Cattaraugus County, New York Building Permit Guide

Cattaraugus County has no building department of its own. Olean and Salamanca, each of the 32 towns and five of the villages have their own code enforcement officers, and many officers cover several towns at once. The county’s part is narrower but important: its Environmental Health Division must permit every new or repaired septic system, often designing it, and its Planning Board reviews the zoning actions that local boards refer to it each month.

What requires a building permit in Cattaraugus County?

The Town of Allegany says building permits are required for all work in the town, and most local lists here are similarly broad. Salamanca prices permits for electrical work, excavation, fences, ramps, new plumbing, pools, remodeling, roofs and signs. Conewango charges for new houses, additions, garages, sheds, decks, porches, pools, generators, solar arrays and battery storage, demolition and woodstoves or chimneys after a fire.

What the towns, villages and cities decide and what the state holds

The 2025 Uniform Code and Energy Code are the same everywhere in the county; the municipalities choose zoning, fees, exemptions they are allowed to set, and how to staff enforcement. Cattaraugus County is one of twelve counties the Department of State lists as having opted out of the enforcement of the Uniform and Energy codes, so the county does not enforce the code in a town or village that has also opted out; there, the state’s Code Inspection Unit provides enforcement in place of the local government and charges fees.

Cattaraugus County building department: who handles permitting

The table follows the county’s own directory of officials (May 2026), which lists a building code enforcement officer on every town page, and the municipalities’ websites. Village rows say when the directory names no village officer; in those villages, ask the village office which officer handles permits before you file.

Officers are widely shared. One officer serves Otto, Napoli, Mansfield, East Otto, Little Valley, Leon and Dayton; others split Randolph and Conewango, Red House and Coldspring, Machias and Farmersville, Allegany and Portville, and Carrollton, Humphrey and Franklinville. In Ellicottville one building department at the Town Center, 28 Parkside Drive, handles both town and village on a joint application. Gowanda straddles the Erie County line, with the Cattaraugus part in the Town of Persia. The Seneca Nation’s Allegany, Cattaraugus and Oil Springs territories also lie partly in the county; FEMA lists the Nation as its own flood-program community.

What Cattaraugus County itself does

• Environmental Health Division: issues the permit to construct and the permit to operate for onsite wastewater systems, after a site visit that tests soils and percolation; the inspector usually designs the system. Systems of 1,000 gallons a day or more also need a state discharge permit and a professional engineer.
• County Planning Board: reviews site plans, special use permits, variances, rezonings and comprehensive plans referred under General Municipal Law 239-l, m, n and nn, meeting the last Thursday of each month at 6:30 pm at 303 Court Street, Little Valley.
• Planning and flood mapping: the planning division tracks FEMA’s draft flood maps, which would raise the number of county parcels in the floodplain from 7,405 to 14,964.
• Real Property and GIS: the online parcel viewer and a contact list for all 48 municipal entries.

Cattaraugus County permit types and applications

Residential permits

Applications go on the local form: Salamanca’s building and zoning permit application with supplements for decks, garages, pools and fences; Ellicottville’s joint town and village application and checklist; Machias’s 2024 permit application with a one- and two-family checklist; and Franklinville’s combined building and zoning form. Salamanca takes payment only in cash or local check. Several town officers keep short hours, such as Machias (Tuesdays 4 to 6 p.m. and by appointment) and Farmersville (Wednesdays 6 to 8 p.m.), so call ahead.

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

Commercial permits

Salamanca requires stamped plans for any new commercial construction and charges $0.15 per square foot with a $500 minimum; Conewango charges $0.18 per square foot of total floor space and, under its Local Law 2 of 2025, $1,500 per megawatt for commercial solar or battery storage. Commercial site plans and special use permits usually need a county referral before the local board votes.

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

What comes before the building permit

• Septic: the county permit to construct before any new or replacement system goes in.
• County referral: send the full statement so it reaches the county at least ten days before its monthly meeting; the local board may act after 30 days.
• Zoning and flood: town or village zoning permits, and floodplain development permits such as Ellicottville’s.
• Driveways and public works: Ellicottville issues its own driveway and public improvement permits; Salamanca an excavation permit.

Building permit fees in Cattaraugus County

Each municipality sets its own fees. Salamanca’s Common Council adopted a new fee ordinance on March 25, 2026, and Conewango posts its rates on its building code page; they compare like this.

Worked example for a 1,600-square-foot single-family house: Salamanca charges 1,600 times $0.15, or $240, which is below its $400 minimum, so the fee is $400; Conewango charges $240 on the same living space plus $20 for each kitchen or bathroom. Olean, by contrast, charges 1% of construction cost with a $60 minimum. Salamanca adds $10 per plumbing fixture and $25 when the plumber is not city-licensed.

Trade permits and who may pull them

The county itself publishes no contractor license. The two cities do: Olean licenses home contractors through its online license portal, and Salamanca’s fee ordinance adds a surcharge for plumbing done by a plumber without a city license. Carrollton’s code officer also serves as its town electrical inspector. None of the town pages shows a separate electrician or plumber license, so ask the town code officer how electrical work will be inspected before the wiring starts. Every permit needs proof of workers’ compensation and disability insurance or the state exemption form.

How to get a building permit in Cattaraugus County

Review, corrections and what causes delay

With officers shared among several towns, timing follows the officer’s schedule. Files most often stall on the septic design, on a zoning board meeting that falls after the county’s monthly referral review, or on missing insurance forms. A complex referral that reaches the county less than ten days before its meeting can be held to the next month.

Inspections and certificates

The code officer who issued the permit inspects the stages and issues the certificate of occupancy or compliance; in Salamanca, call the code office Monday to Thursday. The county’s septic inspector returns once the system is built and must see it before it is covered; when the work passes, the county issues a permit to operate, which is separate from the building certificate.

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

With the county opted out, enforcement rests on the 43 local programs, and on the state only where a municipality has also opted out.

Cattaraugus County permit FAQ

Does Cattaraugus County issue building permits?

No. Each city, town and village issues its own, and the county has opted out of the enforcement of the Uniform and Energy codes. The county issues septic permits and reviews referred zoning actions.

Who designs my septic system?

Usually the county inspector, after a site investigation of soils and percolation with you and your contractor; difficult or large sites may need an engineer.

Who permits in Ellicottville?

One building department at the Ellicottville Town Center serves both the town and the village, using a joint application.

Do I need a permit for a small shed in Conewango?

Not if it is a one-story detached storage building or playhouse of 144 square feet or less at a house; larger sheds cost $0.08 per square foot.

What does a new house permit cost in Salamanca?

$0.15 per square foot with a $400 minimum under Ordinance No. 1 of 2026, doubled if work starts first.

Are the flood maps changing?

FEMA has issued draft maps that would roughly double the parcels in the county’s floodplain, from 7,405 to 14,964; the county planning division follows the process.

Is every town in the flood insurance program?

All but one: FEMA lists every city, village and town as participating except the Town of Red House, which is not in its status book.

Cattaraugus County permit search and official resources

Permit files stay with the issuing city, town or village. Salamanca posts a FOIL request form on its code page; elsewhere, ask the town or village clerk under the Freedom of Information Law. Septic permits and operating permits are on file with county Environmental Health.

• Cattaraugus County directory of officials (download page)
• 2026 directory booklet with town and village code officers
• Onsite wastewater treatment systems, county Health Department
• County zoning referrals (GML 239)
• FEMA draft flood hazard map, county planning
• Real Property municipal contacts and parcel viewer
• City of Salamanca permit fee ordinance, March 2026
• NYS Department of State Code Inspection Unit
• FEMA Community Status Book, New York
• NYS code adoption and enforcement updates

Simplify Cattaraugus 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 Cattaraugus County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.