The Hardin County Planning and Development Commission at 150 North Provident Way, Suite 225, in Elizabethtown (270-769-5479, Monday to Friday 8:00am to 4:30pm) administers planning, zoning and building and electrical permits for unincorporated Hardin County — Glendale, Cecilia, Rineyville and the rest of the countryside — in a county of about 113,000 south of Louisville whose largest cities, Elizabethtown and Radcliff, sit near the Fort Knox reservation. Building and electrical permits are submitted in person at the office. Elizabethtown and Radcliff run their own planning and building departments — Elizabethtown’s Planning & Development at 200 West Dixie Avenue (270-982-3264), Radcliff’s at City Hall, 411 West Lincoln Trail Boulevard (270-351-1875) — and Vine Grove has its own building inspector.
The Kentucky Building Code and Kentucky Residential Code apply here 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. Fort Knox itself is federal land outside local jurisdiction entirely — construction on the installation is not permitted by the county — but the housing and commercial development that serves it very much is.
This guide covers Hardin County. The county commission permits the unincorporated area; Elizabethtown, Radcliff and Vine Grove handle their own building permits. The Fort Knox reservation is federal land outside local permitting jurisdiction, and Bullitt, Nelson, Meade, Breckinridge and Larue counties around it run their own arrangements.
Fort Knox is not the county's to permit. The Fort Knox reservation is federal land outside local permitting jurisdiction entirely — construction on the installation does not go through any local office. The housing, retail and commercial development that serves the post, in Radcliff, Vine Grove and Elizabethtown, is permitted by those cities. Confirming which side of that boundary a site sits on is the first question here.
What requires a building permit in Hardin County?
What is local in Hardin County is the inspection programme, the fee schedule, zoning and planning, contractor registration, and the county commission and the applicable city or county zoning.
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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
- 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. Hardin 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 county commission serving the unincorporated area, the cities’ own programmes, and the federal boundary at Fort Knox.
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 Hardin County?
The Hardin County Planning and Development Commission administers planning, zoning and building services for unincorporated Hardin County, with certified inspectors as the state regulation requires of a local inspection programme, issuing permits for new construction, remodels, renovations, demolition, relocation and occupancy. Elizabethtown, Radcliff and Vine Grove permit their own work (contacts above). 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 | Hardin County Planning and Development Commission |
| Office | 150 North Provident Way, Suite 225, Elizabethtown, KY 42701 |
| Phone | (270) 769-5479 |
| Hours | Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm |
| Cities | Elizabethtown (270-982-3264) and Radcliff (270-351-1875) run their own building departments; Vine Grove has its own inspector |
| Codes | Kentucky Building Code and Residential Code, without local amendment |
In 2025, building permits issued in unincorporated Hardin County authorized 90 new privately owned housing units, all of them single-family homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.
Permit types
Residential permits
A house project in unincorporated Hardin County files in person with the commission 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. Kentucky issues no statewide general contractor licence, so any registration requirement is the county's or the city's own and should be confirmed before the application.
Commercial permits
Commercial work in Hardin County — the interstate and parkway corridors through Elizabethtown, and the retail and service development around the Fort Knox gates — clears zoning and subdivision review, then building plan review through the commission or the city’s own department, with the state department retaining a role on certain commercial projects, elevators and boilers.
Plan review, local programmes and the state's role
In Hardin County the Fort Knox reservation is federal land outside local jurisdiction, the karst terrain of the western part of the county affects foundations and stormwater, and the applicable city or county 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.
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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
Hardin County permit costs and fees
Fees follow the commission'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 commission's fee schedule, by project type and construction value |
| Zoning and subdivision | Under the applicable city or county ordinance |
| Trade permits | Electrical, plumbing and heating and air by state-licensed contractors |
| Occupancy | Occupancy permits issued by the commission's inspectors after the finals |
| Statutory limit | Local fees may not exceed the cost of the service performed |
| State fees | Department fees where it reviews the project |
The code is the same in every city here. Under Kentucky's mini/maxi framework no local government may adopt or enforce any other building code, so Elizabethtown, Radcliff, Vine Grove and the unincorporated county all build to the identical Kentucky codes. What changes across those lines is the building office, the zoning ordinance and the fee schedule — never the technical requirement.
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Permit required
- Sites on or adjoining Fort Knox — confirm the federal boundary before assuming county jurisdiction
- 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 Hardin 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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Hardin County reviews through the county commission for the unincorporated area, and through Elizabethtown’s and Radcliff’s own departments inside those cities. What delays a file here is a site filed with the wrong office, a zoning answer taken from the wrong ordinance, and a site whose relationship to the federal reservation was not confirmed.
Inspections in Hardin 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. Hardin County inspects in the codes' sequence through the commission's building inspectors, who also issue demolition, relocation and occupancy permits, with electrical inspections carried by a certified electrical inspector as the state regulation requires.
Hardin County permit search and official resources
- Hardin County Planning and Development Commission — the commission, its permits and its jurisdiction
- 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 Hardin County?
The Hardin County Planning and Development Commission at Elizabethtown for the unincorporated county; Elizabethtown and Radcliff through their own planning and building departments, and Vine Grove through its own inspector.
Does the county permit work on Fort Knox?
No. The reservation is federal land outside local permitting jurisdiction; the development serving the post in the surrounding cities is permitted locally.
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; the local layer is zoning, subdivision regulation, fees and the inspection programme.
Who licenses the trades?
The state Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction licenses electrical, plumbing and heating and air contractors, valid across the Commonwealth.
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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More Kentucky permitting guides
More Kentucky permitting guides
This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Hardin County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.