Marshall Township, Pennsylvania Building Permit Guide

In Marshall Township, the township building office takes the application, issues the zoning permit and the building permit, and sends the plans to Professional Code Services (PCS), the third-party agency that reviews them and makes the inspections. Many small projects need only a township zoning permit (a shed or garage under 1,000 square feet is $10), while PCS bills its own review and inspection fees under the 2026 rates attached to Resolution 1050.

What requires a building permit in Marshall Township?

Marshall publishes a one-page chart that sorts projects into three groups: those that need only a township zoning permit, those that need a zoning permit and a PCS building permit, and alterations that need only the building permit.

Residential and commercial alterations, such as interior renovations, need a building permit but no zoning permit. Demolition takes its own township permit, and the demolition form also requires the sanitary authority to inspect the disconnected and capped sewer line.

What Marshall decides and what the state holds

The code that PCS enforces is the state Uniform Construction Code; L&I’s list shows Marshall as an opt-in municipality since July 1, 2004, with no pre-1999 amendments carried over. The township decides who reviews and inspects (it appointed PCS), and it writes its own zoning ordinance (Chapter 208 of the code, with a 2025 zoning map), the stormwater ordinance (Ordinance 461, Chapter 165, adopted November 26, 2018), the floodplain ordinance (Ordinance 427, adopted July 7, 2014), grading rules (Chapter 88), and the fee schedule adopted by the Board of Supervisors.

Marshall Township building department: who handles permitting

Applications go to the township’s Building Clerk, who handles residential and commercial permits and forwards the plans to Professional Code Services. PCS completes the plan review, the township issues the permit once PCS approves it, and PCS then makes the building, mechanical and electrical inspections. The township’s Zoning Officer, an AICP-certified planner, issues zoning permits and staffs the Zoning Hearing Board; the consulting Township Engineer handles grading, stormwater, road occupancy and driveway permits.

Marshall permit types and applications

The Building page splits its forms into residential and commercial lists. Applications can be mailed, dropped off at the township building or emailed to the Building Clerk, and the township will not accept an incomplete one; fees are paid once the permit is approved and issued.

Residential permits

There are three residential building permit applications: new residential construction, additions and decks, and interior renovations, each with a residential plan review checklist and a required inspections sheet. For a house, addition, deck over 30 inches, large accessory building, pool, tall retaining wall or porch roof, the township wants the building permit application, a zoning permit application, a survey showing where the work will go, a certificate of insurance, and footer, framing, structural, electrical and mechanical drawings. An interior renovation needs only the application, the certificate of insurance and drawings of the structure or the work. A finished house or addition closes with the residential occupancy request form.

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

Commercial permits

A new commercial building or a commercial renovation uses PCS’s Commercial Construction Document Review Application together with the first page of the township’s building application, a zoning permit application (for new buildings), a survey, a certificate of insurance and full drawings. PCS’s review fee covers the first review and one re-review of revised drawings; a third review costs 50% of the original fee. Commercial occupancy is handled with the township’s Use Occupancy Permit form, which the zoning officer and the building inspector and fire marshal both sign.

For tenant improvements and new commercial builds, Alliance handles commercial building permits through issuance. More on this: commercial building permits explained.

What comes before the building permit

• Zoning. Most projects need a zoning permit first, checked against the zoning ordinance and the 2025 map. Variances and special exceptions go to the Zoning Hearing Board ($300 plus a $700 escrow for each).
• Stormwater and grading. Stormwater management follows Ordinance 461 and the small project standardized requirements of April 28, 2008; earthwork needs a grading permit under Chapter 88, priced by cubic yards.
• Floodplain. Development in a mapped floodplain falls under Ordinance 427 of 2014; the township posts a floodplain and flood insurance FAQ.
• Sewer. New connections need a sanitary sewer tapping permit from the Marshall Township Municipal Sanitary Authority (MTMSA), with a to-scale drawing of the connection point; a commercial tap starts at $3,441 and adds $11.56 per gallon of estimated daily use above 289 gallons.
• Driveways and roads. Work in a township road needs the road occupancy permit and a new driveway the township driveway permit; a state road needs a PennDOT Highway Occupancy Permit.

Marshall permit fees

The Board of Supervisors adopted Resolution 1050 on January 5, 2026, restating the township’s General Fee Schedule and repealing earlier schedules. It sets the township’s own fees and attaches the 2026 PCS plan review and inspection rates as Appendix 1. The township building permit fee is the square footage construction cost times 0.0076, where the cost is the gross square footage times a construction cost factor; the resolution says the factor chart is attached as Appendix 1, but the posted Appendix 1 holds only PCS’s rates and no cost-factor chart, so ask the Building Clerk which factor applies to your building.

PCS bills its plan review fees directly to the owner, contractor or architect. For a 300-square-foot deck more than 30 inches high at an existing house, the PCS charges are $50 for plan review and $135 for inspections, $185 in all, on top of the township building permit fee and the $4.50 state fee. One trap: the PCS fee pages still printed in the township’s application packets are the 2025 schedule dated August 27, 2024, with different figures (a deck inspection there is $160); the 2026 rates adopted with Resolution 1050 are the current ones.

Trade permits and who may pull them

• Electrical: inspected by PCS under its 2026 electrical rates; a whole new house is $255 for four visits, and extra residential visits are $65 each. Solar PV is $175, plus $65 for a new service.
• Mechanical and gas: PCS inspects heating, cooling and gas piping; a residential gas piping job is $75 ($95 over five fixtures) and duct systems are $95 plus 1% of their cost.
• Plumbing: the PCS schedule states that plumbing is the jurisdiction of the Allegheny County Health Department, which issues plumbing permits and licenses plumbers; rough plumbing must pass before the framing inspection.
• Fire protection: residential suppression systems are $195 and fire alarms $95 under the PCS rates, and the township charges $75 for fire alarm or suppression plan review.

Every application must carry a certificate of insurance. Marshall’s pages set no local contractor license; home improvement contractors register with the Attorney General under HICPA.

How to apply for a Marshall permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

The township’s outline gives PCS up to 15 business days to turn around a residential review and up to 30 business days for commercial work, the same limits state law sets. The process does not start until every item is in, so a missing zoning application, survey or insurance certificate stalls the permit. A commercial project that needs a third round of plan corrections pays half the original review fee again. Once issued, a permit lapses if work does not begin within 180 days.

Inspections in Marshall Township

Inspections are requested from Professional Code Services, not the township; the inspection sheets word the timing as requests made “no sooner than 48 hours before” the inspection is needed, so confirm the notice PCS wants when you call. The required inspections sheet in each residential application marks the stages for that job: footing before concrete with the reinforcement in place, foundation, rough electrical by PCS, rough plumbing by the county, rough framing after the rough electrical and plumbing pass and before insulation, final electrical, and the occupancy or final inspection once all mechanical work is done. A final inspection is required on every building permit, and the building official can call for special inspections. Work may not continue past a stage until it passes, and the sheet warns that skipped inspections can bring penalties under the UCC and township ordinance.

New houses and additions close with the residential occupancy request form, which tells the township when the building will be ready. Marshall requires a dye test through MTMSA for any point-of-sale transaction; for a home connected to public sewer the total fee is $175, made up of a $50 administrative fee, $50 for the interior inspection and $75 for the exterior test.

Pennsylvania building code in Marshall Township

Marshall enforces the Uniform Construction Code locally through Professional Code Services. FEMA’s Community Status Book lists Marshall Township (community 421080) as participating in the National Flood Insurance Program, with its current flood map effective September 26, 2014.

Pennsylvania has one Uniform Construction Code for the whole state, based on the 2021 International Codes since January 1, 2026. Most municipalities enforce it themselves or through a certified third-party agency; where a municipality has opted out, the Department of Labor and Industry handles commercial work and home owners hire a certified agency. Counties do not issue building permits. Pennsylvania rules

Marshall permit search and official resources

Marshall does not offer an online permit lookup. Records of past permits are requested under the township’s open records policy, on its Right to Know Request Form, from the Township Secretary, who is the open records officer, at 525 Pleasant Hill Road, Suite 100, or 724-935-3090.

• Marshall Township Building Department
• Building permit process outline
• Marshall Township required permits chart
• New residential construction application
• Residential additions and decks application
• Residential interior renovation application
• New commercial construction application
• Commercial renovation application
• Use occupancy permit
• Resolution 1050, General Fee Schedule (January 5, 2026)
• Zoning permits and zoning map
• Engineering: grading, stormwater, road occupancy, driveways
• Floodplains and flood insurance
• MTMSA point-of-sale dye testing
• Open records policy and request form
• Allegheny County Health Department plumbing program
• L&I municipal UCC election list
• FEMA Community Status Book, Pennsylvania

Marshall Township building permit FAQs

Do I need a building permit for a shed in Marshall Township?

Not under 1,000 square feet; a shed or garage that size needs only a township zoning permit, $10 for a residential accessory structure. Above 1,000 square feet it needs both permits.

Does a deck need a permit?

A deck under 30 inches with no roof needs a zoning permit only. A higher deck, or any deck with a roof, also needs a PCS building permit.

Who does inspections in Marshall?

Professional Code Services, the township’s third-party agency, does the building, mechanical and electrical inspections; plumbing belongs to the Allegheny County Health Department.

How long does a permit review take?

Up to 15 business days for residential and 30 for commercial applications, once the package is complete.

What does a new house cost to permit?

Under the 2026 PCS rates, plan review is $150, one- and two-family inspections are $0.50 per square foot and electrical is $255; the township adds its building permit fee, a $15 zoning permit and the $4.50 state fee.

What is required when I sell my house?

A dye test through the Marshall Township Municipal Sanitary Authority, required at any point of sale; for a home on public sewer it costs $175 in all.

How much is the sewer tap for a new house?

$3,441 from MTMSA, with a further special purpose fee in the Valley ($7,540) and Markman ($9,223) areas.

Simplify Marshall Township permitting with Alliance Permitting

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