Cleveland County, NC Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Two sections work together to answer when a permit is required in unincorporated Cleveland County. 5-22 adopts the North Carolina State Building Code by reference as the county's own building code, applying it to the design, construction, and materials of buildings and structures that are erected, enlarged, altered, repaired, or reconstructed; that adoption is what triggers the technical construction-permit process the state code requires, administered by the county's building inspections office. Separately, § 12-31 governs the land-use side under the Unified Development Ordinance: property use may not be substantially changed, substantial clearing, grading, or excavation may not start, and buildings or other substantial structures may not be constructed, erected, moved, or substantially altered except under a zoning permit issued by the administrator or a special use permit issued by the board of adjustment.

Inside a special flood hazard area, § 12-31(b) layers on a third requirement, a floodplain development permit, before any development activity begins there, and no structure or land may be located, extended, converted, altered, or developed without full compliance with the UDO. Under § 12-32, the administrator has to issue a zoning permit unless the project falls outside the chapter's jurisdiction, the application is incomplete, or the proposed development won't comply with the chapter's requirements. Applications for a zoning permit go through the planning department, while special use permit applications, which require a full site plan, adjoining-owner list, and floodplain data, go to the board of adjustment.