Orleans County, New York Building Permit Guide

Orleans County has no city and no county building department. Each of its 10 towns and 4 villages has a code enforcement officer who issues building permits inside its own boundary, and every one of the 14 has a zoning law. The county’s work is around that permit: GO Health, the health department Orleans shares with Genesee County, designs and permits septic systems; the County Planning Board reviews zoning actions near county roads, municipal lines and other listed features; and the Highway Division looks after 196 miles of county highways.

What requires a building permit in Orleans County?

The town and village officers publish the lists. Barre names decks, porches and entryways even when an old one is torn down and replaced, in-ground and above-ground pools, garages, pole barns, sheds and carports, new homes including modular and manufactured housing, and additions. Kendall requires a permit and inspection for any re-roof with a complete tear-off and for any pool holding more than 24 inches of water. Clarendon’s zoning ordinance sets its threshold at 64 square feet: any building or structure that size or larger needs a permit. Gaines prices permits for roof-mounted and stand-alone solar panels and for permanent back-up generators, and it regulates larger solar and battery storage projects through local laws adopted in 2022. Barre’s advice fits the whole county: if you are unsure whether a job needs a permit, check with the zoning or building office before you start.

What local offices decide and what the state keeps

The 2025 Uniform Code and Energy Code are the same in Albion as in Lyndonville; any stricter local building standard needs state approval. What changes at each line is zoning, the fee schedule, office hours and the order of steps, for example whether a zoning permit comes first. Orleans County is not among the twelve counties the Department of State lists as having opted out of the enforcement of the Uniform and Energy codes.

Orleans County building department: who handles permitting

Every town and village the Census Bureau counts in Orleans County is below. A town officer covers the town outside its villages; each village has its own officer. The offices differ in scope as well as hours. The Town of Albion’s office reviews applications for new construction, renovations and demolitions, inspects properties and enforces property maintenance, zoning and fire prevention rules; the Village of Albion’s department adds zoning appeals, special use and special event applications; Medina’s division also runs the village Planning and Zoning Boards, guides projects along the Erie Canal corridor and investigates reported property maintenance and construction violations; and Clarendon’s department issues operating permits as well as building permits.

Two villages cross town lines. The Village of Albion lies in the Towns of Albion and Gaines, and the Village of Medina in Ridgeway and Shelby; a parcel inside either village goes to the village office whichever town it is in. Albion’s town and village offices are separate departments with separate phone numbers, so check the village line on the tax map before filing. The county Planning Department’s online zoning directory links each municipality’s zoning law and zoning map, and a referral map shows where county review applies.

What Orleans County itself does

• GO Health Environmental Health (Genesee and Orleans): designs onsite wastewater treatment systems, helps homeowners obtain permits for new systems, handles repairs and replacements and inspects systems at property transfer. Orleans forms cover the percolation test, the soil and lot evaluation and permit, replacement of an existing system and loan evaluations, each sent with the fee schedule and payment.
• Planning and Development, 14016 Route 31 West, Albion (585-589-7000): staffs the County Planning Board, which reviews about fifty local zoning actions a year, and keeps the municipal zoning directory. Each referral arrives with the Board’s Referral Report Cover Sheet, meetings can be joined remotely through Microsoft Teams, and the past year’s minutes are posted on the Board’s page.
• Public Works, Highway Division: maintains 196 miles of county highways and 64 county bridges from the same Route 31 campus; ask it before any work in a county road right-of-way.

Orleans County permit types and applications

Residential permits

The order of steps varies. In Kendall the code officer approves the application and the Town Clerk issues the permit. Murray’s zoning law says no use or structure may be established until the Zoning Enforcement Office issues a permit, and applications are filed with the Town Clerk. Lyndonville requires a zoning permit from the village Zoning Officer, under Section 300 of its zoning ordinance, before a building permit, and Barre keeps blank applications in its Town Hall lobby.

Board calendars matter here. In Murray, for example, the Planning Board meets on the first Monday of the month (work session 6 p.m., meeting 7 p.m.) and the Zoning Board of Appeals on the second Tuesday at 7 p.m., both as needed.

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

Commercial permits

Commercial buildings carry site plan review, special use permits where the district requires them, and often a county referral. Gaines prices a minor site plan review at $50 and a major one at $250, with telecommunications towers and wind towers on their own higher scale. Yates’s officer prepares the County Planning Board referral for site plans and special use permits and attends the meeting when needed.

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

• Zoning permit or board approval: required first in Murray and Lyndonville; variances from the zoning board of appeals everywhere.
• County referral: a site plan, special use permit, variance or rezoning affecting land within 500 feet of the features listed in state law goes to the County Planning Board, which meets the fourth Thursday of each month at 7 p.m.
• Septic: GO Health percolation test, soil and lot evaluation and septic permit.
• Local laws: Gaines has 2022 local laws for solar energy systems and battery energy storage.

Building permit fees in Orleans County

Each town and village sets its own fees. The Town of Gaines publishes a full non-refundable processing fee schedule on its code enforcement page; the main residential lines are below.

Worked example in Gaines: a 2,000-square-foot house costs $30 + 2,000 × $0.15 = $330, and a 400-square-foot deck $30 + 400 × $0.15 = $90. Other towns and villages set different rates, so ask the local officer for the current schedule; Holley lists its permit types in the village fee schedule. Gaines also prices land division: $50 plus $15 per lot for a minor subdivision and $250 plus $15 per lot for a major one, site plan review not included. GO Health fees for septic work follow its own environmental health fee schedule.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Neither the county nor the town and village pages listed here set an electrician or plumber license. Ask the local officer how electrical, plumbing and heating work is permitted on your job and which electrical inspection agencies the office accepts, before any wiring is covered.

Septic work is the exception that leaves the town hall: GO Health designs the system and issues the permit, and its staff inspect systems when a property changes hands. Every office asks for proof of workers’ compensation and disability coverage, or the state exemption, before it issues a permit.

How to get a building permit in Orleans County

Review, corrections and what causes delay

Office hours drive the timeline. Kendall’s officer keeps Monday evening hours or works by appointment and Murray lists weekend hours by appointment, while Ridgeway’s officer is in weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and the Village of Albion’s office is open from 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. A county referral adds at least one monthly board cycle, and the GO Health septic permit comes with its percolation test and soil and lot evaluation, so book those early.

Inspections and certificates

The officer who issued the permit carries out the inspections; in Lyndonville the application states that the owner must contact the code officer for each visual inspection. The Yates officer describes driving town roads to watch the progress of permitted work and inspecting junkyards and public assemblies yearly and businesses every third year.

Some finishing items are checked before sign-off. Kendall, for example, requires every house to carry its 911 address number in figures at least 5 inches high, in a color that contrasts with the background and readable from the road.

When the work passes, the local office issues a certificate of occupancy or compliance; Albion’s village department also handles fire prevention inspections and special event applications. GO Health inspects septic systems separately.

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 Orleans County that code is enforced by 14 town and village officers, each answering to its own town or village board and working from its own fee schedule.

Orleans County permit FAQ

Does Orleans County issue building permits?

No. Each town and village code enforcement officer does; the county reviews referred zoning actions, and GO Health handles septic systems.

Who permits a house inside the Village of Medina or Albion?

The village. Medina’s Building and Code Enforcement division is at Village Hall, 600 Main Street; Albion’s village Code Enforcement & Fire Prevention office answers at 585-589-9176.

Who approves a septic system?

GO Health, the Genesee and Orleans health department: it designs the system, issues the permit and inspects at property transfer.

How big can a shed be without a permit?

It depends on the town. In Clarendon any building or structure of 64 square feet or more needs a permit; elsewhere ask the local officer.

When does the County Planning Board meet?

On the fourth Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at 14016 Route 31, Albion, with remote attendance available.

Do I need a permit to re-roof?

Often yes. Kendall requires one for any complete tear-off, and Gaines charges $30 for a roof replacement; in other towns and villages, ask the local officer first.

What do I need for erosion work on the Lake Ontario shore?

In Kendall, both a town permit and a permit from the state Department of Environmental Conservation; the town’s code page carries the coastal-erosion information sheets.

Is my community in the flood insurance program?

Yes. All 14 Orleans County towns and villages are in FEMA’s participating section.

Orleans County permit search and official resources

Permit files are kept by the town or village that issued them, and Clarendon’s officer, for example, reports monthly to the Town Board and files permit actions with the Town Clerk. Ask the clerk for copies or file a Freedom of Information Law request.

• Orleans County municipal zoning directory
• Orleans County Planning Board and referral map
• Orleans County Planning and Development
• Orleans County Public Works
• GO Health private wells and septic systems
• NYS Department of State Code Inspection Unit (opted-out counties)
• FEMA Community Status Book, New York
• NYS code adoption and enforcement updates

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