Salem, OR Accessory Structures: Shed & Carport Rules (2026)
Shed permit rules in Salem, OR, also referred to as storage shed, backyard shed, or accessory building regulations, set size limits, setbacks, and when a building permit is required.
Key Facts
- Max accessory height
- 15 ft. in the RS zone
- Max total accessory footage
- 600 sq ft (small house) up to 1,000 sq ft
- Rear-yard coverage cap
- 25% for single/two-family accessory structures
- Street setback
- 12 ft. (20 ft. near collector/arterial) if over 4 ft. tall
- Interior side setback
- 5 ft. for structures over 4 ft. tall
- Unpermitted work penalty
- up to $5,000.00 per violation, SRC 56.198
Summary
In Salem's RS single-family zone, accessory structures such as sheds are capped at 15 feet in height and a combined 600 to 1,000 square feet depending on the main house's size, and must sit at least 5 feet from an interior side line and further from the street, under SRC 511.010's dimensional tables.
(f)Maximum square footage for all accessory structures. In addition to the maximum coverage requirements established in Table 511-4, accessory structures to single family and two family uses shall be limited to the maximum aggregate total square footage set forth in Table 511-5. TABLE 511-5. MAXIMUM SQUARE FOOTAGE FOR ALL ACCESSORY STRUCTURES. Main Building Gross Area: 1,200 square feet or less, Maximum Aggregate Total Square Footage for All Accessory Structures: 600 sq. ft. Main Building Gross Area: Greater than 1,200 square feet, Maximum Aggregate Total Square Footage for All Accessory Structures: 1,000 sq. ft. or 50% of main building gross area, whichever is less.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 26 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
010 sets the dimensional envelope for every accessory structure, including sheds, built on an RS-zoned lot. Table 511-4 caps accessory-structure height at a flat 15 feet regardless of use, and limits rear-yard coverage by accessory buildings serving a single-family or two-family home to a maximum of 25 percent of the rear yard. Table 511-5 layers on a maximum aggregate square footage for every accessory structure on the lot: 600 square feet total where the main house's gross floor area is 1,200 square feet or less, and 1,000 square feet, or 50 percent of the main building's gross area, whichever is smaller, where the house is larger.
Setbacks in Table 511-3 scale with the shed's height: an accessory structure no taller than 4 feet needs no street or front setback at all, but anything taller than 4 feet must sit back a minimum of 12 feet from an abutting street (20 feet if that street is a collector or arterial) and 5 feet from an interior side line; at the rear, a structure up to 9 feet tall needs no setback, gaining a foot of required setback for every foot of height beyond that, dropping to a 1-foot minimum along an alley. 007 permit requirement for covered work.
Violations & Fines
Building a covered accessory structure without the required permit exposes an owner to the general building-code enforcement track: a stop-work order and permit revocation under SRC 56.198, plus a civil penalty of up to $5,000.00 per violation, with each day a violation continues counted separately. A shed left unmaintained or structurally unsound is instead enforced under SRC 50.550 as a property-maintenance nuisance rather than through a fixed fine schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to build a shed in Salem?
How big can my shed be on an RS-zoned lot?
How close to my property line can I put a shed?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Salem
How Salem compares: Shed Permit Requirements by City·Compare Salem to another location·View the Oregon accessory structures overview
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