El Dorado County, CA Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Under Sec. 010, the county adopted the 2010 California Building Standards Code (Title 24), incorporating the 2009 International Building Code with local amendments running through Sec. 170. Sec. 2 to add the county's only broad carve-out from the permit requirement: agricultural buildings of 3,000 square feet or less on parcels of five acres or more, provided the building meets Title 130 setbacks, is not used for employment, sales, display, packaging or processing, and includes no electrical, plumbing or mechanical work. Even exempt ag buildings over 120 square feet still need a 'record permit,' consisting of a full building permit application, a scaled plot plan and floor plan, though no inspections are required for that record permit.

Everything else, from a new house to an addition, garage, or remodel, needs a standard building permit before work starts. Under the general amendments in Sec. 020, the Building Official is the El Dorado County Building Official, fees are set by Board of Supervisors resolution, and a permit expires two years after issuance if the work is not finaled; it can be renewed twice for one additional year each, but only if a governmental agency caused the delay. Permits in the Lake Tahoe basin are instead governed by Tahoe Regional Planning Agency rules on expiration and reissuance.

Sec. 070 also blocks issuance of any permit for a building with plumbing, or for placing a manufactured home, until the applicant proves an adequate water supply and sewage disposal system and files a declaration that the work does not violate private deed restrictions or CC&Rs (with exceptions for electric service changes, underground piping, interior remodels, septic repairs, solid-fuel appliance installs and fire repair).