Union Township's Building Department at the Municipal Building, 1976 Morris Avenue, administers zoning, property maintenance and the Uniform Construction Code for the Union County township that wraps around Kean University — not Union City, the Hudson County city with which it is confused daily, and not the Union Township in Hunterdon County where the state enforces the code. Chapter 447, Rental Property, sets the township's own rule: every leased or rented building, structure or unit is inspected by the code official on every initial occupancy and every change of occupancy, a rental certificate of occupancy issues only after the premises are found to comply with township ordinances and the Uniform Construction Code, and no tenant may occupy the unit until it has.
The department's zoning list is long and specific. A zoning permit, with a copy of the survey, is required for a new house, an addition or alteration, a deck, a pool, a fence, a shed or a driveway expansion before the construction permit, and the zoning officer answers use, parking, setback and height questions. Inspection requests go through the township's online portal or by email with the permit number and are processed within 24 hours, and the owner of any vacant property under Ordinance 5440 registers it with the Construction Code Official within 14 calendar days of it becoming vacant or of taking ownership.
This guide covers Union Township in Union County. Elizabeth, Kenilworth, Hillside, Springfield and Roselle Park are separate municipalities with their own enforcing agencies; Union County issues no construction permits; Union City is a different municipality in Hudson County; and Union Township in Hunterdon County is a different municipality enforced by the state.
No tenant until the certificate. Chapter 447 requires the owner, rental agent or manager to notify the code official in writing that a unit is leased, rented or offered for rent so that it can be inspected, and provides that no tenant shall occupy any building, structure or unit until a rental certificate of occupancy has been issued. The certificate is posted in each rented unit, and the township holds its inspections to no more than one per unit in any two-year period once compliance is shown.
What requires a building permit in Union Township?
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, Union Township 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
- Every rented unit, which needs a Chapter 447 rental certificate of occupancy on initial occupancy and on each change of tenant, after the owner's written notice
- New houses, additions, alterations, decks, pools, fences, sheds and driveway expansions, which need a zoning permit with a copy of the survey before the construction permit
- Any vacant property under Ordinance 5440, which is registered with the Construction Code Official within 14 calendar days
- 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 — though the zoning permit list still governs what goes in the yard
- 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. Union Township'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 rental certificate regime under Chapter 447 and the vacant property registration under Ordinance 5440 that the same department administers.
Who handles permitting in Union Township?
The Building Department is the enforcing agency, with the Construction Official and the building, electrical, plumbing and fire subcode officials reviewing their sections of the state UCC jacket; the same department administers zoning and property maintenance. The zoning officer issues zoning permits with the survey attached, the code official inspects rentals under Chapter 447, and the Construction Code Official receives vacant property registrations under Ordinance 5440. Commercial resales file the department's commercial resale application.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Department | Union Township Building Department, Union County |
| Office | Municipal Building, 1976 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ 07083 |
| Phone | (908) 688-2800 |
| Hours | Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm |
| Inspections | Online portal or email with permit number and inspection type, processed within 24 hours |
| Rentals | Rental certificate of occupancy under Chapter 447 before any occupancy |
Permit types
Residential permits
A Union Township house project takes the zoning permit with a copy of the survey, then files the state UCC jacket with the subcode sections at Morris Avenue, with the home improvement registration number on the application; inspections are requested online or by email and processed within a day. A house that will be rented needs the Chapter 447 rental certificate of occupancy before the tenant moves in, with the owner's written notice to the code official starting the inspection, and a house left vacant is registered within 14 days.
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 Union Township licenses no trades of its own.
Commercial permits
Commercial work in Union Township clears site plan review, then the zoning permit, then construction review through the same department. A commercial resale files the department's commercial resale application, a change of tenant in rented commercial space is inspected under Chapter 447 like any other rental, and a vacant commercial building is registered under Ordinance 5440.
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 Union Township the Elizabeth River and Rahway River corridors bring DEP flood hazard approvals into the file, the Joint Meeting of Essex and Union Counties signs off on sewer connections, and the Union County planning board reviews frontage on county roads. 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.
Union Township permit costs and fees
Fees follow the township's construction code chapter — the sum of the subcode fees plus the state training fee — with zoning permit, rental certificate and registration fees charged separately.
| Item | Fee or rule |
|---|---|
| Construction permit | Sum of the subcode fees under the township's construction code chapter, paid before issuance |
| Zoning permit | Required with a survey for new houses, additions, decks, pools, fences, sheds and driveway expansions |
| Rental certificate of occupancy | Chapter 447 inspection fee on initial occupancy and each change of tenant |
| Commercial resale | Department's commercial resale application and inspection |
| Vacant property registration | Ordinance 5440 registration within 14 calendar days |
| State training fee | Added to every permit under N.J.A.C. 5:23-4.19 |
The survey is not optional. The department's zoning permit list runs from a new house down to a fence, a shed and a driveway expansion, and every application needs a copy of the survey. A permit filed on a sketch or a tax map is returned; a property without a survey on file needs one drawn before the fence goes up.
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
- Rented units — Chapter 447 inspection and rental certificate before 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 Union Township 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
Union Township reviews on the state's twenty-business-day clock, with inspection requests turned round in a day. What delays a file here is a zoning permit filed without the survey, a tenant placed before the rental certificate, and an application meant for Union City or the Hunterdon Union arriving at the wrong Morris Avenue.
Inspections in Union Township
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. Union Township takes inspection requests through its online portal or by email with the permit number, mobile number and inspection type, processed within 24 hours on business days; Chapter 447 rental inspections and vacant property inspections run through the same department.
Union Township permit search and official resources
- Union Township Building Department — zoning permits, inspection requests and vacant property registration
- Union Township Code Chapter 447 — Rental Property — rental inspections and certificates of occupancy
- New Jersey Uniform Construction Code — the statewide code the township enforces
- 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
Is this Union Township or Union City?
Union Township in Union County, around Kean University. Union City is a Hudson County city, and Union Township in Hunterdon County is a different township where the state enforces the code.
Do I need a certificate to rent out a unit?
Yes. Chapter 447 requires an inspection on every initial occupancy and change of tenant, and no tenant may occupy the unit until the rental certificate of occupancy has issued.
Does a fence need a zoning permit?
Yes, with a copy of the survey; the department lists fences, sheds, decks, pools, driveway expansions, additions and new houses among the work that needs one.
How do I request an inspection?
Through the township's online inspection request portal or by email with the permit number, mobile number and inspection type; requests are processed within 24 hours on business days.
What if a property is vacant?
The owner registers it with the Construction Code Official within 14 calendar days of it becoming vacant or of taking ownership, under Ordinance 5440.
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 Union Township permitting with Alliance Permitting
Union Township asks for the survey before the permit and the certificate before the tenant. We file the zoning permit with the survey, the construction permit complete, and the rental notice early enough that the certificate lands before the lease starts.
Ready to break ground in Union Township sooner?
Send us the scope and the parcel. We confirm the review path with the Union Township Building Department, assemble the submittal, file it, and track it through issuance — corrections included.
More New Jersey permitting guides
More New Jersey permitting guides
This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Union Township permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.