Greenwood, Mississippi Building Permit Guide

Inside Greenwood, the City’s Community Development Department issues building, electrical, plumbing, gas and mechanical permits, licenses trade contractors and inspects the work. Applications are taken on paper at the department’s counter. A new 2,000 sq ft house is valued at $40 per square foot, which makes a $420 building permit under section 8-27 of the City code.

Who issues building permits in Greenwood?

The Department of Community Development handles permits for everything inside the city limits. Its building inspectors and code enforcement officers inspect residential and commercial construction, and the department issues building and sign permits, enforces zoning and the property maintenance code, and makes recommendations to the Planning Commission and the Historic Preservation Commission. The City’s Director of Code Enforcement is also the floodplain administrator.

Leflore County publishes no building permit office for land outside the city; questions about the unincorporated county go to the County Administrator (662-451-7315).

What needs a permit in Greenwood

Section 8-27 of the City code charges permit fees on all buildings, structures and alterations that need a building permit, and its valuation table shows what the City prices: new construction, additions, enclosed carports, garages, patios, decks and porches, accessory buildings, renovations, temporary buildings and tents, signs, fences, swimming pools and pool heaters, and landscape irrigation. Moving and demolishing a building carry their own fees.

Greenwood permit fees

The City first values the work with the square-foot table in section 8-27(b), then applies the permit fee bands in section 8-27(c). The same figures appear in Appendix D of the Code and in the valuation and fee sheet linked from the City’s permits page.

For example, a new house with 2,000 sq ft under roof is valued at 2,000 × $40 = $80,000, so the permit is $300 plus 30 × $4, or $420. For a house the $100 plan review fee is charged only if the building inspector requires a review. The bands overlap at their edges and do not run on from one another (the first band reaches $260 at $50,000 while the next starts at $300), so keep to the band the value falls in. Fees are doubled when work starts before a permit is issued.

Electrical, plumbing, gas and mechanical permits in Greenwood

Appendix D of the City code sets one inspection fee for each trade permit (electrical, plumbing and gas, and mechanical), by the size and kind of job:

The “Fee Schedules” sheet linked from the permits page still lists older per-item trade charges of $1 to $10; the Appendix D amounts are the ones in the code.

Licensing: electrical, plumbing and gas, and mechanical contractors must be licensed with the City through Community Development. The code requires a passing grade on the International Code Council examination for each trade, and the City’s licensing page asks for official proof of a passed written exam plus either a letter from the town where it was taken or proof of a current Mississippi State Board of Contractors licence. Each contractor posts an annual $5,000 bond, and each licence costs $25 a year. The building permit application asks out-of-state contractors for a certificate of responsibility or a letter from their home building official.

What the Greenwood application needs

• Project name, description and property address
• Owner’s name, mailing address and phone
• Construction cost, figured from the valuation table
• The general, builder or remodeler contractor, with liability insurance
• The electrical, gas and plumbing, mechanical and any fire sprinkler contractors, each licensed and bonded with the City
• The state contractor number and the Mississippi material purchase certificate (MMPC) number
• Three sets of plans or drawings and one set of specifications

Under the City’s amendments to the residential code, all foundation plans must be stamped and signed by a design professional. Contractor licence and bond paperwork must be on file at the inspection office before the fee can be paid and the permit issued.

How to get a Greenwood building permit: 6 steps

Greenwood inspections

The building inspectors in Community Development inspect residential and commercial work; call 662-455-7603 or 662-455-7604. The first inspection is included in the permit fee, and each re-inspection of the same type costs $50. Brick ties have their own $25 inspection. The City’s residential code amendments also keep the visual inspection option of section N1102.4.2.2 of the 2012 International Residential Code.

Greenwood rules that shape a project

Historic districts: no exterior feature of a landmark, or of a building in a historic district, may be changed without a certificate of appropriateness; ordinary maintenance that does not change design, material, color or appearance is exempt. The Historic Preservation Commission meets on the second Monday of the month at 4:00 p.m. when called, and hearing applications are due at least 19 days before the meeting with a $20 fee and $1 filing fee. The commission acts within 21 days of the hearing, and an application to demolish a landmark or a building in a district is stayed for 180 days.

Flood zones: a development permit is needed before work in a special flood hazard area or community flood hazard area. New and substantially improved homes and commercial buildings must have the lowest floor at least 18 inches above the base flood elevation, with heating, cooling, electrical and plumbing equipment at least 18 inches above it as well. Every new or substantially improved building in the city, in or out of a flood zone, must have its lowest floor at least 1 foot above the centerline of the street, unless the floodplain administrator finds the topography does not allow it.

Street cuts: a right-of-way permit for openings, trenches or bores in city streets costs $200 for up to 100 feet and $1 for each foot beyond.

Codes Greenwood enforces

Section 8-20 of the City code, last amended on September 1, 2020, adopts the 2015 International Building, Residential, Plumbing, Mechanical, Fuel Gas, Fire and Property Maintenance Codes and the 2015 National Electrical Code. The residential code is amended to remove the house sprinkler requirement. The Community Development page still refers to the 2012 International Building Code.

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

Greenwood permit FAQs

How much is a building permit for a new house in Greenwood, MS?

The house is valued at $40 per square foot and the fee comes from the City’s bands: a 2,000 sq ft house ($80,000) pays $420, plus trade permits of $75 each and a $100 plan review if the inspector requires one.

When can I apply?

The Community Development counter at 101 West Church Street takes applications from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 to 3:30 p.m.

How many sets of plans do I need?

Three sets of plans or drawings and one set of specifications.

Do contractors need a Greenwood licence?

Electrical, plumbing and gas, and mechanical contractors must be licensed and bonded ($5,000) with the City.

What happens if I start without a permit?

The permit fee is doubled.

How high must a new house be in a Greenwood flood zone?

The lowest floor must be at least 18 inches above the base flood elevation, and at least 1 foot above the street centerline anywhere in the city.

Official Greenwood permit resources

• Greenwood Community Development Department
• Greenwood permits page
• Greenwood building permit application
• Greenwood building valuation and permit fee schedule
• Greenwood licensing for contractors
• Greenwood Code, Chapter 8: buildings and fees (Municode)
• Greenwood Code, Appendix D: schedule of fees (Municode)
• Greenwood Code, Chapter 18: flood damage prevention (Municode)
• Greenwood Historic Preservation Commission

Simplify Greenwood 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 Greenwood permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.