Building Safety in Missouri (2026)

Independence's Property Maintenance Code mandates removing or covering any painted surface on a dwelling, fence…

Kansas City bans offering any dwelling for occupancy with deteriorated lead-bearing paint and requires owners to…

Springfield bans lead-bearing substances on exposed interior and exterior surfaces citywide and lets the city manager…

St. Louis inspects pre-1978 rentals for lead paint, orders landlords to treat it within 14 days, and can remediate…

St. Louis County bans applying lead-based coating to any chewable or exposed surface, but lets pre-1978 homes sell if…

Kansas City adopts ASME A17.1-2016 as its elevator and escalator safety code, requiring periodic inspection and testing…

Kirkwood has no elevator code of its own. Section 5-5 instead adopts the St. Louis County Building Code and County…

St. Louis County requires periodic Code Official inspections of every elevator, freight lift, moving stairway and…

Kansas City's building code amendments require scaffolds, ladders, derricks, and hoists used on demolition or…

Cass County Code Section 225.707 requires new lodging establishments in the unincorporated county, meaning hotels…

O'Fallon's adopted Residential Code requires automatic fire sprinklers in townhouses under state law, but for one- and…

Florissant cannot force a single-family home builder to install fire sprinklers, but Section R313.2 requires every…

Jefferson County mandates automatic fire sprinklers in new townhouses under its amendment to IRC Section R313.1, but…

Springfield deleted the IRC's automatic sprinkler mandate for small residential buildings: builders of four or fewer…

St. Charles County doesn't mandate residential fire sprinklers, but Section 503.010 forces builders to give buyers a…

St. Louis does not mandate fire sprinklers in new townhouses or one- and two-family homes: builders must instead offer…

St. Louis County does not mandate fire sprinklers in new one- and two-family homes or townhouses. Instead, under…

Boone County deleted the IRC's mandatory sprinkler rules for townhouses and one- and two-family homes; builders need…

Columbia, Missouri, the Boone County seat, deleted the model code's mandatory sprinkler requirement for new one- and…

Independence amended its adopted International Residential Code to delete Section R309, so newly built one- and…

Jackson County adopted the 2018 IRC but designated the one- and two-family dwelling automatic fire sprinkler section…

Kansas City exempts detached single-family homes, duplexes, and townhouses from the IBC automatic sprinkler mandate…

Lee's Summit does not require automatic fire sprinklers in new one- and two-family homes or townhouses. City Code §…

Florissant requires any facility caring for more than four unrelated children away from the provider's home to hold…

Lee's Summit requires a special use permit for any "day care, group" operation caring for five to ten people at once in…

Columbia, Missouri's Building Code, applied citywide in Boone County's city limits, classifies an in-home daycare of…

Independence requires anyone operating a child care facility to hold a Health Authority permit and a License Officer…

Unincorporated Jackson County requires child care facilities to get a zoning permit, provide a passenger loading zone…

A day care serving more than ten children older than two and a half, for fewer than twenty-four hours a day, is…

Kansas City requires every childcare facility to hold an annual permit from the Health Department, pass periodic…

Every Springfield day care center, preschool, and kindergarten must be built to Use Group A-4 standards under the Land…

St. Charles County lets a home-based day care serve up to eight children without triggering commercial building code…

St. Louis County's Building Code splits child day care by size and setting. A home caring for up to ten children…

Independence requires tobacco stores, liquor stores and convenience stores to install an automatic door lock that…

Every dwelling unit in Jefferson County needs at least one side-hinged egress door at least thirty-six inches wide and…

Kansas City requires exterior dwelling doors to carry a single-cylinder deadbolt with a one-inch throw, a five-pin…

New homes and qualifying remodels in Lee's Summit must fit exterior doors with a single-cylinder deadbolt meeting City…

Inside Springfield's designated older-business preservation area, LDC § 36-1213 requires every exterior door and its…

St. Louis County's Property Maintenance Code bars owners from locking a means-of-egress door in a way that traps…

In neighborhoods placed into a Neighborhood Stabilization Overlay, Lee's Summit caps a new single-family home at one…

Kirkwood caps how large a single-family house can be relative to its lot through a sliding floor area ratio in Table…

St. Louis requires municipal, commercial, institutional, and multi-family buildings of 50,000 square feet or more to…

Columbia, Missouri has adopted the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code citywide, including its Solar-Ready…

Kansas City adopts the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code and requires new buildings to install 2-inch conduit…

Kirkwood has no separate green-building program; its energy standard is § 5-6d, which adopts the 2021 Energy…

Lee's Summit regulates building energy efficiency through its own locally-drafted Energy Conservation Code, City Code…

Jackson County adopted the 2020 National Green Building Standard ICC-700-2020 as a guideline only for unincorporated…

Cass County Code Section 225.710(A)(9) requires lodging establishments in the unincorporated county, meaning hotels…

Columbia, Missouri enforces carbon monoxide alarm requirements under its locally amended 2018 Residential Code, letting…

Independence's Rental Ready Program requires at least one carbon monoxide detector in every rental dwelling unit that…

New homes and substantially improved existing homes in Jefferson County must power carbon monoxide alarms from 120-volt…

Kansas City requires lodging establishments with fuel-fired equipment posing a carbon monoxide risk, think attached…

Springfield requires carbon monoxide detectors installed per IRC § R315.1 whenever a home with an attached garage or…

St. Charles County requires carbon monoxide alarms in dwellings, tying the mandate to the county's Fire Code and…

St. Louis requires at least one approved carbon monoxide detector in every new or rehabbed residential building heated…

Boone County requires a building permit for most construction, but exempts farm buildings and structures more than 75…

Unincorporated Cass County has adopted the 2006 International Building Code as its Building Code, and the Building…

Clay County requires a permit before anyone erects, enlarges, alters, repairs, moves, converts, demolishes or equips a…

Columbia, Missouri treats a new or enlarged deck as a zoning 'structure' requiring a permit, but exempts a…

Florissant enforces the 2021 International Building Code as its Building Code, so a permit is required for…

Independence regulates interior renovations, alterations, and occupancy changes to existing buildings, including…

Jackson County requires a building permit before any construction, alteration, or demolition work in the unincorporated…

Jefferson County requires a separate building permit before erecting, altering, repairing, moving or demolishing any…

Kansas City requires a permit before construction, alteration, demolition, or grading work begins, backs it with…

Kirkwood requires a building permit from the Building Commissioner before any building or structure is erected, added…

Lee's Summit requires a permit before almost any construction, alteration, or system work on a building. Sec. 7-127…

Any alteration to real property in O'Fallon, including driveways, fences, additions and other regulated building…

Springfield requires a permit before constructing, altering, repairing, moving, or demolishing any building or…

St. Charles County requires a building permit for nearly all construction, alteration, and repair work on a home or…

A concrete patio slab or ground-level wood deck skips a St. Louis building permit only if it's uncovered, unsupported…

St. Louis County requires a building permit before almost any construction, alteration, demolition, or occupancy change…

Boone County adopted the 2014 National Electrical Code as its Electrical Code, requiring permits and plans for wiring…

Unincorporated Cass County requires an electrical permit before any wiring work under the county's adopted National…

Clay County adopted the 2011 National Electrical Code as its official electric code under Sec. 150.20, so any wiring…

Columbia, Missouri has adopted the 2017 National Electrical Code, and electrical installation, alteration or repair…

Florissant requires an electrical permit from the Public Works Department before any wiring, alarm, data or low-voltage…

Independence requires a permit from the Building Official before any electrical installation, removal, alteration or…

Unincorporated Jackson County requires an electrical permit under the adopted 2017 National Electrical Code before…

Jefferson County requires a county Electrical License before any contractor wires, installs or alters electrical…

Kansas City requires a permit before any electrical installation or alteration, issued under the 2017 National…

Kirkwood splits electrical code enforcement by building type. Detached one- and two-family homes follow the city's…

Lee's Summit has adopted the 2017 National Electrical Code as its local electrical code, and Sec. 7-127 requires a…

O'Fallon has adopted the 2020 National Electrical Code as its Electrical Code, covering the design, installation and…

Springfield requires a permit for most electrical work and enforces it under the 2017 National Electrical Code, adopted…

St. Charles County adopts the 2020 National Electrical Code (NFPA 70) as its Electric Code under Code Section 500.260…

St. Louis has adopted the 2017 National Electrical Code and requires a permit before any electrical work begins, issued…

St. Louis County adopts the 2014 National Electrical Code and requires a written permit application at the Office of…

Boone County adopted the 2015 International Plumbing Code as its plumbing code, administered by the Resource Management…

Unincorporated Cass County requires a plumbing permit under the county's adopted International Plumbing Code, 2006…

Clay County adopted the 2012 International Plumbing Code as its official plumbing code under Sec. 150.17, so plumbing…

Columbia, Missouri has adopted the 2018 International Plumbing Code, and plumbing work in the city requires both a…

Florissant adopted the 2021 International Plumbing Code by Ordinance No. 8748, and Section 106.4.1 bars anyone without…

Independence adopted the 2024 International Plumbing Code as its local Plumbing Code, requiring a permit, issued only…

Unincorporated Jackson County adopts the 2018 Uniform Plumbing Code and requires a permit from the director of public…

Jefferson County requires a county Plumbing License before any contractor installs, alters or repairs plumbing…

Kansas City enforces the 2018 Uniform Plumbing Code with local amendments under Code of Ordinances Chapter 18, Article…

Kirkwood adopted the 2021 International Plumbing Code, as modified, as its Plumbing Code under § 5-6, and requires a…

O'Fallon has adopted the 2021 International Plumbing Code, including Appendix E, as its Plumbing Code, governing…

Springfield requires a permit for most plumbing work and enforces the 2018 International Plumbing Code, adopted by…

St. Charles County requires a permit before any plumbing installation, alteration, or repair, charging $60 for…

St. Louis requires a licensed plumbing or drainlaying contractor to obtain a permit from the code official before…

St. Louis County requires a permit before any plumbing, drainlaying, sewer connection, backflow-device work, or…

Boone County will not pass a final or phase inspection until other county agencies have approved compliance with fire…

Unincorporated Cass County ties a building permit's validity to requesting an inspection: the county's amended IBC…

Columbia, Missouri, the Boone County seat, charges fees for failed inspections and lets the building official issue a…

Every electrical job under a Florissant permit ends with a final inspection, and the Building Official can order as…

Independence bars occupancy of any new, altered, or reconstructed building until the Building Inspection Division…

Permitted work in unincorporated Jackson County must stay exposed for building official inspection at each construction…

Jefferson County's Building Code requires the Code Official to inspect permitted work at each construction stage, and…

Kansas City requires staged inspections for every permitted project, footing, slab, prebackfill, rough-in, and final…

Kirkwood will not let anyone move into or start using a building until the Building Commissioner confirms it actually…

Lee's Summit's Building Official inspects permitted work at fixed stages, from footings to the final walkthrough, and…

Springfield requires a sequence of mandatory inspections, footing, framing, systems rough-in, and final, before…

St. Louis requires inspections at each construction stage, footing, frame, energy efficiency, and final, before work…

Every building permit issued in unincorporated St. Louis County comes with a fixed sequence of inspections the county's…