The Boone County Building Department, on the third floor of the County Administration Building at 2950 Washington Street in Burlington (859-334-2218, Monday to Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm), issues building permits and inspects for unincorporated Boone County and the cities of Florence, Union and Walton, with applications through its online permit portal. The Boone County Planning Commission in the same building issues the zoning permit that must come first. The county runs from the Ohio River south and west of the Cincinnati suburbs, and its defining feature is the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and the air cargo operation around it, which has drawn warehousing, logistics and light industrial development.
The Kentucky Building Code and Kentucky Residential Code apply here without local amendment, as everywhere in the Commonwealth, so what Boone County controls is its zoning, its subdivision regulations, its fee schedule and its inspection programme. The county building department’s programme covers Florence, Union and Walton as well as the unincorporated county, and Florence, at about 34,000 residents, is the largest city.
This guide covers Boone County, including Florence, Union, Walton, Burlington and Hebron. Kenton County to the east runs its services through a joint agency, and Grant, Gallatin and Carroll counties to the south run their own arrangements.
The airport shapes the development market. Boone County holds the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and the air freight operation built around it, which has made warehousing, logistics and light industrial construction a large share of commercial work in a county of about 145,000. Height, noise and approach-surface questions reach a great deal of the land around Hebron, and they arrive before the building code does.
What requires a building permit in Boone County?
What is local in Boone County is the inspection programme, the fee schedule, zoning and planning, contractor registration, and the county's zoning and the airport's development context.
Short on time to read all of this?
Get a free quote →Typically permit required
- Any construction, alteration, repair, demolition or change of occupancy under the Kentucky Building Code or Residential Code
- Zoning and subdivision approval under the ordinance of the city or county area where the site sits
- Electrical, plumbing and heating and air work, each by a state-licensed contractor on its own permit
- New buildings, additions and any structural work on an existing building
- Alterations, repairs and renovations under the building or residential code, and any change of occupancy
- Decks, accessory structures above the code threshold, retaining walls over 4 feet and in-ground swimming pools
Often exempt
- Ordinary repairs that do not alter structure, egress or systems
- Ordinary repairs that do not alter structure, egress or systems
- Painting, papering, flooring, cabinets and similar finish work
- Like-for-like replacement that the codes place below the permit threshold
- Small accessory structures below the code's threshold — the zoning ordinance still applies
What is actually local, and what is not
The code is the Commonwealth's and cannot be added to. Boone County's layer is its building inspection programme and the certified inspectors staffing it, the fee schedule its ordinance sets, the zoning ordinance and planning commission that govern use and site development, any local contractor registration it requires, and the airport's approach surfaces and the industrial development around it, and the individual cities' zoning ordinances.
Kentucky has one mandatory statewide building code that local governments may not add to. Cities and counties enforce it and run zoning. The state reviews plans for larger and higher-risk buildings, and the local programme reviews smaller ones. Kentucky rules
Who handles permitting in Boone County?
The Boone County Building Department issues building permits and carries out building inspections with certified inspectors, as the state regulation requires of a local inspection programme. It does not do plumbing or electrical inspections: electrical inspections go to an independent certified inspector the county names (859-746-9111), and plumbing is permitted and inspected by the state (859-341-8228). The Boone County Planning Commission (859-334-2196) issues zoning permits and administers the zoning ordinances the fiscal court and city councils adopt, the airport board’s approach and height requirements reach the land around Hebron, and the state Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction retains its role on certain commercial projects and licenses the trades.
Not sure this scope needs a permit?
Get a free quote →| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Authority | Boone County Building Department (zoning permits: Boone County Planning Commission) |
| Office | County Administration Building, 2950 Washington Street, 3rd Floor, Burlington, KY 41005 |
| Phone | (859) 334-2218 (Planning Commission: 859-334-2196) |
| Hours | Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm |
| Cities | Florence, Union and Walton are inside the county building programme |
| Codes | Kentucky Building Code and Residential Code, without local amendment |
In 2025, building permits issued by Boone County authorized 756 new privately owned housing units, 447 of them single-family homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.
Permit types
Residential permits
A Boone County house project takes a zoning permit from the planning commission, then files with the county building department against the Kentucky Residential Code, with the electrical, plumbing and heating and air work carried out by state-licensed contractors on their own permits. Kentucky issues no statewide general contractor licence, so any local registration requirement is the county’s or the city’s own.
Commercial permits
Commercial and industrial work in Boone County is dominated by the airport corridor — warehousing, air freight facilities and light industry around Hebron and along the interstate — where approach surfaces, height limits and noise contours are settled alongside zoning before the building permit. The state department retains its role on certain commercial projects, elevators and boilers.
Plan review, local programmes and the state's role
In Boone County the airport's approach surfaces and noise contours govern height and use across a wide area, the Ohio River frontage brings floodplain review into the file, and each city's own zoning ordinance decides use and setbacks. Fees a local government charges are required by statute to cover the cost of the service performed and not to exceed it.
Rather talk it over?
Call 1-855-478-4290 →Kentucky has no general contractor licence: the state licenses the trades, and cities or counties may require their own contractor registration. Kentucky rules
Boone County permit costs and fees
Fees follow the county's schedule, which by statute may not exceed the cost of the service performed, with the trades permitted separately under the state licences.
| Item | Fee or rule |
|---|---|
| Building permit | The county's fee schedule, by project type and construction value |
| Zoning and subdivision | Under the ordinance of the city or county area in which the site sits |
| Trade permits | Electrical, plumbing and heating and air by state-licensed contractors |
| Airport review | Approach surface and height review where the site falls within it |
| Statutory limit | Local fees may not exceed the cost of the service performed |
| State fees | Department fees where it reviews the project |
The county runs the building programme. Boone County has about 145,000 residents; Florence, its largest city, has about 34,000. As in Kenton County next door, the county rather than its cities runs the building programme — which is why Northern Kentucky permitting is a county question first and a city question second.
Rather not deal with the Boone County building department?
Get a free quote →Trade permits and who may pull them
Permit required
- Sites near the airport — approach surface, height and noise review alongside zoning
- Electrical — state-licensed electrical contractor; separate permit and a certified electrical inspector
- Plumbing — state-licensed master plumber; separate plumbing permit, inspected under the state plumbing code
- Heating and air conditioning — state-licensed HVAC contractor; separate mechanical permit
- Fire sprinkler and fire alarm — sprinklers by a state-licensed fire sprinkler contractor and alarms by a state-licensed electrical contractor; system plans are reviewed with the building plans, and the fire official may inspect
Typically exempt
- Like-for-like replacement the trade codes place below the permit threshold
- Electrical or heating and air work a homeowner does on their own home, which state law exempts from the trade licence — a permit is still needed
The trades are permitted separately and done by contractors holding state licences. Kentucky rules
How to apply for a Boone County building permit
Zoning approval, and planning commission or site development review where the ordinance requires it, precede the building permit.
The state reviews plans for larger and higher-risk buildings, and the local programme reviews smaller ones; homes are local.
The state licenses the trades; general contractor registration, where it exists, is the city's or county's own.
Reviewed against the Kentucky Building Code or Kentucky Residential Code as adopted, with no local amendments to satisfy.
Fees are set by local ordinance and by statute may not exceed the cost of the service performed.
Footing to final, with the trades inspected on their own permits, then the certificate of occupancy.
Want this handled start to finish?
Get a free quote →Review, corrections and what actually causes delay
Boone County takes zoning through the planning commission and building review through the county building department. What delays a file here is an airport approach or height question raised after design, and a zoning answer taken from the wrong city’s ordinance.
Inspections in Boone County
Inspections follow the codes' sequence — footing, foundation, framing, rough trades, insulation and final — and are requested from the local inspection programme by permit number, with the electrical inspections carried by a certified electrical inspector. Work that passes final receives a certificate of occupancy for new buildings and changes of occupancy. Boone County inspects in the codes' sequence through its building department (book at least 24 hours ahead on 859-334-2218), with electrical inspections by the independent certified inspector the county names, plumbing by the state, and the certificate of occupancy following the finals.
Boone County permit search and official resources
- Boone County Fiscal Court — the county government, planning commission and building department
- Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction — the statewide codes and trade licensing
- 815 KAR 7:120 — Kentucky Building Code — the mandatory uniform state building code
- Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction — the statewide codes, trade licensing and the Division of Building Code Enforcement
- 815 KAR 7:120 — Kentucky Building Code — the mandatory uniform state building code and its general provisions
- 815 KAR 7:125 — Kentucky Residential Code — the code governing one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses
Inspections are where schedules slip.
Get a free quote →Frequently asked questions
Who permits construction in Boone County?
The Boone County Building Department, from the County Administration Building at Burlington, for the unincorporated county and the cities of Florence, Union and Walton; the Boone County Planning Commission issues the zoning permit first.
Does the airport affect my project?
Around Hebron and the approach corridors, yes — approach surfaces, height limits and noise contours are settled alongside zoning before the building permit.
Which zoning ordinance applies?
That of the individual city — Florence, Union, Walton and the others — or of the county area, depending on where the site sits.
Can the county amend the building code?
No. Kentucky's mini/maxi framework means no local government may adopt or enforce any other building code.
Is there a local contractor licence?
Kentucky issues no statewide general contractor licence; confirm any local registration requirement before applying.
Which code editions apply?
The 2018 Kentucky Building Code, Fourth Edition and the 2018 Kentucky Residential Code, Third Edition, both built on the 2015 International Codes with Kentucky amendments.
Simplify Boone County permitting with Alliance Permitting
Boone County builds warehouses at airport scale. We settle the approach and height questions with zoning at the planning commission, then file the building permit with the county building department.
Ready to break ground in Boone County sooner?
Send us the scope and the parcel. We confirm the review path with the Boone County Building Department, assemble the submittal, file it, and track it through issuance — corrections included.
More Kentucky permitting guides
More Kentucky permitting guides
This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Boone County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.