Framingham's Inspectional Services division runs the city's Building Department from Room 203 at 150 Concord Street, permitting and inspecting construction for a municipality that became a city in 2018 after three centuries as a town. Its permitting and licensing moved to a new online platform on 1 July 2025, with a one-time account creation giving applicants a single place to check permits and licences, make payments and communicate with staff — while permits submitted or issued before that date remain searchable in the city's previous system.
The department is unusually accessible by telephone: the building inspectors, the electrical inspector and the plumbing inspector each have their own direct line rather than sitting behind a general number. Framingham has adopted the Municipal Opt-in Specialized energy code, so new construction and major renovation follow the specialized pathway, and applications that are not filed online may be printed and brought or posted to Room 203 with the fees submitted at the time of application.
This guide covers the City of Framingham. Natick, Ashland, Sudbury, Marlborough and Southborough run their own building departments under the same state code.
Two systems, one property history. Framingham's platform changed on 1 July 2025: permits submitted or issued before that date are searched in the city's previous system, and everything after it lives in the new account. Due diligence on a building — open permits, past work, prior inspections — needs both, and checking only the current platform will show a property as having no history at all.
What requires a building permit in Framingham?
Massachusetts runs one statewide code and enforces it town by town. The Massachusetts State Building Code, 780 CMR, is written by the Board of Building Regulations and Standards and applies in every city and town without local amendment — there is no county layer at all, and Framingham enforces the same code as every other municipality in the Commonwealth. The 10th edition took effect on October 11, 2024, ran concurrently with the 9th until June 30, 2025, and has been the only code in force since July 1, 2025. It is built on the 2021 International Codes — building, residential, existing building, mechanical, energy, swimming pool and fire — with Massachusetts amendments substantial enough that the model text alone will mislead. The residential provisions sit in Chapter 51, which adopts the 2021 IRC as amended. What is local in Framingham is the building department, the fee schedule, zoning, and the city's permitting platform and its zoning bylaw.
The code draws the exemption line, and it is the same line everywhere in the Commonwealth. Ordinary repairs need no permit; anything that constructs, reconstructs, alters, repairs, removes or demolishes a building, or changes its use or occupancy, needs one from the building official. Electrical work runs under the Massachusetts Electrical Code, 527 CMR 12, and plumbing and gas under the Fuel Gas and Plumbing Code, 248 CMR, each permitted and inspected by Framingham's own wiring and plumbing inspectors rather than the building inspector.
Typically permit required
- Any construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, removal or demolition, and any change of use or occupancy
- New construction and major renovation, which meet the Specialized code's performance and electrification-readiness requirements
- Electrical work and plumbing and gas work, each permitted separately and inspected by the city's own trade inspectors
- New buildings, additions and any structural work on an existing building
- Alterations, repairs and reconstruction under the existing building provisions, and any change of use or occupancy
- Decks, sheds above the code threshold, swimming pools and solar installations
Often exempt
- Ordinary repairs that do not alter structure, egress or systems
- Ordinary repairs that do not alter structure, egress or systems
- Painting, wallpapering, flooring, cabinets and similar finish work
- Like-for-like replacement that the code places below the permit threshold
- Work on a building owned by the Commonwealth, which the State Building Inspector enforces rather than the town
What is actually local, and what is not
The code is the Commonwealth's and cannot be amended locally. Framingham's layer is the building department itself, its fee schedule and filing route, the zoning bylaw or ordinance and the zoning enforcement that precedes the permit, the conservation commission's wetlands jurisdiction under the Wetlands Protection Act, and the permitting platform changeover of July 2025 and the two record systems a property history now spans.
Who handles permitting in Framingham?
Inspectional Services is the enforcing division, bringing the Building Department together with the health department, licensing and the sealer of weights and measures for one-stop permitting; the building inspectors, electrical inspector and plumbing inspector each hold their own direct line. The zoning board of appeals hears relief under the state Zoning Act, the planning board handles site plan review, and the conservation commission holds the Wetlands Protection Act jurisdiction along the Sudbury River and the city's ponds.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Department | City of Framingham Inspectional Services — Building Department |
| Office | 150 Concord Street, Room 203, Framingham, MA 01702 |
| Phone | (508) 532-5500 |
| Inspectors | Building, electrical and plumbing inspectors each on a direct line |
| Filing | The city's permitting and licensing platform, in use since July 1, 2025 |
| Older permits | Permits before July 1, 2025 searched in the city's previous system |
Permit types
Residential permits
A Framingham house project files through the city's platform against the state code, the zoning bylaw and the Specialized energy code, with the supervising individual's Construction Supervisor Licence and, on residential work for an owner-occupant, the contractor's Home Improvement Contractor registration. Applications that are not filed online are printed and brought or posted to Room 203, with the fees submitted at the time of application rather than on issuance.
How Massachusetts contractor credentials work
Massachusetts issues no general contractor licence. It issues two separate and non-interchangeable credentials, and permit-required work usually needs both. The Construction Supervisor Licence, under M.G.L. c. 143 and 780 CMR, is an examined licence from the Office of Public Safety and Inspections held by the individual supervising the work — unrestricted for any building, restricted for one- and two-family dwellings up to 35,000 cubic feet, or one of the specialty classes. Home Improvement Contractor registration, under M.G.L. c. 142A, is a consumer-protection registration with the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, required of anyone contracting residential work on an existing owner-occupied building of one to four units, with a written contract required above one thousand dollars and access to the state Guaranty Fund behind it. A homeowner may take out the permit on their own one- or two-family home under the supervisor licence exemption by signing the affidavit and warning notice — but doing so waives the Guaranty Fund protection a registered contractor's permit would carry. Electricians, plumbers and gas fitters hold their own state licences, and Framingham verifies all of them at the counter.
Commercial permits
Commercial work in Framingham — a city whose Route 9 corridor and Technology Park carry much of the MetroWest's commercial development — clears zoning and site plan review, then plan review and the building permit under the Specialized code's commercial pathway. The one-stop division means the health and licensing approvals a fit-out needs are obtained alongside rather than elsewhere.
Zoning, conservation and the thirty-day clock
A Massachusetts building permit application is filed with the building official, who reviews the construction documents and issues or refuses it — and under 780 CMR the official must act within thirty days of a complete application, with a written statement of the reasons for any refusal. The approvals that run ahead of it are the local ones: zoning sign-off under Framingham's bylaw or ordinance, and, where the work is within a hundred feet of a wetland or within the riverfront or floodplain areas, an order of conditions from the conservation commission under the Wetlands Protection Act, which is a hearing rather than a counter transaction. In Framingham the Sudbury River and the city's ponds bring the conservation commission's Wetlands Protection Act jurisdiction and floodplain review into the file, and the Specialized energy code governs new construction and major renovation. Appeals from the building official go to the local zoning board of appeals on zoning matters and to the State Building Code Appeals Board on code matters.
Framingham permit costs and fees
Fees follow the city's schedule, paid in the permitting platform, or submitted with the application where it is filed on paper.
| Item | Fee or rule |
|---|---|
| Building permit | City schedule by project type and construction value |
| Paper filing | Fees submitted at the time of application where the form is brought or posted to Room 203 |
| Trade permits | Electrical and plumbing permits filed separately with the city's trade inspectors |
| Zoning relief | Zoning board of appeals application under the state Zoning Act |
| Conservation | Wetlands Protection Act filing fees where the work is in a resource area |
| Energy compliance | Specialized code documentation filed with the application |
Fees are due at application, not at issuance. Where a Framingham application is filed on paper rather than through the platform, the fees must be submitted at the time of application — not when the permit is issued. A form posted without payment is not a filed application, and the thirty-day clock does not start on it.
Trade permits and who may pull them
The trades are permitted separately from the building permit and inspected by the town's own wiring and plumbing inspectors, under the state codes and licences rather than any local one.
Permit required
- New construction and major renovation — Specialized code compliance documentation with the application
- Electrical — state-licensed electrician; separate wiring permit under 527 CMR 12
- Plumbing and gas — state-licensed plumber or gas fitter; separate permits under 248 CMR
- Sheet metal work — state sheet metal licence where the work falls under it
- Fire protection and alarms — fire department review under 527 CMR alongside the building permit
Typically exempt
- Like-for-like fixture and device replacement where the state codes allow it without a permit
- Work the licensing boards place outside their permit requirements
How to apply for a Framingham building permit
Zoning sign-off under the local bylaw or ordinance, and any special permit or variance from the zoning board, precede the building permit.
Work near wetlands, rivers or floodplain needs an order of conditions under the Wetlands Protection Act before the permit.
The Construction Supervisor Licence of the supervising individual, and the Home Improvement Contractor registration where the work is residential.
The building official reviews the documents against 780 CMR and the energy code the town has adopted.
Fees are the town's own and are due before issuance; trade permits are filed separately.
Footing to final, with the wiring and plumbing inspectors on their own trades, then the certificate of occupancy.
Review, corrections and what actually causes delay
Framingham's building official acts on a complete application within thirty days under the state code, and the platform holds status and messaging in one place. What delays a file here is a property history checked in only one of the two systems, a paper application posted without the fee, and an energy submission built for the base or stretch code.
Inspections in Framingham
Inspections follow the code's sequence — footing and foundation, frame, insulation and final — with the wiring and plumbing inspectors covering their own trades, and are requested from the building department by permit number. Work that passes final receives a certificate of occupancy for new buildings and changes of use, or a certificate of inspection where the code requires one. Buildings in the use groups listed in 780 CMR Section 110 also carry periodic inspections, with proof of maintenance filed with the building official. Framingham inspects in the code's sequence through the Building Department, with the electrical and plumbing inspectors carrying their own trades on their own direct lines and inspections requested through the city's platform.
Framingham permit search and official resources
- Framingham Inspectional Services — the department, the platform change and the inspectors' direct lines
- Framingham permit status — the current platform and the pre-July 2025 archive
- Massachusetts State Building Code, 780 CMR — the 10th edition the department enforces
- Massachusetts State Building Code, 780 CMR — the 10th edition and its Massachusetts amendments from the Board of Building Regulations and Standards
- Home Improvement Contractor registration — the consumer-protection registration and Guaranty Fund
- Construction Supervisor Licence — the examined licence held by the individual supervising the work
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find an older Framingham permit?
Permits submitted or issued before July 1, 2025 are searched in the city's previous system; anything after that date is in the current permitting platform.
Can I still file on paper?
Applications can be printed and brought or posted to the Building Department at 150 Concord Street, Room 203, with the fees submitted at the time of application.
How do I reach an inspector?
The building inspectors, the electrical inspector and the plumbing inspector each have their own direct line rather than a shared switchboard.
Which energy code applies?
Framingham has adopted the Municipal Opt-in Specialized energy code, so new construction and major renovation follow the specialized pathway.
Is Framingham a town or a city?
A city since 2018, though it was a town for three centuries before that; the building department serves the whole municipality either way.
Which building code edition applies?
The 10th edition of the Massachusetts State Building Code, 780 CMR, in effect since October 11, 2024 and the only code in force since July 1, 2025.
Simplify Framingham permitting with Alliance Permitting
Framingham's records live in two places since the platform changed, and its inspectors are easier to reach than most. We search both systems on any diligence, file with the fee attached, and design to the Specialized pathway from the start.
Ready to break ground in Framingham sooner?
Send us the scope and the parcel. We confirm the review path with the Framingham Inspectional Services Division, assemble the submittal, file it, and track it through issuance — corrections included.
More Massachusetts permitting guides
More Massachusetts permitting guides
This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Framingham permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.