Marietta Building Permit — Filed & Tracked For You

Marietta building permits come from the Department of Development Services at City Hall. Its Building Inspection division provides plan review, issues building, electrical, grading, heating and air, and plumbing permits, performs those inspections, and issues certificates of occupancy.

Marietta is the seat of Cobb County and is not permitted by Cobb County. The county's own agency uses a Marietta mailing address and permits the unincorporated county around the city — one of the easiest jurisdiction mix-ups in Georgia.

Applies inside the Marietta city limits. Unincorporated Cobb County files with the Cobb County Community Development Agency, and Smyrna, Kennesaw, Acworth, Austell, Powder Springs, and Mableton each permit their own work.

What requires a permit in Marietta?

A Marietta building permit is required for all new construction, temporary buildings, and certain alterations to existing construction inside the city limits. Permitting sits in the Department of Development Services at Marietta City Hall, and the Building Inspection division provides plan review, issues building, electrical, grading, heating and air, and plumbing permits, performs the corresponding inspections, and issues certificates of occupancy.

Marietta is the county seat of Cobb County and is not permitted by Cobb County. The county's own Community Development Agency has a Marietta mailing address and permits the unincorporated county around the city — which makes this one of the easiest jurisdiction mix-ups in Georgia to make, and one of the easiest to avoid by checking the parcel.

All permitting is done online using SagesGov, and the account is city-specific: you create or activate a Marietta account rather than reusing one from another SagesGov jurisdiction. The documents required depend on the project type — residential or commercial, interior only or exterior, general contractor or homeowner acting as contractor.

The enforced code is the Georgia State Minimum Standard Codes — the 2024 International Building Code and 2024 International Residential Code with Georgia Amendments, alongside the 2024 International Plumbing, Mechanical, Fuel Gas, and Swimming Pool and Spa Codes and the 2023 National Electrical Code with the 2026 Georgia Amendments. Georgia turned its codes over on January 1, 2026. The Board of Community Affairs, acting on the recommendation of the State Codes Advisory Committee, adopted the 2024 editions of the building, residential, plumbing, mechanical, fuel gas, and swimming pool and spa codes, together with the 2023 National Electrical Code carrying the 2026 Georgia Amendments. A project drawn to the previous editions is drawn to a superseded code, and the Georgia Amendments — not the base I-Code text — are what the plan reviewer reads.

Marietta building department: who handles permitting

Development Services works from Marietta City Hall, 205 Lawrence Street, Marietta, GA 30060, with mail going to P.O. Box 609, Marietta 30061-0609. Planning and Zoning sits on the second floor of City Hall on 770-794-5669, open 8:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday.

Marietta publishes its fee arithmetic openly, which makes it one of the easier Georgia cities to estimate. Permit fees are determined by construction cost — labour plus materials — with a $50 minimum. Residential runs $5 per $1,000 of total construction cost plus a $50 base fee, with no plan review fee. Commercial and institutional runs $4 per $1,000 up to $250,000, and $6 per $1,000 at $250,000 and above, each plus the $50 base fee and a plan review fee.

That residential structure is worth noticing: no plan review fee at all on the residential side, and a lower rate on smaller commercial jobs than larger ones. It is one of the few Georgia fee schedules where the rate goes up with project size rather than staying flat.

Cobb County's Community Development Agency uses a Marietta mailing address and sits minutes from City Hall, but the two are different authorities. The county permits unincorporated Cobb; the city permits inside its limits. Cobb also schedules inspections by text message while Marietta does not, so a crew carrying habits from one will find the other unfamiliar.

Marietta permits: record types and what each covers

Marietta issues an unusually broad set of records from one division, including grading. These are the records you will file:

Residential permit types

Commercial permit types

Records you will actually see in Marietta

Solar permits in Marietta

Solar is filed as its own record across Georgia rather than as a line item on a building permit, and it is reviewed on two tracks at once: the electrical side (conductors, overcurrent protection, rapid shutdown, labelling, and the service or supply-side connection, all against the 2023 National Electrical Code with the 2026 Georgia Amendments) and the structural side (attachment detail, rail spacing, and whether the existing framing carries the added dead load).

Solar in Marietta is an electrical record from the same division that issues the building permit and performs the inspection. Because the fee follows construction cost — labour plus materials — state the array cost accurately rather than as a placeholder.

The covenant question comes up on nearly every residential array, and Georgia answers it less generously than several neighbouring states. Georgia's Solar Power Free-Market Financing Act (O.C.G.A. § 44-3-113 and Title 46, Chapter 3, Article 8) makes third-party solar financing lawful and limits a property owners' association's ability to prohibit solar outright, but Georgia gives homeowners materially less protection than North Carolina or Florida do: an association retains real authority over placement and appearance, and a covenant restricting where panels may sit on the roof will usually stand. Read the covenants before designing the array, not after.

Utility interconnection runs on its own clock alongside the permit. Georgia Power and the state's electric membership corporations each set their own application, meter, and witness-test sequence, and permission to operate is not something the building department controls — plan for the two tracks to finish at different times.

Roofing permits in Marietta

A roof covering replacement needs a permit across most of Georgia. The permit is usually quick, but it is not optional, and the inspection that matters happens before the covering goes on rather than after.

Because Georgia enforces a statewide minimum code, there is no state product-approval database to search and no approval number to cite on the application. The assembly has to comply with the adopted code and the manufacturer's listed installation instructions, and that pairing is what the inspector checks — which makes the manufacturer's instructions a document worth having on site.

Reroofs inside the city are Marietta permits, not Cobb County ones, even though the county's agency shares the town name in its address. Cobb schedules inspections by text message and Marietta does not, so a roofing crew working both sides of the line is working two systems.

Sequencing is where reroofs go wrong. The deck and dry-in condition has to be visible when the inspector arrives, so covering it first means opening it back up. Where a previous layer has been torn off, expect attention to deck fastening and to any sheathing replaced along the eaves.

Marietta permit cost

Marietta states its rates, so a reliable estimate is possible before you file. Permit fees are determined by construction cost with a $50 minimum. Residential is $5 per $1,000 of total construction cost — labour plus materials — with a $50 base fee and no plan review fee. Commercial and institutional is $4 per $1,000 for projects of $250,000 or less and $6 per $1,000 at $250,000 or greater, each with a $50 base fee plus a plan review fee.

The re-inspection ladder is the other published number and it deserves a line in the programme rather than the budget. The first inspection carries no charge; a first disapproved re-inspection is $50, a second $75, a third $100, and a fourth $150. Getting the first inspection right is worth more than the fee saved.

Because construction cost drives the fee, the cost figure on the application is a substantive entry rather than an estimate. Labour and materials both count, and a low figure invites a correction rather than a saving.

Marietta trade permits

Marietta keeps all the trades inside one division, which means one portal account, one set of inspectors, and one escalating re-inspection ladder across every discipline on the job.

Marietta permit application: how to apply step by step

Here is how to get a building permit in Marietta, from confirming the requirement through to close-out. Each step below corresponds to a real decision point where projects commonly stall.

Inspections in Marietta

The Building Inspection division performs building, electrical, grading, heating and air, and plumbing inspections itself, and issues the certificates of occupancy. Because every discipline is inspected by the same division, co-ordination across trades is simpler here than in cities where fire, health, or a third-party provider hold separate sign-offs.

The escalating re-inspection ladder is the mechanism the city uses to price readiness. The first inspection is free; each subsequent disapproved re-inspection costs more than the last. Treating the first visit as the real one — rather than as a check on progress — is the cheapest approach.

Georgia also lets an applicant bring a private professional provider to the plan review itself. Once the permit application and the provider's affidavit are both in, the building official has 30 days to issue the permit or give written notice identifying the specific plan features that do not comply and the specific code chapters and sections behind each. If that written notice does not arrive inside 30 days, the application is deemed approved as a matter of law and the permit shall be issued. A timely notice tolls the 30 days; when revisions come back, the official has the remainder of the tolled period plus five business days (O.C.G.A. § 8-2-26(g)).

Keep the permit and approved plans on site throughout, and note that Marietta follows the pool and spa code with Georgia amendments on any pool work. a Georgia building permit generally becomes invalid if work does not begin within 180 days of issuance, or if work is suspended or abandoned for 180 days after commencing, under the administrative provisions of the adopted International Building and Residential Codes — local ordinance may set a different period, and extensions are usually available in writing on request.

Marietta permit search and official resources

Marietta publishes its permit information, fee schedule, and construction guidelines through Development Services, with SagesGov handling all applications.

• Marietta building permits and fee schedule
• Marietta Building Inspections division
• Permits and applications
• Marietta Planning and Zoning
• Cobb County Community Development — separate authority
• DCA — current Georgia State Minimum Standard Codes

Frequently asked questions

Who issues building permits in Marietta, GA?

The City of Marietta Department of Development Services, through its Building Inspection division at Marietta City Hall, 205 Lawrence Street. Marietta permits inside its own city limits.

Does Cobb County permit work in Marietta?

No. Marietta is the county seat but permits its own construction. Cobb County's Community Development Agency uses a Marietta mailing address and permits unincorporated Cobb County, which is a common source of confusion.

How do I apply for a Marietta building permit?

All permitting is done online using SagesGov. You create or activate a Marietta-specific account, select the permit type, complete the application, and upload plans, contractor information, and any required agency approvals.

How much does a Marietta building permit cost?

Fees are determined by construction cost with a $50 minimum. Residential is $5 per $1,000 of total construction cost, labour plus materials, with a $50 base fee and no plan review fee. Commercial and institutional is $4 per $1,000 for projects of $250,000 or less and $6 per $1,000 at $250,000 or greater, each with a $50 base fee plus a plan review fee.

Is there a plan review fee for residential work in Marietta?

No. The residential schedule is $5 per $1,000 of construction cost plus the $50 base fee, with no plan review fee. Plan review fees apply on the commercial and institutional side.

What are Marietta's re-inspection fees?

The first inspection carries no charge. A first disapproved re-inspection is $50, a second is $75, a third is $100, and a fourth is $150.

What permits does the Building Inspection division issue?

Building, electrical, grading, heating and air, and plumbing permits. The same division performs those inspections and issues certificates of occupancy.

Does Marietta have its own pool rules?

The city follows the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code with Georgia Amendments, and publishes guidelines for pool construction alongside its permitting procedures.

Do I need a permit for a fence in Marietta?

The city publishes guidelines for fence construction as part of its permitting information. Check those guidelines for your fence type and location before building.

What documents will I need to apply?

That depends on the project: residential or commercial, interior only or exterior, and whether a general contractor or a homeowner acting as contractor is applying. The city sets out the required documents by project type.

What code does Marietta enforce?

The Georgia State Minimum Standard Codes as regulated by the Department of Community Affairs, which moved to the 2024 editions with Georgia Amendments effective January 1, 2026. The energy code remains the 2015 IECC with Georgia supplements.

When is a Georgia contractor licence required?

Once the value of the work, or the contractor's compensation, exceeds two thousand five hundred dollars, tested per project rather than per invoice. Trade licences under Title 43, Chapter 14 are required regardless of job value.

Simplify Marietta permitting with Alliance Permitting

Marietta is one of the most estimable jurisdictions in Georgia — published rates, one division, one portal — and one of the most commonly misfiled, because the county that surrounds it shares its mailing address. Add a re-inspection ladder that punishes optimistic scheduling and the priorities become obvious. A permit expediter for Marietta files with the right government and arrives ready for the first inspection.

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

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

• Right authority — city or unincorporated Cobb, resolved from the parcel rather than the Marietta address.
• Priced and sequenced properly — construction cost stated accurately, and inspections booked only when the work will actually pass.
• Complete oversight — every Marietta permit, trade record, and inspection tracked across your jobs in one place.

Alliance Permitting is a permit documentation and expediting service. We are not a law firm and do not provide legal advice, and we are not the permitting authority.

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