The Town of Windham's Code Enforcement Office at 8 School Road enforces the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code for a Cumberland County town of around 20,000 that has grown quickly on the strength of its position between the Portland suburbs and the lakes region. The office keeps a compressed week — open from seven in the morning Monday to Thursday, running to six on Tuesday and closed on Friday — which puts the counter in reach of a contractor before the working day starts and out of reach entirely at the end of the week.
Windham’s records are worth understanding before a due-diligence exercise. New permits are applied for through the town’s MyGov portal, which also lets anyone search active and completed permits, inspection notes and code enforcement files by address from 2015 on. Legacy records from before 2015 are found through the town’s online mapping system: search the address, open the property, and the older building documents sit under the documents heading alongside the assessing card. On an older house that is where the permit history lives, and it is searchable without a records request.
This guide covers the Town of Windham in Cumberland County. Gorham, Standish, Raymond, Falmouth and Westbrook are separate municipalities with their own code enforcement officers, and no Maine county issues building permits.
The old permits are in the map, not the filing cabinet. Windham’s pre-2015 building records are reached through the town's online mapping system — search by address, open the property, and look under the documents heading. On a purchase or a renovation of an older house that is the fastest way to establish what was permitted, and it takes minutes rather than a records request.
What requires a building permit in Windham?
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 Windham the questions are whether the municipality enforces, which officer holds which certification, and the four-day week and the legacy records held in the town's mapping system.
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- Construction, alteration, addition, demolition and change of use, through the code office
- A shoreland permit on the lake and river frontages, within the distances the ordinance sets
- Subsurface wastewater on an unserved lot, on a licensed site evaluator's design
- 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 four-day week that opens at seven, the legacy records held in the mapping system, and the lake frontages that put shoreland zoning across much of the town.
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
Who handles permitting in Windham?
The Code Enforcement Office is the permitting authority inside the town, enforcing the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code, the land use ordinance and shoreland zoning through state-certified code enforcement officers, with the local plumbing inspector issuing internal plumbing permits on the state’s form; the office also administers the electrical code. The town's planning board takes site plan and subdivision review, the mapping system holds the legacy building records and assessing data, and the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation licenses electricians and plumbers statewide.
Not sure this scope needs a permit?
Get a free quote →| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Department | Windham Code Enforcement Office |
| Office | 8 School Road, Windham, ME 04062 |
| Phone | (207) 894-5960 |
| Hours | Monday and Wednesday 7:00 am to 5:00 pm; Tuesday 7:00 am to 6:00 pm; Thursday 7:00 am to 4:00 pm; closed Friday |
| Permits and records | MyGov portal for applications and for permits from 2015 on; legacy files through the town’s mapping system |
| Trade licences | Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, statewide |
Permit types
Residential permits
A Windham house project files with the code office in the compressed week, with the internal plumbing on the state's form through the local plumbing inspector and a licensed site evaluator's design where the lot is unserved. On Sebago, Little Sebago and Highland Lake the shoreland ordinance decides setbacks, clearing and how far a non-conforming camp may be expanded, and a lakeside renovation is governed by those limits well before the building code is reached.
Commercial permits
Commercial work in Windham — the Route 302 corridor through North Windham, the retail centre and the light industrial parcels — runs through the same office with planning board site plan review where the project reaches it. The town's growth has concentrated on that corridor, which brings stormwater, traffic and access questions into files that in a slower town would be simple building permits.
Shoreland zoning, wastewater and the unorganized territory
In Windham the Sebago Lake, Little Sebago and Highland Lake frontages and the Presumpscot River put shoreland zoning across a large share of the town's developable land, and the great pond protections that come with a public water supply lake are stricter again on the Sebago side.
Rather talk it over?
Call 1-855-478-4290 →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
Windham permit costs and fees
Windham charges building permits by the square foot under the council’s master fee schedule — 50 cents for finished area and 45 cents for unfinished area, foundations included — with renovations and alterations charged by value band. Building without a permit doubles the fee. Shoreland permits and planning board review carry their own fees, and the plumbing permit is filed on the state’s form.
| Item | Fee or rule |
|---|---|
| Building permit | 50 cents a square foot finished, 45 cents unfinished; renovations by value band |
| Shoreland permit | Where the parcel falls within the shoreland zone |
| Internal plumbing | On the state's form through the local plumbing inspector |
| Subsurface wastewater | A licensed site evaluator's design on the state form |
| Planning board review | Site plan and subdivision fees where the project reaches them |
| Records | Legacy building documents available through the mapping system |
A lakeside camp is a shoreland project first. Most of Windham's lake frontage is built with older camps that predate the shoreland rules. Expanding one is governed by the ordinance's limits on non-conforming structures — how much floor area may be added, how close to the water, how much vegetation may be cleared — and those limits, not the building code, decide whether the project is possible at all. Establish them before an architect is engaged.
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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 Windham 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 for the MUBEC, the land use ordinance and shoreland zoning together. What delays a Windham project is a Friday visit to a closed counter, a lakeside scheme drawn before the non-conforming limits were established, and a records search made without checking the mapping system first.
Inspections in Windham
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. Windham inspections are requested from the code office against the permit number, with internal plumbing inspected by the local plumbing inspector on the state's form and the trades on their own permits; the certificate of occupancy follows the final.
Windham permit search and official resources
- Windham Code Enforcement — the office, its hours and how to reach the legacy records
- Maine Office of the State Fire Marshal, building codes — the MUBEC and the enforcement threshold
- Maine Office of Community Affairs, code enforcement — code enforcement officer certification and the specialty areas
- 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
Inspections are where schedules slip.
Get a free quote →Frequently asked questions
Who issues building permits in Windham?
The town's Code Enforcement Office at 8 School Road. No Maine county issues building permits.
When is the office open?
Monday to Thursday from seven in the morning, running to six on Tuesday. The office is closed on Friday.
Where are older building records?
Permits from 2015 on can be searched by address on the town’s MyGov portal. Older files are reached through the town’s online mapping system: search the address, open the property and look under the documents heading.
Does the lake frontage change my project?
Yes. Within the shoreland zone the ordinance governs setbacks, clearing and the expansion of non-conforming structures, and those limits are stricter than the building code.
Which code applies?
The Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code, on the 2021 model codes in force since the seventh of April 2025.
Does Windham have to enforce the code?
Yes. Enforcement is a statutory duty for any Maine municipality above 4,000 people.
Simplify Windham permitting with Alliance Permitting
Windham's week is short and its old permits are in the map. We pull the record before design, establish the shoreland limits on a lakeside lot, and file inside the four days the counter is open.
Ready to break ground in Windham sooner?
Send us the scope and the parcel. We confirm the review path with the Windham 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 Windham permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.