Oldham County's Planning and Zoning office at 100 West Jefferson Street in La Grange administers land use and building services for the county immediately north-east of Louisville Metro along the Ohio River. Its permitting work is unusually residential in character: Oldham is the Commonwealth's wealthiest county and its growth has come almost entirely as single-family subdivision development spilling out of Jefferson County, so the Kentucky Residential Code at 815 KAR 7:125 governs the great majority of files here.
That code covers detached single-family dwellings, two-family dwellings and townhouses, and is a mini/maxi code in its own right: it sets both the minimum and the maximum requirements for those units, and local governments may not adopt or enforce any other building code on them. What Oldham County controls is its zoning, its subdivision regulations, its fee schedule and its inspection programme — and in a county whose planning decisions shape a sought-after housing market, the zoning is where the local argument actually happens.
This guide covers Oldham County, including La Grange, Crestwood, Pewee Valley, Goshen and Prospect's Oldham portion. Jefferson County to the south-west is Louisville Metro, and Trimble, Henry, Shelby and Spencer counties around it run their own arrangements.
The residential code is a maximum as well as a minimum. The Kentucky Residential Code sets minimum and maximum building code requirements for detached single-family dwellings, two-family dwellings and townhouses, and local governments may not adopt or enforce any other building code on those units. A county cannot require more of a house than the code does — which is why in Oldham the argument is about zoning and subdivision, not construction standards.
What requires a building permit in Oldham 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; Oldham 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 Oldham County is the inspection programme, the fee schedule, zoning and planning, contractor registration, and the county's zoning and subdivision regulations.
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 Oldham 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, repair, demolition or change of occupancy under the Kentucky Residential Code or Building Code
- Zoning and subdivision approval under the county's or the applicable city's 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 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. Oldham 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's zoning and subdivision regulations, which are where the local control over residential development actually sits.
Who handles permitting in Oldham County?
The Planning and Zoning office administers land use and the building programme for the county, with certified inspectors as the state regulation requires. The county's cities hold their own ordinances, the planning commission and board of adjustments hear zoning matters, the health department handles on-site sewage on unsewered land, and the state Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction retains its role on certain commercial projects and licenses the trades.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Authority | Oldham County Planning and Zoning |
| Office | 100 West Jefferson Street, Suite 3, La Grange, KY 40031 |
| Phone | (502) 222-1476 |
| Cities | La Grange, Crestwood, Pewee Valley, Goshen and others |
| Residential code | 815 KAR 7:125, a minimum and maximum standard |
| Codes | Kentucky Building Code and Residential Code, without local amendment |
Permit types
Residential permits
An Oldham County house project files with the planning and zoning office against the Kentucky Residential Code and the applicable zoning and subdivision regulations, 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 in a county of large lots that is a common condition.
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. Oldham 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 Oldham County is modest by comparison with its residential volume — the La Grange and Crestwood corridors and the interstate interchanges — and clears zoning first, then building plan review either locally or at the state Division of Building Codes Enforcement depending on which side of the code's jurisdictional division it falls.
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 Oldham County and run ahead of the permit. In Oldham County the Ohio River frontage and the county's creeks bring floodplain review into the file, the health department's on-site sewage approvals govern the unsewered large-lot land, and the county's subdivision regulations shape 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.
Oldham 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 county's or the applicable city's ordinance and 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 |
Local fees are capped by statute. Kentucky's statute authorises each local government to set a fee schedule designed to cover the cost of the service performed but not to exceed such cost. A Kentucky building permit fee is a cost-recovery charge by law, not a revenue instrument — which is why the figures across the Commonwealth's counties sit in a narrower band than in most states.
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
- Unsewered large-lot sites — health department on-site sewage approval alongside the building permit
- 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 Oldham 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
Oldham County reviews residential work locally and refers the larger commercial projects to the state under the code's division. What delays a file here is a subdivision question raised at the permit counter rather than the planning commission, and an on-site sewage approval started late on a large lot.
Inspections in Oldham 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. Oldham County inspects in the codes' sequence through its own programme, with electrical inspections carried by a certified electrical inspector as the state regulation requires, and the certificate of occupancy following the finals.
Oldham County permit search and official resources
- Oldham County — the county government and its planning and zoning office
- 815 KAR 7:125 — Kentucky Residential Code — the minimum and maximum standard for houses, duplexes and townhouses
- 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
Can Oldham County require more than the residential code?
No. The Kentucky Residential Code sets both minimum and maximum requirements for detached houses, two-family dwellings and townhouses, and no local government may adopt or enforce any other building code on them.
What is local, then?
Zoning, subdivision regulation, the fee schedule and the inspection programme — which in a county with Oldham's residential growth is where the substantive local control lies.
Do I need a health department approval?
On unsewered land, yes — on-site sewage approval runs alongside the building permit, which is common on the county's larger lots.
How are permit fees set?
By local ordinance, and by statute designed to cover the cost of the service performed but not to exceed it.
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 Oldham County permitting with Alliance Permitting
Oldham County's construction standard is fixed by the Commonwealth and its zoning is not. We put the effort where the discretion is — subdivision and zoning — and file the residential permit against a code no county can add to.
Ready to break ground in Oldham County sooner?
Send us the scope and the parcel. We confirm the review path with the Oldham County Planning and Zoning office, 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 Oldham County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.