Caddo Parish, Louisiana Building Permit Guide

Caddo Parish has no permit office of its own. Under an agreement with the parish, building permits for Caddo Parish are issued by the City of Shreveport Division of Permits and Inspections, 505 Travis Street, Suite 130 (Government Plaza, 1st floor), Shreveport, LA 71101 (318-673-6100), open Monday to Friday 7:30am to 4:00pm, through the city’s MyGovernmentOnline (MGO) portal. It covers the whole parish except the Town of Greenwood and Oil City. Caddo sits in the far northwest corner of Louisiana on the Red River, and it is a useful corrective to the assumption that Louisiana permitting is a coastal story — the code is identical here, but almost every site condition that drives design on the Gulf coast is different.

This guide covers the department and how to reach it, the local conditions that shape a filing here, what permits cost and who may pull them, and how inspections are booked. Rules that apply everywhere in Louisiana are summarized in each section, with a link to the full statewide explanation.

This guide covers Caddo Parish outside Shreveport, which the City of Shreveport permits by agreement with the parish. The Town of Greenwood and Oil City issue their own permits; contact them directly. For a Vivian address, confirm with the Town of Vivian (318-375-3856): the parish’s own FAQ lists Vivian as an exception, but the city’s 2026 permit guide does not.

What requires a building permit in Caddo Parish?

Under the LSUCC as administered for the parish by the City of Shreveport, a permit is required before most construction, alteration, demolition, repair, relocation, change of occupancy and trade work begins anywhere in Caddo Parish outside Greenwood and Oil City.

Exemptions are narrow and local, and an exemption from a building permit is not an exemption from zoning, setbacks, floodplain rules, utility approval or a fire authority review. Confirm scope with the department before work starts rather than after.

Which code edition applies

The statewide LSUCC applies throughout Caddo Parish, and since 17 May 2021 the parish has required work outside the city to be permitted on the same criteria as work inside Shreveport. The technical standard is the same one that applies in New Orleans, which is the point of a uniform code — but the design criteria derived from it, particularly wind and flood, follow the site rather than the state.

Every Louisiana parish and municipality enforces the state’s Uniform Construction Code (R.S. 37:3737), adopted by the Louisiana Uniform Construction Code Commission: the 2021 International Codes with Louisiana amendments, in force since 1 January 2023, and the 2020 National Electrical Code, with the 2024 codes taking effect on 1 January 2027. A local government may set more stringent requirements only with the Commission’s approval, and the State Fire Marshal reviews plans for fire and life safety on all but one- and two-family dwellings. How the LSUCC works

Who handles permitting in Caddo Parish?

The City of Shreveport Division of Permits and Inspections reviews plans, issues building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits, carries out inspections and issues certificates of occupancy for work in the parish outside the city. Shreveport is the parish seat and the largest city in northwest Louisiana. The parish itself handles the steps around the permit: its 9-1-1 Addressing Office assigns the address that a building permit outside Shreveport needs (applied for through the city’s permit office), and Caddo Parish Public Works (505 Travis Street, Suite 820, 318-226-6932, Monday to Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm) handles culvert and right-of-way permits and elevation certificate requests.

Unincorporated Caddo Parish runs from the suburban fringe around Shreveport out to rural and agricultural land and the Texas and Arkansas state lines. That gives the parish a caseload weighted toward rural and large-lot residential, agricultural support and highway corridor commercial development, with the dense activity concentrated inside Shreveport.

On rural parcels the usual gating items apply: private water and onsite sewage where public service does not reach, access, address assignment and drainage. The parish requires a 9-1-1 address before a building permit is issued, onsite sewage goes through the Caddo Parish Health Department, and a mobile home placed within five miles of Shreveport needs a zoning certificate from the Metropolitan Planning Commission (318-673-6480). These frequently determine what is buildable well before the construction code becomes the operative question.

Louisiana’s counties are parishes, governed by a police jury or a home rule charter government, and some large communities, such as Metairie, have no city government and are permitted by the parish. The state sets the code and licenses contractors; the local authority sets fees, submittal requirements, review times, inspections, zoning, floodplain administration and local registration. What the state and the parish each decide

Permit types

Residential permits

Residential work in unincorporated Caddo Parish is predominantly rural and large-lot, with subdivision development at the edges of Shreveport. Private water and onsite sewage approvals, access and drainage typically govern feasibility, and design criteria should be derived for the inland site rather than imported from south Louisiana practice.

Commercial permits

Commercial and industrial development includes highway corridor retail and service, agricultural support, energy-sector activity and light industrial work. Larger projects bring drainage, access, utility and fire review alongside the building set. Commercial plans are reviewed by the City of Shreveport (Commercial Plan Review 318-673-6104), and large or complex projects also go to the State Fire Marshal, which the city says takes about three weeks.

Flood elevation and wind design decide most Louisiana projects: in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area, base flood elevation, flood-resistant construction and the substantial-improvement rules apply; the state code’s wind provisions include wind-borne debris requirements in wind-borne debris regions; and elevation certificates are permit documents that can delay the certificate of occupancy. Flood, elevation and wind in Louisiana

Caddo Parish permit costs and fees

There is no separate parish building-permit fee schedule. Work the City of Shreveport permits in the parish is charged under City Code Sec. 22-1: commercial work on contract price, new homes by floor area, with 25% added for plan review on new construction, remodels and additions and $68.25 for each inspection outside the city limits. The parish separately charges for the 9-1-1 address. Greenwood and Oil City set their own fees.

Fee schedules are revised on each jurisdiction’s own cycle, so ask Caddo Parish for the schedule in force on your filing date, and ask separately about plan review, trade, re-inspection and revision charges. How Louisiana permit fees work

Trade permits and who may pull them

The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors requires a commercial licence for projects of $50,000 or more, a residential licence for a new house or duplex of $50,000 or more, a home improvement licence for residential improvement work of $7,500 to under $50,000, and a licence for electrical, mechanical and plumbing work of $10,000 or more. Since 1 January 2026 residential roofing of $7,500 or more needs a roofing or residential licence, and plumbers are also licensed by the State Plumbing Board of Louisiana until its duties pass to the contractor board on 1 January 2027. Contractor licensing in Louisiana

How to apply for a Caddo Parish building permit

In Louisiana the approvals that sit ahead of the building permit, such as historic or design review, zoning and subdivision, most often decide timing. Before filing, ask Caddo Parish for the current review turnaround, which bodies review commercial plans (the State Fire Marshal and the local authority or its contracted reviewer), and which approvals must be in hand first. Approvals and corrections in Louisiana

Inspections in Caddo Parish

Standard checkpoints include footing and foundation, framing, rough-in electrical, plumbing and mechanical, insulation and final, with a certificate of occupancy required before legal occupancy or use. Rural parcels add onsite sewage verification.

Inspections are carried out by City of Shreveport inspectors and requested through MGO. The parish covers a large area with dispersed development, so inspection travel is a real scheduling factor away from the Shreveport fringe. Give real notice and confirm the work is genuinely ready before booking.

Do not cover work before the required inspection has been approved. Keep the issued permit, the approved plans, energy documentation, product listings, special-inspection reports and your correction responses available on site.

Plan framing, sheathing and roofing inspections so that wind-resistive connections and opening protection can be seen before they are covered, have elevation verified at the required stages, and keep product approvals and elevation documentation on site. Inspections in Louisiana

Caddo Parish permit search and official resources

Permit records sit with the authority that issued them. In Louisiana that is usually straightforward, because the LSUCC has applied statewide since 2023 and the permitting authority for a given parcel is generally stable — but records predating the statewide code, or predating a municipal incorporation or annexation, may sit elsewhere. If you are buying, refinancing or renovating, ask the City of Shreveport Division of Permits and Inspections what it holds for the parcel and whether any permit was closed without a final inspection.

On flood-exposed property the record question is sharper than usual. Prior elevation certificates, floodplain determinations and any history of substantial damage or improvement all bear on what a new project will be required to do, and they are worth obtaining before design rather than during review.

These are the primary sources behind this guide. Codes, fee schedules and portal procedures change, and in Louisiana a jurisdiction’s own published packet can lag a code change by months — the adopted ordinance governs, not an un-updated handout. Confirm the position for your filing date.

• City of Shreveport Division of Permits and Inspections
• Caddo Parish Commission
• Louisiana Uniform Construction Code Commission
• Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal
• Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors

Frequently asked questions

Who issues building permits in Caddo Parish?

The City of Shreveport Division of Permits and Inspections, for Shreveport and, by agreement with the parish, for the rest of Caddo Parish. The exceptions are the Town of Greenwood and Oil City, which issue their own permits. For Vivian, confirm with the town.

Do coastal requirements apply in northwest Louisiana?

The code is the same statewide, but the design criteria derived from it follow the site. Coastal wind-borne-debris provisions, surge exposure and coastal elevation requirements largely do not apply several hundred miles inland.

Can I reuse a south Louisiana plan set here?

Not without re-deriving the design criteria. The provisions are identical, but design wind speed, exposure, flood zone and base flood elevation are properties of the parcel, not the state.

Can this jurisdiction impose stricter requirements than the state code?

Only with the state’s approval. Parishes and municipalities must enforce only the Uniform Construction Code (R.S. 37:3737), but a local government that finds the state minimum standards do not meet its needs may set more stringent requirements with the approval of the Louisiana Uniform Construction Code Commission (R.S. 37:3748). What does vary locally is zoning, flood and elevation requirements, historic review, fees, portals and inspection scheduling.

Who reviews my commercial drawings?

On commercial work, usually both. The Office of State Fire Marshal reviews plans for fire and life safety on every building except one- and two-family dwellings (R.S. 40:1574), and the local authority, or a reviewer it contracts with, reviews against the Uniform Construction Code. Establish both routes before you submit.

What licence does my contractor need?

A Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors credential in the right classification. A commercial licence is required at $50,000 or more, a residential licence for a new house or duplex of $50,000 or more, and a home improvement licence for residential improvement work of $7,500 to under $50,000. Electrical, mechanical and plumbing contractors need a licence for work of $10,000 or more, residential or commercial (R.S. 37:2150.1).

Simplify Caddo Parish permitting with Alliance Permitting

In Caddo Parish one city office permits almost the whole parish. The code provisions transfer from the coast; the design criteria do not, and a set carried north without re-derivation is wrong in ways that are easy to miss.

Trusted by leading builders, developers, and national contractors — 21+ years of filing in the jurisdictions we write about.

Contractors and builders choose Alliance for Caddo Parish because the work is done by people who have stood at the counter:

• We re-derive design wind and flood criteria for the inland site.
• We confirm whether the parcel is permitted by Shreveport or by Greenwood or Oil City.
• We front-load rural water, sewage, access and address work.
• We confirm whether a commercial set also needs State Fire Marshal review.
• We plan inspection scheduling around a large, dispersed parish.

Alliance Permitting is a permit documentation and submission company in Louisiana. We prepare your paperwork, file it correctly and coordinate with the building department through issuance. We are not a contractor and we do not perform licensed plan review or inspections; that work stays with your licensed team and the jurisdiction.

This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Caddo Parish permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.