Queen Anne's County's Department of Planning and Zoning at 110 Vincit Street in Centreville permits construction across the Eastern Shore county at the foot of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Its largest community, Stevensville on Kent Island, is unincorporated — so the county, not a town hall, is the permitting authority for the county's busiest stretch of development, and the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area reaches 1,000 feet inland from tidal water across a great deal of it.
That makes the Critical Area question the first one on most Queen Anne's parcels. Inside it the county administers lot coverage limits, clearing restrictions and the shoreline buffer under the state Critical Area programme, with the county's own maps determining which land use designation applies; outside it the ordinary permit route applies, with the county's health department reviewing wells and septic systems across the unsewered farmland that makes up most of the county's area.
This guide covers Queen Anne’s County, including Stevensville and Chester on Kent Island and Grasonville across Kent Narrows, all unincorporated. Barclay, Centreville, Church Hill, Millington, Queen Anne, Queenstown, Sudlersville and Templeville are incorporated towns with their own roles and fees; confirm the town’s requirements before filing inside one.
Kent Island is county land. The county's most populous place, Stevensville, is a census-designated place rather than an incorporated town — as are Chester and Grasonville. The development pressure at the bridgehead sits on unincorporated land, which means the county permits it, and the Critical Area rules along that shoreline are the county's to administer.
Short on time to read all of this?
Get a free quote →What requires a building permit in Queen Anne's County?
Typically permit required
- Development activity within the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area, subject to lot coverage, clearing and buffer limits
- Construction on unsewered land, which needs the health department's well and septic approvals
- Work in the county's mapped floodplain along the bay and the Chester and Wye rivers
- 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 outside the Critical Area that the adopted codes place below the permit threshold; the department confirms a specific project
- 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. Queen Anne's 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 Chesapeake Bay Critical Area along the Kent Island and Chester River shorelines that the department administers with the building permit.
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 Queen Anne's County?
The Department of Planning and Zoning is the enforcing office, administering zoning, the Critical Area programme and the building permits for unincorporated land from Centreville. The county health department reviews wells and on-site sewage disposal, the soil conservation district reviews sediment and erosion control, and the state Critical Area Commission approves the county's Critical Area mapping and programme.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Department | Queen Anne's County Department of Planning and Zoning |
| Office | 110 Vincit Street, Suite 104, Centreville, MD 21617 |
| Phone | Permits, licences and zoning (410) 758-4088; planning (410) 758-1255 |
| Hours | Permits, licences and zoning Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 3:30 pm; planning to 4:30 pm |
| Critical Area | Chesapeake Bay Critical Area, administered by the department with the county's maps |
| Health | County health department for well and on-site sewage disposal approvals |
Not sure this scope needs a permit?
Get a free quote →In 2025, building permits issued in unincorporated Queen Annes County authorized 278 new privately owned housing units, 262 of them single-family homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.
Permit types
Residential permits
A Queen Anne's house project checks the Critical Area position and the septic capacity before design, since one governs the lot coverage and clearing and the other governs the bedroom count. The application then goes to planning and zoning at Centreville with the health department's approvals where the lot is unsewered, and a contractor improving the house holds the state home improvement licence while a new-home builder shows the state registration.
Commercial permits
Commercial development in Queen Anne's clusters at the bridgehead and along the Route 50 corridor, on unincorporated land the county permits directly, with Critical Area designations, stormwater management and the soil conservation district's sediment control review running alongside the building plan review.
Prior approvals, plan review and the local clock
In Queen Anne's County the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area reaches 1,000 feet inland from tidal water along Kent Island and the Chester, Wye and Corsica rivers, the soil conservation district reviews sediment control, and the health department governs the county's large unsewered area. 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) — Queen Anne's County publishes its own targets, and they are the number to plan against.
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
Rather talk it over?
Call 1-855-478-4290 →Queen Anne's County permit costs and fees
Fees follow the county's schedule, with Critical Area, health department and soil conservation charges made by their own offices alongside the building permit.
| Item | Fee or rule |
|---|---|
| Building permit | County schedule by project type and scope |
| Critical Area review | Charged on development activity within the mapped Critical Area |
| Health approvals | Well and on-site sewage disposal fees charged by the county health department |
| Sediment control | Soil conservation district review on qualifying disturbance |
| Zoning | Administered by the same department as the building permit |
| Municipal permits | Charged by the town where the work is inside an incorporated municipality |
Septic capacity caps the bedrooms. Across the county's unsewered farmland the health department's approval of the on-site sewage disposal system sets the number of bedrooms a house may have — an interior conversion that adds one beyond the approved count raises a septic question the building permit cannot answer. Confirm the system's approved capacity before drawing the plan.
Trade permits and who may pull them
Permit required
- Unsewered lots — county health department well and septic approvals with the building permit
- Electrical — a master electrician with a Queen Anne’s County licence number; separate electrical permit
- Plumbing and gas — a master plumber with a Queen Anne’s County licence number; separate plumbing and gas permits
- HVACR — an HVAC contractor with a Queen Anne’s County licence number; 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
Rather not deal with the Queen Anne's County building department?
Get a free quote →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 Queen Anne's 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.
Review, corrections and what actually causes delay
Queen Anne's reviews zoning, Critical Area and building together from one department, with health and soil conservation running beside it. What delays a file here is a Critical Area designation discovered after design, a bedroom added beyond the septic capacity, and a project inside a town filed with the county.
Want this handled start to finish?
Get a free quote →Inspections in Queen Anne's 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. Queen Anne’s County has its building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and gas inspections made by the Middle Department Inspection Agency, requested at (410) 822-8300 (trade inspections by the licensed contractor), with Critical Area compliance checked alongside the building work on parcels inside the mapped area and the health department inspecting wells and septic systems on its own track.
Queen Anne's County permit search and official resources
- Maryland local codes and contacts by county — the state's directory of county enforcing offices
- Maryland Building Performance Standards — the statewide code editions the county enforces
- Maryland Critical Area Commission — the state programme the county administers locally
- 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
Inspections are where schedules slip.
Get a free quote →Who permits Stevensville and Kent Island?
The county. Stevensville, Chester and Grasonville are unincorporated, so the Department of Planning and Zoning permits and inspects there.
What is the Critical Area here?
The Chesapeake Bay Critical Area, reaching 1,000 feet inland from tidal water, with lot coverage limits, clearing restrictions and a shoreline buffer administered by the department under the state programme.
Does a septic system limit my house?
Yes. The health department's approval sets the number of bedrooms the system may serve, which caps what an addition or conversion can add.
Do the towns permit their own work?
Barclay, Centreville, Church Hill, Millington, Queen Anne, Queenstown, Sudlersville and Templeville have their own roles, and the county says town fees apply inside them; confirm the town’s requirements before filing inside one.
Where is the department?
At 110 Vincit Street, Suite 104, in Centreville. The permits, licences and zoning counter is open Monday to Friday from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm ((410) 758-4088); the planning office stays open to 4:30 pm.
Which code edition applies?
The 2021 editions of the International Building Code, International Residential Code and International Energy Conservation Code with Maryland modifications, effective statewide on May 29, 2023 under the Maryland Building Performance Standards, with local enforcement required from May 29, 2024.
Simplify Queen Anne's County permitting with Alliance Permitting
In Queen Anne's the shoreline and the septic system set the envelope before the code does. We settle the Critical Area designation and the system's approved capacity first, then file zoning, health and building so they move together rather than in sequence.
Ready to break ground in Queen Anne's County sooner?
Send us the scope and the parcel. We confirm the review path with the Queen Anne's County Department of Planning and Zoning, 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 Queen Anne's County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.