The Georgetown-Scott County Planning Commission at 230 East Main Street (502-867-3701, Monday to Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm) administers planning, zoning and development review for the county immediately north of Lexington-Fayette — a joint city-county body rather than separate offices for Georgetown and the unincorporated county. Building permits come from the Georgetown-Scott County Building Inspection Department (502-863-9802), which reviews plans, issues building permits and inspects for Georgetown and the county. Scott County has grown by about 9 percent since 2020, the fourth-fastest rate in Kentucky, driven by the automotive manufacturing base at Georgetown and by residential spillover from Lexington to the south.
The Kentucky Building Code and Kentucky Residential Code apply here without local amendment, as everywhere in the Commonwealth, so the commission’s work is zoning, subdivision and development review, and the joint building inspection department enforces the codes under the jurisdiction the code’s own sections give the local programme and the state. In a county absorbing this much growth, the subdivision and zoning decisions are where the substantive local control sits.
This guide covers Scott County and the City of Georgetown, which share the planning commission, along with Stamping Ground and Sadieville. Fayette County to the south is Lexington-Fayette Urban County, and Franklin, Owen, Grant, Harrison, Bourbon and Woodford counties around it run their own arrangements.
One commission for the county and its seat. Georgetown and Scott County plan through a single joint commission rather than two offices, which in one of the Commonwealth's fastest-growing counties keeps the subdivision and zoning questions in one place. The building code itself is the Commonwealth's and identical on both sides of the city line — what the commission decides is where and at what density that code gets built.
What requires a building permit in Scott County?
What is local in Scott County is the inspection programme, the fee schedule, zoning and planning, contractor registration, and the joint planning commission and its subdivision regulations.
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- Any construction, alteration, repair, demolition or change of occupancy under the Kentucky Building Code or Residential Code
- Zoning, subdivision and development plan approval through the joint planning commission
- 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. Scott 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 joint city-county planning commission and the subdivision decisions shaping some of the Commonwealth's fastest county growth.
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 Scott County?
The Georgetown-Scott County Planning Commission administers zoning, subdivision and development review for the county and its cities. The building codes are enforced by the Georgetown-Scott County Building Inspection Department (502-863-9802), which reviews plans, issues building permits and inspects for Georgetown and the county, designated by county ordinance as the local enforcement agency, with certified building and electrical inspectors as the state regulation requires; Sections 104.15 and 104.16 of the Kentucky Building Code divide review between the local programme and the state. The state Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction licenses the trades and reviews the projects it retains.
Not sure this scope needs a permit?
Get a free quote →| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Authority | Georgetown-Scott County Planning Commission (zoning); Georgetown-Scott County Building Inspection (building permits, 502-863-9802) |
| Office | 230 East Main Street, Georgetown, KY 40324 |
| Phone | (502) 867-3701 |
| Hours | Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm |
| Coverage | Scott County and the City of Georgetown through one joint commission |
| Codes | Kentucky Building Code and Residential Code, without local amendment |
In 2025, building permits issued by Scott County authorized 393 new privately owned housing units, 351 of them single-family homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.
Permit types
Residential permits
A Scott County house project clears the commission's zoning and subdivision requirements, then files the building permit with the joint building inspection 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. In a county adding subdivisions at this rate, the development plan approval is usually the long pole rather than the code review.
Commercial permits
Commercial and industrial work in Scott County is dominated by the automotive manufacturing base at Georgetown and its supplier network, with development plan and zoning approval through the commission and building plan review falling either locally or to the state Division of Building Codes Enforcement under the code's jurisdictional division — a split worth settling early on a plant-scale building.
Plan review, local programmes and the state's role
In Scott County the Elkhorn Creek corridor brings floodplain review into the file, the agricultural land brings the statutory exemption into play, and the joint commission's subdivision regulations govern the residential growth arriving from Lexington. 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
Scott County permit costs and fees
Fees follow the commission's and the local programme's schedules, 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 local schedule, by project type and construction value |
| Zoning, subdivision and development plan | Through the joint Georgetown-Scott County Planning Commission |
| Trade permits | Electrical, plumbing and heating and air by state-licensed contractors |
| Statutory limit | Local fees may not exceed the cost of the service performed |
| State plan review | Department fees where the project falls to the Division of Building Codes Enforcement |
| Fast track | State expedited site and foundation review at an additional half of the basic fee |
Growth is a zoning question, not a code one. Scott County's expansion is managed entirely through zoning, subdivision and development plan review, because the building code is the Commonwealth's and no local government may add to it. A developer arguing about density, layout and infrastructure is arguing in the right forum; one arguing about construction standards is not.
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Permit required
- Development plan and subdivision approval — through the joint commission before the building permit
- 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 Scott 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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Scott County reviews through one joint commission for land use, with building review split between the local programme and the state under the code. What delays a file here is a development plan taken to the permit stage prematurely, and a plant-scale building whose state-versus-local review split was not settled early.
Inspections in Scott 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. Scott County inspects under the local programme within the jurisdiction the code gives it, with electrical inspections carried by a certified electrical inspector as the state regulation requires, and the state inspecting the projects it reviews.
Scott County permit search and official resources
- Georgetown-Scott County Planning Commission — the joint commission, its zoning and subdivision regulations
- Kentucky building codes and jurisdiction — Sections 104.15 and 104.16 and the state-local division
- 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
Inspections are where schedules slip.
Get a free quote →Frequently asked questions
Who handles planning in Scott County?
The Georgetown-Scott County Planning Commission, a joint body covering the county and the City of Georgetown rather than separate offices.
Why is the county growing so quickly?
The automotive manufacturing base at Georgetown and residential spillover from Lexington to the south have made Scott one of the fastest-growing counties in the Commonwealth — fourth since 2020, up about 9 percent.
Can the county require more than the state code?
No. Kentucky's mini/maxi framework means no local government may adopt or enforce any other building code; local control is over zoning, subdivision and development review.
Who reviews a large industrial building?
It depends on the code's jurisdictional division — Sections 104.15 and 104.16 assign the larger projects to the state Division of Building Codes Enforcement.
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 Scott County permitting with Alliance Permitting
Scott County's growth is decided at the commission, not the permit counter. We put the effort into the development plan and the subdivision, and settle the state-versus-local review split before a plant-scale drawing is issued.
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Send us the scope and the parcel. We confirm the review path with the Georgetown-Scott County Planning Commission and Building Inspection 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 Scott County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.