All You Need to Know About Baltimore County Building Permits

Baltimore County Building Permits: Fast and Easy System to Apply!

If you've done DIY construction and renovation, you know every part of the process can be a challenge, including applying for . Not only must you determine whether your project even needs a permit, but you're also then tasked with discovering which permit you need to apply for, figuring out the application process, determining the right fees to pay, and jumping through every hoop with enough time to ensure your permit arrives before your project starts.

While the building permitting process isn't easy, there is help available. You don't have to navigate the system alone.

Is a Building Permit Always Necessary in Baltimore County?

The short answer? No. Is the system for determining when you do and do not need a permit easy to navigate? Also no.

Here's how the Baltimore Sun explains it:

Although most of the local governments in the region make forms and information available online and several have automated telephone systems for scheduling inspections, the process can be complicated, because it varies in each jurisdiction and by the type of renovations being done. In some places, homeowners creating a garden shed might just as well be building an embassy. (Baltimore Sun)

To help you out, we've gathered a bit of information about when you do or do not need a building permit.

Here's what we discovered:

Needing a Permit

Here are a few examples of the types of projects that will require a permit in Baltimore County:

New construction
Additions
Decks
Most new or replacement fences
Sheds of more than 120-square feet
Plumbing and electrical work
Pools larger than fifteen feet in diameter

In short, most work requires a permit. There are a few exceptions, however.

Not Requiring a Permit

A few smaller projects, such as roof replacements or installing new windows and/or doors, will not require a permit. The same goes for cosmetic work, such as interior or exterior painting.

Apart from those exceptions, however, you most likely need a permit.

How to Get a Building Permit in Baltimore County

Discovering how to get a building permit in Baltimore County is easy enough. Getting through the process is another matter entirely.

The county is no longer accepting paper applications at all, which means all permit applications must be completed online through the government portal.

This means if you have questions or concerns while filling out the form, your only recourse is to contact the offices via the phone number listed on their site; however, the permit office hours are limited from 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, Monday to Friday.

If you work a full-time day job during the week and run into challenges completing your online permit application, you may have trouble finding the help you need.

Fortunately, with DoNotPay, there's a fast, efficient, and pain-free way to apply for Baltimore County building permits any time of the day or night.

All that's required is that you:

Log in with DoNotPay.
Follow the instructions listed below.
Sit back and wait for your permits to be approved.

No tedious instructions or clunky government websites are required.

Apply for Baltimore County Building Permits With DoNotPay

While the paperwork required to apply for isn't always intuitive, you're in luck. Our fast, efficient, and easy-to-use product can have you on your way in no time.

If you want to apply for Baltimore County building permits but don't know where to start, DoNotPay has you covered in 6 easy steps:

Go to the Planning Permissions product on DoNotPay.
Choose one of the following options:
1. Check whether your project needs a building permit or if it's exempt
2. Generate a permission request letter to send to your HOA
3. Generate a guide on how to complete the building permit application
Choose the focus of your project (new ADU, pool, shed, fence, etc.) and answer a few questions about your plans, including the size of the structure and estimated cost.
Indicate whether you're hiring a contractor and include the estimated start date and the timeline for the project.
Indicate whether any public sidewalk/street space will be used during construction.
And that's it! DoNotPay will help guide you through the building permit process by checking if your project needs a building permit, contacting any HOAs you're a part of to request building permission, or generating detailed instructions on how to start and complete your building permit application process.

And then you're done. That's really how simple the process can be.

DoNotPay Can Help

If you're outside Baltimore County, you can still use DoNotPay to apply for building permits.

Our goal at DoNotPay is to help streamline issues that seem complex but can actually be handled quite simply if you know how to navigate the system. Instead of making you learn all the details for yourself, we take care of the tricky bits for you, allowing you to accomplish tasks such as:

Come check out our wide array of products and services!