Revere's Building Department at 249 Broadway permits and inspects construction for the small, dense city on the Atlantic north of Boston — the only Massachusetts municipality with an ocean beach inside a subway ride of the capital. The department enforces the same state building code as everywhere in the Commonwealth and administers the city's zoning ordinance alongside it, with conversions between single- and multi-family use a recurring part of its work in a city built largely of two- and three-family houses.
Its records sit in two systems. Recent permits are searched in the city's online portal, while permits from before 2012 are held departmentally and retrieved by staff, who will walk an enquirer through the portal and email the older documents. For a buyer or a lender checking a Revere property's permit history, both routes are needed — the portal alone will show a building that predates 2012 as though nothing had ever been permitted on it.
This guide covers the City of Revere. Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Saugus, Lynn and Winthrop run their own building departments under the same state code.
Two record systems, one property. Revere's online portal carries the recent permits, while anything before 2012 is held departmentally and emailed out by staff on request. Diligence that stops at the portal will read a pre-2012 building as unpermitted — in a city of century-old two- and three-families, that is most of the housing stock.
What requires a building permit in Revere?
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 Revere 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 Revere is the building department, the fee schedule, zoning, and the zoning ordinance and the coastal floodplain along the beach.
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 Revere'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
- Conversion between single-family and multi-family use, which is a change of occupancy under the state code
- Work in the coastal floodplain or near a resource area, which needs the conservation commission's order of conditions first
- 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. Revere'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 coastal floodplain along Revere Beach and the two record systems the department's permit history spans.
Who handles permitting in Revere?
The Building Department is the enforcing office, with the building commissioner or inspector of buildings as building official under the state code and the city's wiring and plumbing inspectors covering their own trades. The zoning board of appeals hears relief under the state Zoning Act, the planning board handles site plan review, and the conservation commission administers the Wetlands Protection Act along the beach, Rumney Marsh and the Pines River.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Department | City of Revere Building Department |
| Office | 249 Broadway, Revere, MA 02151 |
| Phone | (781) 286-8196 |
| Hours | Monday to 7:00 pm; Tuesday to Thursday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm; Friday to noon |
| Records | Online portal for recent permits; pre-2012 permits retrieved and emailed by staff |
| Energy | Not on the Specialized adoption list; confirm the city's position on the state list |
Permit types
Residential permits
A Revere house project files with the Building Department against the state code and the city's zoning ordinance, with the supervising individual's Construction Supervisor Licence and, on residential work for an owner-occupant, the contractor's Home Improvement Contractor registration. Converting a single-family to a two-family — common in the city's housing stock — is a change of occupancy that brings the existing building provisions and their fire protection requirements into the analysis, and the department's staff walk applicants through it.
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 Revere verifies all of them at the counter.
Commercial permits
Commercial work in Revere — the Broadway corridor, the Wonderland and Suffolk Downs redevelopment areas — clears zoning and site plan review, then the building permit, with the conservation commission's order of conditions and coastal floodplain requirements in hand where the site sits near the beach or the marsh. The larger redevelopment parcels carry their own approval histories the department checks against the application.
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 Revere'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 Revere the Atlantic beach, Rumney Marsh and the Pines River bring the conservation commission's Wetlands Protection Act jurisdiction and coastal floodplain review into the file, and the state's tidelands licensing reaches the shorefront parcels. 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.
Revere permit costs and fees
Fees follow the city's schedule, with the trades charged separately under the state codes and land use applications charged by their own boards.
| Item | Fee or rule |
|---|---|
| Building permit | City schedule by project type and construction value |
| Wiring permits | Filed with and inspected by the city's wiring inspector under the state electrical code |
| Plumbing and gas permits | Filed with and inspected by the city's plumbing inspector under the state code |
| Records requests | Recent permits through the portal; pre-2012 permits retrieved by staff |
| Conservation | Wetlands Protection Act filing fees where the work is in a resource area |
| Zoning relief | Zoning board of appeals application under the state Zoning Act |
A conversion is a change of occupancy. Turning a single-family into a two-family in Revere is a change of occupancy under the state code, not merely an alteration — which brings the existing building provisions, the fire separation requirements and the egress analysis into play alongside the zoning question. It is the most common Revere project and the one most often underestimated.
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
- Coastal floodplain and resource area work — the conservation commission's order of conditions before the permit
- 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 Revere 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
Revere's building official acts on a complete application within thirty days under the state code, with the counter running late on Mondays and closing at noon on Fridays. What delays a file here is a conversion filed as an alteration rather than a change of occupancy, and a coastal parcel whose conservation filing started after design.
Inspections in Revere
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. Revere inspects in the code's sequence through the Building Department, with the city's wiring and plumbing inspectors carrying their own trades and the certificate of occupancy following the finals.
Revere permit search and official resources
- Revere Building Department — the department, its permits and its records
- Massachusetts State Building Code, 780 CMR — the 10th edition and the existing building provisions
- Massachusetts energy code adoption by municipality — the city's current energy code position
- 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 Revere permit?
Recent permits are in the city's online portal; permits from before 2012 are held departmentally and retrieved and emailed by staff on request.
Is a single-to-two-family conversion just an alteration?
No. It is a change of occupancy under the state code, bringing the existing building provisions, fire separation and egress requirements into the analysis alongside zoning.
When is the counter open?
Until 7:00 pm on Mondays, through the working day Tuesday to Thursday, and closing at noon on Fridays.
Do I need the conservation commission?
Where the work is in the coastal floodplain or near the beach, Rumney Marsh or the Pines River, the commission's order of conditions comes before the building permit.
Which energy code applies?
Revere is not among the Specialized code adopters; confirm the city's position on the base or stretch code against the state's adoption list before designing.
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 Revere permitting with Alliance Permitting
Revere's records split at 2012 and its commonest project is a change of occupancy rather than a renovation. We search both record systems at diligence, file the conversion for what it legally is, and settle the coastal question before design.
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More Massachusetts permitting guides
More Massachusetts permitting guides
This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Revere permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.