Lincoln, Rhode Island Building Permit Guide

The Lincoln Building Department at Town Hall, 100 Old River Road, issues building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits, as well as demolition and solar permits, and takes applications through the town’s ViewPoint Cloud portal. The same fee scale covers all four permit types: $15 per $1,000 of materials and labour up to $10,000, with a $75 minimum, plus the state fee. A new building also needs a Class 1 survey, plans signed off by the fire department and, on sewer, a Narragansett Bay Commission connection permit.

What requires a building permit in Lincoln?

Lincoln applies the Rhode Island State Building Code, and its Building Department lists the permits it handles: building, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, demolition and solar, plus zoning applications. A new house or commercial building also has to clear several other approvals before the permit is issued.

What Lincoln handles, and what stays with the state

The Building Official decides the building and trade permits, the public facilities impact fee assessed on new homes and new commercial or industrial space, and petitions to move a building along a town street. The same office decides whether a project needs a soil erosion and sediment control plan under Code Chapter 213. Zoning certificates, variances and special use permits belong to the separate Zoning Department and the Zoning Board of Review.

Outside the town hall, the Narragansett Bay Commission issues sewer connection permits, RIDEM handles wetlands and septic approvals, and RIDOT issues Physical Alteration Permits for driveways onto state roads. Fire review stays with the fire service: new-construction plans must be signed by the local fire department, the online application includes a Fire Plan Review from the Fire Marshal where it applies, and Lincoln’s four fire departments — Lime Rock, Lincoln, Manville and Quinnville — take life safety inspection requests in the portal.

Lincoln building department: who handles permitting

Permits for the whole town come from the Town of Lincoln Building Department. Russell Hervieux is the Building Official. Zoning is run by a separate Zoning Department, which handles Zoning Board of Review applications, zoning certificates and zoning complaints.

Lincoln permit types, forms and checklists

Building and trade permits are filed in the town’s Online Permitting/License System, the ViewPoint Cloud portal linked from the Building Department page; the same OpenGov portal takes Zoning Board of Review applications. Its Building Department section lets you submit one form for a permit together with any Fire Plan Review, and offers seven application types: Building, Electrical, Plumbing, Mechanical, Solar, Moving and Demolition.

Residential permits

A new house, addition, deck, garage or alteration starts with the Building Permit; the electrician, plumber and mechanical contractor add their own permits, and solar arrays have their own form. For a new house the town’s New Construction Checklist applies (see Application documents below). An Accessory Family Dwelling Unit Affidavit is posted by the Zoning Department for in-law units.

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

Commercial permits

Commercial buildings use the same Building Permit with the Fire Plan Review option, and their site plans follow the same 20-item checklist, where the engineer’s stamp, drainage computations and DEM statement can be waived only for small single-lot applications. New commercial or industrial floor space pays the public facilities impact fee. Moving a building along a town street needs a Moving Permit and, under Chapter 89, a written petition to the Building Official that is advertised for a week before it is decided, plus a bond set by the Town Council.

The town also posts these forms and guides:

• Building Permit New Construction Checklist, the list of items a new building needs.
• Check List for Site Plan Approval, 20 items for the site plan, from contours at 2-foot intervals to downspout discharge points, a crushed-stone construction entrance and erosion controls.
• Stormwater Guidance for Single Family Dwelling Building Permit Applications, the state guidance on treating runoff from new roofs and driveways.
• Sewer Lateral Location Request, which takes 4 business days for a reply.
• Zoning Certificate Request, $30 by check or cash, sent to the Zoning Official.

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

Lincoln permit costs and fees

Lincoln’s fee sheet, “Permit Fees (Building, Electrical, Plumbing, Mechanical)”, effective July 1, 2018, uses the schedule the state set for Lincoln in 510-RICR-00-00-21. It is charged on the cost of materials and labour.

On a $250,000 new house the town fee works out to $670 plus 200 × $11, or $2,870. The state fee is the levy in R.I. Gen. Laws 23-27.3-108.2, which the statute caps at $50 per permit for one- and two-family dwellings.

Other town fees (Code Chapter 117): a certificate of occupancy is $75, a reinspection $75, and a late filing fee is $100 or double the required permit fee, whichever is greater. Chapter 117 still prints an older 2014 rate table, which the July 2018 fee sheet and the state regulation have replaced, but it also sets how new structures and additions are valued: from the International Code Council’s square-foot construction costs, updated every two years, with decks at $25 per sq ft.

Public facilities impact fee: any building permit that adds new homes or new commercial or industrial floor space pays this fee, set each year by the Town Council per dwelling unit and per square foot of non-residential space. It is assessed when you apply and collected in full at the certificate of occupancy. Remodeling that does not change the use, accessory buildings that add no dwelling unit, like-for-like replacement buildings and affordable units are exempt, but any exemption must be claimed when you apply. A disputed amount can be appealed to the Zoning Board of Review.

Electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits

The Building Department issues Lincoln’s electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits, and they use the same valuation scale as the building permit, so a $5,000 electrical job pays the $75 minimum. Solar installations have their own permit type. Apply for each trade permit separately in the portal.

Alliance handles electrical permit filing for contractors here. More on this: who pulls the electrical permit.

Who may pull them

Trade work must be done by tradespeople with the matching Rhode Island licence, which can be checked on the state Department of Labor and Training’s professional regulation site, and contractors must be registered with the Contractors’ Registration and Licensing Board. Each trade files its own application in the portal for the job.

Application documents for a new building

Lincoln’s New Construction Building Permit Requirements list:

• A completed permit application
• Three sets of complete building plans, reviewed and signed by the local fire department
• A Class 1 survey of the site by a registered Rhode Island surveyor
• A certificate of energy conformance, such as a REScheck report
• A sewer connection permit from the Narragansett Bay Commission
• A site plan showing every item on the Site Plan Approval checklist
• Where needed, a RIDEM wetlands permit or letter of non-jurisdiction, a RIDOT Physical Alteration Permit and a town Application to Excavate a Highway
• The seasonal high groundwater elevation, if necessary
• Stormwater mitigation for roof and driveway runoff, designed to the RIDEM guidance for single-family lots

The site plan checklist asks for a professional engineer’s stamp, drainage computations and a statement of compliance with DEM rules, but these three items may be waived for small single-lot applications. Its note says the building permit can be issued only once the required site-plan items are confirmed as installed, and any excavation in a street or right-of-way needs a permit from the Town Engineering Department.

How to apply for a Lincoln building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

Lincoln’s checklists make the order of work plain: the fire department’s signature on the plans, the Narragansett Bay Commission sewer permit and any RIDEM or RIDOT approval all belong in the file before the building permit, and the site plan checklist says the permit is issued only once the required site-plan items are found installed. A missing engineer’s stamp, drainage calculation or DEM compliance statement can hold up a site plan, although those three items may be waived for a small single-lot application.

Earthwork can add a step. Under Chapter 213 the Building Official decides whether land disturbance needs an erosion and sediment control plan; an addition to a house with less than 1,000 sq ft of ground coverage, more than 100 feet from any watercourse and on slopes of 10% or less, needs no determination. Excavation in a town street needs an excavation permit from the Town Engineering Department.

Inspections in Lincoln

The Building Department inspects work under the permits it issues. Its page lists one number for the Building Official and the building clerk, 401-333-8430, and gives no separate inspection line or online booking instructions. On new construction, the site plan checklist’s note says the building permit is issued only once the required site-plan items are found installed on the site.

Local details that matter in Lincoln

Flood maps: Lincoln participates in the National Flood Insurance Program, and its current FEMA flood maps took effect on June 23, 2026. Check whether a lot is in a mapped flood zone before design.

Sewer laterals: to find where a property’s sewer lateral is, send the town’s Sewer Lateral Location Request and allow 4 business days for the answer.

Septic: the Building Department posts RIDEM’s septic records guide; the state’s Onsite Wastewater (OWTS) program, not the town, approves septic systems.

Stormwater on house lots: the state guidance the town posts applies the CRMC and RIDEM wetlands rules for single-family lots: where those rules apply, the first inch of runoff from new roof areas of 600 sq ft or more and from all new driveways and parking areas must be treated. Lincoln’s own checklist separately asks for roof and driveway runoff mitigation on new construction.

Permit search and records

The town’s OpenGov portal has a public “Search for Records” tool and a “Claim a Record” option for linking an existing application to your account. Older permit files and other town records are requested through the Town Clerk’s office, which handles open records requests.

Rhode Island building code

Plans in Lincoln are reviewed against the state code adopted effective December 1, 2025: the 2021 International Codes with Rhode Island amendments, the 2023 National Electrical Code and the 2024 energy code.

Rhode Island has one state building code, kept by the State Building Code Office and enforced by each city or town’s building official; there is no county layer, and appeals go first to the town’s board of appeals, then to the state Building Code Board of Standards and Appeals. Rhode Island rules

Lincoln building permit FAQ

Who issues building permits in Lincoln?

The Town of Lincoln Building Department at Town Hall, 100 Old River Road, phone 401-333-8430. Russell Hervieux is the Building Official.

How much is a building permit in Lincoln?

$15 per $1,000 of materials and labour up to $10,000, $150 plus $13 per $1,000 up to $50,000, and $670 plus $11 per $1,000 above that, with a $75 minimum and the state fee added. A $250,000 house is $2,870 before the state fee.

Are electrical and plumbing permits cheaper?

No. The town’s fee sheet applies the same scale to building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits.

What does a new house need before the permit?

A Class 1 survey, three sets of plans signed by the fire department, an energy certificate, a Narragansett Bay Commission sewer permit, a site plan to the town checklist and any RIDEM or RIDOT approvals the site needs.

How do I apply for a zoning variance?

Online only, through Lincoln’s OpenGov portal. The Zoning Department handles dimensional and use variances and special use permits.

How much is a zoning certificate?

$30, paid by check or cash before the certificate is released.

Is there an impact fee on a new house in Lincoln?

Yes. A building permit that adds a dwelling unit pays the public facilities impact fee, set each year by the Town Council and collected at the certificate of occupancy.

How do I look up an old building permit?

Use the portal’s Search for Records, or send an open records request to the Town Clerk’s office.

Lincoln permit search and official resources

• Lincoln Building Department
• Lincoln ViewPoint Cloud permit portal
• Lincoln permit fees (building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical), effective July 1, 2018
• Lincoln new construction building permit checklist
• Lincoln site plan approval checklist
• Stormwater guidance for single-family building permits
• Lincoln sewer lateral location request
• Lincoln Zoning Department
• Lincoln Zoning Board of Review application
• Lincoln zoning certificate request
• 510-RICR-00-00-21, statewide building permit fee schedules
• RI Building Code Commission: laws, rules and regulations
• RIDEM septic (OWTS) permitting
• RIDEM freshwater wetlands permitting
• RI Contractors’ Registration and Licensing Board
• FEMA Community Status Book, Rhode Island
• Lincoln online Building Department applications
• Lincoln Code Chapter 117, Fees and impact fees
• Lincoln Code Chapter 89, Moving of Buildings
• Lincoln Code Chapter 213, Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control

Simplify Lincoln permitting with Alliance Permitting

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