Astoria, Oregon Building Permit Guide

In Astoria the City’s Building Division runs the permit and inspection program for structural, mechanical and plumbing work, and Clatsop County handles electrical permits and electrical inspections. Contractors must apply, upload plans and book inspections in Oregon ePermitting; homeowners may use the City’s paper building permit application instead. On the City’s fee schedule a building permit starts at $65 and plan check adds 65% of the permit fee.

The division is part of Community Development at Astoria City Hall, 1095 Duane Street; reach it at 503-325-1004 or buildingdivision@astoria.gov. The state’s building department directory names Ed Hatley as Astoria’s Building Official. Astoria, in Clatsop County, had 9,838 residents in the Census estimate for 2025.

The City’s permits cover land inside Astoria. Unincorporated Clatsop County outside the city is permitted by the Clatsop County Building Codes Division.

What requires a building permit in Astoria?

Astoria’s fee book shows the range of City permits: new buildings, additions and alterations priced by valuation, demolition, foundation-only permits, changes of occupancy, manufactured dwelling installations, residential fire sprinkler systems, solar installations, and mechanical and plumbing work. Grading, erosion control, site development and work in the right-of-way need engineering permits from Public Works. For houses, the exemptions in chapter 1 of the 2026 Oregon Residential Specialty Code have applied since October 1, 2026.

The Astoria Development Code still applies to exempt work, and an exemption from the building permit does not exempt electrical work from the Clatsop County permit.

What Astoria decides and what the state holds

Astoria enforces the Oregon codes adopted by the Building Codes Division; the code links on its permit page still show the 2021 to 2023 editions, while the 2025 structural code and the 2026 residential code now apply. The City sets the fees in its fee book, runs zoning and design review under the Astoria Development Code, and has its own historic preservation and flood rules: the Flood Hazard Overlay in Article 14 requires the lowest finished floor to sit 1 foot above the base flood elevation.

Oregon’s building code and its exemptions are the same in Astoria as everywhere in the state, and an exemption from the building permit is not an exemption from zoning, land use or a trade permit. Site snow, wind and seismic values come from the state’s Oregon Design Criteria Hub. How Oregon’s statewide code works

Astoria building department: who handles permitting

Within Community Development, the Building Division reviews plans and inspects structural, mechanical and plumbing work, and the Planning Division handles the development code, design, historic preservation and long-range planning, with staff support for the Planning Commission, the Historic Landmarks Commission and the Design Review Commission. Public Works’ Engineering Division issues grading and erosion, site development and right-of-way permits. Clatsop County’s Building Codes Division issues electrical permits for Astoria, and the county, as DEQ’s onsite agent, issues septic permits for unsewered lots.

Permit types

Residential permits

Contractors have to buy structural, mechanical and plumbing permits, upload plans and request inspections in ePermitting. Homeowners can do the same online, or, if the system is hard to use, turn in the City’s paper building permit application. A manufactured home installation permit costs $190, covering the slab or code-compliant runners, the electrical feeder, the first 100 feet of plumbing connections and the crossovers, with accessory structures and longer utility runs priced separately. Rooftop solar that meets section 305.4 of the Oregon Solar Installation Specialty Code costs $99 with one inspection; other solar installations are priced on the valuation table.

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

Commercial permits

Commercial, industrial and multifamily work is priced on valuation for the structural permit and on the total value of the mechanical work for the mechanical permit. Fire and life safety plan check adds 40% of the building permit fee where that review is required, mechanical and plumbing plan check add 25% each, and deferred submittals cost 65% of the fee for the deferred portion plus $150. A phased project pays a $275 coordination fee, which includes a required predevelopment meeting, plus 10% of the total building permit fee for each phase, up to $1,500 a phase. A commercial temporary certificate of occupancy is $100 after a free first 30 days.

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

Planning checks zoning, architectural and site design and historic status; the City’s GIS map shows zoning districts, historic properties and districts, and landslide susceptibility for each lot. Grading, erosion control and right-of-way work go to Public Works Engineering. In the FEMA AE zone, the Flood Hazard Overlay applies and an elevation certificate may be required. The City’s page said FEMA would start a public process in early 2025 to adopt new maps; the drafts expand the floodplain in the Alderbrook neighborhood, add 28 Astoria properties and remove 25, and change the AE zone to a VE zone that accounts for wave velocity, which the City expects to require bracing of structural supports once adopted. FEMA lists Astoria as a participating NFIP community with a current map dated September 17, 2010. FEMA also stopped taking applications for map revisions (LOMR and CLOMR) on August 1, 2024 while it adds Endangered Species Act requirements to the program, changes the City expects to adopt in 2027.

Astoria permit costs and fees

Astoria keeps its fees in an online fee book; Schedule A covers building inspection. Building permit fees use the ICC Building Valuation Data table in force on April 1 of each year to set the project value. On the surcharge the schedule says the state sets it on building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, manufactured home and grading permit fees, that the City collects it and passes it to the state, and that it was “12 percent as of October, 2010”.

Worked example. A home addition valued at $300,000 sits in the top band: $768.19 plus 200 × $4.39 ($878) gives a building permit fee of $1,646.19, and plan check at 65% adds $1,070.02, for $2,716.21 before the state surcharge, any mechanical and plumbing permits and the Clatsop County electrical permit.

New construction inside the Astoria School District also pays the district’s construction excise tax, a rate per square foot that the City collects and passes on. The first permit extension is free and later ones cost $50; a permit expired for a year or less can be renewed once for half the permit fees at current rates, and one expired longer must be applied for again.

Trade permits and who may pull them

Mechanical and plumbing permits are City permits in Astoria, bought in ePermitting by contractors and online or on paper by homeowners. Electrical permits and electrical inspections are Clatsop County’s for the whole city, so a remodel with new circuits needs a City permit and a county permit. A residential water heater replaced with one of similar size in the same place is a $65 plumbing permit that includes one inspection. Gas piping costs $12 for one to four outlets and $2.50 for each outlet after that; sanitary, storm and water service lines are $48 for the first 100 feet and $26 for each further 100 feet; and commercial mechanical work is priced on its value, from a $65 minimum up to $565.65 plus $3.50 per $1,000 above $100,000.

How to apply for an Astoria building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

Corrections and status show on the permit record in ePermitting. A lot in the Flood Hazard Overlay has to show the overlay’s floor-height and construction standards on the plans, and the engineering permits and the county electrical permit run on their own tracks. Added plan review for changes, additions or revisions after submittal is billed at $65 an hour with a one-hour minimum, and an application that never becomes a permit is billed for processing time, less the plan check fee paid.

Inspections in Astoria

City inspectors work Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m.; the Building page gives 4 p.m. as the end of the day and the inspection page 4:30 p.m. Schedule through the Oregon ePermitting IVR at 1-888-299-2821, using the call flow the City posts, or online. Electrical inspections are scheduled under the Clatsop County permit.

Re-inspections and inspections with no listed fee cost $65 an hour, and inspections outside business hours are $65 an hour with a one-hour minimum. A residential temporary certificate of occupancy is free for the first 30 days and $65 after that.

Astoria permit search and official resources

Oregon ePermitting lets anyone view Astoria’s development and building permit applications and their supporting documents, so a permit search there by address or number shows past and current work. Records the City holds outside ePermitting can be requested through its public records page.

• Astoria Building Division
• Astoria building permits and ePermitting
• Astoria building inspections
• Astoria paper building permit application
• Astoria fee schedule (Schedule A, building inspection)
• Astoria fees for City services and payment fraud warning
• Astoria floodplain management and new FEMA maps
• Astoria Planning Division
• Clatsop County building codes (electrical permits)
• Oregon ePermitting
• 2026 Oregon Residential Specialty Code, chapter 1 (permits and exemptions)
• DEQ onsite septic agents by county
• Astoria public records
• FEMA Community Status Book for Oregon
• Oregon Construction Contractors Board

Astoria building permit FAQ

Who issues electrical permits in Astoria?

Clatsop County. The City issues structural, mechanical and plumbing permits, and the county handles electrical permits and inspections.

Can homeowners apply on paper in Astoria?

Yes. Homeowners who find ePermitting hard to use can submit the City’s paper building permit application; contractors must use ePermitting.

How much is a building permit in Astoria?

$65 for work valued up to $2,000, rising by valuation; plan check is 65% of the permit fee, and the state surcharge is added.

When does Astoria inspect?

Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m., booked through the ePermitting IVR at 1-888-299-2821 or online.

How high must a new floor be in an Astoria flood zone?

The lowest finished floor must be at least 1 foot above the base flood elevation under the Flood Hazard Overlay, and an elevation certificate may be required.

Do I need a building permit for a small shed in Astoria?

Not if it is a detached, one-story, nonhabitable building of 200 sq ft or less and no more than 15 feet to its average roof height, though Planning’s zoning and design rules still apply.

Do I need a permit to replace a water heater in Astoria?

Yes, a plumbing permit; for a one- or two-family home with a similar-size heater in the same spot it is $65 with one inspection.

Simplify Astoria permitting with Alliance Permitting

Alliance Permitting is a permit documentation and submission company in Oregon. 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 Astoria permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.