Acworth, GA Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Section 18-31 adopts the Georgia State Minimum Standard Building, One- and Two-Family Dwelling, Fire, Plumbing, Mechanical, Gas, Electrical and Energy Codes, plus the 2006 International Property Maintenance Code as amended locally, as the construction codes the city enforces; there's no separate Acworth-authored building code underneath them. Section 18-56(a)(1) sets the trigger for a permit: any owner, agent or contractor who wants to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish or change the occupancy of a building or structure, or to erect, install, alter, repair, remove, convert or replace a regulated sign, electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system, has to apply to the building official first.

The building official reviews plans against the adopted codes and other ordinances before issuing the permit, and can require a Georgia-registered architect or engineer's stamped drawings for larger commercial buildings, though single-family dwellings are exempt from that design-professional requirement regardless of size. An application is deemed abandoned six months after filing if no permit issues, though the building official can grant one or more 90-day extensions for good cause. Once issued, a permit itself expires six months after the last passed inspection, or six months after issuance if no inspection was ever approved, subject to a similar extension.

Section 18-37 requires the permit to be displayed on the premises and lets police officers check it during a job. Retaining walls over four feet in height, or any wall that supports soil bearing a structure, need their own permit under Section 18-40, and a stamped engineer's design where the backfill slope exceeds one foot of rise per three feet of run.