Madison County's Department of Planning and Development Services, at 135 West Irvine Street in Richmond, enforces the Kentucky Building and Residential Codes and the National Electrical Code for new construction, alteration, relocation, demolition and change of occupancy across the county — and its own statement of scope carries the qualification that decides most projects here: excluding Richmond and Berea. Each of those cities runs a building inspection department of its own.
Richmond's department is explicit about the arrangement behind that. Its enforcement powers are established by the Kentucky Building Code through a contractual agreement with the state Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction and the city's own code of ordinances — the mechanism by which a Kentucky local government takes on code enforcement — and the department states that it does not review plans or perform inspections outside the Richmond city limits or in Berea, directing anyone unsure of their jurisdiction to check the city map or call.
This guide covers Madison County outside the cities of Richmond and Berea, each of which permits its own work. Fayette, Jessamine, Garrard, Rockcastle, Estill and Clark counties around it run their own arrangements, and the Madison Counties elsewhere in the country are unrelated jurisdictions.
Three authorities in one county. The county department enforces the codes for buildings and structures in Madison County excluding Richmond and Berea; Richmond's department states it does not review plans or perform inspections outside the city limits or in Berea; and Berea runs its own. A project near a city boundary must be placed precisely before it is filed — three offices, and none of them covers the others' ground.
What requires a building permit in Madison County?
Kentucky runs a mini/maxi code, and the phrase carries real weight. The Kentucky Building Code at 815 KAR 7:120 and the Kentucky Residential Code at 815 KAR 7:125 are statewide, uniform and mandatory, and no local government may adopt or enforce any other building code — the code is both the minimum and the maximum. The Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction adopts them; Madison County enforces them. The current editions are 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 that supersede any conflicting model provision. Detached one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses fall under the residential code; everything else under the building code. What is local in Madison County is the inspection programme, the fee schedule, zoning and planning, contractor registration, and the county's scope excluding Richmond and Berea, and its zoning.
The codes draw the exemption line and it is the same line across the Commonwealth. Ordinary repairs need no permit; constructing, altering, repairing, moving, demolishing or changing the occupancy of a building does. Electrical, plumbing and heating and air work carry their own permits and their own state licences, and Madison County's zoning and planning approvals sit outside the building code entirely — a municipality may not add building requirements, but it may and does regulate use, setbacks and site development.
Typically permit required
- Any construction, alteration, relocation, demolition or change of occupancy under the Kentucky Building and Residential Codes
- Electrical work under the National Electrical Code, which the county department enforces alongside the building codes
- Zoning and subdivision approval through the county planning commission and board of adjustments
- 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 and 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. Madison 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 three separate permitting authorities inside the county and the boundaries between them.
Who handles permitting in Madison County?
The Department of Planning and Development Services is the enforcing authority for the county excluding Richmond and Berea, with certified inspectors as the state regulation requires. The Madison County Planning Commission and Board of Adjustments meet at the courthouse annex on Irvine Street; the City of Richmond's building inspection department enforces inside the city limits under its contractual agreement with the state; Berea runs its own; and the state department retains its role on certain commercial projects and licenses the trades.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Department | Madison County Department of Planning and Development Services |
| Office | 135 West Irvine Street, Richmond, KY 40475 |
| Scope | The county excluding the cities of Richmond and Berea |
| Richmond | City of Richmond building inspection department, (859) 623-1000 |
| Berea | City of Berea building inspection, a separate authority |
| Boards | Planning Commission and Board of Adjustments at the courthouse annex |
Permit types
Residential permits
A Madison County house project outside the two cities files with the county department against the Kentucky Residential Code, with a separate electrical permit under the National Electrical Code the department also enforces, and the plumbing and heating and air work carried out by state-licensed contractors. Inside Richmond or Berea, the same project goes to that city's department instead — the codes are identical, the office is not.
How Kentucky contractor credentials work
Kentucky issues no statewide general contractor licence. The Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction licenses the specialty trades — electrical contractors and electricians, plumbing contractors and plumbers, heating and air conditioning contractors, along with boiler, fire sprinkler and fire alarm contractors and the building inspectors themselves — and those licences are valid across the Commonwealth. General contracting is regulated locally instead: a city or county may require its own contractor licence or registration, and one jurisdiction's licence does not carry into the next. Madison County's own requirement, if it has one, is the credential to confirm before a permit is pulled, alongside the state trade licences the department verifies at the counter.
Commercial permits
Commercial work in Madison County — the university town of Richmond, the interstate corridor and the industrial land between them — clears zoning through the county planning commission or the relevant city, then building plan review by the authority covering the site, with the state department retaining a role on certain commercial projects, elevators and boilers.
Plan review, local programmes and the state's role
Kentucky splits plan review between the state and the locality. The Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction's Division of Building Code Enforcement reviews plans and inspects new construction, additions, alterations and changes of occupancy for buildings under the Kentucky Building Code, unless the local government operates a certified programme holding that authority itself — and a local government running an inspection programme must provide at least one Kentucky Certified Building Inspector and at least one certified electrical inspector, reporting them to the department. Zoning approval, planning commission review and site development sit with Madison County and run ahead of the permit. In Madison County the Kentucky River palisades and the county's creeks bring floodplain review into the file, the agricultural land brings the statutory exemption into play, and the county planning commission and board of adjustments meet monthly at the courthouse annex. Fees a local government charges are required by statute to cover the cost of the service performed and not to exceed it.
Madison County permit costs and fees
Fees follow the schedule of whichever authority covers the site, each of which by statute may not exceed the cost of the service performed.
| Item | Fee or rule |
|---|---|
| Building permit | The county's schedule outside Richmond and Berea; each city's own inside them |
| Electrical permit | Under the National Electrical Code, enforced by the county department |
| Mechanical permit | Issued alongside the building and electrical permits |
| Zoning and subdivision | Through the county planning commission and board of adjustments |
| Statutory limit | Local fees may not exceed the cost of the service performed |
| State fees | Department fees where it reviews the project |
Richmond enforces under a contract with the state. The City of Richmond's enforcement powers are established by the Kentucky Building Code through a contractual agreement with the state Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction and the city's own ordinances. That is the mechanism by which any Kentucky local government takes on code enforcement — and where no such programme exists, the state department does the review and inspections itself.
Trade permits and who may pull them
The trades are permitted separately from the building permit and carried out by contractors holding the state licences the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction issues.
Permit required
- Sites near a city boundary — confirm which of the three authorities covers the parcel before filing
- Electrical — state-licensed electrical contractor; separate permit and a certified electrical inspector
- Plumbing — state-licensed master plumber or plumbing contractor; separate permit, inspected under the state plumbing code
- Heating and air conditioning — state-licensed HVAC contractor; separate mechanical permit
- Fire sprinkler and fire alarm — state-licensed contractor, with State Fire Marshal review where it applies
Typically exempt
- Like-for-like replacement the trade codes place below the permit threshold
- Work a homeowner may perform on their own residence where the local programme allows it
How to apply for a Madison County building permit
Zoning approval, and planning commission or site development review where the ordinance requires it, precede the building permit.
Commercial plan review sits with the state department unless the local programme holds that authority; residential is 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.
Review, corrections and what actually causes delay
Madison County reviews through whichever of the three authorities covers the site, and Richmond's department will help an applicant establish which that is. What delays a file here is an application filed with the county for a city address or the reverse, and a zoning matter that needed the board of adjustments' monthly meeting.
Inspections in Madison 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. Madison County inspects in the codes' sequence through its own inspectors outside the two cities, with electrical inspections carried under the National Electrical Code the department enforces, and each city inspecting inside its own limits.
Madison County permit search and official resources
- Madison County Planning and Development Services — the department's scope, permits and boards
- City of Richmond Building Inspection — the city's jurisdiction and its agreement with the state
- Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction — the statewide codes and trade licensing
- 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
Frequently asked questions
Who permits my Madison County project?
The county's Department of Planning and Development Services everywhere except Richmond and Berea; each of those cities runs its own building inspection department.
How do I know which jurisdiction I am in?
Richmond's department directs anyone unsure to contact it or use the city map; the county department covers everything outside the two city limits.
What gives a city its enforcement powers?
A contractual agreement with the state Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction, alongside the city's own ordinances — the standard mechanism for a Kentucky local government taking on code enforcement.
Does the county issue electrical permits?
Yes. The county department enforces the National Electrical Code alongside the Kentucky Building and Residential Codes.
Is this Madison County in Kentucky?
Yes — the county south of Lexington with Richmond as its seat. The Madison Counties elsewhere in the country are unrelated jurisdictions.
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 Madison County permitting with Alliance Permitting
Madison County is three authorities on one map and a boundary question before every filing. We place the parcel first, file with the office that actually holds it, and take the electrical permit from the same department that enforces the code.
Ready to break ground in Madison County sooner?
Send us the scope and the parcel. We confirm the review path with the Madison County Department of Planning and Development Services, 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 Madison County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.