Albany County, New York Building Permit Guide

No countywide building permit exists in Albany County. The City of Albany, Cohoes and Watervliet, the ten towns and the six villages each run a code office that issues permits and inspects work inside its own lines, and a town office stops at the edge of any village within it. The county’s part comes before or beside that permit: the Department of Health approves on-site wastewater systems, the Department of Public Works permits any construction in a county highway right-of-way, and the county planning board reviews zoning actions that municipalities must refer to it.

What requires a building permit in Albany County?

Each municipality publishes its own list, and the lists are broader than many owners expect. The Village of Voorheesville names replacement windows, roofs, gas fireplaces and wood stoves, decks, porches, sheds and even portable storage pods, fences, sprinkler systems, pools, demolition, a back-up generator, chicken coops and runs, and a sewer connection. The City of Albany’s fee chart prices roofs, siding, pools, garages and window replacement as well as fences, sheds, wood stoves and chimneys. The Green Island Building Department handles pools, fencing and planters along with additions, chimneys and heating changes.

What the municipalities decide and what the state holds

The construction rules themselves are the state’s: every city, town and village here enforces the 2025 Uniform Code and Energy Code, and none can make them stricter without state approval. What changes from one line to the next is local: zoning districts and setbacks, which small projects a municipality chooses to list, how fees are calculated, office hours and how applications are filed. Albany County is not among the twelve counties the Department of State lists as having opted out of the enforcement of the Uniform and Energy codes.

Albany County building department: who handles permitting

The table lists every city, town and village the Census Bureau counts in the county, with the office that permits there. A town office covers land outside its villages, and a city is never part of a town. Where this site already has a full guide for a municipality, it is linked for fees, forms and inspection rules.

Three pairs need care. The Town of Colonie contains both the Village of Colonie and the Village of Menands, and its Latham office does not permit inside either. Altamont sits in Guilderland and Voorheesville in New Scotland, each with its own office. Ravena lies in the Town of Coeymans; for a Ravena address, call the village office before the town. A postal name such as Delmar or Latham is not a municipality: the county’s tax map viewer shows which city or town holds a parcel.

What Albany County itself does

• Department of Health: approves and regulates on-site wastewater treatment systems and private water supplies, which is why a rural lot needs county sign-off alongside the local building permit. Its Environmental Health Forms page holds the applications, and the county also runs a Septic System Replacement Program.
• Department of Public Works: a highway work permit is required for new construction or reconstruction within the right-of-way of any county highway, which covers a new driveway onto a county road. Forms and payment go to 449 New Salem Road, Voorheesville; the office number is 518-765-2055. Over-size loads use a separate online hauling permit.
• Planning & Land Use: the county planning board receives the zoning referrals that the General Municipal Law requires from local boards.
• Real Property Tax Service: the tax map viewer that settles which municipality a parcel is in.

Albany County permit types and applications

Residential permits

Residential applications are made on the issuing municipality’s own form. Voorheesville currently hands out paper applications from its office because its online forms were withdrawn ahead of a zoning code update. Berne asks owners to use the drop box at Town Hall for forms and payment while its walk-in hours are limited to Monday and Tuesday afternoons. Knox and Rensselaerville work by appointment and short evening hours, and the City of Albany takes BRC forms by email or in person.

Building or remodeling a home here? Alliance handles home building permits, so the crew isn't waiting on the counter.

Commercial permits

Commercial work needs plans from a New York licensed architect or engineer and, in most places, site plan approval before the building permit. In Berne, a new application for the Planning Board goes to the building inspector at least two weeks before the board’s meeting. Projects close to a county road, a state road or a town line are among the actions a municipality must refer to the county planning board before it decides.

For tenant improvements and new commercial builds, Alliance handles commercial permit filing through issuance. More on this: commercial building permits explained.

What comes before the building permit

• Zoning: the local zoning board of appeals for variances, the planning board for site plans, subdivisions and special permits.
• County referral: actions the General Municipal Law sends to the county planning board, which gives its recommendation before the local board votes.
• Septic and well: county Health approval of the wastewater design on any lot without public sewer.
• County highway: a DPW highway work permit for a driveway or other work in the county right-of-way.
• Local extras: Knox registers vacant properties, and the Village of Green Island asks owners to clear any work near its sidewalk right-of-way with the Building Department first.

Building permit fees in Albany County

Each municipality adopts its own fee schedule, so the same job is priced differently across a city or town line. The rules below come from the schedules used in this site’s finished guides for those places; each guide gives the full table.

Worked comparison for a $40,000 residential renovation: Cohoes charges 1.3% of cost, or $520. Watervliet charges 1%, or $400, which is above any of its minimums. In the City of Albany the same job, priced as a residential alteration, costs $100 for the first $5,000 plus 35 times $8, or $380. Town fees in Bethlehem and Guilderland follow the value and floor-area rules in the table. County health and highway permits are charged separately by the county, and its posted pages do not list their amounts.

Trade permits and who may pull them

The county’s website lists no contractor or trade license of its own, so licensing in Albany County is a municipal matter. The City of Albany is the clearest case: only licensed contractors may apply for electrical, plumbing and elevator permits, electrical permits are filed by a Class A electrician or with a Class B license application, and every city electrical permit has needed a third-party inspection since March 15, 2022.

Elsewhere the common rule is an approved electrical inspection agency rather than a license. Watervliet names five approved agencies and wants the inspection filed before wiring starts, and Guilderland requires an electrical permit and a certificate from a third-party inspector for all electrical work. The Town of Colonie asks for a separate electrical application with any electrical work. Each office also wants proof of workers’ compensation and disability coverage, or a state exemption form, before it issues a permit.

How to get a building permit in Albany County

Review, corrections and what causes delay

Review times are set office by office. Guilderland reviews in the order received and typically takes four to six weeks, longer in summer, while the City of Albany’s rule of thumb is 7 to 10 business days. Applications commonly wait for a missing insurance certificate, plans without a design professional’s stamp, a zoning decision that has not been made, or a county wastewater approval that the local office needs before it can issue.

Inspections and certificates

Inspections are booked with the office that issued the permit, never with the county. In Bethlehem the Building Division wants a day’s notice and does not schedule from voicemail; Knox and Rensselaerville inspectors work by appointment. Electrical work is inspected by the approved third-party agency where the city or town requires one, and its certificate goes back to the code office.

The final inspection leads to a certificate of occupancy for new buildings or a certificate of compliance for smaller work. A septic system is signed off under its county Health approval, apart from the building inspections, so keep both closings in view before the house is occupied.

New York building code

New York builds on one statewide code, the Uniform Code, outside New York City; the 2025 edition and 2025 Energy Code took effect on 31 December 2025 (the all-electric provisions remain suspended by court order). Cities, towns and villages administer it, and local standards stricter than the code need Code Council approval. The Uniform Code in New York

In Albany County that means one technical standard everywhere, applied by 19 separate local programs with their own fees and forms.

Albany County permit FAQ

Does Albany County issue building permits?

No. Building permits come from the city, town or village where the land lies; the county handles septic and well approvals, county highway work permits and planning referrals.

Who permits in the Village of Menands or the Village of Colonie?

Not the Town of Colonie. The Village of Colonie has its own Building Department at 2 Thunder Road, and Menands is a separate village with its own government, so contact the village office.

Who approves a septic system?

The Albany County Department of Health approves and regulates on-site wastewater systems and private water supplies; the municipal permit covers the building itself.

Do I need a county permit for a driveway?

Yes, if it meets a county highway. The Department of Public Works requires a highway work permit for construction in any county highway right-of-way; driveways onto town or state roads go to those highway departments instead.

Do contractors need a license?

Not from the county. The City of Albany limits electrical and plumbing permits to licensed contractors; most towns rely instead on approved third-party electrical inspection agencies.

Which office covers a Delmar or Latham address?

Those are hamlet and postal names, not municipalities. Bethlehem’s Town Hall is in Delmar and Colonie’s building office is in Latham, but a postal address can cross lines, so confirm the parcel on the county tax map viewer.

Is my community in the flood insurance program?

Yes. Every Albany County city, town and village that FEMA lists is in its participating section, so local floodplain rules apply to mapped flood zones.

Albany County permit search and official resources

Permit files and certificates are kept by the municipality that issued them, not by the county. Ask that city, town or village clerk or code office for a copy, or file a Freedom of Information Law request with its records officer; the Town of Bethlehem, for example, posts its own FOIL request page. Septic approvals are held by the county Health Department.

• Albany County tax map viewer
• Albany County Environmental Health Services
• Albany County Environmental Health forms
• Albany County Septic System Replacement Program
• Albany County DPW highway work permits
• Albany County Planning & Land Use
• Town of Bethlehem septic systems page (county Health role)
• City of Albany building and zoning fee chart
• NYS Department of State Code Inspection Unit (opted-out counties)
• FEMA Community Status Book, New York
• NYS code adoption and enforcement updates

Simplify Albany County permitting with Alliance Permitting

Alliance Permitting is a permit documentation and submission company in New York. 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 Albany County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.