Columbus, IN Accessory Structures: Shed & Carport Rules (2026)

The fee schedule in Section 15.04.100 of the Columbus Municipal Code lists Accessory Structures to Residential Dwellings as item 5 under Residential Structures: a minimum fee of fifty dollars plus five cents per square foot of gross floor area. The same schedule prices other residential work differently. Decks and Patios run thirty dollars plus five cents per square foot, Additions and Remodeling run fifty dollars plus seven cents, and the Roofing Siding Permit is a flat thirty dollars. An accessory structure on a commercial, industrial or multifamily property falls under a separate line, B.3, at one hundred dollars plus seven cents per square foot of gross floor area.

Whether a shed needs a permit at all starts with Section 15.04.080, which requires a permit before beginning construction, alteration or repair of any building or structure when the cost exceeds $300. The application rules in Section 15.04.090 apply: fees, plans and specifications, and for a new structure a plot plan showing the new building, all other existing improvements and the lot boundaries. The chief code enforcement officer can waive the plot plan for good cause or undue hardship.

The permit then runs on the building code clock. Under Section 15.04.120 it is void after six months if work is not begun or does not proceed at a reasonable rate, and a one-year renewal costs fifty percent of the original fee, since the original permit is good for two years. Section 15.04.150 requires the permit to be posted prominently on the construction site. The Department of Code Enforcement inspects under Section 15.04.160, and a reinspection carries a minimum fee of thirty dollars per inspection.

This section is a fee rule. It does not print how large a shed can be or how far it must sit from a property line, so those limits are not on this page.