Town of Catskill, New York Building Permit Guide

For land in the Town of Catskill outside the village, the Town Code Enforcement Office handles building permits, zoning review, fire inspections and on-site septic permits; you can file through Cloudpermit or on the town’s printable forms. A new owner-occupied home is charged 50 cents per square foot with a $125 minimum, and the office says plan review normally takes two to four weeks. Village of Catskill properties go to the village’s own code office instead.

What requires a building permit in the Town of Catskill?

Chapter 87 of the Town Code requires a permit for any work governed by the Uniform Code or Energy Code, from new buildings, additions and alterations to demolition and the installation of a wood stove, chimney or flue. The town’s fee schedule and FAQ show what that means for common projects.

Fence heights are now set by zoning section 160-33, part of the zoning chapter the Town Board rewrote by Local Law 4 of 2025 (June 3, 2025): on a corner lot or parallel to the street in a front yard a solid or privacy fence may be 50 inches high and a see-through fence 86 inches, side- and rear-yard fences may be 86 inches, height is measured from the lowest adjoining grade, the finished side faces out and nothing may sit in the road right-of-way. Chapter 87 exempts fences that are not part of a pool enclosure from the building permit. The office’s FAQ, written before the rewrite, still says the town has no fence ordinance and treats a fence of 6½ feet or more as a building that needs a permit and setbacks, so call before putting up a tall fence. Short-term rentals need their own annual permit under chapter 133 before the first booking.

What the town decides and what the state holds

Construction standards come from the state’s Uniform Code and Energy Code, which the town cannot tighten without Code Council approval. The Town Board sets the permit fees by resolution (section 87-16), adopts the zoning chapter (ch. 160) and local laws such as the 2025 battery storage law and the short-term rental law, and runs its own individual sewage disposal law (ch. 131), so septic permits in the town come from Town Hall rather than a county health office.

Town of Catskill building department: who handles permitting

The town office, led by Building Inspector Fred Popp IV with a code enforcement officer, a fire inspector and a clerk, covers the whole town outside the village, hamlets included. The Village of Catskill, home to about 3,700 of the town’s 11,184 residents, runs its own Code Enforcement & Planning office with a code enforcement officer, Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals; village parcels are permitted there under the village’s rules, not by the town.

Town of Catskill permit types and filing

The town links Cloudpermit for code, planning and zoning applications, inspection requests and complaints, and keeps printable forms on its Downloadable Forms page: a general building and zoning permit application (rev. February 2021), an application for HUD manufactured homes, demolition, septic, sewer connection, sign and unified solar permits, a deck design worksheet, site plan, special use permit and variance applications, minor subdivisions, lot line adjustments, short-term rentals and a tenant permission form.

Residential permits

The general application asks for two complete sets of plans and specifications covering structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing details, and a scaled plot plan showing wells, septic systems, buildings and distances to every lot line whenever the footprint grows. Stamped plans come with the design professional’s checklist. An owner who lives in the house and does the work, or pays helpers under 40 hours a week, files the town’s Form BP-1 plus homeowner’s liability insurance; anyone else files liability insurance and a CE-200 exemption or workers’ compensation and disability certificates. The form warns that ACORD certificates are not accepted as proof of workers’ compensation.

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

Commercial permits

New commercial buildings cost 75 cents per sq ft for the first 5,000 sq ft and 50 cents after that, with a $200 minimum. Any new business or change of use in an existing commercial building needs Planning Board site plan approval before it opens, priced by the square footage of development from $250 to $2,150. Buildings with public assembly areas get yearly fire safety inspections. Fire inspections cost $100 per building, or for hotels, apartments, care facilities, schools and institutions $100 for the first 10 rooms on a parcel and $5 for each room after that; operating permits cost $25 a year and a new sign permit $100. Commercial additions are 75 cents per sq ft for the first 2,500 sq ft ($150 minimum) and 50 cents beyond.

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

What comes before the building permit

Setbacks depend on the zoning district: in the RA rural residential district a lot is 1.5 acres with 50-foot front, 30-foot side and 100-foot rear setbacks, while the HR district allows quarter-acre lots with 25, 10 and 30 feet. The office may visit the site first when work is near a setback line. Residential site plan or special use review costs $100 for one or two dwelling units, rising to $1,250 above 16 units. Variances go to the Zoning Board of Appeals ($50 for an owner-occupied home), subdivisions to the Planning Board under the 2007 subdivision law ($100 plus $50 a lot for four lots or fewer, $200 plus $75 a lot above that) before the plat is filed with the Greene County Clerk, and projects in the FEMA 100-year floodplain add the Floodplain Development Checklist. Actions in the town’s coastal area along the Hudson are reviewed for consistency with its Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (ch. 155).

Town of Catskill building permit fees

The Town Board sets fees by resolution, and the Code Enforcement, Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals fee schedule on the town site is the current list; it carries no adoption date. The minimum permit fee is $35.

A new 2,000 sq ft owner-occupied home therefore costs $1,000, and a 200 sq ft deck works out to $50 and pays the $75 minimum. The schedule lists certificates of occupancy at $125 for a home and $200 commercial, but a second line says a certificate is free when the first requested final inspection confirms completion and costs $50 for each extra final after that; ask which applies to your permit. Renewals are charged at 1% to 100% of the original fee depending on how much work is done.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Neither the Town Code nor the Code Enforcement pages set up a local license for electricians, plumbers or home-improvement contractors, and there is no separate plumbing or electrical permit on the fee list: that work is shown in the building permit plans and inspected under it. The FAQ says pools need an electrical inspection as well as the building permit. Manufactured-home installers must hold the state certification the office enforces.

Septic is the trade that is permitted separately. Outside the town sewer districts, a new or replacement system needs a town on-site sewage disposal permit with two sets of design plans by a New York licensed professional engineer; the office does a full plan review, normally two to four weeks, and may visit when the system is near a lot line, well, wetland or stream. Chapter 131 keeps every part of a system more than 15 feet from property lines and 50 feet from lakes and streams, and sizes a home’s septic tank at one day’s flow at 150 gallons per bedroom, never under 750 gallons. Commercial systems pay $150 to $350 depending on daily flow. Inside a sewer district, the town requires a sewer connection permit in place of a septic permit. A system cannot be used until it passes its final inspection and gets a certificate of compliance.

How to apply for a Town of Catskill building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

Wrong insurance forms are the delay the application itself warns about, and permits are not accepted without them. Any change to approved plans needs a signed and stamped change order from the design professional, and work outside the described scope needs another permit. Board approvals add their own meeting schedules. Under chapter 87 a permit expires six months after issue, as the application form also says; it can be renewed once for six more months, and at 12 months every permit ends and the owner must reapply and pay again.

Town of Catskill inspections and certificates

The stages are checked off on the permit card, and the property owner, not the contractor, is responsible for calling each one. Chapter 87 lists them where they apply: the site before issuance, footing and foundation, slab preparation, framing, building systems including underground and rough-in work, fire-resistant construction and penetrations, solid-fuel appliances and chimneys, Energy Code compliance and a final. Work stays exposed until accepted.

No building can be occupied until the final inspection passes and the office issues a certificate of occupancy or certificate of compliance; the same rule applies to a septic system before it is put into service. Pools must have a 48-inch barrier, and the FAQ says barrier rules apply to every pool regardless of age, with gates and folding ladders locked when no one is supervising.

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

Town of Catskill permit FAQ

Does the town issue permits in the Village of Catskill?

No. The village has its own code enforcement officer at 422 Main Street (518-943-6564), and its permit list is broader, including fences, roofs, windows and siding.

Do I need a permit for a fence in the town?

Chapter 87 exempts fences that are not part of a pool enclosure, and zoning section 160-33 caps them at 50 inches (solid) or 86 inches (see-through) in front yards and 86 inches at the sides and rear. The office’s older FAQ still asks for a permit at 6½ feet or more, so ask first.

How much is a permit for a new house?

50 cents per square foot for an owner-occupied one- or two-family home, $125 minimum, plus $100 for a new septic system or $50 for a sewer hook-up.

Who issues septic permits in the Town of Catskill?

The town’s Code Enforcement Office, under the town’s own sewage disposal law. Plans must come from a New York licensed professional engineer.

Can I do the work myself?

Yes. An owner who lives in the house and does the work files Form BP-1 with proof of homeowner’s liability insurance instead of contractor certificates.

Do I need a permit to rent my house short-term?

Yes. A short-term rental permit from the Code Enforcement Officer is needed before renting for under 30 days, and it expires each December 31.

Is the town in FEMA’s flood program?

Yes. FEMA lists both the Town and the Village of Catskill as participating communities, each with a current flood map dated May 16, 2008.

Town of Catskill permit search and official resources

Cloudpermit shows the status of applications filed through it to the applicant. For older permits and certificates, ask the Code Enforcement Office or file a Freedom of Information Law request with the Town Clerk at Town Hall; village records are requested through the village’s FOIL form.

• Town of Catskill Code Enforcement
• Code Enforcement, Planning Board and ZBA fee schedule
• Downloadable forms and permits
• Building permit application, general (rev. 2021)
• On-site sewage disposal system permit application
• Code Enforcement FAQs (fences, pools, permits)
• Zoning districts and setbacks
• Town of Catskill Code (chapters 87, 131, 133, 160)
• Cloudpermit sign-in
• Village of Catskill Code Enforcement & Planning
• Village of Catskill FOIL request
• NYS Uniform Code adoption notice

Simplify Town of Catskill 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 Town of Catskill permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.