Braintree, Massachusetts Building Permit Guide

In Braintree the Building Division of the Department of Municipal Licenses & Inspections issues building permits and the electrical, plumbing and gas permits, with Russell Forsberg as Inspector of Buildings. Applications are filed in PermitEyes and are processed only when complete. The fee schedule effective July 1, 2026 charges a one- or two-family addition or alteration $10 per $1,000 plus a $50 base fee, and new homes follow the Stretch energy code.

What work requires a building permit in Braintree?

Braintree’s FAQ reaches past new construction and additions. It lists roofing, siding, new or replacement windows and doors, decks, porches, pools, dormers, sheds, garages, walls and changes in grade, and tells anyone in doubt to call the Building Division on 781-794-8070 before starting.

Two Braintree rules are specific to the town. Siding must run behind the electric meter to meet Braintree Electric Light Department rules, and the electrical permit to pull the meter has to be issued before the building permit. Any job that creates a new bedroom needs the Water & Sewer Department’s approval first.

What Braintree decides and what the state holds

The building code in Braintree is 780 CMR, which the state’s Board of Building Regulations and Standards writes and the Town Council cannot amend. The council’s own ordinances supply the local layer: the zoning ordinance, the wetlands chapter, a four-month demolition delay and the 2019 vote that brought new construction under the Stretch energy code; the Building Division sets its filing checklist and fee schedule.

Massachusetts has one State Building Code, 780 CMR, for every city and town; towns cannot rewrite it, though many opt into a stricter energy code. The trades run under their own state codes. Massachusetts rules

Braintree building department: who handles permitting

The Building Division sits within the Department of Municipal Licenses & Inspections, directed by Marybeth McGrath. It examines building, electrical, plumbing, gas and sign permit applications, inspects work at set stages, and runs the periodic inspections of places of assembly and institutions. Staff meet residents, business owners and contractors during office hours to go over proposals and code questions.

Braintree permit types and required documents

Applicants register once in PermitEyes, following the town’s registration instructions, then start each new application online. Missing items are flagged by email through the portal’s chat message, and nothing is processed until the file is complete. The division’s “Time Saving Information for Applicants” sheet lists the documents by project type.

Residential permits

Braintree’s residential category means one- and two-family dwellings only. A new house needs an instrument survey plan by a registered land surveyor, foundation, framing and floor plans (stamped only if trusses, engineered lumber or steel are used), elevations of all four sides showing height above finished grade, a HERS energy report, Water & Sewer approval for the bedroom count, the contractor’s Construction Supervisor License, insurance and the signed contract. Additions follow the same pattern, with a HERS report at 1,000 square feet or more and a Res-Check report below that, plus Home Improvement Contractor registration. A homeowner may take out a permit and act as contractor, but gives up the state Home Improvement Contractor program’s remedies for poor workmanship and may carry liability for workers.

Building or remodeling a home here? Alliance handles residential permit expediting, so the crew isn't waiting on the counter.

Commercial permits

Three-family houses and all other uses are commercial in Braintree. A commercial file adds plans and elevations stamped by a Massachusetts-registered engineer or architect, an energy code compliance report, the initial construction control affidavit, Water & Sewer approval, the town’s stormwater management approval, and any Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals decision already recorded at the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds.

For tenant improvements and new commercial builds, Alliance handles commercial permit applications through issuance. More on this: commercial building permits explained.

Accessory dwelling units in Braintree

The Building Division’s ADU presentation describes a unit of up to 900 square feet or half the floor area of the main house, whichever is less, with its own utilities and two means of egress, allowed by right in residential zones. A detached ADU adds a utilities step: before the building permit issues, the Braintree Water & Sewer Department must approve a connection plan, prepared by a Massachusetts registered engineer or licensed plumber, showing both buildings, the pipe routes, sizes and depths, and a water sub-meter inside the main house, and its own water and sewer permits must already be in hand.

What comes before the building permit

Zoning relief and site plan approvals must be granted and recorded before the building permit. Plot plans must be stamped by a registered land surveyor and show setbacks, easements, driveway slope, grades and trees 8 inches in diameter or more; a bank’s mortgage plan is accepted only for non-permanent items such as an above-ground pool or a shed with no grade change. Wetland work goes to the Conservation Commission under the state act and the town’s wetlands ordinance, chapter 12.20. A building 75 years or older, or of unknown age, outside a historic district goes to the Historical Commission under the demolition delay ordinance, which can hold a permit for four months.

Massachusetts has no general contractor license: the supervising individual holds a Construction Supervisor License, and contractors working on existing owner-occupied homes register as Home Improvement Contractors. Massachusetts rules

Braintree building permit costs and fees

The Building Division’s fee schedule effective July 1, 2026 replaces the October 2024 schedule that the FAQ page still links. Each permit is a base fee plus a rate per $1,000, and the rates differ for new houses, alterations and commercial work. The schedule notes it is reviewed every year.

Worked example: an addition to a single-family house valued at $50,000 pays 50 × $10 + $50 = $550 for the building permit; the electrical permit is priced separately.

Trade permits and who may pull them

The Building Division handles electrical, plumbing and gas permits alongside building permits, and its Inspector of Wires has a direct line. As the division’s FAQ puts it, Massachusetts law requires a licensed plumber or gas fitter to take out plumbing and gas permits and to do the work, so a homeowner cannot. On electrical permits, the division advises homeowners not to sign the liability insurance waiver an electrician may put on the application, because recovering for wiring damage becomes slower and harder.

Trade work is permitted separately and inspected by the municipality’s own wiring and plumbing inspectors under the state codes. Massachusetts rules

How to apply for a Braintree building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

Under 780 CMR 105.3.1 the building official has 30 days from the filing of an application to issue or deny it in writing. Braintree’s FAQ says review periods vary by type of work, and its own advice is that complete files avoid delay. Most waits come from the documents the town requires up front: a recorded zoning decision, Water & Sewer sign-off on bedroom counts, the stormwater approval for commercial sites, and, for older buildings, a demolition review that can impose four months.

Braintree inspections and final approval

The division inspects building, electrical, plumbing and gas work at set intervals, and the trade schedules expect the installer to call for the final within 10 days of finishing. Inspections outside working hours can be arranged when staff are available, for $325 paid in advance. A new house has a fixed hold point: framing stops until the certified as-built plot plan is submitted after the foundation. Under the Stretch code, a new house also needs proof of a passing blower-door test at the final inspection.

New buildings and changes of use end with a certificate of occupancy. Afterwards, places of assembly and institutional uses, from churches and day care centers to restaurants, schools and multi-family dwellings, stay on the division’s inspection cycle, which runs every six months, yearly or every five years depending on the use.

Braintree energy code and flood maps

On October 1, 2019 the Braintree Town Council voted to accept the Stretch Energy Code for all new home and commercial construction, effective January 1, 2020. The Building Division’s Stretch code page says new-home applications must include a HERS energy model and that the code does not apply to additions or remodeling, although a house taken down to its first-floor deck or foundation is treated as new construction. FEMA’s Community Status Book lists the Town of Braintree (community 250233) as a participating community in the National Flood Insurance Program, with flood maps current from July 8, 2025, and records a Class 7 Community Rating System standing worth a 15% flood insurance discount.

Braintree permit search and official resources

The Building Division keeps records of all permits, inspections, plans and correspondence for building, electrical, plumbing, gas and sign work, and makes them available to review or copy; requests start from the public records link on its page. The department also holds plot plans for many properties, which may be usable for a new application. Weights-and-measures reports by property are kept in the same office.

• Braintree Building Division: staff, hours and public records
• Online permitting: PermitEyes links and guidance
• Braintree PermitEyes building permit portal
• Time Saving Information for Applicants
• PermitEyes registration instructions
• Building Division fee schedule, effective July 1, 2026
• Building Division FAQs
• Stretch Energy Code in Braintree
• Accessory dwelling units in Braintree
• Braintree Zoning Ordinances (eCode360)
• Demolition Delay ordinance, chapter 5.700
• Wetlands ordinance, chapter 12.20
• FEMA Community Status Book, Massachusetts
• Massachusetts energy code adoption by municipality
• Massachusetts State Building Code, 780 CMR
• 2020 Census populations by city and town

Braintree building permit FAQ

How much is a building permit in Braintree?

Under the schedule effective July 1, 2026, a new one- or two-family house is $15 per $1,000 plus a $50 base fee, residential additions and alterations $10 per $1,000 plus $50, and commercial work $20 per $1,000 plus $75.

Do I need a permit for a shed in Braintree?

Yes, for any size. It must be at least 5 feet from side and rear lines and 20 feet from the street, and it cannot go in a front yard.

Can I use my mortgage plot plan?

Only for non-permanent items such as an above-ground pool or a shed with no change in grade. Everything else needs a plan stamped by a registered land surveyor.

Does the Stretch code apply to my addition?

Not according to the Building Division’s Stretch code page, which says it applies to new homes and new commercial buildings; a house reduced to its first-floor deck or foundation counts as new.

Can a homeowner pull permits in Braintree?

A homeowner may take out the building permit and act as contractor, but plumbing and gas permits must be pulled by licensed tradespeople.

Do I need a written contract?

Yes, for work valued at more than $1,000, as the Building Division’s FAQ notes.

When can I reach the Braintree Building Division in person?

During Town Hall hours: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, until 7:00 pm on Tuesday, and until 1:00 pm on Friday.

How long can a demolition be delayed?

Up to four months for a significant building at least 75 years old outside a historic district.

Simplify Braintree permitting with Alliance Permitting

Alliance Permitting is a permit documentation and submission company in Massachusetts. We prepare your paperwork, file it correctly and coordinate with the permitting authority through issuance. We are not a contractor and we do not perform licensed plan review or inspections; that work stays with your licensed team and the jurisdiction.

This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Braintree permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.