St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana Building Permit Guide

Building permits for unincorporated St. Tammany Parish are issued by the parish Department of Permits & Inspections at 21454 Koop Drive, Building B, Suite 1B, Mandeville (985-898-2574). St. Tammany occupies the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain and is growing: Census estimates put its population at 279,108 in 2025, up about 14,500 since 2020, the second-largest gain of any Louisiana parish.

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 unincorporated St. Tammany Parish. The parish contains eight incorporated municipalities: Slidell, Covington, Mandeville, Abita Springs, Madisonville, Pearl River, Folsom and Sun. Most permit their own limits.

What requires a building permit in St. Tammany Parish?

Under the LSUCC as administered by the parish, a permit is required before most construction, alteration, demolition, repair, relocation, change of occupancy and trade work begins in unincorporated territory.

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

St. Tammany Parish enforces the statewide LSUCC, as do the municipalities within it. The technical requirements do not change across those boundaries, which is a genuine convenience for a builder working the whole North Shore. Fee schedules, submittal processes, inspection scheduling and the flood and zoning layers do change, and those are the practical differences to establish.

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 St. Tammany Parish?

The parish permits unincorporated territory through its Department of Permits & Inspections, which issues building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing and gas permits. Applications are made through the parish Customer Portal at mypermitnow.org, and the office is open to customers 8am to 4pm Monday to Friday. Contractors working in the unincorporated parish must also register with the department each year. Slidell, Covington, Mandeville, Abita Springs, Madisonville and Pearl River each permit their own limits, and Folsom has adopted the state code for its own limits; for the Village of Sun, confirm with the village who issues building permits. The built environment along the corridors gives little indication of where those boundaries fall.

The parish's growth has been residential above all. That produces sustained subdivision development, corridor commercial growth following it, and the infrastructure and drainage pressures that accompany both.

Because so much of the parish is wooded and low-lying, site work — clearing, fill, drainage, servitudes and access — is frequently the determining factor in what a parcel can carry. Resolve it before design is fixed rather than adjusting the building afterwards.

In 2025, building permits issued in unincorporated St. Tammany Parish authorized 1,007 new privately owned housing units, all of them single-family homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.

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 is dominated by subdivision and custom construction across the North Shore, with renovation and elevation work in the older lakefront and Slidell-area communities. Flood elevation, drainage and wind design are the recurring technical questions, and on flood-affected property the substantial improvement threshold determines whether a renovation stays a renovation.

Commercial permits

Commercial development follows the residential growth: corridor retail and service, medical and office space, hospitality and light industrial activity. Larger projects bring drainage, traffic, utility and fire review alongside the building set. The parish charges its own commercial plan review fee, the State Fire Marshal reviews commercial plans for life safety, and the Fire Marshal has also listed St. Tammany Parish among the jurisdictions for which it performs building-code plan review, so confirm with the department which body will review your set against the building code.

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

St. Tammany Parish permit costs and fees

St. Tammany Parish fees mix floor-area and contract-value charges. Residential additions are $300 plus $0.10 per square foot and remodels $100 plus $5 per $1,000 of the executed contract; residential plan review is $50 plus $0.01 per square foot and commercial plan review $150 plus $0.01 per square foot. Commercial trade permits are a percentage of the executed trade contract, and each re-inspection costs $100. Each municipality maintains its own separate schedule.

Fee schedules are revised on each jurisdiction’s own cycle, so ask St. Tammany 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 St. Tammany 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 St. Tammany 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 St. Tammany Parish

Standard checkpoints include foundation, framing, rough-in electrical, plumbing and mechanical, insulation and final, with a certificate of occupancy required before legal occupancy or use. Elevated construction adds elevation verification, and subdivision work adds drainage and erosion control inspection.

Wind-resistive connections and elevation work are the categories most often concealed too early. Sequence framing, strapping and sheathing inspections so the load path stays observable, and keep elevation certification current.

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

St. Tammany 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 St. Tammany Parish Department of Permits & 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.

• St. Tammany Parish Government
• Louisiana Uniform Construction Code Commission
• Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal
• Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors

Frequently asked questions

Does the parish permit inside Slidell or Covington?

No. Slidell, Covington, Mandeville, Abita Springs, Madisonville and Pearl River each permit their own limits, and Folsom has adopted the state code for its own limits. For the Village of Sun, confirm with the village. The parish covers unincorporated territory.

Are flood requirements uniform across the parish?

No. The lakefront and eastern parish face storm surge and coastal flooding while inland areas face riverine and rainfall flooding. Establish the position for the specific parcel.

What most often delays a subdivision project here?

Drainage. Stormwater management, detention, servitudes and subdivision drainage requirements frequently determine what can be built and in what sequence.

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.

Does small roofing work still need a licence?

On residential work of $7,500 or more, yes. From 1 January 2026 anyone roofing a residential structure for $7,500 or more must hold the Board’s Residential Roofing or Residential Construction classification (R.S. 37:2156.4, Act 422 of 2025).

Simplify St. Tammany Parish permitting with Alliance Permitting

St. Tammany is a growth parish carrying two different flood exposures and a drainage constraint that decides projects. The technical code is settled statewide; what needs work here is the site.

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

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

• We confirm parish versus municipal jurisdiction across the North Shore.
• We establish flood zone, elevation and wind criteria for the specific parcel.
• We treat drainage and detention approval as critical path on subdivision work.
• We test flood-affected renovation against the substantial improvement threshold.
• We sequence inspections so connections and elevation work stay observable.

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 St. Tammany Parish permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.