Clive, Iowa Building Permit Guide

Building permits in Clive come from the Construction Services Division of the Community Development Department (515-223-6221), which reviews plans, inspects and enforces the city’s 2024 building code. Contractors must register with the city as well as the state before they can pull permits, and the city’s fee schedule sets flat fees for most home projects: $220 for a remodel or basement finish, $250 for an addition and $150 for a new deck.

What requires a building permit in Clive?

Clive’s building code requires a permit before anyone repairs, adds to, alters, relocates or demolishes a building, changes its occupancy, or installs, alters or replaces an electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system. The city also treats most yard projects as permitted work: its handout states that a permit and fee are required for all accessory structures.

On non-residential property, exterior changes such as roofing, siding, painting or new light fixtures still need Development Review approval even where no building permit applies.

What Clive decides and what the state holds

Clive adopts its construction codes in Title 10 of the city code, most recently restated by Ordinance No. 1174 in 2026. The building code adopts the 2024 International Building Code and 2024 International Residential Code with local amendments; the existing building, fire and swimming pool codes are separate chapters. Among the amendments, the city deletes four items from the residential code’s list of work exempt from permit (items 1, 2, 7 and 10 of section R105.2), which is why small sheds, fences, shallow pools and low decks need permits here. It also adds an electrical update code that reaches existing buildings when a service is replaced, a sub-panel of 100 amps or more is added, solar or battery storage is installed, or an installation is found unsafe. The plumbing, mechanical, fuel gas, electrical and energy codes are the editions the State of Iowa adopted (2024 Uniform Plumbing Code, 2024 International Mechanical Code, NFPA 54, 2023 National Electrical Code and the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code).

Clive building department: who handles permitting

Community Development, directed by Doug Ollendike, covers planning and zoning, construction and code enforcement. Its Construction Services Division administers permits, inspects work and serves as staff to the Building Code Appeals Board; the head of that division, the Construction Services Administrator (Ryan Mayer), acts as the building official under the code. Planning Services handles development review, and a Rental Housing Program certifies and inspects rental units.

For commercial projects, the division asks applicants to call the department before filing.

Clive permit types

The CitizenServe portal separates its applications into new construction, remodel or addition, trade, other building permits, temporary certificates of occupancy, signs, grading, sidewalk and approach, right of way and oversize loads, plus development review filings and rental certificates. The Construction Services Division posts residential handouts for additions, basement finishes, remodels, approaches, decks, egress windows, fences and accessory structures, sheds and garages, hot tubs and pools.

Residential permits

Accessory buildings may stand only in rear yards, may not exceed 15 feet in height, and together with all other accessory structures may cover no more than half of the rear yard. One under 75 square feet may sit right beside the house with a 5-foot setback from lot lines; from 76 to 599 square feet it needs 5 feet of separation from other buildings; at 600 square feet or more it must meet the principal building’s setbacks. Decks up to 50 square feet may go in any yard, larger decks only in side and rear yards, always at least 5 feet from lot lines, with footings 42 inches deep. A covered deck counts as an addition. Fences may reach 6 feet in rear and side yards, ornamental fences up to 3 feet are allowed in any yard, and corner lots need a 20-foot setback on the secondary front.

Building or remodeling a home here? Alliance handles residential permit applications, so the crew isn't waiting on the counter.

Commercial permits

New commercial buildings and additions go through development review and need approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council before a permit. Commercial remodels skip that step, but the city may require the property to be brought back to its approved site plan, for example new landscaping or parking striping. Tenant finishes are priced from the remodel column of the valuation table with a $220 minimum, plans not drawn by an architect add a plan review fee of half the permit fee, and the fire department charges a pre-plan fee by floor area.

For tenant improvements and new commercial builds, Alliance handles commercial building permits through issuance. More on this: commercial building permits explained.

What comes before the building permit

• Zoning and development review. Site plans, rezonings, plats and public improvement drawings are filed on the portal ($275 per development application); the Board of Adjustment ($275) hears variances, special use permits and requests for interpretation.
• Floodplain. Walnut Creek, North Walnut Creek and Little Walnut Creek run through the city. Any work in the 1% annual chance floodplain needs a Floodplain Development Application, new buildings must sit at least 1 foot above that flood elevation, and new or substantially improved buildings need an elevation certificate from an Iowa-licensed land surveyor.
• Easements. Building inside an easement costs $95 with a field review or $40 when it can be cleared administratively.
• Grading and right of way. Grading permits are $275 for the first acre plus $50 for each additional acre ($65 under 2,500 square feet); approaches cost $130.

Clive permit costs and fees

The fee schedule linked from the city’s permit portal is titled 2024 and was revised on December 14, 2023. New buildings are priced from a valuation worksheet: square footage times a cost table drawn from International Code Council building valuation data, multiplied by a permit fee multiplier of 0.0062.

As an illustration of the multiplier, a new building that the worksheet values at $400,000 carries a building permit fee of $400,000 × 0.0062 = $2,480, before trade permits, energy code fees and any fire pre-plan fee. If the worksheet value differs sharply from the real contract price, the Construction Services Administrator may set the fee from the contract amount instead.

The schedule’s text calls its worksheet the 2022 calculation worksheet, while the attached sheet is headed 2023; the multiplier printed on it is 0.0062. The city’s Construction Services page also points to a “current fee schedule” folder in its document archive, so ask the department to confirm the figure on a large project.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Clive runs its own electrical, plumbing and mechanical inspection program, so trade permits are issued by Community Development, not DIAL, at $115 each under the 2024 schedule. Permits are issued only to the property owner or to a firm registered with the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing, and every contractor must also hold a City of Clive contractor registration, applied for on the portal, that expires on the same date as the state registration. Electricians, plumbers and mechanical contractors work under their state licenses.

Clive’s code has a homeowner exception in each trade chapter. Homeowners who qualify for the homestead tax exemption may acquire permits for their principal residence for “remodel electrical work” (section 10-2-10, which also covers accessory structures but not apartments), “remodel plumbing work” (10-3-10) and “remodel mechanical work” (10-5-10), if the residence is an existing dwelling rather than new construction and is not larger than a single family dwelling; the fee schedule’s homestead exemption trade permit is $130 per trade. Under the electrical section the owner may not install service conductors, service disconnects, service grounding or panel boards, and in each trade the Construction Services Administrator may require the homeowner to pass that trade’s exam.

Replacing an electrical service, adding a sub-panel of 100 amps or more, or adding solar panels or battery storage triggers the city’s electrical update code, so the permit may require upgrades to the existing system as well. Swimming pools carry separate trade permits on top of the $195 or $130 pool fee.

How to apply for a Clive building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

Staff check plans for code and zoning compliance, and the fee schedule lets the city charge $75 an hour for each re-submittal beyond the third. Permits expire if work has not started within 90 days or stops for 60 days, and every permit expires after 365 days unless an extension is requested in writing 14 days before the deadline; re-issuing an expired permit costs $100. A site left unsecured for more than 10 days, with debris, open excavations or missing erosion control, can also void the permit. No new permit, extension or certificate of occupancy is issued while any delinquent charge is unpaid.

Inspections in Clive

Inspections are scheduled first come, first served with at least 24 hours’ notice, by calling Community Development at 515-223-6221 or emailing the department. Nothing is scheduled until the required permits are approved, paid for and issued. A deck needs a footing inspection and a final; other accessory structures are inspected as the permit specifies. Inspections after 5 pm or on weekends cost $98 an hour, and repeat visits $65 an hour.

Before a final certificate of occupancy, the site work on the plan must be complete: sidewalks, driveways and approaches, seeding or sod, trees, screening of rooftop units and any other site plan items. A temporary certificate costs $100 and lasts 14 days outside winter. A winter temporary certificate runs from freezing conditions to May 31 and requires a signed completion agreement backed by an escrow copy or $2,500 for a house, or a surety bond covering the remaining work for a commercial building.

Iowa building code

Clive enforces the 2024 International Building and Residential Codes as amended in Title 10 of its city code, together with the state-adopted trade and energy codes. In FEMA’s Community Status Book, Clive (community 190488, in Dallas and Polk counties) appears among the communities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program, on a flood map effective February 1, 2019, and its Community Rating System Class 4 gives policyholders a 30% premium discount.

Iowa lets most cities and counties adopt the state building code, another code or none (a city of more than 15,000 must enforce at least the state code), but the energy, accessibility, fire, plumbing, mechanical and electrical rules apply statewide. Iowa rules

Clive permit search and official resources

The CitizenServe portal includes a search for permits and registrations, and applicants follow their own permits through review and inspection there. The Community Development Department keeps elevation certificates on file for properties in the floodplain and publishes the list. Older permit files and other records come through the City Clerk, the city’s official custodian of records (515-223-6220, extension 5), under Iowa’s public records law.

• Clive Community Development Department
• Construction Services Division: adopted codes, inspections, contractor registration
• Clive CitizenServe permit portal
• When a permit is not required (portal)
• City of Clive 2024 fee schedule (revised December 14, 2023)
• Ordinance No. 1174, Title 10 building regulations
• Deck permit submittal and building requirements
• Fence and accessory structure requirements
• Building responsibly in a special flood hazard area
• Clive flood information
• City records requests
• Contact the City of Clive
• FEMA Community Status Book, Iowa

Clive building permit FAQs

Do contractors need a Clive registration?

Yes. Clive requires a city contractor registration on top of the state DIAL registration, and it expires on the same date as the state one.

How much is a remodel permit in Clive?

A residential remodel or basement finish is a flat $220 and an addition $250, with separate $115 trade permits for electrical, plumbing and mechanical work.

Do I need a permit for a fence or shed in Clive?

Yes. Fences, sheds and other accessory structures need a permit; a fence permit is $30, and sheds must stand in the rear yard.

Can I replace my roof without a permit?

On a house, yes, unless the structure is damaged. Exterior changes to commercial buildings still need Development Review approval.

How high must a new house in the floodplain be built?

At least 1 foot above the 1% annual chance flood elevation, documented with an elevation certificate from an Iowa-licensed land surveyor.

Can a homeowner pull an electrical permit in Clive?

Only for remodel electrical, plumbing or mechanical work in an existing home no larger than a single-family dwelling that is their homestead-exempt principal residence, and never for the electrical service or panel boards.

How long is a Clive permit good for?

Work must start within 90 days and not stop for 60; every permit expires after 365 days unless an extension is requested 14 days ahead.

Simplify Clive permitting with Alliance Permitting

Alliance Permitting is a permit documentation and submission company in Iowa. 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 Clive permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.