Sandy, UT Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Sandy City Code Section 21-2-3, 'Compliance And Scope,' anchors the City's building permit requirement in its zoning title: no land shall be used or occupied and no building or structure shall be designed, erected, altered, used, or occupied for any use except those uses specifically permitted on the land upon which it is located. The same section states that no building permit shall be issued until all permits, reviews, or approvals required by Title 21 have been secured, though a grading permit may be issued ahead of the building permit with the City Engineer's and Director's approval, backed by a bond.

Section 21-2-5 assigns the review itself to the Chief Building Official, who submits all building permit applications to the Director for review to confirm zoning compliance and issues no permit until that review is approved. Any permit issued in conflict with Title 21's provisions is null and void under Section 21-2-3, regardless of whether the conflict was intentional. Once construction is under permit, the Director may inspect the building, structure, or land use at any reasonable hour to confirm compliance, though routine inspection is not itself a precondition to starting or continuing work unless another ordinance requires it.

Layered on top of the zoning-compliance gate, Sandy City Code Section 18-1-1 separately adopts the International Building Code, International Residential Code, and related uniform construction codes as adopted by the State of Utah, supplying the technical construction standards, inspection triggers, and permit-application mechanics the Chief Building Official applies once zoning has cleared the project. Under Section 21-2-6, an issued permit or approval expires after 180 days if no construction or work has begun, unless a different period was set at issuance or an extension was granted before expiration.