Floyd County, Iowa Building Permit Guide

Outside its cities, Floyd County requires a building permit, which its ordinance calls a zoning certificate, before any building is erected, moved in or structurally altered. The Planning & Zoning Department at 101 S Main Street, Suite 206, Charles City (641-257-6145, by appointment) issues it under fees adopted on March 31, 2026: $250 to $750 for a house, $100 for a garage or pole building and $50 for a deck or portable shed. The same office runs septic and well permits, the County Engineer issues right-of-way permits, and the State of Iowa handles electrical permits.

What requires a permit in unincorporated Floyd County?

A zoning certificate must be issued before the erection, construction, moving in or structural alteration of a building, and no new or altered building may be occupied, and no change of use made, until one is in hand. The fee resolution shows what that covers in practice.

Farm buildings are claimed on the worksheet printed on the permit application, which asks whether the applicant is actively engaged in the farm operation on the parcel, whether a proposed farmhouse will be lived in by someone farming that parcel, and whether the applicant files a Schedule F or reports gross farm receipts on line 10 of a corporate Form 1120. Projects that need a conditional use, a variance or a rezoning must have that request filed before the building permit can issue.

What Floyd County decides and what the state holds

The county has zoned since June 1, 1967. Its current text is Zoning Ordinance 2011-2, adopted December 27, 2011, updated in June 2020 and amended for commercial wind energy by Ordinance 2026-01 on January 6, 2026; floodplain rules are Section XVII of the same ordinance. The ordinances the county posts include no building code. Its one construction standard for homes is that every new dwelling sit on a permanent foundation built to Iowa Building Code standards, with a main body at least 24 feet wide on average. Electrical inspection and trade licensing are state matters.

Floyd County building department: who handles permitting

Jessy Willadsen is both the Zoning Administrator and the Environmental Health Administrator, so one Charles City office reviews building permits, site plans and surveys for the unincorporated county, schedules Zoning Commission and Board of Adjustment hearings, mails notice to owners within 500 feet, administers the floodplain rules and issues septic and well permits. Visits are by appointment.

Cities in Floyd County

The zoning ordinance covers only unincorporated land. Each city decides its own permits inside its limits, so check with the city first if the parcel may be inside one.

Floyd County permit types

The Planning & Zoning page posts the building permit application, the fee schedule, the site plan form, a land division review form, preliminary and final plat applications, rezoning, conditional use and variance requests, and a radon-resistant construction brochure. Hearing requests are filed online, and applicants are encouraged to talk with the Zoning Administrator first about the site plan and drawings the board will need.

Residential permits

The two-page application asks for the job address, or a legal description if no E911 address has been assigned, the parcel, owner and contractor, the project, its use and total construction cost, start and finish dates, and the width, depth, area, peak and eave height and number of stories. Blueprints or a drawing must be attached, with a site diagram showing every existing and proposed building, paving, the septic system, the entrance and roads, setbacks to each line (the front measured from the right of way) and a floor plan giving the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. It also asks whether the building will have running water, whether a new well or septic system is planned and whether an E911 sign is up and visible. Incomplete applications are not processed, and no work may begin before the permit issues.

A farmstead that existed on June 13, 1995 may be split from the farm with at least 1.5 acres for each home, and a new house can be built while the old one stays until the new one is finished or occupied. In the A district, an accessory building more than 6 feet from the house and more than 60 feet from the right of way may stand 5 feet from a side or rear line. A secondary farm dwelling for family members is a conditional use and must sit within 250 feet of the main farmhouse on a permanent foundation.

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

Commercial permits

Commercial and industrial buildings and additions pay by size, from $500 under 50,000 square feet to $1,500 above 100,000. Any wind turbine, home or commercial, needs a conditional use permit from the Board of Adjustment plus a building permit. Three moratoria are in force: the county will not accept a conditional use or zoning permit application for a data center, including cryptocurrency mining, until March 2, 2027 (Resolution 07-26); battery energy storage permits are on hold until December 29, 2026 (Resolution 34-26); and utility-scale solar applications will not be accepted until the zoning ordinance is amended or the moratorium is lifted (Resolution 04-25).

Small businesses at home have their own standards. A home occupation must be run inside the house by family members living there, while a home industry may use accessory buildings and up to two employees who live elsewhere; neither may show outside storage, noise, odors or heavy traffic at the lot line, and water, sewer and waste systems for both need county health approval.

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

• Hearings. Rezoning, variance and conditional use requests go in at least 21 working days before the board’s regular meeting, with the $300 fee.
• Septic and well. Permits from Environmental Health, paid before any work starts.
• Right of way. An Engineering Office permit for a new driveway, a driveway extension, ditch filling or other work in the county road right of way.
• Address. The E911 Administrator assigns new addresses and sets the sign.
• Floodplain. A county floodplain development permit, plus Iowa DNR or Army Corps permits where required.

Floyd County permit costs and fees

The Board of Supervisors adopted the current zoning schedule of fees, Resolution 09-26, on March 31, 2026. Structures it does not list are priced by the Zoning Administrator. Septic and well fees are set separately by Environmental Health.

A 2,200-square-foot house on a new well and septic system therefore pays $500 for the building permit, $300 for septic and $200 for the well, or $1,000 in county permit fees, plus the E911 sign ($25) and post ($20) if a new address is set. Environmental Health also reimburses up to $500 for closing an abandoned well, $300 for plugging a cistern and $1,000 for reconstructing a private well, on a bill submitted to the County Sanitarian.

Trade permits and who may pull them

• Electrical: the county pages list no county electrical permit; its permit page sends applicants to the state electrical program, and rural wiring is permitted and inspected by DIAL.
• Septic contractors: the county posts the list of contractors who install septic systems, and every system it permits is inspected by Environmental Health.
• Well drillers: a list of well contractors is posted, and the well permit must be paid before drilling starts.
• Plumbing and mechanical: state licensed trades, with no county permit.

The application names the contractor, and the contractor or agent must give the property owner a copy of the issued permit; the Zoning Administrator also sends a copy to the Assessor’s office.

How to get a Floyd County building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

Staff check setbacks and height, whether the building is in a floodplain, whether the parcel lies within 5 miles of an airport and whether well or septic permits are needed, so a missing distance, a site in the flood zone or an unsettled septic plan holds the permit. Projects tied to a hearing wait for the Zoning Commission or the five-member Board of Adjustment, and any proposal caught by a moratorium is not accepted at all.

Inspections in Floyd County

The county runs no building-code inspections of footings, framing or finished homes; the zoning certificate checks the use, setbacks, height and floodplain status on the drawings, and staff may visit the site under the consent signed on the application. Environmental Health inspects every septic system installed in the county, collects private well water samples and performs time-of-transfer septic inspections. Wiring is inspected by the state.

The Engineering Office polices the road right of way after construction too. Rocks, broken concrete and other debris may not be placed or buried in county ditches; an owner who ignores a removal letter gets a 48-hour notice, after which the county removes the material and assesses the cost to the adjacent owner. Crops may not be planted in the right of way, and any that are will be destroyed.

In a mapped floodplain, the floodplain permit is issued on the condition that the lowest floor, basement included, of a new or substantially improved home is at least 1 foot above the base flood elevation, and a non-residential building is elevated or flood-proofed to the same level. Work in a designated floodway needs certification that it will cause no increase in the base flood elevation before a permit can issue, and the Zoning Administrator keeps the recorded lowest-floor elevations.

Iowa building code

The ordinances Floyd County posts include no building code; the building permit enforces Zoning Ordinance 2011-2, including the floodplain section and the permanent foundation rule for dwellings. FEMA’s Community Status Book lists Floyd County as participating in the National Flood Insurance Program, with its current flood map effective June 19, 2020.

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

Floyd County permit records and official resources

Building permits, zoning certificates and septic and well permits are kept by Planning & Zoning as public records; ask the office at 641-257-6145 for copies. Board of Supervisors resolutions, including fee schedules and moratoria, are posted by year, and board agendas and minutes are on the county Agenda Center.

• Floyd County Planning & Zoning
• Permits and applications
• Building permit application
• Zoning schedule of fees, Resolution 09-26
• Zoning ordinance page
• Zoning Ordinance 2011-2 (amended 2020)
• Conditional use permits and variances
• Floodplain ordinance
• County floodplain permit
• Wind energy conversion systems
• Data center moratorium, Resolution 07-26
• Battery storage moratorium extension, Resolution 34-26
• Utility-scale solar moratorium, Resolution 04-25
• Board of Supervisors resolutions
• Environmental Health
• Secondary Roads permits and forms
• E911 addressing
• DIAL electrical permits and inspections
• FEMA Community Status Book, Iowa

Floyd County permit FAQs

Does Floyd County require a building permit?

Yes. Outside city limits, a zoning certificate, which the county treats as its building permit, is needed before building, moving in or structurally altering a building.

How much is a building permit for a new house?

$250 under 1,500 square feet, $500 up to 3,000 and $750 above, under Resolution 09-26.

Do farm buildings need a permit?

Not in the A district once the agricultural exemption worksheet is approved; there is no fee.

How much do septic and well permits cost?

$300 for septic and $200 for a well, paid before work begins.

Can I build a data center or battery storage site in rural Floyd County?

Not now: data center applications are refused until March 2, 2027, and battery storage permits until December 29, 2026.

How long is a building permit good for?

It becomes void 12 months after issue if work or the use has not started.

Who issues electrical permits?

The State of Iowa through DIAL; the county pages list no county electrical permit.

Simplify Floyd County 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 Floyd County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.