Niagara County, New York Building Permit Guide

Niagara County does not issue building permits. The cities of Niagara Falls, North Tonawanda and Lockport and the towns run building departments (every town site read shows one; Somerset’s could not be read), and the Villages of Lewiston, Middleport and Youngstown keep their own code offices. The county’s own role is mainly health: under Chapter 3 of the county Sanitary Code it approves septic designs for new houses and tests septic systems before a property changes hands.

What requires a building permit in Niagara County?

Each department writes its own rules on top of the Uniform Code. Wheatfield issues separate plumbing and electrical permits, Niagara Falls issues building, electrical, plumbing and sign permits and inspects the electrical work itself, and the Town of Lewiston prices houses by size up to 2,000 sq ft. In 2026 Lewiston also adopted moratoria on data centers, shipping containers and battery storage, so check for local moratoria before planning those uses.

What the municipalities decide and what the state holds

The construction rules are the state’s 2025 Uniform Code and Energy Code, and no city, town or village may make them stricter without Code Council approval. Fees, zoning, trade licensing, rental rules and moratoria are local, and so is floodplain administration: in Lewiston the building inspector is the town’s floodplain administrator.

Niagara County building department: who handles permitting

A town department covers the town outside its villages; Lockport and Wheatfield towns contain no villages. The three cities are separate from the towns around them, and North Tonawanda should not be confused with the City and Town of Tonawanda across the line in Erie County.

Middleport straddles Royalton and Hartland, and its village office covers both parts. The Tuscarora Nation Reservation, which the Census counts separately (1,125 residents), is tribal land, and no county or town page read here describes building permits there; the small part of the Tonawanda Reservation inside the county has no residents.

What Niagara County itself does

• Department of Health, Environmental Health Division, 55 Stevens Street, Lockport (716-439-7444): reviews and approves septic plans for new construction, which must be prepared by a New York licensed professional engineer; performs dye tests of existing systems before a sale and reviews dye tests done by private engineers; answers sewage complaints. Its Niagara Falls office runs the county’s lead programs, including the lead rental registry (716-278-8480). It also administers the state Septic System Replacement Fund, which grants up to 50% of eligible costs, at most $10,000 a project, for systems within 250 feet of priority waters such as the lower Niagara River, the Barge Canal, the Lake Ontario shoreline, the upper East Branch of Eighteenmile Creek and the tributaries to the Middleport Reservoir; an interactive map shows the eligible zone.
• Public Works, Highways, Bridges & Structures Division, Niagara County Highway Garage, 225 South Niagara Street, Lockport (716-439-7360). The county site posts no highway permit form, so call the division before cutting a driveway onto a county road; town roads go to the town highway department.
• Niagara County Planning Board: advisory review of referred comprehensive plans, zoning laws, special use permits, site plans and variances. Its intermunicipal agreements with most cities, towns and villages list, municipality by municipality, which actions must still be referred and which are exempt as purely local, and its online referral map flags any parcel that falls inside a referral buffer.

Niagara County permit types and applications

Residential permits

Office hours shape the filing. Pendleton accepts permit applications only from 8 to 10 am unless you book an appointment, Cambria’s interim inspector keeps three part-day sessions a week, and Hartland’s department works Monday to Thursday. North Tonawanda accepts most permit requests by e-mail with the address, scope, cost, contractor and contract, and Niagara Falls asks you to call ahead because only the first floor of City Hall is open.

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

Commercial permits

Commercial projects usually need site plan approval from the local planning board. Where the site is within 500 feet of a municipal line, a county or state road or park, a county drainage channel, public land with a public building or a farm in an agricultural district, the board must refer it to the Niagara County Planning Board, unless an intermunicipal agreement exempts that kind of action. Fire safety review is local as well: the Town of Lockport’s Building Department doubles as the town fire marshal, and the Town of Niagara has an assistant building and fire inspector on staff.

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

• Zoning: the local zoning officer, ZBA or planning board; Middleport posts its own area and use variance forms.
• County referral: actions inside the 500-foot buffers, which the county’s online map shows parcel by parcel.
• Septic: a percolation test and engineered design approved by the county. A standard system needs a stabilized rate under 60 minutes per inch at 24 inches and no tight soil or groundwater within four feet; a shallow-trench system answers a high water table, and a raised system with a pump tank is used when only a modified 12-inch test passes. The bottom of the leach lines must sit at least two feet above impervious soil or high groundwater.
• Road access: the county highway division or the town highway department.

Building permit fees in Niagara County

Each city and town sets its own fees. The county’s health fees have stood since January 1, 2018.

Worked comparison for a $30,000 home remodel: in Niagara Falls $40 plus 29 × $20, or $620; in the Town of Lewiston $100 plus 30 × $4, or $220. A new house on a septic lot pays the county $290 for its design review on top of the town’s building fee, and selling a septic property later brings the $505 county dye test unless a private engineer’s test is reviewed for $240.

Trade permits and who may pull them

The county licenses no trades, but several municipalities do. Every contractor working in the City of Lockport needs a city license renewed each year for $200, North Tonawanda requires a city license of every contractor, and in Wheatland only town-licensed master plumbers and electricians, or an owner working on his or her own one- or two-family home, may do plumbing and electrical work. Niagara Falls and North Tonawanda inspect electrical work with their own inspectors. All offices require workers’ compensation and disability coverage or a state exemption.

How to get a building permit in Niagara County

Review, corrections and what causes delay

A new house on a vacant lot needs the county’s septic approval, so start that design early, and county planning referrals wait for the board’s next meeting. Locally, short intake windows, an unlicensed contractor in the cities and a moratorium in force can each stall an application.

Inspections and certificates

Inspections are booked with the department that issued the permit; Porter’s office is open Monday to Thursday 8 am to 4 pm and Friday mornings, and Niagara’s weekdays 8 am to 4 pm. The local office issues the certificate of occupancy or compliance; in the Town of Lockport the final certificate is included in the square-foot fee. County dye tests at a sale are separate from any building inspection.

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 Niagara County the code is applied by about twenty local offices, from city departments to town inspectors who keep a few office hours a week.

Niagara County permit FAQ

Does Niagara County issue building permits?

No. The cities, towns and villages do; the county handles septic approvals, septic testing at sale and planning referrals.

Who permits in the Village of Lewiston?

The village’s own building office at 145 North 4th Street, not the Town of Lewiston.

What septic test applies when I sell a house?

The county’s sewage program covers a dye test of the existing system before the sale: the Health Department performs it for $505, or reviews a private engineer’s test for $240.

How much is county septic plan review for a new house?

$290, on a design prepared by a New York licensed professional engineer.

Do contractors need a license?

In the City of Lockport and North Tonawanda, yes, a city license; in Wheatland, plumbers and electricians need a town license. The county has none.

When must a project go to the county planning board?

When a site plan, special use permit, variance or zoning change involves land within 500 feet of a municipal line, county or state road or park, county drainage channel, public building site or farm in an agricultural district, unless an intermunicipal agreement exempts it.

Is North Tonawanda part of the City of Tonawanda?

No. North Tonawanda is a separate city in Niagara County with its own Building Department on Payne Avenue; the City and Town of Tonawanda are across the county line in Erie County.

Is my town in the flood insurance program?

Yes. All 20 Niagara County cities, towns and villages in FEMA’s book participate.

Niagara County permit search and official resources

Permit and certificate files are kept by the city, town or village that issued them; ask that clerk or building department, or file a Freedom of Information Law request there. Septic approvals and dye test results are held by county Environmental Health, which is the place to ask for a prior dye test or the approved design of an existing system before you buy.

• Niagara County sewage disposal program and fees
• Niagara County Environmental Health
• NYS Septic Replacement Fund in Niagara County
• Niagara County Public Works
• Niagara County Planning Board referral requirements
• Town of Niagara Building Inspection
• Town of Pendleton Building Department
• Town of Porter Code Enforcement
• FEMA Community Status Book, New York
• NYS code adoption and enforcement updates

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