Town of Farmington, New York Building Permit Guide

Building permits in the Town of Farmington come from the Building, Planning & Zoning department at Town Hall, 1000 County Road 8 (315-986-8100, option 3). Applications go in through the town’s iWorQ portal, where the town quotes a turnaround of about 10 business days, and every application needs proof of workers’ compensation and disability coverage. Farmington has no incorporated village, so the department covers the whole town.

What requires a building permit in Farmington?

The department’s own list is broad and includes several jobs other towns treat as repairs. It names, as items that do need a permit:

Chapter 74, adopted as Local Law 7 of 2022, has no shed exemption at all; the only small-structure exemption is for playhouses and swing sets.

What the town decides and what the state sets

The Uniform Code and Energy Code set construction standards, and the town enforces them through Chapter 74. Farmington adds its own fire rule there: every new building must have an NFPA sprinkler system, an addressable fire alarm, a Knox-type key box and a marked fire department connection, unless it is a single-family house, duplex, townhouse or one of their accessory buildings, a farm building, or a one-story accessory building under 6,000 square feet set 100 feet from other structures with no fuel gas or heat. An alteration or addition covering more than 25% of an existing building brings the whole building under the sprinkler rule. Zoning (Chapter 165) limits residential fences to 6 feet in side and rear yards and 4 feet in a front yard, and business-district fences to 8 feet; pool enclosures must be at least 4 feet high.

The zoning map divides the town into districts that the building form asks you to name: A-80 agriculture, RR-80 rural residential, RS-25 residential-suburban, R-1-10 and R-1-15 single-family, R-2 two-family, R-7.2 planned subdivision, RMF multifamily, neighborhood, restricted and general business, limited and general industrial, planned development and incentive zoning, plus the Major Thoroughfare and Main Street overlays. The permit portal’s reference shelf carries an agricultural affidavit for farm buildings, deck and pool reference sheets, and the town’s 2025 Site Design and Development Criteria manual with its appendices.

Farmington building department: who handles permitting

One department handles building permits, inspections, zoning, planning board and zoning board files, and fire safety. Ron Brand is the Director of Planning & Development; the staff includes code enforcement officers, a zoning officer, a construction inspector and the Fire Marshal, and MRB Group of Rochester serves as town engineer.

No incorporated village lies inside Farmington, so the department’s jurisdiction is the whole town. Complaints about code, zoning or property maintenance go through a separate iWorQ complaint portal, and the department’s contact form on the town website reaches the same staff.

Farmington permit types and filing rules

Residential permits

The iWorQ portal has a separate form for each kind of job: building (new homes, remodels, finished basements and conversions to living space), roofing (roofs, siding and windows), decks and porches, pools and hot tubs, mobile homes, accessory structures (pole barns, sheds and fences), demolition, mechanical (generators, battery storage, EV chargers, fireplaces and chimneys), plumbing (septic tanks, distribution boxes and leach fields), water and sewer service, solar (with the state’s unified solar permit form), signs, land disturbance, driveways, flood plain and fire protection. Each form must be tied to a property from the town’s parcel search and to a contractor on file, and the building form will not submit without a copy of insurance and a plot plan sketch showing setbacks.

The building form asks for the zoning district, project cost and square footage by floor, garage, basement, porch or deck, plus the heating system, hot-water system, whole-house ventilation and whether the lot is on sewer or septic. Finished basements need two ways out, a 7-foot ceiling, natural light equal to 8% and ventilation equal to 4% of the floor area, and egress windows of at least 5.7 square feet (5 square feet at grade level), 24 inches high and 20 inches wide with a sill no higher than 44 inches. New homes on public water or sewer also file the town’s new service connection form; services longer than 300 feet need a meter pit supplied by the town at extra cost.

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

Commercial permits

Commercial, industrial and multifamily buildings use the same building form, and new buildings must meet the town’s sprinkler, fire alarm, key box and fire department connection rules unless an exemption applies. A variance from those local fire rules follows the zoning board procedure and can never drop below the state code. Assembly spaces, special events, manufactured home communities and some businesses need operating permits, also filed in iWorQ.

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

• Planning Board: site plans, subdivisions and special permits are filed on the planning and zoning portal with an agricultural data statement and SEQR form where needed, and must meet the town’s 2025 Site Design and Development Criteria manual.
• Overlay districts: projects in the Major Thoroughfare and Main Street overlay districts follow their own site design guidelines.
• Zoning Board of Appeals: area and use variances, with posted submittal dates.
• Flood plain: the town takes part in the National Flood Insurance Program and files flood plain permits through iWorQ.
• Short-term rentals: regulated under Chapter 115 of the Town Code.

Farmington permit fees

The Town Board adopted the 2026 fee schedule (Appendix N) by Resolution 50-2026 at its organizational meeting on January 13, 2026, effective January 1, 2026, with changes to Building Department fees. Fees are paid at Town Hall or through the portal’s search-and-pay page once the department assesses them from that schedule; the resolution has the Town Clerk send copies to the Building Department, so call option 3 for the figure on your project.

The drainage fee formula weighs roofs at 0.95, paving and patios at 0.80 and lawns at 0.28 against undeveloped land at 0.10, so a heavily paved commercial site pays more per acre than a house lot. The Code Enforcement Officer or Town Engineer computes it and divides it among the buildings on the site.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Electrical, plumbing and mechanical. Farmington issues its own mechanical and plumbing permits through iWorQ; there is no separate town electrical license, and the Town Code has no chapter licensing electricians, plumbers or home-improvement contractors. The portal does require a contractor on every application, and a contractor whose record has expired cannot submit, so homeowners doing their own work should call the department before filing. The CE-200 exemption form is the route for an owner with no employees.

Septic. Chapter 126 governs on-site systems. Septic repairs, replacements and expansions need a permit through the plumbing application; a tank or distribution box replacement needs a building permit and a final inspection by the Ontario County Soil and Water Conservation District before backfill, and field work needs a design professional. Before any property with a septic system is sold, the owner must have the system inspected, from 10 days to six months before the transfer; the town contracts those inspections to Soil and Water through its Uniform Procedures Program, and the inspection covers the interior plumbing, the tank before, during and after pumping, the baffles, the distribution box and the leach field, with a dye test if warranted.

How to apply for a Farmington building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

The town quotes about 10 business days for a building permit, and contractors need their portal access code to look up or pay for a permit afterwards. Even so, an application without insurance and disability proof, without a plot plan, or with the wrong file type is not accepted. A permit becomes invalid if work has not started within six months and expires 12 months after issue; renewal needs an application, a fee and the Code Enforcement Officer’s approval.

Farmington inspections and certificates

Inspectors work 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Inspections on an approved permit must be booked at least 24 hours ahead and only count once staff confirm the date and time. Chapter 74 lists the stages: footings and foundations, slab preparation, framing, building systems including electrical, plumbing and mechanical, fire-resistant construction, chimneys and solid-fuel heaters, Energy Code items and a final; the final leads to a certificate of occupancy or compliance. Construction and fire inspections may be done remotely when the officer decides a video visit gives the same assurance.

Under Chapter 74 the Code Enforcement Officer or a designated inspector also carries out fire safety and property maintenance inspections at least every 12 months in buildings with an assembly area and in schools, and every 24 months in multiple dwellings and all nonresidential buildings. Fire protection systems have their own iWorQ application. Violations can bring a written order to remedy, usually within 30 days, an appearance ticket, a fine of up to $250 a day and a civil penalty of up to $200 a day.

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

Farmington permit FAQ

Do I need a permit to replace windows or a roof in Farmington?

Yes. Replacement windows, roofing and siding are all filed on the town’s roofing application.

Do I need a permit for a shed or fence?

Yes. The town lists both as permit items, filed on the accessory structure form; Chapter 74 exempts only playhouses and swing sets up to 100 square feet.

Does an inflatable pool need a permit?

Yes. The department says every pool needs one, including above-ground and blow-up pools.

How long does a building permit take?

The town quotes a turnaround of about 10 business days for a complete application with insurance and disability proof.

Is a septic inspection needed when I sell?

Yes. Chapter 126 requires an inspection by a certified inspector at least 10 days and not more than six months before the transfer; the town contracts these inspections to the Ontario County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Does my new commercial building need sprinklers?

Usually. Chapter 74 requires sprinklers and an addressable alarm in all new buildings except houses, duplexes, townhouses, farm buildings and small isolated accessory buildings.

Can I do the work myself?

The iWorQ forms expect a linked contractor and proof of insurance. An owner with no employees files a CE-200 exemption, and the portal tells anyone who cannot find a contractor record to contact the department for help.

What is the drainage district entrance fee?

A one-time charge on new buildings in Drainage District No. 1, figured at $1,800 per equivalent acre and capped at $200 for a single-family lot outside a subdivision.

Permit search and official resources

The iWorQ portal’s permit search finds existing permits by number and takes fee payments; for older files on any property, use the town’s Freedom of Information Law request page.

• Building, Planning & Zoning
• iWorQ building permit portal
• Planning and zoning application portal
• Planning Board and ZBA forms
• New water and sewer service connection form
• Town Board minutes, January 13, 2026 (2026 fee schedule)
• Town Code Chapter 74, Uniform Construction Codes
• Town Code Chapter 126, On-Site Wastewater
• Code of the Town of Farmington
• FOIL requests
• FEMA Community Status Book, New York
• NYS code adoption notice

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