and confirm that past work was permitted rather than assuming it was.

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

• City of Conway
• Faulkner County
• Arkansas Fire Prevention Code (State Fire Marshal)
• Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board
• Arkansas Department of Health — plumbing and gas

Frequently asked questions

Where do I get a Conway building permit?

From Building Permits & Inspections at City Hall, 1111 Main Street (501-450-6107, permits@conwayarkansas.gov), or online through the Civic Access Portal. Faulkner County handles unincorporated development.

Is floodplain review common in Conway?

On lots in a mapped flood zone, yes. No work of any kind may begin there until the city issues a floodplain development permit, and the building may not be occupied until a certificate of compliance is issued, so check the FEMA map early.

What code does Conway enforce?

The Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, 2021 Edition, with city amendments layered on.

Do I need a permit for a re-roof or solar?

Yes. Re-roofing and solar installations require permits, and a re-roof over $2,000 also crosses the residential contractor-licensing threshold.

Is the county or the city my authority?

Work inside Conway files with the city; unincorporated Faulkner County is a separate authority.

How do I run a Conway permit search?

Ask Building Permits & Inspections what it holds for the parcel — the permit, inspection history and certificate of occupancy sit with the city.

Simplify Conway permitting with Alliance Permitting

Conway carries most of Faulkner County’s permit volume, and the sites that need care are the lakefront and low-lying parcels where floodplain comes first. Handling those up front keeps a filing predictable.

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

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

• We check floodplain status near Lake Conway before design.
• We confirm city-versus-county jurisdiction from the parcel.
• We assemble the Building Permits & Inspections submittal to the 2021 code.
• We verify the ACLB licence and classification against the scope.
• We confirm trade credentials across the three state agencies.

Alliance Permitting is a permit documentation and submission company in Arkansas. We prepare your paperwork, file it correctly and coordinate with the permitting authority 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 Conway permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.