Tiverton, Rhode Island Building Permit Guide

Tiverton’s Building / Code / Zoning department, which the Town also calls Code Enforcement, permits and inspects construction, runs zoning and serves as the town’s floodplain administrator. Every Building Department application, from demolition to solar, is filed in OpenGov. Building permits cost $9 per $1,000 of value up to $10,000 (minimum $65), and a new home with two or more bedrooms adds a $2,980 impact fee.

What requires a permit in Tiverton?

The department reviews and inspects projects that range, in its words, from simple roofing or door replacements to large multifamily and commercial developments. The permits it issues through OpenGov are:

What Tiverton handles and what the state keeps

Tiverton’s Code Enforcement office handles building permits, plan review, inspections, zoning and floodplain administration itself. Other Town departments sign off parts of a new home: the Assessor before the final, the Fire Department for its final inspection and for one-, two- and three-family smoke and carbon monoxide alarm inspections, and the portal’s Fire/Police/DPW section for street opening permits and underground tank removal. The state keeps CRMC coastal assents, RIDEM septic and freshwater wetlands permits, and contractor registration, and the building fee sheet adds a State Fire Marshal plan review fee on projects that need that review.

Tiverton building department: who handles permitting

Code Enforcement has three main areas of authority: building, zoning and floodplain administration. It issues building permits, reviews plans and inspects work; interprets the Zoning Ordinance, issues zoning certificates and guides applicants through the Zoning Board of Review; monitors vacant, abandoned and foreclosed properties; and works with the State Floodplain Coordinator and FEMA. Thomas Varatta is the Building Official, and a Zoning Enforcement Officer handles zoning matters.

Applying in Tiverton’s OpenGov portal

Every application for a permit the Building Department issues must be submitted online, and you can pay online as well. To look up a permit, open the portal and choose Search for Records; no account is needed, and you can search by address, plat and lot number, or record (permit) number to see the application details, attached files and status.

The department posts separate fee sheets for building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, sign and solar permits, an Inspection Sequence for new work, and a complaint form. For a zoning question, call the department.

Residential permits

On a Tiverton house the Building Department section of the portal has separate applications for the building permit, electrical, mechanical, plumbing and solar permits, and demolition, with fire plan review requested on the same submission where it applies. Other portal forms a homeowner may need are underground tank removal, an address request for a new house, and a street opening permit for work in a Town road. Plumbing and mechanical work is priced per fixture, appliance or system on the trade sheets.

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

Commercial permits

For businesses the portal adds a sign permit, which the Town requires for both temporary and permanent signs, a tent permit filed at least 14 days before the event, and the Fire Department’s commercial business inspection. Commercial, industrial and mixed-use trade permits cost 3.5% of the total project cost, though the trade sheets allow that rate to be reduced on large commercial and industrial projects to reflect the cost of Town services. Along Main Road north of Route 24 and at Bliss Four Corners, plans must also meet the Commercial Form-Based Code, and planning applications have their own portal section.

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

Looking up a Tiverton permit or record

Anyone can open the portal’s Search for Records without an account and search by address, plat and lot or record number. Formal records requests go only through the Town Clerk’s office, the Town’s designated public records unit: in person, by phone (401-625-6703), letter, fax (401-625-6705), email or the Town’s request form. The office has 10 business days to respond, which can stretch to 20 for large or difficult requests.

Tiverton building permit fees

Tiverton’s building fee sheet, effective July 2, 2018, uses the state-mandated valuation schedule, which matches the Tiverton rates in the current state fee regulation (510-RICR-00-00-21):

For example, a $60,000 addition has a building permit fee of $370 plus 10 × $5, or $420. On a one- or two-family house the ADA state fee, which is the statutory 0.1% levy, stops at $50 rather than the $60 the sheet’s rate alone would give. Fire Department and State Fire Marshal plan review fees are added when the project needs those reviews, and each permit missing at the start of work counts as a separate offense.

Electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits in Tiverton

Trade permits are filed in OpenGov like building permits and are priced on their own fee sheets, effective October 11, 2016. Commercial, industrial and mixed-use trade permits are 3.5% of the total project cost; every trade permit also carries the ADA state fee, a $90 re-inspection fee and the same late filing penalties.

Plumbing and mechanical inspections are requested by email to the Town’s plumbing and mechanical inspector or through the portal.

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

Who may pull trade permits

Tiverton’s Inspection Sequence requires any contractor named on a permit to call in their own inspections. Electricians, plumbers and mechanical contractors hold their licences from the state Department of Labor and Training. Builders, remodelers and their subcontractors need registration with the Contractors’ Registration and Licensing Board, and R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-65-3 stops the Town from issuing a building permit to an unregistered contractor who needs it; a homeowner who lives in the house is exempt from that registration. On a duplex, the plumbing sheet requires a separate permit for each unit.

How to get a Tiverton building permit

Review, corrections and what causes delay

Tiverton posts no target review time. The checkpoints the Town spells out for a new house sit mostly at the end: the certificate of occupancy has to be picked up at the office before any final inspection is called in, and the finals need the wastewater or sewer certificate, a certified well water test, the Assessor’s approval and the Fire Department’s final. Earlier on, a flood-zone lot brings the floodplain rules into review, a commercial lot on Main Road or at Bliss Four Corners the form-based code, and any work started without a permit costs $300 or more on top of the permit fee.

Tiverton inspections

Call the department at 401-625-6715 to schedule building inspections, with 24 hours’ notice; you may leave the details on the answering machine. Give the street location (clearly marked on site), the type of inspection, the permit number, a contact name and phone, and where to find an open door or key. If a contractor is on the permit, the contractor must call in their own inspections. The Town’s Inspection Sequence for new work:

• Bottom, before stone or gravel
• Foundation, after waterproofing or insulation and before backfilling
• Rough electrical, plumbing and mechanical
• Rough frame, including roofing and siding, with temporary stairs installed
• Insulation
• Pick up the C.O. at the office before calling in any final inspections
• Final electrical, plumbing and mechanical
• Final wastewater or sewer certificate, and a well water test by a Rhode Island certified company
• Final Assessor’s approval (by appointment, 401-625-6709) and final Fire Department inspection (401-625-6707)
• Final building inspection and certificate of occupancy

Nothing but project materials may be stored in a new home before the certificate of occupancy. A failed or inaccessible inspection costs $90, payable before the re-inspection.

Tiverton flood, coastal and site rules

Floodplain: Tiverton takes part in the National Flood Insurance Program, and FEMA lists its current effective flood map as dated July 6, 2021. The Town’s floodplain page posts flood map panels and a 2012 preliminary flood study, so compare them with the current map on FEMA’s Map Service Center. The department, as local floodplain administrator, helps owners in flood zones through the program’s requirements.

Coastal work: the Coastal Resources Management Council permits work in the coastal zone, separately from the Town.

Septic and wells: RIDEM issues septic (OWTS) permits, typically reviewing new construction designs in 3 weeks, and the Town’s final sequence asks for a wastewater or sewer certificate and a certified well water test. RIDEM also permits work near freshwater wetlands.

Vacant property: Tiverton has a Foreclosed and Vacant Property Ordinance, with a property owner notification form on the Building page.

Building code in Tiverton

Tiverton’s inspectors enforce the Rhode Island State Building Code; the Inspection Sequence cites its one- and two-family code (SBC-2). Since December 1, 2025 the code has been based on 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

Tiverton permit FAQ

Who issues building permits in Tiverton?

The Building / Code / Zoning department (Code Enforcement) at Town Hall, 343 Highland Road (401-625-6715).

How much does a building permit cost in Tiverton?

$9 per $1,000 of value up to $10,000, $90 plus $7 per $1,000 up to $50,000, and $370 plus $5 per $1,000 above that, with a $65 minimum, plus the $1 per $1,000 ADA state fee (no more than $50 per permit on a one- or two-family home).

Is there an impact fee on new homes?

Yes, $2,980 per dwelling with two or more bedrooms, with some exclusions.

How do I book an inspection?

Call 401-625-6715 with 24 hours’ notice for building inspections; plumbing and mechanical inspections are requested by email to the inspector or through the portal.

Can I apply on paper?

No. All Building Department permit applications are submitted online in OpenGov.

What does a failed inspection cost?

$90, paid before the re-inspection.

How do I look up a Tiverton permit?

Open the OpenGov portal and choose Search for Records; no account is needed. Other records come through the Town Clerk’s office (401-625-6703).

Do signs and tents need permits?

Yes. Temporary and permanent signs both need a sign permit, and a tent permit must be filed at least 14 days before the event.

Tiverton permit search and official resources

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

• Tiverton Building / Code / Zoning
• Tiverton OpenGov e-permitting portal
• Tiverton building permit fees (PDF)
• Tiverton electrical permit fees (PDF)
• Tiverton mechanical permit fees (PDF)
• Tiverton plumbing permit fees (PDF)
• Tiverton Inspection Sequence (PDF)
• Tiverton Zoning
• Tiverton Floodplain
• Statewide building permit fee schedules (510-RICR-00-00-21)
• Rhode Island Building Code Commission: adopted codes
• Coastal Resources Management Council
• RIDEM onsite wastewater (septic) permits
• Tiverton portal: Building Department applications
• Tiverton public records requests (Town Clerk)

Simplify Tiverton 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 Tiverton permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.