For work inside Lebanon, the City’s Building Division, part of Development Services, issues and inspects building, mechanical and plumbing permits, including manufactured home placements, while Linn County issues all electrical permits. Contractors file in Oregon ePermitting and homeowners fill in the City’s permit application. The City’s July 2026 example puts the permit fees for a typical new house at $4,792.38, with plan review on a complete set usually finished in about two weeks.
The division is at Lebanon City Hall, 925 S Main Street, with a counter open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and phones answered from 7:30 a.m. (541-258-4906). Shawn Eaton, CBO, is the Building Official. Lebanon is a Linn County city of 20,267 people in the Census estimate for 2025.
The City’s permits cover land inside Lebanon. Outside the city limits, Linn County issues building permits.
What requires a building permit in Lebanon?
The Building Division reviews and inspects commercial, industrial and residential projects. The City’s fee schedule shows the work it prices: new buildings and additions on the valuation table, retaining walls, decks, fences and accessory structures where the state code requires a structural permit, solar installations, fire sprinklers and alarms, demolition, manufactured dwelling placement and park development, and mechanical and plumbing work. The 2026 Oregon Residential Specialty Code, which the City lists as effective October 1, 2026, sets what a house project can skip.
Permit required
- New single-family homes, duplexes and ADUs, and additions to them
- Accessory buildings over 200 sq ft or taller than 15 feet to the average roof height
- Decks and porches more than 30 inches above grade
- Rooftop solar, prescriptive or engineered
- Furnaces, stoves and other mechanical appliances; new plumbing fixtures
- Manufactured home placement and demolition
Exempt (2026 ORSC chapter 1)
- A nonhabitable one-story detached accessory structure of 200 sq ft or less, or up to 400 sq ft on a parcel of at least 2 acres
- Deck, patio or porch covers of 200 sq ft or less, 3 feet or more from lot lines
- Reroofing with 4 psf or less of added dead load, except townhouses, stacked two-family dwellings and photovoltaic roofing
- Fences 7 feet high or less of wood, wire mesh or chain link, unless they form a pool barrier
- Above-grade and on-ground pools
The City still posts an older exemptions handout based on the 2023 code, which describes reroofing by a 30% live-load test; the 2026 code’s 4 psf dead-load test now applies.
What Lebanon decides and what the state holds
The City lists the 2026 residential and plumbing codes (both effective October 1, 2026), the 2025 structural, mechanical, fire and energy codes and the 2023 electrical amendments as the codes it administers, all adopted by the state Building Codes Division. Lebanon sets its own fees, forms and inspection days, its zoning in the Lebanon Development Code, and its design assumptions: a 25 psf snow load, a 12-inch frost depth, and Seismic Design Category D1 for houses and D for commercial buildings.
Short on time to read all of this?
Get a free quote →Oregon’s building code and its exemptions are the same in Lebanon 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
Lebanon building department: who handles permitting
Development Services groups building, planning and development engineering at City Hall, and the same office answers questions on system development charges. Linn County’s building program in Albany is the electrical authority for Lebanon, so electrical permits and electrical inspections run through the county. Septic systems are permitted by Linn County Environmental Health, which DEQ lists as its onsite agent for the county.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Building Division | Lebanon City Hall, 925 S Main Street, Lebanon, OR 97355 |
| Phone | 541-258-4906 (phones 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., counter 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday) |
| development@lebanonoregon.gov | |
| Online filing | Oregon ePermitting, for contractors and for inspection requests |
| Electrical permits | Linn County, 300 SW 4th Avenue, Albany; 541-967-3816 |
| Septic permits | Linn County Environmental Health, 541-967-3821 |
Permit types
Residential permits
A homeowner applies on the City’s single permit application, which covers building, solar, mechanical and plumbing work, or on the separate placement application for a manufactured home with or without a garage or carport. A new house, duplex or addition uses the Residential Packet: the building permit application, energy measures, exterior wall envelope and lighting fixture forms, the residential certificate of occupancy prerequisites, a right-of-way permit application, a site plan on letter or tabloid paper, three sets of building plans and two sets of specifications and calculations. Rooftop solar on the prescriptive path adds the City’s prescriptive installation checklist.
ADUs are allowed outright in Lebanon’s residential zones. An ADU can be no larger than 1,000 sq ft or 40% of the main house, whichever is smaller; a detached one can be up to 25 feet tall in the RL zone and 30 feet in RM and RH; the rear setback can drop to 10 feet; no off-street parking is required; and one ADU is allowed per lot.
Building or remodeling a home here? Alliance handles residential permit filing, so the crew isn't waiting on the counter.
Not sure this scope needs a permit?
Get a free quote →Commercial permits
Commercial and industrial projects go through ePermitting. Their structural, mechanical, plumbing, medical gas and fire alarm or sprinkler permits are priced on the same valuation table, with structural review at 65% of the building permit fee, fire and life safety review at 40%, mechanical review at 25% and plumbing review at 40% for complex structures. Deferred submittals pay 65% of the fee for the deferred part, with a $275 minimum, and phased projects $275 per phase plus 10% of the project fee, up to $1,500.
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 and engineering each review the site plan of a new house, at $75 apiece in the City’s example, and work in the street needs a right-of-way permit ($85 minimum). New water service with a meter costs $1,500. Homes in the Lebanon Community School District pay its construction excise tax of $1.67 per sq ft. A lot without sewer needs an onsite septic permit from Linn County Environmental Health. Lebanon participates in the National Flood Insurance Program, and FEMA lists its current flood map as September 29, 2010.
Lebanon permit costs and fees
The posted Building Department Fees schedule took effect on July 1, 2024 and says every fee adjusts automatically each July 1, starting in 2025, by the change in the Construction Cost Index. The City’s single-family example dated July 1, 2026 still works out from the same table, so the figures below match it. The schedule’s own words on the state surcharge: “State Surcharge (structural, fire, mechanical, plumbing, solar fees) (rate defined by state) 12%”.
Rather talk it over?
Call 1-855-478-4290 →| Item | Fee or rule |
|---|---|
| Valuation $1 to $2,000 | $95 minimum fee |
| $2,001 to $25,000 | $95 plus $12 for each added $1,000 or fraction |
| $25,001 to $50,000 | $371 plus $10 for each added $1,000 |
| $50,001 to $100,000 | $621 plus $6 for each added $1,000 |
| $100,001 and up | $921 plus $5 for each added $1,000 |
| Structural plan review | 65% of the building permit fee |
| New house plumbing | $450 (1 bath), $525 (2 baths), $600 (3 baths); $100 for each extra bath or kitchen |
| Mechanical | $95 minimum; furnace, range hood or wood or pellet stove $50 each; other appliances $25 |
| Prescriptive solar | $250 |
| Manufactured dwelling placement | $400 plus the $30 state fee |
| Reinspection, investigation, after-hours inspection | $130 each or per hour |
| Technology fee | 1% of permit fees, not of plan review, inspection or state fees |
| State surcharge | 12% on structural, fire, mechanical, plumbing and solar fees |
Worked example (the City’s own). A three-bedroom, three-bath house of 1,750 sq ft with a 440 sq ft garage is valued at $339,130.80. The building fee is $921 plus 240 × $5, or $2,121.00; plan review at 65% is $1,378.65; mechanical equipment is $300 and plumbing $600; the 1% technology fee on those three is $30.21; and the 12% state surcharge, which skips plan review, is $362.52. The total is $4,792.38. System development charges in the same example add $20,588: $3,175 water and $5,306 sewer for a 3/4-inch meter, $318 storm for 3,000 sq ft of hard surface, $4,425 parks and $7,364 streets for a house of 1,450 to 2,349 sq ft ($5,579 below that size, $9,000 above).
Other items on the schedule: a stand-alone residential fire sprinkler system costs $200 up to 2,000 sq ft, $275 up to 3,600 sq ft, $350 up to 7,200 sq ft and $425 above that, with plan review included; demolition is priced on the valuation table with a $200 minimum; a master plan review is half the calculated plan review fee; and an appeal costs $150. Plumbing site utilities beyond the first 100 feet are $75 for each added 100 feet.
Rather not deal with the building department?
Get a free quote →Trade permits and who may pull them
Lebanon issues mechanical and plumbing permits; electrical permits for any address inside the city come from Linn County, which also inspects the electrical work. Homeowners can buy the City’s mechanical and plumbing permits on its paper application, and contractors buy them in ePermitting. Before a new house gets its certificate of occupancy, the general contractor or owner who holds the structural permit must give the City the names and license details of the general, electrical, HVAC and plumbing contractors, as state rule OAR 918-480-0140 requires.
Licenses
- Contractors need an active Construction Contractors Board license
- Electricians and plumbers also hold state trade licenses from BCD
- The certificate of occupancy form lists each trade contractor’s license number
Where to apply
- Building, mechanical, plumbing, solar: City of Lebanon
- Electrical: Linn County
- Septic: Linn County Environmental Health
- Work in the street: City right-of-way permit
How to apply for a Lebanon building permit
Ask Development Services (541-258-4906) about setbacks, ADU rules and water and sewer connections for the lot.
Follow the residential plan intake checklist: foundation, floor, framing and elevation drawings, wall bracing, beam calculations, truss details, energy compliance, and a geotechnical report in a geologic hazard area.
Contractors apply in Oregon ePermitting; homeowners turn in the City’s permit application or the Residential Packet at City Hall.
Apply to Linn County for any electrical work.
Staff contact the applicant when review is done and the permits are ready; pay the plan review, permit, technology and surcharge fees and any SDCs.
Book inspections in ePermitting and return the contractor information form before asking for the certificate of occupancy.
Review, corrections and what causes delay
The City says review of a complete residential set is generally done within two weeks, and it contacts the applicant when the permits can be issued. A set counts as complete when the intake checklist items, the calculations and a site plan showing setbacks, easements, utilities, grading and impervious area are all in. Changes to approved plans cost $130 an hour of added review, half an hour minimum. Extending a permit costs $50 and reinstating an expired one $100.
Inspections in Lebanon
Contractors and homeowners schedule and track structural, mechanical and plumbing inspections in Oregon ePermitting. Inspections can be requested for Monday to Thursday and are done on the day requested; a same-day request must be in before 7 a.m. Inspectors try to meet a morning or afternoon preference but cannot promise a time.
Want this handled start to finish?
Get a free quote →Linn County inspects the electrical work under its own permit. At the end of a new house, the City issues the certificate of occupancy once the inspections have passed and the contractor information form is on file. A reinspection costs $130, and so does each inspection beyond those allowed.
Lebanon permit search and official resources
Permits filed in Oregon ePermitting can be looked up there by address or permit number, with inspection results. The City also publishes monthly building activity reports for 2024 to 2026 and a comparison for 2021 to 2025.
- Lebanon Building Division
- Lebanon building applications and fees
- Building Department Fees, effective July 1, 2024
- Example single-family dwelling fees, July 1, 2026
- Residential Packet for new homes and additions
- Lebanon building inspections
- Construction codes and design assumptions for Lebanon
- Lebanon accessory dwelling rules
- Lebanon system development charges
- Lebanon building activity reports
- Lebanon notice of proposed building fees, August 2026
- Oregon ePermitting
- 2026 Oregon Residential Specialty Code, chapter 1 (permits and exemptions)
- DEQ onsite septic agents by county
- FEMA Community Status Book for Oregon
- Oregon Construction Contractors Board
Inspections are where schedules slip.
Get a free quote →Lebanon building permit FAQ
Who issues electrical permits in Lebanon?
Linn County, for every address inside the city limits. The City issues building, mechanical and plumbing permits.
How much are permit fees for a new house in Lebanon?
The City’s July 2026 example for a 1,750 sq ft house totals $4,792.38 in permit fees, plus $20,588 in system development charges.
How long does plan review take in Lebanon?
Generally about two weeks for a complete residential set.
When can I get an inspection in Lebanon?
Monday to Thursday, on the day requested in ePermitting; same-day requests must be in before 7 a.m.
Can I build an ADU in Lebanon?
Yes. ADUs are allowed outright in residential zones, up to 1,000 sq ft or 40% of the main house, one per lot, with no parking requirement.
Do I need a permit for a shed in Lebanon?
Not for a detached, one-story, nonhabitable shed of 200 sq ft or less that is no more than 15 feet to its average roof height; larger or taller buildings need one.
Is a fee increase coming in Lebanon?
The Building Official proposed an average 5.38% increase from October 1, 2026, if approved; the posted schedule is still the July 2024 one.
Simplify Lebanon 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.
Ready to break ground in Lebanon sooner?
Let Alliance prepare, file, and track your Lebanon permits while your crew stays on the job.
More Oregon permitting guides
Linn County
Read guide →Albany
Read guide →Corvallis
Read guide →Lincoln County Building Permit Guide
Read guide →Malheur County Building Permit Guide
Read guide →Marion County Building Permit Guide
Read guide →This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Lebanon permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.