Lawrence, KS Building Safety: Electrical Permits (2026)

Lawrence City Code § 5-701 adopts NFPA 70, the National Electrical Code, 2017 edition, as the city's electrical code, incorporated by reference except where the succeeding sections of chapter 5, article VII delete, modify or amend it; §§ 5-704 through 5-709 print those local amendments, covering scope, added definitions and ground-fault protection. Under § 5-220, anyone who intends to erect, install, enlarge, alter, repair, remove, convert or replace an electrical system regulated by this article must first apply to the building official and obtain a permit before starting; a firm that regularly employs qualified electricians can instead apply for a single annual permit under § 5-221 rather than filing for every alteration.

Section 5-223(b) exempts a short list of minor jobs: lamp, ballast or luminaire replacement, connecting portable equipment to an already-approved receptacle, radio and television transmitter wiring apart from its power supply, temporary testing setups, cord-and-plug decorative lighting, reinstalling attachment-plug receptacles, replacing branch-circuit overcurrent devices in the same location, and equipment running under 25 volts and 50 watts. Once a permit issues, § 5-306 requires a rough inspection of the electrical system before it is covered or concealed and before the framing inspection, and § 5-317 puts the burden on the permit holder to call for that inspection.

Starting electrical work before the permit is in hand triggers an additional fee under § 5-256 equal to the base permit fee, on top of the permit fee itself.