Portland, ME Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Portland Code of Ordinances § 6-92(a) bars anyone from commencing work on constructing, enlarging, altering, repairing, moving, converting, demolishing, or changing the use of any building or structure, or on installing, removing, or altering plumbing, subsurface waste-water disposal components, or electrical/signaling conductors and raceways, without first obtaining a permit from the building authority. Narrow exceptions cover replacing lamps or portable devices in existing receptacles, telephone or telegraph transmission, and municipal signal, fire alarm, and public-utility maintenance work (§ 6-92(a)(3)). Permit and inspection fees follow the fee schedule the City Council adopts, and § 6-92(c) lets the city recalculate a permit fee against national cost standards if a submitted project cost looks understated.

Under § 6-92(d), a permit obtained after work has already commenced costs double the scheduled fee, and § 6-92(e) directs the Permitting and Inspections Department Director to adopt a refund policy for fees paid under the section. No building, structure, or property may be used or occupied without a certificate of occupancy under § 6-93(a), and § 6-93(c) requires the fire chief's approval before a final certificate issues; phased occupancy is allowed only where permits or plans specifically provide for it. Enforcement runs through § 6-95: the building authority may issue a stop-work order halting further work until violations are corrected, with a removal fee set in the fee schedule adopted under § 6-16, and may cut electrical wires or disconnect a circuit found to have been wired without a permit or out of compliance.

An aggrieved party has ten days from the building authority's action to appeal to the board of appeals under § 6-96(a), which may grant a variance only on a showing of undue hardship that does not compromise public health, safety, and welfare; the building authority's order is not stayed during the appeal.