Paulding County building permits come from the Building and Permitting Division of Community Development, which issues building, electrical, heating and air-conditioning, and plumbing permits for residential, commercial, and industrial uses alike.
Land development runs on a separate track. A Land Disturbance Permit is required before any grading or development of 1 acre or more, is issued through plan review, and changes hands at a pre-construction meeting rather than over a counter.
Applies to unincorporated Paulding County and the City of Hiram, which sends building permits to the county. Dallas permits its own construction through a separate Community Development department with its own portal.
For a business occupancy, you must pass a fire inspection to receive the certificate of occupancy, and it is booked with the Paulding County Fire Inspector rather than with building inspections. The county’s Building Occupancy Inspection application ($50) collects sign-offs from zoning, the Marshal Bureau, addressing, the tax commissioner, environmental health, water and sewer, fire, and the building inspector.
What requires a permit in Paulding County?
A Paulding County building permit is required before most construction in unincorporated Paulding County. The Building and Permitting Division, inside Community Development, issues building, electrical, heating and air-conditioning, and plumbing permits for all uses — residential, commercial, and industrial — from one division rather than splitting them across desks.
Dallas permits its own construction inside its city limits through a separate Community Development department with its own Customer Self Service portal. Hiram does not: the city directs building permits, land disturbance and development plan review to the county, and county Planning & Zoning administers Hiram’s zoning ordinance. Paulding is a fast-growing county where the unincorporated area dominates, but the Dallas check is still worth making from the parcel.
All grading, land disturbance, or development in Paulding County must be permitted and inspected. A Land Disturbance Permit is required before any grading, disturbing, or development of 1 acre or more, and it comes from the Development Division through the plan review process rather than from the building counter.
Permit required
- Building permits for residential, commercial, and industrial uses
- Electrical permits
- Heating and air-conditioning permits
- Plumbing permits
- Land disturbance for grading or development of 1 acre or more
- House Location Plans where the final plat requires them
- Elevation Certificates where the final plat requires them
Typically exempt
- Painting, flooring, and other cosmetic work
- Ordinary repairs that do not touch structure or a regulated system
- Work inside the Dallas city limits — permitted by the city
- Like-for-like replacements that do not alter a regulated system
Georgia’s State Minimum Standard Codes apply statewide; the Department of Community Affairs adopts them, with Georgia Amendments, and city and county building departments enforce them under their own permit rules. Georgia rules
Paulding County building department: who handles permitting
The Building and Permitting Division works from the Government Administrative Building at 240 Constitution Boulevard, First Floor, Dallas, GA 30132, Monday to Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm. Building permit technicians are reached on 770-443-7571 or at commdevpermits@paulding.gov, and inspections are scheduled on 770-505-1398 or at bldginspections@paulding.gov.
The division also answers technical questions about the adopted building, electrical, HVAC, plumbing, and other codes — a service worth using before a first job in the county rather than after a failed inspection.
Land development sits with a separate Development Division, and the sequence there is formal. The Land Disturbance Permit is issued only after the plans have been approved by all required reviewers. Once fees are received, a pre-construction meeting is set up with the developer and the development inspector, and the developer receives the LDP and two sets of approved construction plans at that meeting — not before.
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Get a free quote →| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Authority | Paulding County Community Development — Building & Permitting Division |
| Scope | Unincorporated Paulding County and the City of Hiram — Dallas permits its own work |
| Address | 240 Constitution Boulevard, First Floor, Dallas, GA 30132 |
| Permit technicians | 770-443-7571 — commdevpermits@paulding.gov |
| Building inspections | 770-505-1398 — bldginspections@paulding.gov |
| Fire inspections | 770-222-1160 — fireinspections@paulding.gov |
| Land disturbance | Development Division, through plan review, at 1 acre or more |
| Lot inspections | Requested by fax to 770-443-7501, completed within two days |
At the pre-construction meeting the developer and the development inspector sign the subdivision or commercial construction procedure forms — a document setting out the proper sequence for the job. That signature is the point at which the LDP and the approved plans change hands, so the meeting is not a formality you can skip to save a week.
Paulding County's offices are in the City of Dallas, Georgia — which runs its own permitting department and its own portal, and which has published a fraud alert about fake city emails requesting wire transfers. The city warns that it never requests payment by wire transfer and that only its official Customer Self Service portal should be used. Treat any emailed change of payment instructions on a Paulding-area job as false until confirmed by phone.
In 2025, building permits issued in unincorporated Paulding County authorized 1,161 new privately owned housing units, 1,125 of them single-family homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.
Paulding County permits: record types and what each covers
Paulding runs building permits and land development as separate tracks with separate paperwork, and the plat tells you which extra records your lot needs. These are the records you will file:
Residential permit types
| Permit type | What triggers it | Review path | Fee basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| New construction | New dwellings, additions, and accessory structures above the local size threshold | Full plan review against the 2024 IRC with Georgia Amendments, plus zoning | Valuation-based |
| Renovation / alteration | Structural changes, layout changes, or added plumbing, mechanical, or electrical | Plan review scaled to scope; existing-building provisions apply only where locally adopted | Valuation-based |
| Reroof | Roof covering replacement, recover, and structural deck repair | Dry-in and deck inspection; plan review rarely required | Valuation or squares |
| Solar photovoltaic | Rooftop or ground-mount arrays, with or without battery storage | Electrical review led, with structural review of the attachment | Flat or system-size based |
| Battery energy storage | Wall or floor-mounted storage added to a dwelling | Electrical review plus fire separation and location check | Flat or per-permit minimum |
| Electrical | Service changes, panel upgrades, new circuits, EV chargers, and rewiring | Trade review; filed as its own record under a Class I or Class II licence | Per-permit minimum or per-device |
| Plumbing | New piping, repipes, fixtures, gas piping, and water heater replacement | Trade review; filed under a Master Plumber Class I or Class II licence | Per-permit minimum or per-fixture |
| Mechanical / HVAC | Changeouts, new ductwork, and refrigeration | Trade review; conditioned air licence class keyed to system capacity | Per-permit minimum or per-unit |
| Deck and porch | New decks, screened porches, and structural rebuilds | Footing and framing review against the residential code | Flat or valuation-based |
| Pool and spa | In-ground and above-ground pools, spas, barriers, and bonding | Structural, barrier, and electrical bonding review under the 2024 ISPSC | Valuation-based |
| Accessory structure | Sheds, detached garages, and carports above the local size threshold | Zoning first, then structural review where applicable | Flat or valuation-based |
| Demolition | Full or partial demolition of a structure | Utility disconnect verification and asbestos notification | Flat |
| Land disturbance | Clearing, grading, and any disturbance above the local threshold | Erosion and sedimentation review on its own statutory clock | Per-acre or valuation-based |
| House Location Plan | A lot whose final plat carries an asterisk | Three copies on legal-size paper by a certified surveyor or engineer | Professional fee |
| Elevation Certificate | A lot whose final plat requires one | Two copies submitted before the certificate of occupancy | Professional fee |
Not sure this scope needs a permit?
Get a free quote →Commercial permit types
| Permit type | What triggers it | Review path | Fee basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| New construction | Ground-up commercial, industrial, and multifamily buildings | Full multi-discipline review; sealed plans required | Valuation-based |
| Tenant build-out | Interior fit-ups and suite build-outs in an existing shell | Concurrent building, trade, and fire review | Valuation-based |
| Renovation / alteration | Structural, envelope, or system changes to an existing building | Plan review scaled to scope; accessibility triggers attach | Valuation-based |
| Change of occupancy | Converting a building from one occupancy classification to another | Life-safety, accessibility, and zoning review | Valuation or flat |
| Shell building | A building permitted without a known tenant or use | Shell review only; no certificate of occupancy until a build-out closes | Valuation-based |
| Reroof | Commercial roof covering replacement or recover | Structural check on added dead load; fire review where applicable | Valuation or squares |
| Solar photovoltaic | Commercial rooftop, carport, and ground-mount arrays | Structural, electrical, and fire access review | Valuation or system-size based |
| Electrical | Service, distribution, and branch circuit work | Trade review; separate record from the building permit | Valuation or per-device |
| Plumbing | Supply, waste, vent, grease, and gas systems | Trade review; backflow and grease interceptor sign-offs attach | Valuation or per-fixture |
| Mechanical / HVAC | Rooftop units, ductwork, exhaust, and refrigeration | Trade review; energy compliance documented against the 2015 IECC | Valuation or per-unit |
| Fire protection | Sprinkler, standpipe, alarm, hood, and suppression systems | Fire review under the state Safety Fire Commissioner's adopted codes | Valuation or per-device |
| Sign | Wall, monument, and illuminated signage | Zoning review plus electrical where illuminated | Flat or per-sign |
| Land disturbance | Site clearing, grading, and stormwater installation | Erosion and sedimentation review as a Local Issuing Authority | Per-acre or valuation-based |
| Pre-construction meeting | Any development receiving a Land Disturbance Permit | Developer and development inspector sign the construction procedure forms | No separate fee |
| Lot inspection | Where the final plat requires it | Requested by fax to the Development Inspector, completed within two days | Set by the county |
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- Single-discipline review in most cases
- Trade records filed separately under Chapter 14 licences regardless of job value
- State licence required for residential work once its total value exceeds $2,500; commercial work at any value
- A private professional provider may be engaged to shorten the review path
Commercial — multi-discipline
- Concurrent review across building, trades, fire, and zoning
- Signed and sealed plans across every affected discipline
- Land-disturbance review runs on its own statutory clock under Title 12
- Accessibility and life-safety review attach to any change of occupancy
Records you will actually see in Paulding County
| Record | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Building permit | Residential, commercial, and industrial construction |
| Electrical permit | Issued by the same division as the building permit |
| Heating and air-conditioning permit | Mechanical work, issued by the same division |
| Plumbing permit | Issued by the same division |
| Land Disturbance Permit | Required before grading or developing 1 acre or more |
| House Location Plan | Where the final plat marks it with an asterisk |
| Elevation Certificate | Where the final plat marks it, submitted before the certificate of occupancy |
| Fire inspection | Separate sign-off required before the certificate of occupancy issues |
Solar permits in Paulding County
Solar in unincorporated Paulding is filed as an electrical record with the Building and Permitting Division, which issues all four permit types from one desk. Ground-mount arrays that disturb an acre or more pull in the Land Disturbance Permit and its pre-construction meeting.
Rather not deal with the Paulding County building department?
Get a free quote →Roofing permits in Paulding County
Paulding does not require a permit for a reroof or residing job with no structural work; replacing sheathing, rafters, trusses, or studs does need one. The same job inside Dallas is a city matter. The county office is in Dallas, which makes the address a poor guide to the authority — check the parcel.
Solar and roofing work are built to the statewide codes, permit rules are set locally, and utilities run interconnection on their own timeline. Georgia rules
Paulding County permit cost
Paulding prices from the county's adopted schedule, with trade permits carried as their own records. The land development side is priced separately, and the county's own sequence makes clear that fees are received before the pre-construction meeting is arranged — so the LDP fee sits ahead of the meeting rather than after it.
Two plat-driven documents carry professional costs that are easy to miss at bid stage. A House Location Plan, indicated on the final plat by an asterisk, must be prepared by a certified surveyor or engineer, submitted in three copies on 8½ by 14 inch paper. An Elevation Certificate, indicated on the plat, is submitted in two copies before the certificate of occupancy.
Land disturbance runs on its own statutory clock. For land-disturbance permits, from July 1, 2026, the existing 45-day initial review period stays, but the issuing authority now has five days to decide whether an application is complete and whether outside review is needed — miss that and the application is deemed complete. It must act on the first resubmission within 20 days and on later resubmissions within 14, and new comments generally have to relate to the original comments or to what the applicant actually changed. A denial has to state its reasons in writing. Miss the issuance or denial deadline and the authority must refund the application fees, and the applicant may seek mandamus in superior court with the petition given priority on the docket (O.C.G.A. §§ 12-7-9, 12-7-11).
| Fee component | How it works |
|---|---|
| Building permit | County adopted fee schedule, by record type and scope |
| Trade permits | Electrical, HVAC, and plumbing as their own records |
| Land Disturbance Permit | Priced separately; fees received before the pre-construction meeting |
| House Location Plan | Prepared by a certified surveyor or engineer, three copies |
| Elevation Certificate | Two copies submitted before the certificate of occupancy |
| City projects | Dallas prices its own; Hiram jobs are county permits |
Want a precise number for a specific Paulding County project? Send us the scope and we will price the permit path before you file.
Paulding County trade permits
Paulding issues all four permit types from one division, which simplifies filing — but the inspection and certificate path runs through more than one office.
One division, four permits
Building, electrical, heating and air-conditioning, and plumbing permits all come from the Building and Permitting Division for residential, commercial, and industrial uses alike.
Two inspection numbers
Building inspections are booked on one line and fire inspections on another. The fire sign-off gates the certificate of occupancy, so book it early rather than at the end.
Technical questions are answered
The office answers technical questions about the adopted building, electrical, HVAC, and plumbing codes. Use that before a first job in the county.
State licence still governs
Chapter 14 trade licences authorise the work regardless of job value, and the residential contractor threshold is $2,500 of total job value.
Georgia licenses residential contractors through a state board once a job passes $2,500, licenses commercial general contractors at any job value, and licenses electrical, plumbing and conditioned air contractors separately at any job value. Georgia rules
Want this handled start to finish?
Get a free quote →Paulding County permit application: how to apply step by step
Here is how to get a building permit in Paulding County, from confirming the requirement through to close-out. Each step below corresponds to a real decision point where projects commonly stall.
Dallas permits its own construction; Hiram sends building permits to the county. The county’s own offices sit in Dallas, so the address will not resolve the question — check the parcel.
The plat tells you which extra records this lot needs. An asterisk means a House Location Plan prepared by a certified surveyor or engineer; a CE marking means an Elevation Certificate before the certificate of occupancy.
Any grading, disturbance, or development of 1 acre or more needs a Land Disturbance Permit from the Development Division through plan review, issued only once all required reviewers have approved the plans.
Once fees are received, a pre-construction meeting is arranged with the developer and the development inspector. The LDP and two sets of approved construction plans are handed over at that meeting, where the subdivision or commercial construction procedure forms are signed.
Building, electrical, HVAC, and plumbing permits all come from the Building and Permitting Division. Permit technicians are on 770-443-7571 and answer technical code questions as well as processing applications.
Building inspections go through 770-505-1398 or by email; fire inspections through 770-222-1160 or fireinspections@paulding.gov. You must pass the fire inspection to receive the certificate of occupancy. Lot inspections, where the plat requires them, are requested by fax and completed within two days.
Inspections in Paulding County
The county's building inspectors conduct the applicable inspections for all permits issued, and are scheduled by phone or email through the Building and Permitting Division. Fire inspections are a separate service on a separate number, and passing the fire inspection is a precondition of the certificate of occupancy rather than an optional extra.
Where the final plat requires them, lot inspection requests are faxed to the office marked for the attention of the Development Inspector, and the county commits to completing those inspections within two days. On a subdivision running several lots at once, that turnaround is worth building into the programme.
Keep the permit and approved plans on site throughout, and keep the signed construction procedure forms with them on a developed site. 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.
Georgia law lets an applicant use a private professional provider for plan review, with set deadlines for the building official. Georgia rules
Paulding County permit search and official resources
Paulding publishes its forms, plan review packets, and division contacts through Community Development, with land development handled by a separate division from building permits.
- Paulding County Building & Permitting Division
- Documents and forms
- Development Division plan review packet
- City of Dallas Community Development — separate authority
- DCA — current Georgia State Minimum Standard Codes
- Georgia Secretary of State — verify a contractor licence
Inspections are where schedules slip.
Get a free quote →Frequently asked questions
Who issues building permits in Paulding County, GA?
The Building and Permitting Division of Paulding County Community Development, at 240 Constitution Boulevard in Dallas (770-443-7571). It issues building, electrical, heating and air-conditioning, and plumbing permits for residential, commercial, and industrial uses in unincorporated Paulding County and the City of Hiram.
Do I need a fire inspection in Paulding County?
For a business occupancy, yes. The county’s Building Occupancy Inspection application says you must pass a fire inspection to receive the CO, and it is scheduled separately with the Paulding County Fire Inspector on 770-222-1160 or at fireinspections@paulding.gov.
When do I need a Land Disturbance Permit in Paulding County?
Before any grading, disturbing, or development of 1 acre or more of land. The LDP is obtained from the Development Division through the plan review process, and is issued only after the plans have been approved by all required reviewers.
What happens at the Paulding County pre-construction meeting?
Once fees have been received, the meeting is set up with the developer and the development inspector. The developer receives the Land Disturbance Permit and two sets of approved construction plans there, and both parties sign the subdivision or commercial construction procedure forms.
What is a House Location Plan?
A plan required where the final plat marks it with an asterisk. Three copies must be submitted on 8½ by 14 inch paper, prepared by a certified surveyor or engineer.
What is an Elevation Certificate and when do I need one?
A certificate required where the final plat indicates it, submitted in two copies to the division before the certificate of occupancy is issued.
How do I schedule a building inspection in Paulding County?
By calling 770-505-1398 or emailing bldginspections@paulding.gov. Building permit technicians are reached separately on 770-443-7571 or at commdevpermits@paulding.gov.
How quickly are lot inspections done in Paulding County?
Where the final plat requires them, lot inspection requests are faxed to the office for the attention of the Development Inspector, and the county completes those inspections within two days.
Does Paulding County permit work in Dallas or Hiram?
In Hiram, yes; in Dallas, no. The City of Hiram directs building permits and development plan review to the county’s Development Division. The City of Dallas runs its own Community Development department with its own portal, and the county’s offices are in Dallas but do not permit Dallas city work.
Does the county answer code questions?
Yes. The Building and Permitting Division provides information to the public and answers technical questions concerning the adopted building, electrical, HVAC, plumbing, and other codes.
What code does Paulding County enforce?
The Georgia State Minimum Standard Codes — the 2024 International Building and Residential Codes with Georgia Amendments and the 2023 National Electrical Code with the 2026 Georgia Amendments, effective January 1, 2026. The energy code remains the 2015 IECC with Georgia supplements.
When is a Georgia contractor licence required?
For residential work, once the total value of the work, or the contractor's compensation if higher, exceeds $2,500; commercial general contractors need a licence at any value. Trade licences under Title 43, Chapter 14 are required regardless of job value.
Simplify Paulding County permitting with Alliance Permitting
Paulding is a fast-growing county that runs building and land development as two tracks with two sets of paperwork, and gates the certificate of occupancy behind a fire inspection booked with a third office. The plat tells you which extra records your lot needs, and reading it late is what costs the week. A permit expediter for Paulding County reads it first.
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Contractors and builders choose Alliance for Paulding County because the work is done by people who have stood at the counter:
- Right authority — unincorporated Paulding and Hiram through the county, Dallas through the city, resolved from the parcel rather than the address.
- Both tracks sequenced — land disturbance and pre-construction meeting ahead of the building permit, fire inspection booked before it gates the CO.
- Complete oversight — every Paulding permit, land development 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.
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More Georgia permitting guides
This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Paulding County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.