Gulfport, MS Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)
Key Facts
- Base permit fee
- $30 plus valuation-based charge
- Fee up to $500,000
- $24 first $1,000 + $4 per additional $1,000
- Fee above $500,000
- $2,020 plus $3.20 per additional $1,000
- Late-start penalty
- Fee doubled (Sec. 3-8)
- Unpermitted construction penalty
- Up to $500 fine/60 days (Sec. 3-46)
- Enforcing body
- Building Official; Building Code Board of Adjustments and Appeals
Summary
Gulfport requires a building permit for any building, structure or alteration covered by Section 103 of its adopted building code, with the fee set on a sliding scale by project valuation. Starting work before the permit issues doubles the fee, and building without a required permit or contractor license is a misdemeanor.
(a)On all buildings, structures or alterations requiring a building permit, as set forth in section 103 of the building code, a fee shall be paid as required at the time of filing application, in accordance with the following schedule: Base fee. A base fee of thirty dollars ($30.00) for each permit plus permit fees listed below. $0.00-$500,000.00. Twenty-four dollars ($24.00) for the first one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) plus four dollars ($4.00) for each additional thousand or fraction thereof up to and including five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00). $500,001.00 and up. Two thousand twenty dollars ($2,020.00) for the first five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00) plus three dollars twenty cents ($3.20) for each additional thousand or fraction thereof.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 68).
Full Breakdown
Section 3-31 sets Gulfport's building permit fee schedule: a thirty-dollar base fee applies to every permit, plus a valuation-based charge of twenty-four dollars for the first one thousand dollars of value and four dollars for each additional thousand dollars up to five hundred thousand dollars; above that, the fee is two thousand twenty dollars for the first five hundred thousand dollars plus three dollars and twenty cents for each additional thousand. Half of the fee is due when plans are submitted for review and the remaining half when the permit is issued.
Section 3-8 doubles the fee, in addition to the fee itself, for any work started before the necessary building, electrical, gas, mechanical, plumbing or fire-protection permit is obtained. Section 3-46 backs the licensing side: any general contractor who commences construction without holding a certificate of competency from the Building Code Board of Adjustments and Appeals, or without the appropriate building permit, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars, imprisonment of not more than sixty days, or both, and the board can revoke the contractor's license or permit after a hearing on at least thirty days' notice.
The permit requirement traces back to the city's 2018 International Building Code and International Residential Code adoptions in Sections 3-26 and 3-6, and the fee schedule expressly does not duplicate permits required under the separate zoning ordinance.
Violations & Fines
Starting work before a permit issues doubles every fee under Section 3-31(d) and Section 3-8, on top of the permit fee itself. Building without the required permit or without a valid contractor's certificate of competency is a misdemeanor under Section 3-46, punishable by up to a five-hundred-dollar fine, sixty days in jail, or both, with the contractor's license or permit subject to revocation.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Gulfport
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