Kingsport, TN Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Building permits in the City of Kingsport run through the codes the Board of Mayor and Aldermen adopts in section 22-96 of the Kingsport Code. Subsection (a) adopts the International Building Code, 2018 edition, including appendices B, C, J and K, by reference as though copied verbatim. Subsection (e) adopts the International Residential Code, 2018 edition, including appendix F, Q and J for one- and two-family dwellings. The section also adopts the 2018 International Existing Buildings Code, Property Maintenance Code and Energy Conservation Code, plus Chapter 11 of the International Building Code as the accessibility code. One copy of each code stays on file in the office of the city recorder for public use, inspection and examination.

The permit trigger comes from those adopted codes, and Kingsport edits their exemption lists. Section R105.2 of the residential code, which lists work exempt from permit, is amended by deleting the phrase "200 square feet" and substituting "120 square feet." The same section is amended to read "Fences not over 8 feet high," replacing 7 feet, and the building code carries the same fence amendment. The exempt-work list decides what does not need a permit; work outside it needs one from the building department.

The building official is in charge of the building department and is charged with enforcing the various building codes and ordinances of the city (section 22-49). Zoning adds a second gate: under section 114-102, when the zoning chapter or a planning commission action requires a development plan, no building permit is issued until the plan is approved by the planning commission and certified to the building official, and section 114-103(4) repeats that no building permit is issued until a final development plan has been approved by the commission or director. Electrical work has its own permit: section 22-145 bars any work within the electrical code adopted by section 22-121 without a permit issued by the recorder, with fees set by the board of mayor and aldermen under section 22-146.