Legally and Adeptly Attaining Wake County Building Permits

When it comes to choosing a site to develop a new business and breaking ground at the location with the city, experiences that should be exciting and positive can be ruined when businesses and homeowners fail to correctly secure . To make matters even more confusing, it's not only developers of offices and industrial parks that need permission from a county, even building on one's own property without requisite approval can result in ugly fines and disputes. As a result, DoNotPay provides advice for our subscribers to show them how to get the correct approval from their county.

DoNotPay understands that failure to follow protocol when securing building permits in Wake County, NC can land both business and homeowners in hot trouble. DoNotPay can help explain what a building permit is and why it's important to have one. The law varies in specific areas and DoNotPay offers guides about how to get a building permit in places besides Wake County, including Chicago, LA, Palm Beach, Sarasota, and countless other locations.

When Is a Building Permit Necessary in Wake County, NC?

In Wake County, NC, builders or homeowners working on their properties need to acquire a document from the area government that proves the one working down the property has the government's formal approval. This document is important for liability reasons, shows that contractors or construction procedures may begin, and in general shows that the one who completed the application is in compliance with zoning standards pertaining to these issues.

Based on the county website, Wake County residents need building permits for:

Adding and removing parts of the building.
Constructing new buildings.
Changing the usage of a room (for example: converting the purpose of a garage to a bedroom).
Changing the home's piping system.
Re-roofing and improving the home and other repairs.
Knocking down part of the home.
Relocating any building.
Changing the type of occupancy.

Wake County residents do not need building permits for:

Nonstructural tweaks where it costs less than $15,000 in single-family homes unless it involves plumbing, electrical, or mechanical systems.
Rural farms beyond the municipality.
Replacing common repairs like windows, doors, siding, pickets, porches, decks, etc.
Replacing a water heater in places that are not multi-family dwellings.
Repainting the home, adding cabinets, and other minor home repairs.
Repaving a driveway.
Erecting a small fence.

How to Get a Building Permit in Wake County

It can be a tedious process to get a building permit in Wake County without any legal guidance. It requires coordination with a team of inspectors that work for the city and reaching them during a time when many offices are still operating on strange hours during the Coronavirus. It's possible to contact city officials by reaching out to them at their offices. However, there could be delays in getting the issues resolved in a timely fashion, depending upon the level of activity at that government department.

Contact the Wake County Inspections and Permits Department.
Reach out to them by going to their building, calling them on the department phone (919-856-6222), or emailing the department at Wake.Permitting@wakegov.com.
If you plan on contacting them, the office hours are 8:15 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday–Friday.
Your claim may require more work from them, such as a Field Inspection, which has slightly different hours.
You will not know whether your claim requires a Field Inspection (7:15 a.m.–4:00 p.m., Monday–Friday) and will have to speak with the specialists.
Speak to the Inspections and Permits Departments and wait for further instructions.

What Fees Are Associated With Getting a Permit?

The fees associated with getting a building permit range anywhere from $800 for a Special Building Permit to a $75 per hour fee for the government employee that researches the claim. An outline of the fees is available here for an idea of the type of fees that builders or homeowners will encounter. The fees depend on the individual project and analysis of the Inspections and Permits Department.

Applying for Wake County Building Permit With the Help of DoNotPay

Not interested and lacking the time to wait all day for the government to return calls? Many people chose DoNotPay since the process is exasperating, involves government feedback and following specific claims, and no one wants to accidentally pay more in fees for misunderstanding the paperwork. If you want to apply for getting a building permit fast in Wake County and don't know where to start, DoNotPay has you covered. Create your own cancellation letter in 6 easy steps:

Go to the Planning Permissions product on DoNotPay.
Choose one of the following options:

Check whether your project needs a building permit or if it's exempt
Generate a permission request letter to send to your HOA
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 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.

Why Use DoNotPay to Get a Wake County Building Permit?

There are a lot of reasons why you should choose DoNotPay:

It’s Fast	You don't have to spend hours trying to get a building permit.
It’s Easy	You don't have to struggle to fill out tedious forms or keep track of all the steps involved in getting a permit.
It’s Successful	You can rest assured knowing we'll make the best case for you.