The City of Dover's Inspection Services division, part of the Planning Department, handles building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and fire and life safety plan review and permit issue, and enforces the building and fire codes and health regulations for a Strafford County city of around 35,000 that has grown faster than any other larger city in the state. The division moved to 269 Mast Road on the ninth of June 2025, next to the public works facility, having outgrown its old offices at the Liberty North End fire station — an address change recent enough that older directories still send people to the wrong building.
Dover’s online portal, at permits.dover.nh.gov, carries about 60 applications for permits, plans and business licences, from utility and paving licences to driveway and excavation permits and building permits, available at any hour without entering a municipal building. Customers may use it fully, stay on paper, or work somewhere in between. The city also publishes impact fees for larger projects separately from the ordinary fee schedule — a cost that lands on development rather than on a straightforward renovation and that is easy to miss when budgeting a subdivision or a commercial build.
This guide covers the City of Dover in Strafford County. Rochester, Somersworth, Durham, Madbury and Rollinsford are separate municipalities with their own building officials, the state line lies to the east, and no New Hampshire county issues building permits in practice.
The office moved; the old address is still in circulation. Inspection Services now operates from 269 Mast Road, not from City Hall or the Liberty North End fire station — the move took effect in June 2025. Its own line is separate from the City Hall switchboard, and third-party directories still list the health office and City Hall for building permits. Confirm the address before travelling.
What requires a building permit in Dover?
In Dover the questions are whether the municipality enforces, what it has amended, and the 60-application portal and the office that moved to Mast Road.
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- Building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and fire and life safety work, reviewed and permitted by the division
- Driveway, excavation, paving and utility work, on their own applications through the portal
- Impact fees on larger projects, published separately from the ordinary fee schedule
- New construction and renovation, on a permit obtained before work begins under RSA 155-A:4
- Alteration, renovation, rehabilitation, repair, removal and demolition of buildings previously erected
- Electrical, plumbing and gas work, by tradespeople licensed by the state
Often exempt
- Ordinary repairs that do not alter structure, egress, fire protection or building systems
- Painting, papering, flooring, cabinets and similar finish work
- Ordinary repairs that do not alter structure, egress, fire protection or building systems
- A tent of any size erected as an accessory structure at an owner-occupied one- or two-family dwelling
- Painting, papering, flooring, cabinets and similar finish work
What the municipality may change, and what it may not
Locally, what stands out is the 60-application portal, the office that moved to Mast Road in 2025, and the impact fees the city publishes for larger projects.
Every building in New Hampshire must meet the state building and fire codes (the 2024 codes since July 2026). Only towns that have adopted an enforcement mechanism issue local permits, and any local amendment must be administrative and confirmed by the state. New Hampshire rules
Who handles permitting in Dover?
The Inspection Services division of the Planning Department is the permitting authority inside the city, administering the New Hampshire State Building Code through the enforcement mechanism Dover has adopted and handling building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and fire and life safety review, permit issue, code enforcement and health regulations. Planning and Community Development handles land use, the Engineering Division reviews infrastructure, the environmental department issues shoreland, wetlands and sewage approvals, and the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification licenses the trades.
Not sure this scope needs a permit?
Get a free quote →| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Department | Dover Inspection Services Division, Planning Department |
| Office | 269 Mast Road, Dover, NH 03820 — relocated June 2025 |
| Phone | (603) 516-6038 — Planning and Community Development (603) 516-6008 |
| Portal | The city's permits, plans and licensing portal, around 60 application types |
| Permit questions | Community Services, (603) 516-6450, for help deciding whether a permit is needed |
| Trade licences | Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, statewide |
In 2025, building permits issued in Dover authorized 123 new privately owned housing units, 52 of them single-family homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.
Permit types
Residential permits
A Dover house project files through the portal with the trades on their own applications, and can track the permit, pay fees and book inspections in the same place. The division's inspectors carry regulatory checklists in the field and can complete inspection reports on site and share them with the permit holder in real time. Records searches run through the portal or by calling ahead, though the city notes plainly that there are not always records to be found on an older property.
Commercial permits
Commercial work in Dover — the mill buildings along the Cochecho, the downtown, the waterfront redevelopment and the business parks off the turnpike — runs through the same portal with fire and life safety review inside the division rather than as a separate errand. Impact fees apply to larger projects and are published separately, so a development budget built from the ordinary fee schedule alone will be short.
The state permits that sit outside the town
In Dover the Cochecho and Bellamy rivers and the tidal reach towards Great Bay put shoreland and wetlands approvals from the state environmental department ahead of the local permit on much of the city's waterfront, and the mill stock along the falls keeps existing building work at the centre of the commercial file.
New Hampshire has no general contractor licence; the contractor carries the duty to meet the state codes, and the trades hold state licences. New Hampshire rules
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Call 1-855-478-4290 →Dover permit costs and fees
Dover charges permit fees under the city's published fee schedule, with impact fees published separately for larger projects and the state's own approvals charged by the department that issues them.
| Item | Fee or rule |
|---|---|
| Building permit | Per the city's published fee schedule |
| Impact fees | Published separately, applying to larger projects |
| Trade permits | Electrical, plumbing and mechanical, through the same portal |
| Driveway and excavation | Their own applications and fees |
| State permits | Shoreland, wetlands and sewage approvals through the environmental department |
| Records | Searchable through the portal; not every older property has records |
Impact fees are a separate schedule. Dover publishes impact fees for larger projects separately from the fee schedule that covers smaller ones. On a subdivision or a commercial build that is a material line item, and it is not discoverable from the ordinary permit fee table. Price both before committing to a development programme.
Trade permits and who may pull them
Permit required
- Electrical — by an electrician licensed by the state electricians' board
- Plumbing — by a plumber licensed by the state mechanical licensing board
- Gas fitting — by a gas fitter licensed by the state mechanical licensing board
- Fire protection — under the state fire code, with the fire marshal's review where it applies
Typically exempt
- Arc-fault protection beyond the 2014 electrical requirements, which is not enforced in New Hampshire
- Like-for-like replacement the adopted code places below the permit threshold
Rather not deal with the building department?
Get a free quote →Trade work follows the town’s permit process where the town enforces, and is done by tradespeople holding the state licence their trade requires. New Hampshire rules
How to apply for a Dover building permit
Permitting exists locally only where an enforcement mechanism has been adopted under RSA 155-A:3; the code applies either way.
A local amendment may cover only administrative matters, is unenforceable unless the Building Code Review Board has confirmed it, and the board publishes what it confirms.
Shoreland, wetlands and subsurface sewage approvals come from the environmental department, not from the town.
Electricians, plumbers and gas fitters are licensed by the state; there is no general contractor licence, and the contractor carries the compliance duty.
The code in effect when the application is received governs the whole of the work; during a concurrency period elect one edition, not a blend.
Footing to final, with trade inspections as the town requires, then the certificate of occupancy where the town issues one.
Review, corrections and what actually causes delay
Inspection Services reviews building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and fire and life safety together inside one division, which removes a handoff that most cities keep. What delays a Dover project is a visit to the old address, a development budget without the impact fees, and a records assumption on an older property the city never held records for.
Want this handled start to finish?
Get a free quote →Inspections in Dover
Where the municipality enforces, inspections follow the code's sequence — footing, foundation, framing, rough trades, insulation and final — requested from the building official by permit number, with the trades inspected on their own permits and a certificate of occupancy at the end. Where the State Building Permit Program covers the work instead, inspections are booked with the State Fire Marshal's office at least 48 hours ahead, non-compliant work draws a written order to correct, and the re-inspection carries its own fee. Dover inspections are requested through the portal or by calling Inspection Services on 603-516-6038, with at least two business days’ notice suggested, and each trade is inspected on its own permit.
Dover permit search and official resources
- Dover Inspection Services — the division, its scope and contacts
- Dover permitting — the portal, the application range and the fee schedules
- Dover inspection services questions — records searches, the mapping site and common permit questions
- New Hampshire State Building Code — the adopted editions, the amendments and RSA 155-A
- State Building Permit Program — the fire marshal's permits, inspections and certificates where a municipality does not enforce
- RSA chapter 155-A — the statute on the code, permits, enforcement and appeals
Inspections are where schedules slip.
Get a free quote →Frequently asked questions
Who issues building permits in Dover?
The city's Inspection Services division, part of the Planning Department, now at 269 Mast Road. No New Hampshire county issues building permits in practice.
Has the office moved?
Yes. Inspection Services relocated from the Liberty North End fire station to 269 Mast Road on the ninth of June 2025, next to the public works facility.
What can I do online?
Apply for permits, plans and business licences across about 60 application types, submit construction plans, pay fees, track status and schedule inspections.
Are there impact fees?
Yes, for larger projects, published separately from the fee schedule covering smaller ones.
Which code applies?
Dover applies New Hampshire’s single state code: the 2024 building, residential, existing building, plumbing, mechanical and pool codes since July 1, 2026, with energy work still under the 2018 IECC and wiring under the 2023 NEC. Through the end of 2026 an applicant may submit a file drawn wholly to the 2021 codes; from January 1, 2027 every new application uses the 2024 set (state code details).
Will the city have records for my old house?
Not always. The city advises searching the portal or calling ahead, and notes there are not always records on file for older properties.
Simplify Dover permitting with Alliance Permitting
Dover runs its permits through one portal and has an address that changed in 2025. We file through the portal, price the impact fees alongside the permit, and send people to Mast Road.
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Send us the scope and the parcel. We confirm the review path with the Dover Inspection Services Division, assemble the submittal, file it, and track it through issuance — corrections included.
More New Hampshire permitting guides
More New Hampshire permitting guides
This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Dover permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.