Flowood, Mississippi Building Permit Guide

The City of Flowood’s Building and Permit Department (Building Official Chris Coy, 601-939-4279) issues building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, fire and pool permits at City Hall, 2101 Airport Road. A new house is charged $0.21 per square foot of heated area for the building permit and $0.03 per square foot for each trade permit, plus an $11 file fee on every permit.

Who issues building permits in Flowood?

Building permits inside Flowood come from the City’s Building and Permit Department, led by Building Official Chris Coy. The department uses one application for building, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, fire and pool work, and the Building Official also reviews the outside design of new buildings under the City’s Architectural Review Ordinance.

Site work is permitted separately. The residential site development application directs questions to the Public Works Department (601-939-4243), the City inspects erosion control before building work starts, and the Director of Engineering is the City’s floodplain administrator.

Flowood’s permit office does not cover land outside the city. Unincorporated Rankin County is permitted by Rankin County Community Development, and Pearl, Brandon and Richland issue their own permits.

Flowood permit types and forms

The City’s fee schedule and application forms show the permits the Building and Permit Department issues:

Separate residential and commercial permit applications are posted on the City’s Forms & Applications page. Both ask for the contractor’s Mississippi state licence number, the Material Purchase Certificate (MPC) number and amount, total and heated square footage, the subcontractors, the flood zone, the estimated market value and the contract price.

Flowood permit fees

The City’s Permit Fee Schedule assigns each permit to a schedule. New houses are charged by heated square footage; other work uses two sliding scales by dollar value.

Between $1,000 and $50,000, Schedule A starts at $15 for the first $1,000 and adds $5 per additional $1,000, and Schedule B starts at $25 and adds $6. For example, a new house with 2,000 sq ft of heated area pays $420 for the building permit and $60 each for the electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits, plus the $11 file fee on each of the four permits: $644 in all. The application form also has a line for a late fee.

The fee sheet is undated; the Board minutes posted for July, August and September 2026 show no change to it.

Electrical, plumbing, mechanical and fire permits

Trade work is permitted by the same Building and Permit Department. The application lists the plumbing, electrical, mechanical and fire subcontractors with the general contractor. On a new house each trade permit costs $0.03 per square foot of heated area; on commercial buildings and on repairs to existing homes the trades use Schedule B, by value.

For commercial projects, the City’s Fire & Life Safety Summary must be shown on the drawings. It sets out occupancy, construction type, fire-resistive construction, exits, emergency power and the mechanical, sprinkler and alarm systems, and it is used in reviewing the separate mechanical permit and fire sprinkler and alarm permits.

Flowood’s code ordinance deleted the arc-fault circuit-interrupter section of the National Electrical Code it adopted.

Plans and documents

Under the Architectural Review Ordinance adopted on August 18, 2025, every application for a new building, addition or alteration must include full plans prepared by a licensed architect, licensed engineer or qualified designer, showing the building from all sides. The plans must show:

• Size, number of floors and square footage on each floor, and total height
• Location on the lot with property lines, easements and setbacks
• Fences and privacy screening
• Style, and the exterior materials on every side
• Finished grades, elevation and orientation
• Parking and access, and drainage
• Roof pitch, line and design
• Size and details of any signs

Before a residential site development permit is issued, the builder submits a site plan, an erosion control plan showing the best management practices to be kept until grass is established, a grading and drainage plan and floodplain information. Commercial applications add the MPC, the project name and the occupancy group and construction type.

How to get a Flowood building permit

Inspections and review deadlines

Work on a building site may not begin until the City has inspected the erosion control measures, and those measures stay in place until grass covers the whole site. In a flood zone, the project may not be used or occupied until it has passed a final inspection and a final elevation check and has been approved by the floodplain administrator.

The Architectural Review Ordinance sets deadlines for the Building Official’s design review. For a single-family house, the permit is issued if the Building Official has not disapproved the application within 30 days, or within 15 days for amended plans. For multi-family, commercial and industrial projects, amended plans are approved if not disapproved within 60 days. A house denial can be appealed to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen within 10 days, and the Board must act within 45 days. Building in a way that departs substantially from the approved plans leads to a stop work order.

Local Flowood rules

Flood zones: the City’s Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance requires the lowest floor of new and substantially improved homes and commercial buildings to be at least 18 inches above the base flood elevation. A floodplain development permit is needed before any work in a regulated floodplain, including fill, grading, fences and retaining walls, and it expires if work has not started within six months.

Sprinklers and construction type: hotels, motels and other transient lodging, and residential care facilities for six or more people, may not be built of Type III, IV or V construction and must have NFPA 13 sprinklers. Wood truss or I-joist floors and roofs in Type IV or V buildings must have one-hour protection or sprinklers. House sprinklers and the storm shelter section are deleted from the adopted codes.

Gates: gated business and residential communities must install a Knox key switch on all power-operated gates.

Codes Flowood has adopted

An ordinance adopted on May 1, 2023 repealed earlier code adoptions and adopted the 2021 International Building, Residential, Fire, Mechanical, Plumbing and Property Maintenance Codes, the 2014 National Electrical Code and the 2021 NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, with local amendments.

Some work is exempt statewide: farm structures once the owner files an affidavit (Mississippi Code §17-2-7), and manufactured housing built to federal standards, certain industrial and utility facilities, buildings on non-public fairgrounds and hunting or fishing camps with an owner’s affidavit (§17-2-9). None of these exemptions reaches floodplain rules. The state minimum codes are the Mississippi Building Code and Mississippi Residential Code, the residential code drawn from the 2021 International Residential Code. How building codes apply in Mississippi

Flowood permit FAQs

How much is a building permit for a new house in Flowood?

$0.21 per square foot of heated area, plus $0.03 per square foot for each of the electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits and the $11 file fee on each of the four permits. A 2,000 sq ft house pays $644 for all four.

Who is the Flowood Building Official?

Chris Coy, at the Building and Permit Department, 601-939-4279.

Do I need a permit for a pool in Flowood?

Yes. A swimming pool permit is $39 (Schedule E) plus the $11 file fee; the same $39 applies to demolition, house moving, manufactured home and non-residential parking lot or driveway permits.

How long does design review take?

For a single-family house, the permit must be issued if the Building Official has not disapproved the plans within 30 days, or 15 days for amended plans.

Which codes does Flowood use?

The 2021 International Codes and the 2014 National Electrical Code, adopted on May 1, 2023, with local amendments.

Can work start before the erosion control inspection?

No. The City’s site development permit states that no work may begin on a building site until the City has inspected the erosion control.

Official Flowood permit resources

• Mississippi Insurance Department: Mississippi Uniform Building Codes
• Flowood forms and applications
• Flowood services and phone numbers
• Mississippi State Board of Contractors
• Flowood departments (Building Official)
• Flowood permit fee schedule
• Flowood residential permit application
• Flowood commercial permit application
• Flowood residential site development permit application
• Flowood commercial site development permit application
• Flowood floodplain development permit application
• Flowood Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance
• Flowood building code adoption ordinance, May 1, 2023
• Flowood Architectural Review Ordinance, August 18, 2025
• Flowood Fire & Life Safety Summary requirements
• Flowood city ordinances
• Flowood Board meeting minutes

Simplify Flowood permitting with Alliance Permitting

Alliance Permitting is a permit documentation and submission company in Mississippi. 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 Flowood permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.