Building Safety in Tennessee (2026)

When Chattanooga's public health director or housing inspector finds a lead hazard on rental premises, the owner or…

Chattanooga requires elevators, escalators and dumbwaiters to be maintained to ASME A17.1, with a current inspection…

Memphis Code Section 14-16-47 makes the owner or lessee of every elevator, escalator, dumbwaiter and amusement device…

Metro's property standards code requires elevators, escalators and dumbwaiters to stay safe and operational, with a…

Hendersonville's building code covers the design, construction, and alteration of elevators, but state-regulated…

Franklin requires an automatic fire sprinkler system in any new or renovated building of 5,000 square feet or more, and…

Hendersonville requires automatic fire sprinklers in new multi-family buildings of three or more attached units, using…

Memphis's Fire Code amendments require monitored sprinkler systems to report through an approved central station under…

Chattanooga deleted the IRC's mandatory sprinkler sections for townhouses and one- and two-family homes, and also…

Knoxville's building code bars the city from mandating automatic fire sprinklers in 3- and 4-family dwellings under…

Murfreesboro struck the International Residential Code's automatic fire sprinkler requirement entirely, so new one- and…

Metro Nashville amended the residential code so townhouses are exempt from automatic fire sprinkler systems, unlike the…

Every Memphis day care center caring for five or more children for pay must register with the office of planning and…

Hendersonville requires day care centers to meet all federal, state, and local licensing, health, safety, and building…

Knoxville requires day care centers and day care homes to hold Tennessee Department of Human Services licensing, post…

Metro Nashville requires an operational fire permit to run any daycare facility, issued under the Metropolitan Fire…

A child care center in unincorporated Rutherford County must provide an on-site loading and unloading area so parents'…

Sumner County zoning requires every child care center to provide an on-site, off-street area for loading and unloading…

Williamson County requires a Family or Group Child Care Home to hold a state license, most often from the Tennessee…

Chattanooga requires every rental unit's entry doors to have a deadbolt with a one-inch throw, operable without a key…

Metro's fire code amendment bars any modification to listed panic hardware, fire door hardware, or door closers on…

Metro Nashville can adopt a Two-Story Residential Overlay in single-family neighborhoods that caps new principal…

Franklin's local answer to a green building code is its adopted 2024 International Energy Conservation Code, which sets…

Unincorporated Shelby County's version of a green building code is the 2021 ICC International Energy Conservation Code…

Knoxville has adopted the International Green Construction Code, 2012 edition, but only on a voluntary basis: builders…

Hendersonville's Green Building Incentive Program, created at Municipal Code § 12-1401, is entirely voluntary: §…

Metro Nashville issues an optional "green permit" on top of the standard certificate of occupancy for buildings that…

Clarksville's Property Maintenance Code ties its carbon monoxide rule directly to state law: under Sec. 4-603(b)(10)…

Knoxville requires every short-term rental to have a working carbon monoxide detector within 15 feet of all bedrooms…

Every short-term rental in Memphis must have carbon monoxide detectors on each habitable floor and UL 217 smoke alarms…

Every Shelby County short-term rental permit holder must install approved carbon monoxide detectors on every habitable…

Chattanooga lets existing buildings be altered or repaired without a full code upgrade, but if repairs exceed 30% of…

Clarksville has adopted the 2018 International Building Code by reference, effective January 1, 2021, to govern when…

Franklin requires a permit before starting any work on a building, structure, or its electrical, gas, mechanical, or…

Unincorporated Hamilton County will not issue a building permit for a lot that lacks legally accepted access. Zoning…

Anyone contracting to build, alter, repair, or demolish a structure in Hendersonville, or perform any work requiring a…

Knoxville withholds a building permit until five separate offices sign off: wastewater control, traffic engineering…

Memphis builds every construction and permit requirement on the 2015 ICC International Building Code, adopted by…

Decks, fireplaces, and roof overhangs built onto a Murfreesboro home can't sit within 5 feet of a side lot line under…

Metro Nashville requires a building permit for altering, repairing, or enlarging an existing structure, but exempts…

Unincorporated Rutherford County requires both a zoning compliance form from the Planning Director and a building…

Unincorporated Shelby County requires building permits under the 2021 ICC International Building Code, which the county…

No building or structure in unincorporated Sumner County can be erected, moved, added to or structurally altered…

Williamson County requires a Building Permit before anyone locates, erects, or begins construction, reconstruction…

Chattanooga has adopted the 2023 National Electrical Code and requires a permit from the chief electrical inspector…

Clarksville has adopted the 2017 National Electric Code (NFPA 70) by reference for all electrical work in the city…

Franklin adopts the National Electrical Code, 2023 edition, by reference for every electrical installation in the city…

Hendersonville requires a permit before any regulated electrical installation, alteration, or equipment change, under a…

Knoxville requires a permit before any electrical construction, alteration, or repair work, issued by the Department of…

Memphis regulates electrical work under the 2018 Memphis and Shelby County Electrical Code, which adopts the 2014…

Altering a home's electrical service, panel, or circuits in Murfreesboro is prohibited without a permit issued to a…

Metro Nashville requires an electrical permit from the Department of Codes Administration before installing…

Unincorporated Shelby County requires electrical work to follow the 2020 National Electric Code, adopted by reference…

Chattanooga adopts the 2018 International Plumbing Code with local amendments under City Code Sec. 27-1 and Sec. 27-3…

Clarksville adopted the 2018 International Plumbing Code by reference, effective January 1, 2021, with local amendments…

Franklin, Tennessee runs plumbing work under the 2024 International Plumbing Code, adopted by Franklin Municipal Code §…

Hendersonville adopts the 2021 International Plumbing Code by reference as its plumbing code under Municipal Code §…

Knox County adopted the 2018 International Plumbing Code by reference under § 10-136, with local amendments that reset…

Knoxville requires plumbing work to be permitted under the adopted 2024 International Plumbing Code, with permit…

Memphis Code Section 14-14-1 adopts the 2015 ICC International Plumbing Code by reference, together with local…

Murfreesboro requires all plumbing work to comply with the 2018 International Plumbing Code, or the International…

Any plumbing installation, repair, or connection to a sewer or septic system in Metro Nashville and Davidson County…

Unincorporated Shelby County plumbing work runs under the 2021 ICC International Plumbing Code, adopted by reference…

Chattanooga's chief building inspector must be notified after a cited defect is fixed. The first re-inspection is free…

Franklin, Tennessee requires a certificate of use and occupancy before anyone occupies a building, structure, or parcel…

Knoxville requires electrical work to pass staged inspections -- underground, rough-in, and final -- before any wiring…

Memphis requires every boiler and unfired pressure vessel in the city to be inspected on a fixed schedule under Code…

Metro Nashville building permits require staged inspections, foundation, frame, mechanical rough-in and final, before…

Unincorporated Shelby County enforces its building regulations through county-created offices of building official…