Jackson, TN Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Acting under authority granted by Tennessee Code Annotated § 6-54-502 et seq., the City of Jackson, Tennessee adopted the 2018 edition of the International Building Code (Fourth Printing), minus its appendices and with local modifications, by reference in Jackson Municipal Code § 12-201, for the purpose of regulating the construction, alteration, repair, and demolition of every building or structure, or any appurtenance connected or attached to any building or structure. That adoption, most recently amended by Ordinance #2021-7 in June 2021, is what triggers the building permit requirement for essentially any construction activity in the city, since the adopted IBC's own permit provisions become part of Jackson's code.

Section 12-202 leaves the specific dollar fees to a schedule the city council sets and updates by resolution rather than fixing them in the code text itself. A copy of the adopted code, per § 12-101, is kept on file with the Building and Housing Codes Department for public inspection during business hours, and § 12-102 creates that department, headed by a director who designates the inspectors who review permit applications and enforce the code. Disputes over a permit decision go to the code advisory/appeals board created by § 12-103, a thirteen-voting-member panel that must include licensed contractors, engineers, an architect, an attorney and a fire department representative.

The permit requirement reaches beyond new construction: § 16-501 requires any building permit application involving a driveway or curb-cut to be referred to the city engineer before the permit issues, and § 12-1305 makes payment of a vacant-building registration fee a prerequisite before any building permit can be issued for a registered vacant commercial or industrial building.