Montgomery, AL Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Article II, Sec. 2 of the zoning ordinance (City Code App. C) sets the permit trigger, and Sec. 3 spells out what the application must contain: a scale drawing or plat showing the lot's actual shape and dimensions, the size and location of every building or structure to be erected, altered or moved, the existing and intended use of those structures, and the setback and side lines of buildings on adjoining lots. The administrative official must inspect the plans in detail before approving them, and if an application is denied the official must state the reason in writing.

Once construction is finished, Article II, Sec. 4 requires a certificate of occupancy before the building can be used: the administrative official has three days after the owner requests final inspection to inspect and either issue the certificate or refuse it in writing with cause. A temporary certificate of occupancy can be issued for a portion of a project that can be safely occupied before the whole job is done, for a period the administrative official sets, and the certificate can be suspended or revoked if it was issued in error or the structure is later found to violate the code, in which case any business license issued in reliance on it is automatically suspended too. This certificate-of-occupancy provision was rewritten by Ord. No. 48-2025, effective October 7, 2025.