Washington County, UT Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Section 9-1-7, Building Permit Required, is the gatekeeper provision of the county's Building Code Ordinance: no building permit can be issued unless the applicable requirements of Chapter 1, the adopted building codes, the county zoning ordinance, the subdivision ordinance, the groundwater protection ordinance and all other pertinent ordinances are met, and all work performed under an issued permit must stay in compliance with those same requirements throughout construction. Permit, plan review and investigation fees are charged according to the table of building permit fees the county commission adopts under section 9-1-8.

Once construction is done, section 9-1-9 blocks issuance of a certificate of occupancy for any building constructed, altered or repaired after adoption of the chapter unless it, too, met the building code, zoning, subdivision and groundwater protection requirements. The county building inspector has the power and duty to enforce the chapter under section 9-1-10, but section 9-1-11 limits that office to determining whether the established rules and standards were followed, not creating new conditions on its own. A related zoning-title provision, section 10-1-6, separately requires a written permit before constructing utility systems and other lot improvements such as pools and courts. Anyone aggrieved by a building department decision can appeal under section 9-1-13 to the five-member board of building appeals created in section 9-1-12.