Bloomington, IL Building Safety: Electrical Permits (2026)

Chapter 15, Article III adopts the 2020 edition of the National Electrical Code, published by the National Fire Protection Association, as controlling for the installation, alteration and use of electrical equipment throughout the city and on City-owned property outside city limits, subject to local deletions and amendments. Section 15-309 sets the core permit rule: no electrical wiring for light, heat or power, and no maintenance, repair, alteration or extension of an existing wiring system, may be installed without the installer being appropriately licensed or registered and without a permit first issued.

Every job has to be performed by the licensed contractor to whom the permit was issued or that contractor's employee, and equipment cannot be energized until the Electrical Inspector has inspected and approved it. The permit requirement exempts a short list of work: minor repairs like lamp replacement or plugging into an approved receptacle, work by public service or power company agencies on their own transmission equipment, temporary testing systems approved by the Electrical Inspector, railway utility installations, and radio or television transmission equipment other than its power wiring and towers.

Section 15-310 requires detailed plans and specifications before a permit issues for new buildings or major rewiring, though minor permits can go forward on a simple sketch, and only a licensed electrical contractor or an owner-occupant of a single-family home may hold the permit.