Marshall County, Iowa Building Permit Guide

In unincorporated Marshall County, Planning & Zoning at the courthouse, 1 E. Main St., Suite 140, Marshalltown (641-844-2707), issues the building permit required before almost any structure is built, moved or enlarged. The permit checks zoning, floodplain and platting rules rather than construction details, costs 3% of the value up to $10,000 or $300 plus 0.2% of the total value above that, and electrical permits come from the state, not the county.

What requires a permit in unincorporated Marshall County?

The whole unincorporated county is zoned. Article XIX of the zoning ordinance makes it unlawful to excavate, erect, construct, reconstruct, enlarge, alter or move a building or structure until the Zoning Administrator has issued a building permit, and the same permit is needed to change the use of a building or land from one classification to another.

The farm exemption puts the burden on the owner to show the property and buildings are primarily adapted and used for agriculture, and it never covers building, filling or excavating in a floodplain on FEMA’s maps or in the county’s designated critical resource areas. On lots used as homes in the A-1, R-1, R-2 and R-3 districts, fences may be 8 feet high in side and rear yards and 4½ feet in the front yard, with the better side facing the neighbor.

What the county decides and what the state holds

Marshall County’s building permit is part of its zoning ordinance (Article XIX), which reviews each application for conformance with zoning, floodplain and platting requirements; the ordinances the county posts include no building code. The zoning ordinance in force took effect on January 1, 1997 and has been amended since, with separate ordinances for private wells (1997), onsite wastewater (1997), subdivisions (2004) and floodplain development (2011). Structural, plumbing and mechanical standards for a rural house are not inspected by the county, while the state energy code, state trade licensing and state electrical inspections apply.

Marshall County building department: who handles permitting

Director of Zoning Tyler Kelley runs Planning & Zoning and also serves as County Sanitarian, so building, floodplain, septic and well permits all start at the same courthouse office; staff ask visitors to call ahead. The County Engineer handles driveways and the road right of way, and the GIS office assigns 911 addresses.

The county road system covers 206 miles of paved roads, 710 miles of granular roads and 18 miles of dirt roads, but not city streets or the state highways (U.S. 30 and 330 and Iowa 14, 96 and 146), which the Iowa Department of Transportation maintains. For a driveway on a county road, the Engineer decides whether a culvert is needed and its size, never smaller than 15 inches, and only new corrugated metal pipe meeting Iowa DOT specifications may be used; once an approved drive is in, the county maintains the culvert. GIS gives each owner one free 8½ by 11 property map.

Cities in Marshall County

Each incorporated city controls building inside its own limits; the county’s zoning ordinance covers only land outside them.

Marshall County permit types

Permits are applied for and paid through the county’s online permitting program (GeoPermits). The county has warned of fake invoices sent to people with variance and conditional use requests: real payment requests come only through the program where the request was filed, never by mailed invoice or a third-party company.

Residential permits

A rural house needs the county building permit, a well permit if it will use a private well, a septic permit if no sewer is available, a driveway permit for a new entrance onto a county road, a 911 address and a state electrical permit. The application includes plans in duplicate, drawn to scale and based on a survey or recorded plat, showing the lot’s shape and size, the building’s location, size and height, and existing and intended uses; the house site must be staked out before construction starts. Only the owner, a contract buyer of record, or an agent with written authority may obtain the permit.

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

Commercial permits

Businesses use the same building permit and fee formula. Sand and gravel mining, renewable energy sites and most cellular towers need a conditional use permit from the Board of Adjustment, and rezonings go through the Zoning Commission to the Board of Supervisors and must match the comprehensive plan.

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

What comes before the building permit

• Zoning. Variances and conditional uses are decided by the Board of Adjustment, which meets on the second Monday of the month at 9:00 am in courthouse Meeting Room 1.
• Well and septic. For a new home on a private well, the well permit must be issued before the building permit, and wells are not permitted where community or public water is available.
• Floodplain. Obtain the base flood elevation from the Iowa DNR and any state and federal permits first, then file the county floodplain development permit with a site plan.
• Data centers. The supervisors’ September 9, 2026 minutes record a first reading of Ordinance 26-39, a temporary six-month moratorium on applications related to data centers in the unincorporated county, and a plan to bring it back as a resolution on September 23; if adopted then, the minutes say, it would run from September 23, 2026 to March 23, 2027 unless extended or shortened. The September 23 minutes are a scan that could not be read here; the Zoning Commission’s October 20 minutes say a 6-month moratorium “is in place on new data centers.”
• Wind and solar. The Zoning Commission is drafting a renewable energy ordinance in work sessions running into November 2026.

Marshall County permit costs and fees

Article XIX sets the building permit fee on the value of the work, and the Applications & Permits page repeats the same two-step formula. The two steps do not meet exactly: a $10,000 project pays $300 and a $10,001 project pays $320.

Worked examples: a $6,000 garage addition pays 3% of $6,000, or $180. A $300,000 house pays $300 plus 0.2% of $300,000 ($600), or $900. The county does not post separate fee amounts for floodplain, septic or well permits; those are shown when you apply in the permitting program.

A building permit lapses if construction or the change of use has not begun within six months, and the work must be finished within one year of issue. For driveways the county does not install the entrance; the applicant pays for the culvert pipe, which must be paid for before it can be picked up at the County Yard, 901 E. Boone St.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Marshall County does not issue or inspect electrical permits. For rural work the electrical permit is a state permit, bought through the state’s electrical permit and inspection system and inspected by a state electrical inspector. The county has no plumbing or mechanical permit either, so those trades follow state licensing without a county inspection.

• Septic installers apply to the county with a septic contractor application; systems need a county septic permit, and tanks installed since 1991 must have two compartments, with an effluent filter required since 2000.
• Well drillers fill in the county well permit form in detail and return it with the fee; after drilling they file the well record, and the owner then calls the office for the required water test.
• Owners obtain the county building permit themselves, or a builder applies as their agent with written authority.

The septic page carries the forms a rural build or sale may need: the septic permit application, a repair and abandonment permit, a soil analysis request, a groundwater hazard form, a building demolition waiver, an inspection waiver for a future installation and a binding agreement for a future time-of-transfer inspection.

The well program also offers grant money: up to $2,000 for eligible well reconstruction and up to $700 to plug an abandoned well, with pre-approval, plus one free water test a year for rural owners and tenants while funds last.

How to apply for a Marshall County permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

Applications are reviewed against zoning, floodplain and platting rules, and lot dimensions on the plans must come from an actual survey or recorded plat, so a parcel without one needs a survey first. A residential lot must front at least 40 feet on a public road or have an exclusive access easement at least 20 feet wide. Rezonings and conditional uses add public hearings before the Zoning Commission, the Board of Adjustment or the supervisors.

Inspections in Marshall County

The county building permit carries no framing, plumbing or mechanical inspections, since the county’s posted ordinances include no building code; the ordinance requires the lot and the building’s location to be staked out on the ground before construction begins. Septic systems must be approved by the County Sanitarian, new wells get a site survey before drilling and a water test after, and the Engineer’s staff inspect the drive and any pipe not bought from the county before the entrance is installed.

Wiring is inspected by the state electrical inspector under the state permit. In a floodplain, the job is closed only after the owner submits an elevation certificate signed by an Iowa-licensed land surveyor; for example, where natural ground is at 1,075 feet and the base flood elevation is 1,079 feet, the lowest floor including any basement must be at 1,080 feet, which takes about 5 feet of fill. Septic systems on homes being sold also need a time-of-transfer inspection, handled through the same office.

Iowa building code

Marshall County enforces its zoning, subdivision, floodplain, well and wastewater ordinances, and none of the ordinances it posts is a building code for the unincorporated area. FEMA’s Community Status Book lists Marshall County as participating in the National Flood Insurance Program, with flood maps effective November 16, 2011.

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

Marshall County permit search and official resources

Permit applications and records are kept by Planning & Zoning and can be requested from the office or under Iowa Code chapter 22. Board of Adjustment and Zoning Commission agendas, packets and minutes, and supervisors’ minutes, are posted on the county site; parcel data is on Beacon through the GIS office.

• Marshall County Planning & Zoning
• Applications and permits
• County permitting portal (GeoPermits)
• Zoning ordinance Article XIX, building permits
• Zoning, well, wastewater and floodplain ordinances
• Compiled zoning ordinance
• Floodplain management
• Board of Adjustment
• Zoning Commission
• Septic permits
• Well permits and grants
• County Engineer permits
• Driveway application and policy
• 911 address request
• Supervisors minutes, September 9, 2026
• State electrical permits (DIAL)
• FEMA Community Status Book, Iowa

Marshall County permit FAQs

Does Marshall County require a building permit outside city limits?

Yes, for nearly every structure over 120 square feet, from pole buildings and houses to decks and signs, plus any change of use. Planning & Zoning issues it.

How much is a Marshall County building permit?

3% of the value up to $10,000; above that, $300 plus 0.2% of the total value, so $900 for a $300,000 house.

Does the county inspect electrical work?

No. Electrical permits and inspections in rural Marshall County are handled by the State of Iowa.

Do farm buildings need a county permit?

Farm houses, barns and outbuildings used for agriculture as a primary livelihood are exempt from the zoning ordinance, but not in floodplains or critical resource areas, and the owner must show the agricultural use.

Which comes first, the well permit or the building permit?

For a new house on a private well, the well permit must be issued before the building permit.

How high must a house in the floodplain be built?

At least 1 foot above the base flood elevation, basement included, proved by a surveyor’s elevation certificate when the work is done.

Can I build a data center in rural Marshall County?

Ask Planning & Zoning first. The Zoning Commission’s October 20, 2026 minutes say a six-month moratorium is in place on new data centers; the supervisors’ September 9 minutes put its end at March 23, 2027 if it was adopted on September 23, unless the board extends or shortens it.

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