The City of Biddeford's Code Enforcement Office at 205 Main Street administers and enforces all city ordinances and the adopted construction and property maintenance codes for a York County mill city of around 22,000 at the mouth of the Saco, whose vast brick mill complex has been converted over the last decade into flats, offices and restaurants. The office issues building, plumbing and electrical permits and comprises seven positions each assigned to a specific area of expertise, with most staff cross-trained across the others; permits may be submitted by email to the codes and permits address, and the code enforcement officer is seen by appointment.
The city's application list is specific about what must accompany a building permit. Three copies of a subsurface waste disposal form prepared by a licensed soil evaluator or soil scientist where the lot is unserved; a copy of the deed or sales agreement, with a letter where the applicant is an agent; plans to scale showing the nature and character of the work; an internal plumbing permit application; and a site plan drawn with the accuracy of a typical boundary line survey showing all new and existing structures and their distances from the lot lines. An occupancy permit is separately required for anyone establishing a new business or occupying a newly constructed building.
This guide covers the City of Biddeford in York County. Saco across the river, Arundel, Kennebunkport, Dayton and Old Orchard Beach are separate municipalities with their own code enforcement officers, and no Maine county issues building permits.
A site plan to survey accuracy, and three copies of the wastewater form. Biddeford asks for a site plan drawn with the accuracy of a typical boundary line survey — not a sketch — showing every new and existing structure and its distance from the lot lines. On an unserved lot it also asks for three copies of the state subsurface wastewater form from a licensed soil evaluator or soil scientist. Both are surveyor and evaluator costs that land before the application exists.
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Get a free quote →What requires a building permit in Biddeford?
Maine draws its line in an unusual place: the code applies everywhere, but enforcement depends on how many people live in the municipality. The Technical Building Codes and Standards Board adopts the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code — the MUBEC — under Title 10 of the revised statutes, and all building construction in the State is governed by it whatever the town does. What Title 25 adds is the enforcement duty: a municipality with a population over 4,000 must enforce the MUBEC, while a smaller one may choose to and many do not. The design obligation does not move with that choice — a house in a town of 800 is still meant to be built to the MUBEC; there may simply be no local officer checking. The current edition rests on the 2021 international building, residential, existing building, mechanical and energy codes, in force since the seventh of April 2025. So in Biddeford the questions are whether the municipality enforces, which officer holds which certification, and the survey-accurate site plan and the separate occupancy permit for a new business.
Typically permit required
- Erecting, locating, constructing, enlarging, removing, demolishing, converting or changing the occupancy or use of any building, each on its own permit
- An occupancy permit for anyone establishing a new business or occupying a newly constructed building
- Three copies of the state subsurface wastewater form from a licensed soil evaluator, on an unserved lot
- New buildings, additions and structural work, under the MUBEC as the municipality enforces it
- Alterations, renovations and repairs beyond ordinary repair, and any change of use or occupancy
- Work inside the shoreland zone, which needs its own permit under the municipal shoreland ordinance
Often exempt
- Ordinary repairs that do not alter structure, egress, fire protection or building systems
- Painting, papering, flooring, cabinets and similar finish work
- Ordinary repairs that do not alter structure, egress, fire protection or building systems
- Painting, papering, flooring, cabinets and similar finish work
- Building permits in a municipality under 4,000 people that has not chosen to enforce the code — though the code still governs the work and other requirements still apply
Who enforces, and what the state certifies
Locally, what stands out is the survey-accurate site plan and the three-copy wastewater form, the separate occupancy permit for a new business, and the converted mill complex that dominates the city's commercial file.
Maine’s adopted code applies statewide, but permits are required where the town’s ordinance says so; shoreland zoning applies statewide near water, fees and appeals are local, and code enforcement officers must be certified by the state. Maine rules
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Get a free quote →Who handles permitting in Biddeford?
The Code Enforcement Office is the permitting authority inside the city, enforcing the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code and the city's land development regulations through a Building Inspector appointed by the mayor with the council's consent, assisted by building inspectors and state-certified code officials. The office also carries emergency management, the Board of Appeals and Planning Board are advised by the same staff, and the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation licenses electricians and plumbers statewide.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Department | Biddeford Code Enforcement Office |
| Office | 205 Main Street, Biddeford, ME 04005 |
| Phone | (207) 284-9236 — the code enforcement officer is seen by appointment |
| Filing | By email to codespermits@biddefordmaine.org, or at the counter (online filing for solar and permitting companies from 1 July 2026) |
| Hours | Monday and Tuesday 7:00 am to 5:00 pm; Wednesday and Thursday 8:00 am to 4:00 pm; closed Friday |
| Trade licences | Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, statewide |
In 2025, building permits issued in Biddeford authorized 221 new privately owned housing units, 40 of them single-family homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.
Permit types
Residential permits
A Biddeford house project brings the survey-accurate site plan, the deed or sales agreement, the scaled plans and the internal plumbing application together, adding the three-copy wastewater form on an unserved lot. Proposed work must comply with the city's zoning ordinance or with a decision of the Board of Appeals or Planning Board, so a non-conforming lot is a board question before it is a code one. A separate permit is required for each building or structure rather than one covering a site.
Commercial permits
Commercial work in Biddeford — the mill district at the falls, the Main Street centre, the Biddeford Pool and beach edges and the industrial park — runs through the same office, with an occupancy permit for each new business on top of the building permit. The mill conversions that have reshaped the downtown are change-of-occupancy projects under the code and use changes under the ordinance at once, and the existing building provisions carry most of the weight in them.
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Call 1-855-478-4290 →Shoreland zoning, wastewater and the unorganized territory
In Biddeford the Saco River and the falls that powered the mills bring floodplain review to the downtown, the shoreland ordinance reaches the river, the marsh and the Biddeford Pool and beach frontage, and the older mill stock puts the existing building provisions at the centre of most commercial files.
Maine has no general contractor licence: home construction contracts above the statutory threshold must be in writing, and electricians, plumbers and oil and solid fuel technicians are licensed by the state. Maine rules
Biddeford permit costs and fees
Biddeford charges a building permit fee of $15 per $1,000 of value plus a $60 application fee due when you apply; work valued under $5,000 pays the $60 application fee only. Plumbing and electrical permits carry their own fees, the occupancy permit is separate, and the soil evaluator’s and surveyor’s work falls outside the city’s fees altogether. A building permit expires one year from the date of issue.
| Item | Fee or rule |
|---|---|
| Building permit | $15 per $1,000 of value plus a $60 application fee; under $5,000, the $60 fee only |
| Occupancy permit | For a new business or newly constructed building, separately from the building permit |
| Plumbing permit | The internal plumbing application filed with the building permit |
| Electrical permit | Through the same office, which has its own electrical inspector; residential and commercial forms with their own fees |
| Soil evaluator | Three copies of the state wastewater form, at the applicant's cost |
| Site plan | Drawn to boundary-survey accuracy, at the applicant's cost |
One permit per structure, not one per site. Biddeford's ordinance requires a separate building permit for each building or structure — a site with a house, a detached garage and an outbuilding is three applications, not one. On a mill parcel with several structures the arithmetic matters, and so does the sequencing when the occupancy permits follow.
Rather not deal with the building department?
Get a free quote →Trade permits and who may pull them
Permit required
- Internal plumbing — the state's own permit form, issued by the certified local plumbing inspector
- Subsurface wastewater — a licensed site evaluator's design, filed with the local plumbing inspector
- Electrical — a permit from the state Electricians' Examining Board (or the town, where it runs its own electrical inspection), except a licensed electrician's work in a single-family home
- Heating, oil and solid fuel appliances — installed by a technician licensed by the Maine Fuel Board; a permit where the town requires one
Typically exempt
- Replacing a plumbing fixture with a similar one in the same place, with no change to the pipes, and sealing leaks in an existing line
- Minor electrical repairs such as replacing lamps, fuses, light fixtures, switches and sockets, and installing or repairing outlets
Trade work is permitted separately and done by state-licensed tradespeople, though owners may do their own trade work in a single-family home they live in; internal plumbing is permitted by the local plumbing inspector on the state’s own form. Maine rules
How to apply for a Biddeford building permit
Enforcement is mandatory above 4,000 people and optional below; the code governs the work either way.
Within 250 feet of most water bodies the shoreland ordinance governs setbacks, clearing and expansion.
A licensed site evaluator's subsurface design on the state form, filed with the municipality.
Electricians and plumbers hold state licences; there is no general contractor licence, so the written contract carries the terms.
Reviewed against the MUBEC as the municipality enforces it, with the local zoning ordinance alongside.
Footing to final, plumbing on its own permit through the local plumbing inspector, then the certificate of occupancy.
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Get a free quote →Review, corrections and what actually causes delay
The Code Enforcement Office reviews the application against the MUBEC and the city’s land development regulations, with the Board of Appeals or Planning Board deciding where the proposal does not comply outright. Building permits are not issued the same day: the city gives 10 to 14 days as the typical turnaround for a residential permit, and up to 14 days for a commercial one. What delays a Biddeford project is a sketched site plan where a survey-accurate one is required, a missing wastewater form on an unserved lot, and a new business that assumed the building permit covered occupancy.
Inspections in Biddeford
Where the municipality enforces, inspections follow the code's sequence — footing, foundation, framing, rough trades, insulation and final — requested from the code enforcement officer by permit number, with plumbing inspected by the local plumbing inspector on its own permit. Work that passes final receives a certificate of occupancy where the municipality issues one, and a shoreland or wastewater condition closes with the officer certified in that area rather than with the building inspector. Biddeford inspections are requested from the Code Enforcement Office against the permit number, with the trades on their own permits and internal plumbing inspected on the state's form; the certificate of occupancy, and an occupancy permit for a new business, close the file.
Inspections are where schedules slip.
Get a free quote →Biddeford permit search and official resources
- Biddeford Code Enforcement — the office, its seven positions and the email filing route
- Biddeford building permit information — what must accompany the application, including the wastewater form
- Biddeford permits and zoning — permit types and zoning contacts
- Maine Office of the State Fire Marshal, building codes — the MUBEC, its chapters and the enforcement threshold
- Maine Office of Community Affairs, code enforcement — code enforcement officer certification and the specialty areas
- Maine Land Use Planning Commission — permitting in the unorganized and deorganized territories
Frequently asked questions
Who issues building permits in Biddeford?
The city's Code Enforcement Office at 205 Main Street, with permits accepted by email to the codes and permits address. No Maine county issues building permits.
What must accompany my application?
Scaled plans, a deed or sales agreement, an internal plumbing application, a site plan drawn to boundary-survey accuracy, and on an unserved lot three copies of the state wastewater form from a licensed soil evaluator.
Do I need an occupancy permit?
Yes, if you are establishing a new business or occupying a newly constructed building. It is separate from the building permit.
Is one permit enough for a house and a garage?
No. The ordinance requires a separate building permit for each building or structure.
Which code applies?
The Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code, on the 2021 model codes in force since the seventh of April 2025.
Can I see the code enforcement officer?
By appointment, arranged through the office. The office is closed on Fridays.
Simplify Biddeford permitting with Alliance Permitting
Biddeford asks for survey-grade drawings and a soil evaluator's form before it will review. We line both up at design stage and count the permits by structure rather than by site.
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Send us the scope and the parcel. We confirm the review path with the Biddeford Code Enforcement Office, assemble the submittal, file it, and track it through issuance — corrections included.
More Maine permitting guides
More Maine permitting guides
This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Biddeford permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.