Washington County, Ohio Building Permit Guide

Building permits in Washington County are handled by the Southeast Ohio Building Department at 340 Muskingum Drive in Marietta, which has served the county since 1988 and also serves Noble, Monroe and Gallia counties and several municipalities in Meigs and Belmont counties. The county is certified for commercial work only, so houses need a building permit only in Marietta and Belpre, the two municipalities certified for residential work.

This guide covers the department and how to reach it, the local conditions that shape a filing here, what permits cost and who may pull them, and how inspections are booked. Rules that apply everywhere in Ohio are summarized in each section, with a link to the full statewide explanation.

This guide covers Washington County. No municipality in the county runs its own department: the Southeast Ohio Building Department serves the unincorporated county and the cities and villages of Belpre, Beverly, Lowell, Lower Salem, Macksburg, Marietta and New Matamoras.

What requires a building permit in Washington County?

Where a certified department has jurisdiction, the Ohio Building Code and the Residential Code of Ohio require approval for most construction. In Washington County that means commercial buildings, industrial work and buildings of four or more units everywhere, and houses only in Marietta and Belpre.

The exempt list is set statewide in Section 102.10 of the Ohio Building Code and the Residential Code of Ohio, and an exemption from a building permit is not an exemption from zoning, setbacks, floodplain rules, utility approval or a fire authority review. Confirm scope with the department before work starts rather than after.

Which code edition applies

The department enforces the statewide Ohio codes across the area it is certified for, with one fee schedule, submittal process and inspection regime for all of it. It accepts electronic drawings through Dropbox.

Permits in Washington County are governed by Ohio’s statewide codes: the Ohio Building Code for commercial and other nonresidential buildings, and the Residential Code of Ohio for detached one-, two- and three-family dwellings. The Ohio Building, Mechanical and Plumbing Codes in force since 1 March 2024 are based on the 2021 International Codes; the Residential Code of Ohio is the 2019 edition, based on the 2018 International Residential Code; both use the 2023 National Electrical Code. Only departments certified by the Ohio Board of Building Standards may approve plans, and residential rules are uniform statewide. How Ohio’s statewide code works

Who handles permitting in Washington County?

The Southeast Ohio Building Department issues every building permit in the county, for the work it is certified for. Zoning is administered separately: by the Marietta Engineering Department inside the city, by the township trustees in the unincorporated county, and by each other city or village for its own area.

Floodplain development needs a permit in the City of Marietta and the unincorporated county. The county’s Flood Damage Prevention Regulations are administered by Washington County Soil & Water, 21330 State Route 676, Marietta (740-885-3313). Application fees are not refunded if a project is not approved by zoning or floodplain, so settle both before applying.

One point applies across every Ohio jurisdiction and is worth confirming rather than assuming. Residential rules are uniform statewide: a local code may differ from the Residential Code of Ohio only on subject matter the state code does not address, or after review by the Board of Building Standards (ORC 3781.10, 3781.01). Municipalities may add nonresidential regulations that do not conflict with the state rules. Ask the issuing department whether any local regulation affects your project type.

Zoning is a separate approval, and often a separate office

Settle zoning with the city, village or township before applying. For an expedited review, the department requires zoning, floodplain and site approvals to be in hand before the plans are submitted.

The Ohio Board of Building Standards certifies which departments may enforce the code, and for which buildings; the certified department’s political subdivision sets fees, and zoning is a separate approval. Where no certified department has jurisdiction, nonresidential plans go to the state, while houses need no plan submission. The Board’s building-department look-up shows which department has authority over an address. Who has authority in Ohio

Permit types

Residential permits

Houses need a building permit only in Marietta and Belpre. There, the department lists the work that always needs a permit, including decks with a floor 16.5 inches or more above grade, additions, garages, finished basements, sheds over 200 square feet, new circuits, replacement furnaces and re-roofing or re-siding of 400 square feet or more.

Commercial permits

Commercial, industrial and four-or-more-family projects need a permit across the county, as do accessory structures such as towers, storage tanks, swimming pools and tents. The department puts turnaround at 1 to 14 days for most permits and 30 days at most. Expedited review is available for nonresidential and multifamily projects for an additional fee.

Two statewide topics shape most Ohio submittals: energy compliance (the 2021 IECC or ASHRAE 90.1-2019 for commercial buildings, Chapter 11 of the Residential Code of Ohio for houses) and work on existing buildings, where alteration, repair, addition and change of occupancy each carry their own requirements. Energy and existing buildings in Ohio

Washington County permit costs and fees

Fees are set by the department’s adopted schedule, and application fees are non-refundable. A Board of Building Standards assessment of 3 percent of nonresidential and 1 percent of residential fees is added (ORC 3781.102).

Fee schedules are revised on each jurisdiction’s own cycle, so ask the issuing department for the schedule in force on your filing date, and ask separately about plan review, trade, re-inspection and revision charges. A Board of Building Standards assessment of 3 percent (nonresidential) or 1 percent (residential) is added to local fees. How Ohio permit fees work

Trade permits and who may pull them

Ohio licenses five commercial trades statewide through the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board: electrical, HVAC, hydronics, plumbing and refrigeration. The state does not license general or residential contractors, so those are licensed or registered locally, if at all. Home construction contracts of $25,000 or more must be in writing under ORC 4722. Contractor licensing in Ohio

How to apply for a Washington County building permit

Approved plans become invalid if work has not started within twelve months, with one twelve-month extension available. Before filing, confirm the department has authority over the address for the work, whether the Ohio Building Code or the Residential Code of Ohio governs, and which approvals must be in hand first. Review and corrections in Ohio

Inspections in Washington County

Schedule inspections with the department that issued the permit. The building official lists the required inspections when the plans are approved (OBC and RCO 108.2), and the department publishes its residential and nonresidential inspection lists. A certificate of occupancy is required before a new or changed-use building is occupied (OBC 111, RCO 111.1).

Book with the Friday closure in mind, and confirm the work is complete and observable before booking.

No building may be occupied until a certificate of occupancy or completion is issued, and a change of occupancy needs approved construction documents even without other work. Address correction notices before requesting a re-inspection, and do not cover work before it has been inspected and approved. Inspections and occupancy in Ohio

Washington County permit search and official resources

Permit records sit with the department that issued them, which in Ohio makes record research a certification question first. A property may have records with a municipal department, a county department, a township department or the state, depending on who held authority at the time the work was done — and that can have changed if a department gained or gave up certification, or if the property was annexed. If you are buying, refinancing or renovating, ask the Southeast Ohio Building Department what it holds for the parcel and whether earlier records may sit elsewhere.

The Board's building-department lookup helps here too: it establishes who has authority today, which is the right starting point even when the history is more complicated.

These are the primary sources behind this guide. Codes, fee schedules and portal procedures change. Confirm the position for your filing date.

• Southeast Ohio Building Department
• SEOBD jurisdiction listing
• Ohio Board of Building Standards
• BBS — find the building department for your address
• Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board
• ORC Chapter 4722, home construction service contracts

Frequently asked questions

Which areas does the department serve?

Washington, Noble, Monroe and Gallia counties and several municipalities in Meigs and Belmont counties. In Washington County it covers commercial work everywhere, and residential work only in Marietta and Belpre.

What are the Friday hours?

The office closes at 12:00 on Fridays and is open 7:00am to 4:15pm Monday to Thursday. Plan submittals and bookings around a four-and-a-half-day week.

How do I know which department issues my permit?

Use the Board of Building Standards building-department lookup, which maps an address to the department with authority over it. Only a BBS-certified department, or the state, may approve plans and issue permits, and certification does not follow automatically from being a city, county or township.

Does my project fall under the OBC or the RCO?

Commercial, industrial and public buildings follow the Ohio Building Code. One-, two- and three-family dwellings follow the Residential Code of Ohio. Ohio’s residential code reaches three-family dwellings, where the International Residential Code stops at two.

What if no certified department serves the area?

The Division of Industrial Compliance performs commercial plan review and inspection where no certified department serves. Residential code enforcement, however, is carried out only by certified local departments, so the fallback is commercial-only.

Does my general contractor need an Ohio licence?

There is no statewide general-contractor licence in Ohio. The state licenses five commercial trades through the OCILB — electrical, HVAC, hydronics, plumbing and refrigeration — while general contractors, and trade contractors on residential work, are licensed or registered only where a local government requires it. Home construction and improvement contracts of $25,000 or more on one-, two- and three-family dwellings must be in writing under ORC 4722, and the supplier must carry at least $250,000 of general liability insurance.

Simplify Washington County permitting with Alliance Permitting

Washington County is served by a regional department with a half-day Friday, and whether a house needs a permit depends on whether it is in Marietta or Belpre. All of that is worth knowing before the first submittal.

Trusted by leading builders, developers, and national contractors — 21+ years of filing in the jurisdictions we write about.

Contractors and builders choose Alliance for Washington County because the work is done by people who have stood at the counter:

• We confirm whether the address needs a residential permit at all.
• We plan submittals and bookings around the half-day Friday.
• We check the flood map and line up the floodplain permit where it is needed.
• We submit drawings electronically.
• We clear zoning with the township or municipality separately.

Alliance Permitting is a permit documentation and submission company in Ohio. We prepare your paperwork, file it correctly and coordinate with the building department 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 Washington County permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.