Bullitt County’s Department of Buildings & Safety, on the third floor of 149 North Walnut Street in Shepherdsville (502-921-2970, Monday to Friday 8:00am to 4:00pm), issues building, electrical and heating-cooling permits, reviews plans and inspects for the county immediately south of Louisville Metro. Bullitt County Planning and Zoning, on the same floor (502-543-6832), issues the zoning compliance that comes first. The City of Mount Washington runs its own building code department. The county’s position on the interstate, with land and access that Jefferson County no longer has cheaply, has drawn large-footprint warehouse and distribution development to a county of about 86,000.
The Kentucky Building Code and Kentucky Residential Code apply without local amendment, as everywhere in the Commonwealth, so the county's layer is its zoning, its subdivision regulations, its fee schedule and its inspection programme. The residential side is dominated by subdivision growth spilling south out of Louisville, and the county's planning decisions on that growth have been the subject of consistent public attention.
This guide covers Bullitt County, including Shepherdsville, Hillview, Lebanon Junction and Fox Chase. Mount Washington issues its own building permits after county zoning compliance. Jefferson County to the north is Louisville Metro, and Hardin, Nelson and Spencer counties around it run their own arrangements.
Warehouse volume on a county office’s timetable. Bullitt County carries large-footprint distribution and warehouse development on the staffing of a county building office. Schedules here are set by review capacity as much as by process, and filing complete on the first submission matters.
What requires a building permit in Bullitt County?
What is local in Bullitt County is the inspection programme, the fee schedule, zoning and planning, contractor registration, and the county's zoning and the development pressure from the north.
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- Any construction, alteration, repair, demolition or change of occupancy under the Kentucky Building Code or Residential Code
- Zoning and subdivision approval under the applicable city or county ordinance
- 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, and agricultural buildings within the statutory definition
- 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. Bullitt 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 warehouse and subdivision development pressure from Louisville and the county's own zoning decisions on it.
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 Bullitt County?
The Bullitt County Department of Buildings & Safety is the enforcing authority, issuing building, electrical and HVAC permits and inspecting with certified inspectors as the state regulation requires of a local inspection programme. Bullitt County Planning and Zoning issues zoning compliance, reviews site plans and subdivision plats, and supports the planning commission and board of adjustments. Mount Washington’s building code department at 311 Snapp Street (502-538-4216) reviews, permits and inspects inside that city, after county zoning compliance. The health department handles on-site sewage across the unsewered parts, and the state Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction retains its role on certain commercial projects and licenses the trades.
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Get a free quote →| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Authority | Bullitt County Department of Buildings & Safety (zoning compliance: Bullitt County Planning and Zoning) |
| Office | 149 North Walnut Street, Third Floor, Shepherdsville, KY 40165 · Monday to Friday 8:00am to 4:00pm |
| Phone | (502) 921-2970 (Planning and Zoning: 502-543-6832) |
| Cities | Shepherdsville, Hillview and others; Mount Washington permits its own |
| Boards | Planning commission and board of adjustments on zoning matters |
| Codes | Kentucky Building Code and Residential Code, without local amendment |
In 2025, building permits issued by Bullitt County authorized 654 new privately owned housing units, 242 of them single-family homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.
Permit types
Residential permits
A Bullitt County house project takes zoning compliance from Planning and Zoning, then files with Buildings & Safety against the Kentucky Residential Code and the applicable zoning, with the electrical, plumbing and heating and air work carried out by state-licensed contractors on their own permits. On unsewered land the health department's on-site sewage approval runs alongside, and subdivision development carries the county's own subdivision regulations.
Commercial permits
Commercial and industrial work in Bullitt County is dominated by distribution: large-footprint warehousing along the interstate, with the zoning and subdivision decisions taken by the planning commission and the building plan review following. The state department retains its role on certain commercial projects, elevators and boilers, and on buildings of this size that state involvement is worth confirming early.
Plan review, local programmes and the state's role
In Bullitt County the Salt River corridor brings floodplain review into the file, the karst terrain of the southern and western parts affects foundations and stormwater, and the planning commission's subdivision regulations govern the residential growth. Fees a local government charges are required by statute to cover the cost of the service performed and not to exceed it.
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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
Bullitt 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 applicable city or county ordinance and the subdivision regulations |
| Trade permits | Electrical, plumbing and heating and air by state-licensed contractors |
| On-site sewage | Health department approval on unsewered land |
| Statutory limit | Local fees may not exceed the cost of the service performed |
| State fees | Department fees where it reviews the project, including large commercial buildings |
Confirm the state's role on a large building early. The state Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction retains plan review and inspection authority on certain commercial projects, elevators and boilers even where a local programme exists. On the scale of building Bullitt County now sees regularly, establishing which reviews sit with the state and which with the county belongs at the start of the programme, not at submission.
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Permit required
- Large commercial buildings — confirm which reviews sit with the state department and which with the county
- 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 Bullitt 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.
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Bullitt County reviews through a county building office carrying heavy development volume. What delays a file here is an incomplete first submission on a large building, a subdivision filed against the wrong version of the regulations, and a state-reviewed element assumed to be local.
Inspections in Bullitt 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. Bullitt County inspects in the codes' sequence through its own inspectors, with electrical inspections carried by a certified electrical inspector as the state regulation requires, and the certificate of occupancy following the finals.
Bullitt County permit search and official resources
- Bullitt County Fiscal Court — the county government and its planning and development office
- Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction — the statewide codes, trade licensing and state plan review
- 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 Bullitt County?
The county’s Department of Buildings & Safety at Shepherdsville, after zoning compliance from Bullitt County Planning and Zoning. Mount Washington has its own building code department.
Why is there so much warehouse development?
The county sits directly south of Louisville Metro on the interstate, with land and access that Jefferson County no longer has cheaply, which has drawn large-footprint distribution development.
Does the state review large commercial buildings?
The state department retains plan review and inspection authority on certain commercial projects, elevators and boilers; confirm the split at the start of a large project.
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.
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Bullitt County reviews metropolitan-scale buildings with a county office's resources. We file complete on the first submission and settle the state-versus-county review split before the drawings are finished.
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More Kentucky permitting guides
More Kentucky permitting guides
This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Bullitt County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.