Hamilton County, TN Accessory Structures: Shed & Carport Rules (2026)

E, 'Location of Accessory Buildings on a Lot,' governs where a detached shed, garage or other accessory building can sit once you clear the district's main setback lines; it applies only in the unincorporated county, since Article IX excludes Chattanooga and the county's other incorporated towns. A detached accessory building cannot occupy more than one-third of the area of a rear yard. On a corner lot, no accessory building may be erected, altered or moved nearer than one-third of the lot's depth or width to the front or side street line, and on any lot no accessory building can come within five feet of the side line of the front half of an adjacent lot.

The section also caps how far back a shed has to sit: notwithstanding the other rules, no detached accessory building has to be set more than 75 feet from any street bounding the lot. Small storage buildings get a specific exception in subsection (8): a building no larger than 12 feet by 12 feet, with a maximum height of six feet to the low point of the eaves, can go in the side or rear yard if it sits at least five feet off the side and rear lot lines, and on a corner lot does not project into the side yard next to the street.

Article VIII, Section 102 treats an accessory building built at the same time as the main house as covered by that single building permit, but a shed added later needs its own separate permit from the Hamilton County Building Commissioner through the Department of Building Inspection.