Baltimore City is not part of Baltimore County; it is an independent jurisdiction, and its Department of Housing and Community Development permits and inspects construction from the One Stop Shop at 417 East Fayette Street. The city publishes its own compilation, the Building, Fire, and Related Codes of Baltimore City, alongside the state's Maryland Building Performance Standards, and processes every permit through the ePermits online system — residential and commercial construction, interior and exterior alterations, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, use and occupancy and private property events.
The city's sharpest gate is historic. Where a property sits in a city historic district, exterior modifications and improvements are referred to the Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation, the permit is not issued over the counter, and a notice-to-proceed from the commission is required before it can be. The commission's own guidance adds the detail that catches owners out: some minor work that would not otherwise need a permit does need one inside a CHAP district.
This guide covers the City of Baltimore, an independent city. Baltimore County, which surrounds the city on three sides, is a separate jurisdiction with its own permit office in Towson; a city address is never permitted by the county.
In a CHAP district, minor work is not minor. The department warns that in a city historic district the permit will not be issued over the counter — the application is referred to the preservation commission and a notice-to-proceed must be obtained before the permit can issue — and that some minor work that would not otherwise require a permit will require one in a CHAP district. Filing the building permit before the design review only puts the application on hold.
What requires a building permit in Baltimore City?
Maryland runs on one statewide instrument, the Maryland Building Performance Standards (COMAR 09.12.51), and enforces it locally. The state adopts each new edition of the International Building Code, the International Residential Code and the International Energy Conservation Code, with Maryland modifications, and every jurisdiction must adopt and enforce the same edition within twelve months — counties and the cities that keep their own permit offices may amend the building and residential codes to suit local conditions, but may make the energy code and the Maryland Accessibility Code only more stringent, never less. The 2021 editions, effective statewide on May 29, 2023 with local enforcement required by May 29, 2024, replaced the 2018 editions; the Maryland Building Rehabilitation Code carries the existing building code beside them. What is local in Baltimore City is the enforcing office, its amendments, its fee schedule, and the grading, stormwater, forest conservation and Critical Area approvals that run ahead of the building permit.
The codes draw the exemption line and the local amendments move it. The IRC's work-exempt-from-permit list — small accessory structures, low fences, minor repairs — applies as Baltimore City adopted it, and the jurisdiction's own ordinance may narrow it. Electrical, plumbing and gas work carry their own permits under the state licensing boards' rules, and zoning, grading and sediment control approvals are separate from all of them.
Typically permit required
- Constructing, enlarging, altering, repairing, rehabilitating, demolishing or moving any structure, interior or exterior
- Exterior modifications in a city historic district, which need the preservation commission's notice-to-proceed before the permit issues
- Use and occupancy permits, and property and alarm registration and landlord licensing administered by the same department
- New buildings, additions and any structural work on an existing building
- Interior alterations that reconfigure space, add plumbing fixtures or extend circuits, under the building or residential code and the Maryland Building Rehabilitation Code
- Decks, accessory structures above the local exemption threshold, retaining walls and swimming pools, including above-ground pools
Often exempt
- Work the department's administrative guidance identifies as permit-exempt — but not inside a CHAP district, where the exemption narrows
- Painting, wallpapering, interior finishes, cabinets, flooring and trim
- Like-for-like replacement of windows and doors in the same opening
- Small detached accessory structures below the jurisdiction's exemption threshold and fences below its height limit — the zoning rules still apply
- Minor repairs that do not remove or alter structural members
What is actually local, and what is not
The code editions are the state's. Baltimore City's layer is the enforcing office and its amendments to the building and residential codes, its fee schedule, its grading and stormwater ordinances under the state's delegation, and the CHAP notice-to-proceed that precedes any permit in a historic district and the department's own compiled city codes.
Who handles permitting in Baltimore City?
The Department of Housing and Community Development is the enforcing office, issuing building and trade permits and inspecting the work through its building and trade inspectors, with the Building Official at 417 East Fayette Street and the Plans Examining Office reviewing submissions. The Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation reviews applications in historic districts in conjunction with the permits section, and the department also runs property and alarm registration and landlord licensing.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Department | Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development |
| Office | One Stop Shop, 417 East Fayette Street, Room 100, Baltimore, MD 21202 |
| Phone | (410) 396-3100 |
| Permits assistance | (443) 984-1809; plans examining (410) 396-3460 |
| Historic | Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation, (410) 396-4866 |
| Filing | ePermits online, all documents in PDF; a kiosk is available at the One Stop Shop |
Permit types
Residential permits
A Baltimore City house project is filed in ePermits with the full scope of work, the contractor's name and licence number and PDF drawings; the department states that all electrical, gas, HVACR and plumbing work requires a licensed contractor, and that contractors working on one- and two-family dwellings must hold the state home improvement licence. In a historic district the preservation commission's notice-to-proceed comes first. Every permit needs a final inspection before a certificate of occupancy can issue.
How Maryland contractor credentials work
Maryland has no state general contractor license for commercial work, but home improvement is licensed outright: the Maryland Home Improvement Commission licenses contractors who alter, repair or improve residential property, with an examination, proof of financial solvency and a guaranty fund that pays homeowners for a licensee's defective or incomplete work. New construction is different again: a home builder registers with the Home Builder Registration Unit of the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division under the Maryland Home Builder Registration Act, and the registration number goes on the permit. Electricians, plumbers and gas fitters, and HVACR contractors are licensed statewide by their boards at the Department of Labor, and Baltimore City verifies those licenses at the permit counter. Owner-occupants may build on their own home without the home improvement license, and Baltimore City licenses no trades of its own beyond any local registration its ordinance keeps.
Commercial permits
Commercial work in Baltimore City is filed in ePermits and reviewed by the Plans Examining Office, with a signature-ready set returned where required — every design sheet manually signed and dated, or professionally certified electronically under Maryland regulation — and the permit issued once the set and the contractor's form are verified and the balance of fees is paid. A permit expired for less than three years from issue can be reissued through ePermits without resubmitting plans.
Prior approvals, plan review and the local clock
A Maryland building permit is one application reviewed by the local office's plan reviewers for the building, residential and energy codes, with the electrical, plumbing and mechanical trades permitted alongside it. The approvals that run ahead of it are the ones that decide the schedule: zoning certification, a grading permit with a sediment and erosion control plan approved by the soil conservation district, stormwater management under the Maryland Department of the Environment's delegation, forest conservation under the Forest Conservation Act where the site disturbs enough land, and Critical Area review within a thousand feet of tidal waters. In Baltimore City the preservation commission's design review governs the historic districts, urban renewal plans govern use in parts of the city, and permits in planning and historic districts are referred to other agencies before issuance. Unlike the states with a statutory review clock, Maryland leaves review times to each jurisdiction — Baltimore City publishes its own targets, and they are the number to plan against.
Baltimore City permit costs and fees
Fees are paid through the ePermits system or at the One Stop Shop before the permit is issued, with online check payments free and card payments carrying a small charge.
| Item | Fee or rule |
|---|---|
| Permit fees | Paid online through ePermits or at the One Stop Shop before the permit issues |
| Payment | Online cheque payments free; card payments carry a small fee; the permit arrives by email on payment |
| Plan review | Plans Examining Office review, with a signature-ready set returned where required |
| Reissue | An expired permit may be reissued through ePermits without new plans if within three years of the issue date |
| Historic review | CHAP notice-to-proceed required before issuance in a city historic district |
| Certificate of occupancy | Issued only after the final inspection on every permit |
Three years is the reissue window. The department's guidance is that a permit expired for more than sixty days can be reissued without resubmitting plans, as long as the permit is three years or less from the issue date, through ePermits. Beyond that window the plans go back in — and plan approval is valid only as long as the permit is active.
Trade permits and who may pull them
Trade work is permitted separately from the building permit in most Maryland jurisdictions and inspected by the office's trade inspectors, with the state boards' licenses verified at issuance.
Permit required
- Electrical, gas, HVACR and plumbing work — a licensed contractor in every case, per the department
- Electrical — state-licensed master electrician; separate electrical permit
- Plumbing and gas — state-licensed master plumber or gas fitter; separate plumbing and gas permits
- HVACR — state-licensed HVACR contractor; mechanical permit
- Fire protection, alarms and sprinklers — fire marshal review, state or local, with the building permit
Typically exempt
- Like-for-like fixture, receptacle and switch replacement where the licensing boards' rules allow it
- Low-voltage and communications wiring below the local permit threshold
How to apply for a Baltimore City building permit
Zoning certification, grading and sediment control, stormwater, forest conservation and Critical Area review run ahead of the building permit.
The Maryland Home Improvement Commission license, or the home builder registration number, goes on the application.
The local application with the building, residential and energy code submittals the scope requires, and trade permits alongside.
Reviewers in the local office check the building, residential and energy codes as the jurisdiction amended them; corrections are answered in writing.
Fees follow the jurisdiction's ordinance and are due before issuance.
Footing to final by permit number, then the use and occupancy certificate that closes the permit.
Review, corrections and what actually causes delay
Baltimore City reviews through ePermits, where applicants check plan status by plans number and use a message board to ask questions. What delays a file here is a permit filed before CHAP design review in a historic district, a signature-ready set returned unsigned, and drawings uploaded in anything but PDF.
Inspections in Baltimore City
Inspections follow the adopted codes' required sequence — footing, foundation, framing, rough trades, insulation and final — and are requested from the local office by permit number. Work that passes final receives a use and occupancy certificate for new buildings and changes of use, or a final approval on the permit for everything else. Baltimore City schedules inspections online through ePermits or by telephone through the department's automated system, twenty-four hours a day; every permit requires a final inspection before a certificate of occupancy issues.
Baltimore City permit search and official resources
- Baltimore City building permits — ePermits, the One Stop Shop and what needs a permit
- Permits requiring special referrals — CHAP and the other agency referrals
- CHAP review procedures — historic design review and the notice-to-proceed
- Maryland Building Performance Standards — the statewide code adoptions from the Department of Labor's Building Codes Administration
- Maryland Home Improvement Commission — home improvement contractor licensing and the guaranty fund
- Home Builder Registration Unit — new home builder registration with the Attorney General
Frequently asked questions
Is Baltimore City part of Baltimore County?
No. The city is an independent jurisdiction with its own department, codes and permit system; the county surrounds it and permits separately from Towson.
What happens if I file before historic review?
The commission reviews applications in conjunction with the permits section, and an application filed before historic design review is placed on hold pending completion of that review.
Does minor work need a permit in a historic district?
Some minor work that would not otherwise require a permit does require one inside a CHAP district; the permit is not issued over the counter and needs a notice-to-proceed.
Can I reissue an expired permit?
Yes, through ePermits without resubmitting plans, as long as the permit is three years or less from its issue date.
Do I need a licensed contractor?
For all electrical, gas, HVACR and plumbing work, yes; contractors working on one- and two-family dwellings must hold the state home improvement licence.
Which codes apply?
The Building, Fire and Related Codes of Baltimore City as compiled by the city, alongside the Maryland Building Performance Standards, which adopted the 2021 I-codes with state modifications effective May 29, 2023.
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More Maryland permitting guides
More Maryland permitting guides
This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Baltimore City permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.