Camden's Construction and Building Bureau, within the Department of Code Enforcement at City Hall, 520 Market Street, is the enforcing agency under Chapter 270 of the city code, handling construction permits, inspections and the inspections for continued certificates of occupancy; the bureau was transferred to Code Enforcement from Planning and Development by ordinance, and its director's office is Room 403. The Land Development Ordinance, Chapter 870, adds the rule that shapes every file: no one may erect, construct, alter, expand, convert or install a building or structure without a zoning permit from the Zoning Officer, and the Construction Code Official and subcode officials shall not issue a permit or certificate unless the applicant presents one.
The zoning permit is required before a continued certificate of occupancy as well as before a construction permit, and the Zoning Officer acts on a complete zoning compliance application within ten days. For construction under a site plan or subdivision approval, the City Engineer submits a report to the Construction Code Official, before any certificate of occupancy, stating that the improvements needed to serve the premises are in place — and much of the city builds under redevelopment plans administered with the Camden Redevelopment Agency.
This guide covers the City of Camden. Cherry Hill, Pennsauken, Gloucester City and Collingswood are separate Camden County municipalities with their own enforcing agencies, and Camden County issues no construction permits.
No zoning permit, no construction permit, no certificate. Chapter 870 provides that where a use, occupancy or construction needs a permit or certificate from the Construction Code Official or any subcode official, the official shall not issue it unless the applicant presents a valid zoning permit, and that a zoning permit is required prior to the issuance of a certificate of continued occupancy. Ordinary maintenance under N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7 is the only carve-out.
What requires a building permit in Camden?
New Jersey runs on a single statewide instrument, the Uniform Construction Code (N.J.A.C. 5:23), in force since January 1977 and administered by the Department of Community Affairs. Rather than writing its own code, the state adopts the national model codes as subcodes with New Jersey amendments: the International Building Code (building subcode), the International Residential Code for one- and two-family dwellings, the National Standard Plumbing Code — not the International Plumbing Code used in neighbouring states — the National Electrical Code, and the mechanical, fuel gas and energy codes. The 2024 editions of the I-codes and the NSPC, with the 2023 NEC, took effect on August 17, 2026 and replace the 2021 editions and the 2020 NEC; the usual six-month grace period lets an applicant file under either edition until roughly mid-February 2027. Under N.J.S.A. 52:27D-119 et seq. no municipality, Camden included, may adopt different technical standards — what is local is the enforcing agency, the fee ordinance, the zoning approvals that precede the permit, and the certificates that follow it.
The UCC itself draws the exemption line. Ordinary maintenance under N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7 needs no permit, no notice and no inspection; minor work under 5:23-2.17A needs a permit but may begin once the enforcing agency has been notified, with the application filed and inspected afterwards. Everything else waits for the issued permit.
Typically permit required
- Any construction, alteration, expansion, conversion or installation of a structure, which needs the zoning permit before the construction permit
- Any continued certificate of occupancy, which needs a zoning permit first and a Building Bureau inspection
- Work in a redevelopment area, where the redevelopment plan controls use and bulk and the Camden Redevelopment Agency's process precedes the permit
- New buildings, additions and any structural work on an existing building
- Interior alterations that reconfigure space, add plumbing fixtures or extend circuits — renovation, alteration and reconstruction under the rehabilitation subcode
- Decks, and sheds over 200 square feet, over ten feet tall or with any utility connection
Often exempt
- Ordinary maintenance under N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7, which Chapter 870 expressly exempts from the zoning permit as well
- Painting, wallpapering and interior finishes on less than a quarter of the wall area of a house
- Like-for-like replacement of windows and doors in the same opening, and glass in any window or door
- Roofing and siding replacement on a one- or two-family dwelling
- Garden sheds up to 200 square feet and ten feet high with no utilities, and fences up to six feet — the zoning permit still applies to both
What is actually local, and what is not
Technical standards are the state's. Camden's layer is the local enforcing agency — the construction official and the building, electrical, plumbing and fire subcode officials, each licensed by the state under N.J.A.C. 5:23-5 — plus the municipal fee ordinance, the zoning officer's sign-off, and the zoning permit that Chapter 870 places in front of every construction permit and every continued certificate.
Who handles permitting in Camden?
The Construction and Building Bureau is the enforcing agency, with the Construction Code Official and the building, electrical, plumbing and fire subcode officials reviewing their sections; it sits within the Department of Code Enforcement alongside the Housing Bureau, Rent Control and Licenses and Inspections. The Zoning Officer, as administrative officer under the Land Development Ordinance, issues zoning permits within ten days of a complete application; the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment hear applications; the City Engineer reports on improvements before certificates; and the Camden Redevelopment Agency administers the redevelopment plans.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Department | City of Camden Department of Code Enforcement — Construction and Building Bureau |
| Office | City Hall, 520 Market Street, Room 403, Camden, NJ 08102 |
| Phone | (856) 757-7345 |
| Hours | Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm |
| Zoning permit | Required before any construction permit or continued certificate; Zoning Officer acts within ten days |
| Certificates | City Engineer's improvements report before any certificate on site plan or subdivision work |
Permit types
Residential permits
A Camden house project takes the zoning permit first — the Zoning Officer has ten days on a complete application — then files the state UCC jacket and subcode sections with the Construction and Building Bureau, with the home improvement registration number on the application. A house that changes hands or tenants takes a zoning permit and then the bureau's continued certificate of occupancy inspection, and rental property meets the Rent Control office and the Housing Bureau in the same department.
How New Jersey contractor credentials work
New Jersey has no state general contractor license. What it has instead is a registration that doubles as a permit gate: a home improvement contractor business must be registered with the Division of Consumer Affairs under the Contractors' Registration Act (N.J.S.A. 56:8-136 et seq.), and N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.15(b)8 requires the registration number on the construction permit application — an enforcing agency may not issue a home improvement permit to an unregistered contractor. Registration now carries commercial general liability insurance of at least five hundred thousand dollars per occurrence, workers' compensation cover and a tiered compliance bond, and the 2024 Home Improvement and Home Elevation Contractor Licensing Act is phasing in individual licensing through a new state board. New construction is different: a new-home builder registers with the Department of Community Affairs under the New Home Warranty and Builders' Registration Act and shows the builder registration card at permit. Electrical contractors, master plumbers and HVACR contractors hold separate state licenses from Consumer Affairs boards. Owners working on their own home are exempt from registration, and Camden licenses no trades of its own.
Commercial permits
Commercial and multi-family work in Camden is very often redevelopment work, where the adopted plan and the Camden Redevelopment Agency's designation precede the Planning Board application and the zoning permit. Construction review follows under Chapter 270, and before the certificate of occupancy on any site plan or subdivision project the City Engineer reports to the Construction Code Official that the improvements serving the premises are in place.
Prior approvals, subcode review and the twenty-day clock
A New Jersey construction permit is one application with technical sections — the state's UCC F100 jacket with building, electrical, plumbing, fire and mechanical subcode forms — and each subcode official reviews their own section. The permit cannot issue until the prior approvals are in hand: zoning or planning board approval under the Municipal Land Use Law is a separate track that precedes the construction permit, and where a project touches a county road or county drainage the county planning board signs off as well. Sites disturbing 5,000 square feet or more need soil erosion certification from the regional soil conservation district, and DEP approvals apply in flood hazard, wetland and coastal areas. In Camden the Delaware River and Cooper River waterfronts bring DEP flood hazard and waterfront approvals into the file, the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority signs off on sewer connections, and redevelopment plans replace base zoning across much of the city. Once complete, N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.16 gives the enforcing agency twenty business days to approve or reject a complete application, with a written list of deficiencies on any rejection.
Camden permit costs and fees
Fees follow Chapter 270 of the Camden code — the sum of the subcode fees plus the state training fee — with zoning permit and land development fees charged under Chapter 870.
| Item | Fee or rule |
|---|---|
| Construction permit | Sum of the subcode fees under Chapter 270, paid before issuance |
| Zoning permit | Chapter 870 fee, on a complete zoning compliance form, before the construction permit |
| Continued certificate of occupancy | Building Bureau inspection, after a zoning permit |
| Certificate of occupancy | After all subcode finals and, on site plan or subdivision work, the City Engineer's report |
| Land development applications | Planning Board and Zoning Board fees and escrows under Chapter 870 |
| State training fee | Added to every permit under N.J.A.C. 5:23-4.19 |
Ten days on the zoning side, twenty on the construction side. Chapter 870 gives the Zoning Officer ten days to act on a complete zoning compliance form, and N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.16 gives the enforcing agency twenty business days on the construction permit that follows — the two clocks run in series, not in parallel, because the construction permit cannot issue without the zoning permit in hand.
Trade permits and who may pull them
Trade work is permitted through the same application under the electrical, plumbing, fire and mechanical subcode sections, and inspected by the subcode official for each.
Permit required
- Any change of use or occupancy — zoning permit, then continued certificate or certificate of occupancy
- Electrical — state-licensed electrical contractor; electrical subcode section
- Plumbing and gas piping — state-licensed master plumber; plumbing subcode section under the NSPC
- HVAC and fuel-fired equipment — licensed HVACR contractor; mechanical or fire subcode section
- Fire protection, alarms and sprinklers — fire subcode section, with fire official review
Typically exempt
- Like-for-like fixture, receptacle, switch and light fixture replacement in the same location
- Communications and low-voltage wiring in a house that does not penetrate a fire-rated assembly
How to apply for a Camden building permit
A zoning permit or planning board approval under the Municipal Land Use Law precedes the construction permit.
The home improvement registration number, or the new-home builder registration card, goes on the application.
One F100 application with the building, electrical, plumbing, fire and mechanical sections the scope requires, plus sealed plans where the UCC demands them.
Soil conservation, county planning board, DEP or overlay agency sign-offs are attached before the permit can issue.
Fees follow the local ordinance plus the state training fee surcharge, and are due before issuance.
Footing to final under 5:23-2.18, then the certificate of occupancy or approval that closes the permit.
Review, corrections and what actually causes delay
Camden's review is sequential by ordinance: zoning permit, then construction permit, then, on site plan or subdivision work, the City Engineer's report before the certificate. What delays a Camden file is a construction application filed without the zoning permit, a redevelopment designation not yet in place, and an improvements report not yet requested.
Inspections in Camden
N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.18 sets the inspection sequence statewide — bottom of footing trenches, foundation and backfill, rough framing, electrical and plumbing, insulation, and final — and the enforcing agency must inspect within three business days of the request. Work that passes final receives a certificate of occupancy for new buildings or changes of use, or a certificate of approval for everything else. Camden inspects by subcode from the Construction and Building Bureau, which also inspects for continued certificates of occupancy; the certificate of occupancy on site plan or subdivision work waits for the City Engineer's report that the necessary improvements are in.
Camden permit search and official resources
- Camden Construction and Building Bureau — the enforcing agency within the Department of Code Enforcement
- Camden Code Chapter 870 — administration and enforcement — the zoning permit rule, the ten-day clock and the City Engineer's report
- Camden Code — Department of Code Enforcement — the bureau's transfer and the Construction Code Official's duties
- New Jersey Uniform Construction Code (N.J.A.C. 5:23) — the statewide code and subcode adoptions from the Department of Community Affairs
- DCA rule proposals and adoptions — the August 2026 notice adopting the 2024 model codes and 2023 NEC
- Home improvement contractor registration — Division of Consumer Affairs registration and licensing
Frequently asked questions
What comes first in Camden?
The zoning permit. Chapter 870 bars the Construction Code Official and subcode officials from issuing any permit or certificate without a valid zoning permit, and the Zoning Officer acts on a complete application within ten days.
Does a continued certificate need a zoning permit?
Yes. Chapter 870 requires a zoning permit prior to the issuance of a certificate of continued occupancy, and the Construction and Building Bureau then inspects for the certificate.
What is the City Engineer's report?
A report to the Construction Code Official, required before any certificate of occupancy on construction under a site plan or subdivision approval, stating that the improvements needed to serve the premises are in place.
Where is the building department?
The Construction and Building Bureau is within the Department of Code Enforcement at City Hall, 520 Market Street; the department's office is Room 403.
Is ordinary maintenance exempt from the zoning permit?
Yes. Chapter 870 exempts ordinary maintenance as provided in N.J.A.C. 5:23-1.4 and 5:23-2.7 from the zoning permit as well as the construction permit.
Which code edition applies?
The New Jersey editions of the 2024 I-codes with the 2023 National Electrical Code and the 2024 National Standard Plumbing Code, effective August 17, 2026, with a six-month grace period during which the 2021 editions may still be used.
Simplify Camden permitting with Alliance Permitting
Camden runs its approvals in series, and the order is written into the ordinance. We file the zoning permit first, confirm the redevelopment plan for the parcel, file the construction permit complete, and request the City Engineer's report before the certificate is due.
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More New Jersey permitting guides
More New Jersey permitting guides
This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Camden permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.