City of Glens Falls, New York Building Permit Guide

The City of Glens Falls Building and Codes Department, 230 Dix Avenue (518-761-3848), issues building permits and certificates for property inside the city limits; the neighboring Town of Queensbury and Warren County each have their own offices. Residential permits start with a $150 application fee, and a new one- or two-family house is charged $0.35 per square foot under the city’s 2023 Permit Fee Schedule.

What requires a building permit in Glens Falls?

Chapter 109 of the City Code, the Building Code Administration law adopted by Local Law 4 of 2020, requires a building permit for work that must conform to the Uniform Code or Energy Code, including construction, enlargement, alteration, improvement, removal, relocation or demolition and the installation of a solid-fuel heater, chimney or flue. The city’s fee schedule shows how far that reaches.

Glens Falls has trimmed its exemption list: Local Law 1 of 2023 repealed the exemptions for playground equipment, shallow pools and retaining walls, so those now need a permit, and the shed exemption stops below 100 square feet.

What the city decides and what the state holds

New York sets the construction and energy standards. The Common Council sets the city’s fees by resolution and adopts its zoning law (Chapter 220), its own plumbing code and plumber licensing, the electrical code under which it approves inspection agencies, flood damage prevention and vacant building registration; the city also registers short-term rentals. Any building standard tougher than the Uniform Code itself would need state Code Council approval.

Glens Falls building department: who handles permitting

The Building and Codes Department issues building permits and does code inspections; its staff are a code enforcement officer, a building inspector and an office clerk. Site plans and architectural plans go to the Planning and Zoning Department at City Hall, which brings them to the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals. Warren County’s Building Codes office, which permits many towns in the county, says it has no enforcement responsibility in Glens Falls or the Town of Queensbury; Queensbury’s own Buildings and Codes office handles that town.

The department’s inspectors are often in the field. If the Dix Avenue door is locked, the Planning and Zoning Office on the second floor of City Hall, 42 Ridge Street (518-761-3833), takes messages and applications, and approved permit placards are picked up there.

Glens Falls permit types and filing

The city posts separate applications for building, fence, sign, demolition and plumbing permits, plus a vacant building registration form and a short-term rental registration form (September 29, 2025). Applications can be dropped off at 230 Dix Avenue or at the Planning and Zoning Office in City Hall. The department also offers building consultations, and site visits to help with zoning and planning applications.

Residential permits

The department’s building permit documents now include a Notice of Utilization of Truss Type Construction, Pre-Engineered Wood Construction and/or Timber Construction, used for residential building permits only. The city posts its climatic and geographical design criteria table (Table R301.2) for snow, wind, frost and other design values. Each residential permit carries the $150 application fee plus the square-foot or flat fee for the work, and most also include the certificate fee. For short-term rentals the city posts an information letter and a registration form.

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Commercial permits

Commercial permits carry a $350 application fee. New construction and additions, a category that includes major (Level 3) alterations, are priced by occupancy group: $0.35 per square foot for Group 1 (F-2, R-3, R-4, S-2 and U), $0.40 for Group 2 (A-2, A-3, A-4, B, E, F-1, I-1, I-2, I-4, M, R-2 and S-1) and $0.45 for Group 3, each plus the application and certificate of occupancy fees. Level 1 and 2 alterations are $0.45 per square foot plus the application and certificate of compliance fees, and a change of use or occupancy $250 plus those fees.

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

Projects that need site plan approval, a special permit or a variance go through the Planning and Zoning Department to the Planning Board or ZBA before the building permit. A zoning compliance letter costs $500. Work in the public sidewalk or street needs an encroachment permit: $40 for a temporary encroachment or curb and sidewalk repair, $2.50 per square foot for a street opening, and $500 for a sidewalk or street closure. Blasting needs a fire department application as well as the city permit. Construction in a mapped flood hazard area needs a development permit before work starts under Chapter 113, the flood damage prevention law of 1989, which names the Building Inspector as local administrator.

Glens Falls permit fees

The Common Council sets fees by resolution under section 109-22, and the schedule the department posts is the 2023 City of Glens Falls Permit Fee Schedule, dated January 9, 2023. Residential certificates of occupancy or compliance are $75 and commercial ones $150.

Example: a new 1,600-square-foot single-family house costs 1,600 × $0.35 = $560, plus the $150 application fee and the $75 residential certificate of occupancy fee, $785 in all. A residential temporary certificate of occupancy is $110 and a plan revision after the permit $40 plus any added square-foot fees. A home occupation permit, issued to the owner and not transferable, is $45 plus any permit fee, moving a building $250, and an EV charging station $50 each plus the application and certificate fees.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Plumbing. Glens Falls licenses its own plumbers. Under Chapter 158 of the City Code, only a holder of a certificate of competency from the city’s Board of Examining Plumbers may engage in the plumbing business in the city, and the plumbing permit must be obtained by the licensed plumber whose firm will do the work. An owner who lives in a one- or two-family home, or who is building one on his own land, may get a homeowner’s plumbing permit, but anyone helping must be a Glens Falls licensed plumber, and a person building a house gets no more than one such permit in 12 months. Plumbing permits use the city’s plumbing application and cost $55 per unit plus $8 per fixture for homes ($100 plus $15 for commercial work).

Electrical. The Electrical Code of the City of Glens Falls covers wiring for light, heat, power and signals at 50 volts or more. Inspections are made by certified inspection agencies approved by the Common Council, which file insurance and their fee schedules each year with the Building Inspector’s office; their inspections cost the city nothing. A new service or upgrade takes a $100 city permit and a third-party inspection, and the city code shows no separate electrician license.

Fire protection. Commercial fire alarms are $150 per floor, sprinkler systems $250 and kitchen exhaust hoods $200; solid-fuel heaters also need a fire department permit application.

How to apply for a Glens Falls building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

With a small inspection staff often in the field, the city routes paperwork through the Planning and Zoning Office; call ahead before visiting Dix Avenue. Changes after a permit issues are charged as plan revisions ($40 residential, $80 commercial, plus added area fees). Where an expedited schedule or a project’s complexity calls for a third-party review under the Uniform Code or Energy Code, that review is billed at $150 an hour.

Glens Falls inspections and certificates

Book inspections with the Building and Codes Department at 518-761-3848 during office hours. Under Chapter 109, work must stay accessible and exposed until a code enforcement officer or authorized inspector has inspected and accepted it, the electrical agency inspects wiring separately, and a failed inspection costs $75 to repeat for residential work or $150 for commercial work. A stop-work order on a permitted job costs $150 for residential or $300 for commercial, and lifting one $250.

Work ends with a certificate of occupancy or compliance, $75 residential and $150 commercial, often already built into the permit price. Under Chapter 109 a permit expires 12 months after issue and is void if work has not begun within six months; for good cause the Code Enforcement Administrator may extend it, for no more than 18 months. A renewal costs half the original fee and is allowed for one year only.

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

City of Glens Falls permit FAQ

Does Warren County or Queensbury issue permits in Glens Falls?

No. Warren County’s Building Codes office states it has no enforcement role in Glens Falls, and Queensbury’s office covers only the town. City properties are permitted by Glens Falls Building and Codes.

How much is a building permit for a new house in Glens Falls?

$0.35 per square foot plus the $150 application fee and the $75 certificate of occupancy fee; a 1,600-square-foot house comes to $785.

Do I need a permit for a shed?

Yes, for any shed of 100 square feet or more, at $0.25 per square foot plus the application fee; smaller sheds on the ground at a house are exempt.

Does a fence or an above-ground pool need a permit?

Yes. A residential fence is $75 and an above-ground pool $150, both including the application and certificate fees; Local Law 1 of 2023 repealed the pool exemption.

Can I do my own plumbing?

Yes, with a homeowner’s permit if you own and live in a one- or two-family house; anyone who helps must be a Glens Falls licensed plumber.

What are the Building and Codes office hours?

Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed from 1 to 2 p.m. for lunch.

How do I get copies of old permits?

Use the city’s FOIL request form and return it to the City Clerk, the records access officer; copies are 25 cents a page. A municipal search is $100 residential and $250 commercial.

Is Glens Falls in FEMA’s flood insurance program?

Yes. FEMA lists the City of Glens Falls as a participating community with a current flood map dated June 5, 1985.

Glens Falls permit search and official resources

Building permit and certificate files are city records: request them with the city’s FOIL form at the City Clerk’s office on the first floor of City Hall, where records can be inspected during office hours. Owners of vacant buildings register them under Chapter 206, at $250 for the first year rising to $1,000 from the fifth year. The city’s 2017 zoning map is posted with the Building and Codes documents for checking a parcel’s district.

• City of Glens Falls Building and Codes
• Building and Codes staff directory and hours
• Building permit application
• Plumbing permit application
• 2023 City of Glens Falls Permit Fee Schedule
• City Code Chapter 109, Building Code Administration
• City Code Chapter 158, Plumbing
• City of Glens Falls Code and Charter (eCode360)
• FOIL and records requests
• Warren County Building Codes (not Glens Falls)
• NYS Uniform Code adoption notice

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