Baltimore County's Department of Permits, Approvals and Inspections at 111 West Chesapeake Avenue in Towson is the enforcing office for the county that wraps around Baltimore City on three sides but does not include it — the city is an independent jurisdiction with its own permit office, and the two are confused daily. The county's current building code was enacted by County Council Bill 49-24, effective September 3, 2024, adopting with amendments the 2021 editions of the International Building Code, International Residential Code, International Mechanical Code, International Energy Conservation Code and International Swimming Pool and Spa Code; the plumbing and gasfitting code was updated separately effective July 1, 2024.
Filing is online only. All applications for building, plumbing, electrical and other construction permits must be completed online, with public workstations and staff in the lobby to help applicants create accounts on a first-come, first-served basis. A permit is valid for one year, with a second year available only if requested at the time the application is filed — an expired permit is refiled from the start, while an unexpired one may be extended.
This guide covers Baltimore County. Baltimore City is a separate, independent jurisdiction with its own permit office and its own code compilation; Towson, Dundalk, Catonsville and Owings Mills are unincorporated communities within the county, not separate permitting authorities.
Ask for the second year at filing. Baltimore County permits are valid for one year, with an option to request one additional year at the time the application is filed. If the permit has expired, a new permit is required; if it has not, an extension may be requested. The second year is cheapest to buy at the beginning, and a lapsed permit on a long project is a refiling, not a renewal.
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Get a free quote →What requires a building permit in Baltimore County?
Typically permit required
- Additions, alterations, structural changes, demolitions and changes of use, and construction in the floodplain
- Roof work where 50 percent or more of the sheathing or deck is replaced, and certain siding work
- Retaining walls within 10 feet of a property line, which the department inspects and reviews on site before approving the permit
- 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
- Minor cosmetic work — painting, flooring and cabinets — and accessory work below the county's own thresholds outside protected locations
- 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 County's layer is the enforcing office and its amendments to the building and residential codes, its fee schedule, its grading ordinance and its stormwater programme under MDE criteria, and the Bill 49-24 amendments, the online-only filing rule and the grading responsibility that follows the permittee for a year after occupancy.
Maryland enforces one statewide set of codes, the Maryland Building Performance Standards (COMAR 09.12.51), through the county or city permit office, which may amend the building and residential codes for local conditions. Maryland rules
Who handles permitting in Baltimore County?
The Department of Permits, Approvals and Inspections is the enforcing office, with plan reviewers covering the building, residential, mechanical, energy and pool codes as Bill 49-24 amended them. Plumbing and gas permits are also issued by the department, but only a Baltimore County licensed plumbing or gasfitting contractor can apply for one; the county’s own Plumbing and Gasfitting Code (Bill 94-23) took effect on July 1, 2024. The department also administers grading and sediment control, allows approved third-party sediment inspectors at the permittee’s cost, and has an ombudsman to help applicants move projects forward.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Department | Baltimore County Department of Permits, Approvals and Inspections |
| Office | County Office Building, 111 West Chesapeake Avenue, Towson, MD 21204 (Permit Processing, Room 100) |
| Phone | (410) 887-3353; permit processing (410) 887-3900; whether a permit is needed (410) 887-3953 |
| Hours | Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm |
| Filing | Online only; workstations and staff in the lobby, first come first served |
| Code | Bill 49-24, effective September 3, 2024, amending the 2021 I-codes |
Not sure this scope needs a permit?
Get a free quote →In 2025, building permits issued by Baltimore County authorized 1,531 new privately owned housing units, 1,152 of them single-family homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.
Permit types
Residential permits
A Baltimore County house project files online, with the plan set sealed where the code requires it, and pays fees that the county's own schedule scales from small flat charges to project-valuation figures. A contractor altering the house holds the state home improvement licence, and a homeowner should note the county's grading rule: violations on an individual residential lot remain the permittee's responsibility for one year after use and occupancy approval, unless the occupant has since made grading or landscape changes that caused them.
Commercial permits
Commercial work in Baltimore County is filed online with sealed plans, a site plan, structural calculations, trade drawings and energy compliance documentation, and reviewed against the county code as Bill 49-24 amended it. Grading permits carry a pre-construction meeting at issuance, held to the sequence of operations on the approved erosion and sediment control plan, and third-party sediment inspectors may be used at the permittee's cost — without reducing the county's own fees.
Prior approvals, plan review and the local clock
In Baltimore County the grading and sediment control programme follows the Maryland Standards and Specifications for Soil Erosion and Sediment Control in effect on the filing date, the floodplain regulations were updated in May 2024, and Chesapeake Bay Critical Area review reaches the tidal shoreline in the county's south and east. Maryland sets no deadline for deciding a building permit (though since 1 October 2026 the office must decide within 30 days whether a housing application is complete) — Baltimore County publishes its own targets, and they are the number to plan against.
Rather talk it over?
Call 1-855-478-4290 →Maryland licenses home improvement contractors through the Maryland Home Improvement Commission and home builders register with the Attorney General; trade licences are mostly state licences, but some counties and WSSC license or register trades themselves. Maryland rules
Baltimore County permit costs and fees
Fees follow the county's building permit fee schedule — from small flat charges to figures based on project valuation — with plan review and third-party inspection costs charged separately.
| Item | Fee or rule |
|---|---|
| Building permit | County fee schedule, from small flat charges to valuation-based figures for larger projects |
| Permit term | One year, with a second year available if requested at filing; expired permits are refiled |
| Third-party sediment inspection | Paid by the permit holder; county fees are not reduced for using it |
| Grading permit | With a pre-construction meeting at issuance following the approved sediment control plan |
| Retaining walls near a line | Site inspection and departmental review before permit approval |
| Fences | Residential fences over 6 feet and all commercial fences take a permit; lower fences may still need zoning review |
Third-party inspection does not buy a discount. The county's sediment control rules provide that fees for third-party inspections are the responsibility of the permit holder and that county permit fees may not be reduced because of the election to use an approved third-party inspector. Third-party inspection buys schedule, not fee relief.
Rather not deal with the Baltimore County building department?
Get a free quote →Trade permits and who may pull them
Permit required
- Retaining walls within 10 feet of a property line — site inspection and departmental review before approval
- 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
Trade work is permitted separately and inspected locally or, for electrical work in many counties, by a state-certified private inspection agency. Maryland rules
How to apply for a Baltimore County building permit
Zoning certification, grading and sediment control, stormwater, forest conservation and Critical Area review run ahead of the building permit.
The home builder registration number (required by state law for new homes) or, where the office asks for it, the Maryland Home Improvement Commission licence 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.
Want this handled start to finish?
Get a free quote →Review, corrections and what actually causes delay
Baltimore County reviews online and publishes issued permits in a searchable record going back to 2009. What delays a file here is an application attempted on paper, a second permit year not requested at filing, and a grading permit whose pre-construction meeting has not been held in the sequence the approved plan sets out.
Inspections in Baltimore County
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 County inspects in the code's sequence — footing and foundation, framing, trade rough-ins, then final and any use and occupancy close-out — with sediment control inspections following the Maryland standards in effect on the filing date and third-party results filed within 24 hours of completion.
Baltimore County permit search and official resources
- Baltimore County permit processing — Bill 49-24 and the codes it adopts
- Apply for a permit — the online-only rule and permit terms
- Baltimore County sediment and erosion control — third-party inspection and grading responsibility
- 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
Inspections are where schedules slip.
Get a free quote →Frequently asked questions
Is Baltimore County the same as Baltimore City?
No. Baltimore City is an independent jurisdiction with its own permit office and code compilation; the county surrounds it on three sides and permits separately from Towson.
Which code does the county enforce?
The county code enacted by Bill 49-24, effective September 3, 2024, adopting with amendments the 2021 International Building, Residential, Mechanical, Energy Conservation and Swimming Pool and Spa Codes; plumbing and gasfitting was updated effective July 1, 2024.
Can I file on paper?
No. All applications must be completed online, though workstations and staff are available in the lobby to help set up an account.
How long is a permit valid?
One year, with one additional year available if requested at the time the application is filed.
Who is responsible for grading violations after occupancy?
The permittee, for one year after use and occupancy approval, unless the occupant or owner has since made grading or landscape changes that caused the violation.
Which state code underlies the county's?
The Maryland Building Performance Standards, which adopted the 2021 I-codes with state modifications effective May 29, 2023 and required local enforcement from May 29, 2024.
Simplify Baltimore County permitting with Alliance Permitting
Baltimore County rewards applications that are complete on the first upload and permits that are dated with the whole schedule in mind. We file online with the second year requested, hold the grading pre-construction meeting in sequence, and track every inspection to the use and occupancy close-out.
Ready to break ground in Baltimore County sooner?
Send us the scope and the parcel. We confirm the review path with the Baltimore County Department of Permits, Approvals and Inspections, assemble the submittal, file it, and track it through issuance — corrections included.
More Maryland permitting guides
More Maryland permitting guides
This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Baltimore County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.