Cherokee County, SC Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Section 6-2(a) of the Cherokee County Code is the permit trigger. Any owner, authorized agent, contractor or other party who desires to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, improve, demolish or change a building or structure, or to erect, install, enlarge, alter, repair, remove, convert or repair any electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system regulated by the technical codes, or to cause any work to be done, must first make application to the building official and obtain an appropriate building permit. Section 6-2(b) carves out work whose total cost in value is less than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), and the technical codes and permit requirement do not apply to matters exempt under South Carolina or federal law. Section 6-9 applies the article to the entire unincorporated area of Cherokee County.

The technical codes behind the permit are adopted in § 6-1 effective January 1, 2023, and include the 2021 South Carolina Building Code, the 2021 South Carolina Residential Code, the 2021 South Carolina Fire Code and the 2021 International Existing Building Code. Section 6-3 requires the permit to be kept at the building or place of work and produced on demand, and work cannot start until the permit card is posted in front of the premises, visible in plain sight from the adjacent public right-of-way. It stays up until the work is completed and approved.

The county administrator appoints the building official under § 6-4. Fees for permits, inspections and appeals come from a schedule adopted by resolution of county council (§ 6-5), and unpaid fees become a lien collected like ad valorem property taxes. A permit holder or the property owner can appeal a building official determination in writing to the county administrator within ten (10) days; the administrator decides within five (5) days. A further appeal goes to the seven-member board of adjustments and appeals on notice within thirty (30) days, and then to any court of competent jurisdiction within thirty (30) days of the board's decision.

Moving a mobile home or building inside the county is a separate permit under § 6-11: a moving permit from the office of the assessor or licensing agent, issued only after a certificate from the county treasurer shows no delinquent taxes.