The City of Keene's Building Division, part of Community Development at 3 Washington Street, issues structural, plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits for a Cheshire County city of around 23,000 that serves as the commercial and institutional centre for the whole south-western corner of New Hampshire, with a state university campus and a regional hospital. The division publishes its permit applications and a search of existing permits online, so a property's permit history is checkable before an offer rather than after.
The staffing is worth understanding because it changes who answers what. Keene’s Building and Health Official is also the city’s fire marshal, and the building staff’s review covers floodplain development alongside structural, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, accessibility and energy work. The division also carries a housing inspector and runs a voluntary minimum housing safety inspection programme. In a city built along the Ashuelot River, where the floodplain reaches a substantial part of the developed area, having floodplain review inside the building division rather than in a separate office removes a handoff.
This guide covers the City of Keene in Cheshire County. Swanzey, Marlborough, Roxbury, Sullivan and Surry are separate municipalities with their own building officials, and no New Hampshire county issues building permits in practice.
Floodplain review sits in the building division. Keene’s building staff review and approve floodplain development as part of the permit, and its building and health official is also the fire marshal. On a property in the Ashuelot floodplain that means the flood question, the fire question and the building question are answered inside one division rather than across three — but it also means the floodplain question is settled early and is hard to reopen later.
What requires a building permit in Keene?
In Keene the questions are whether the municipality enforces, what it has amended, and the combined building, fire and floodplain roles inside one division.
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- Structural, plumbing, electrical and mechanical work, each on its own application to the division
- Work in the Ashuelot floodplain, where the division’s own building staff review the floodplain development
- Compliance with the city's land development code alongside the state building code
- 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 combined building, health, fire and floodplain roles inside one division, the searchable permit record, and the Ashuelot floodplain through the city.
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 Keene?
The Building Division of Community Development is the permitting authority inside the city, administering the New Hampshire State Building Code through the enforcement mechanism Keene has adopted, with a building and health official who is also the city’s fire marshal, two building inspectors, a permit technician, a compliance officer and a housing inspector; the Building Division Manager post is listed as vacant. Applications, permit searches and inspection requests run through the city’s OpenGov portal. The environmental department issues shoreland, wetlands and sewage approvals, and the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification licenses the trades statewide.
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Get a free quote →| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Department | Keene Building Division, Community Development |
| Office | 3 Washington Street, Keene, NH 03431 |
| Phone | (603) 352-5440 |
| Combined roles | Building and health official is also fire marshal; building staff review floodplain development |
| Records | Applications, inspections and a search of existing permits through the city’s OpenGov portal |
| Hours | Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm |
In 2025, building permits issued in Keene authorized 3 new privately owned housing units, all of them single-family homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.
Permit types
Residential permits
A Keene house project files structural, plumbing, electrical and mechanical applications with the division, with New Hampshire licences on the tradespeople. On the low ground along the Ashuelot the floodplain determination comes from inside the same division, which makes it quick to obtain and difficult to argue with later. The city also runs a voluntary minimum housing safety inspection programme, which a landlord can use to establish a property's condition before a tenancy rather than after a complaint.
Commercial permits
Commercial work in Keene — the Main Street downtown and its historic commercial core, the university campus, the hospital and the industrial parcels on the city's edge — runs through the division with the fire marshal role held inside it, which shortens the fire review path considerably compared with cities where the two functions sit apart. Larger institutional projects still reach the State Fire Marshal's pre-construction review, which is a state process on the state's timetable.
The state permits that sit outside the town
In Keene the Ashuelot River and its tributaries put the floodplain across a substantial part of the developed city, the division's own building staff review floodplain development, and the surrounding hills and wetlands bring the state environmental department's approvals to the outer parcels.
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Call 1-855-478-4290 →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
Keene permit costs and fees
Keene charges structural, plumbing, electrical and mechanical permit fees under the city's schedule, with the land development code applying alongside the state building code and the state's own approvals charged by the department issuing them.
| Item | Fee or rule |
|---|---|
| Building permit | On the declared construction value, per the city's schedule |
| Trade permits | Separate plumbing, electrical and mechanical applications |
| Floodplain determination | Reviewed by the division’s own building staff |
| Land development code | Applying alongside the state building code |
| State permits | Shoreland, wetlands and sewage approvals through the environmental department |
| Permit records | Existing permits searchable online at no charge |
Check the permit record before you offer. Keene publishes a search of existing permits alongside its application forms. On a purchase in a city with a large stock of older housing and a substantial floodplain, that search costs nothing and answers two questions at once — what was permitted, and whether the property sits where floodplain review will have something to say. Run it before the offer, not after the survey.
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 Keene 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
The Building Division reviews against the state building code and the city's land development code, with the fire marshal role and the floodplain administration held inside the same division. What delays a Keene project is a floodplain parcel designed before the determination was sought, and a trade application filed without a New Hampshire licence behind it.
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Get a free quote →Inspections in Keene
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. Keene inspections are carried out by the division's building inspectors against the permit number, with each trade inspected on its own permit, and the housing and health inspector available for the voluntary minimum housing safety programme.
Keene permit search and official resources
- Keene Building Division — the permit applications, the permit search and the division's staff
- New Hampshire State Building Code — the adopted editions and the statewide amendments
- RSA chapter 155-A — the statute on the code, permits, enforcement and appeals
- 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 Keene?
The Building Division of Community Development at 3 Washington Street, which issues structural, plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits. No New Hampshire county issues building permits in practice.
Who makes the floodplain determination?
The Building Division’s own staff, who review floodplain development as part of the permit (603-352-5440). The question is answered inside the same division that issues the permit.
Is the building official also the fire marshal?
Yes. Keene's Building and Health Official also serves as the city's fire marshal, which keeps the building and fire questions in one place.
Can I check what permits a property has had?
Yes. The division publishes a search of existing permits online alongside its application forms.
Which code applies?
The New Hampshire State Building Code — the 2024 international codes with the 2018 energy code and the 2023 electrical code, in force since the first of July 2026.
What is the voluntary housing safety inspection?
A programme the division runs allowing a property owner to have a minimum housing safety inspection carried out voluntarily rather than in response to a complaint.
Simplify Keene permitting with Alliance Permitting
Keene answers the building, fire and flood questions in one division, which is an advantage if you ask early. We run the permit search before the offer and get the floodplain determination ahead of design.
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Send us the scope and the parcel. We confirm the review path with the Keene Building 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 Keene permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.