City of Greensboro

A building permit is required for work involving construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, moving, removal, or demolition of a building or structure. For residential work, permits are required for all structural work and non-structural work exceeding $15,000. Separate trade permits are required for electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work.

Note: No local Greensboro page surfaced with a simple all-in-one exempt-work list. For ordinary construction permit exemptions, rely on NC statutory minor-repair exemptions and confirm directly with Greensboro Development Services.

Building code

NC State Building Code as enforced locally by Greensboro; current statewide enforcement remains the 2018 code with amendments per NC OSFM context.

Owner-builder

Greensboro allows owners to pull permits when they sign an affidavit of ownership and permit terms, the property is not for sale or lease at the time of the request, and the owner will do the work personally.

Contractor requirements

NC licensed general contractor required when state law requires licensure, generally at $40,000 or more. Licensed trade contractors required for electrical, plumbing, and mechanical permits as applicable.

1. 01
   Confirm scope and permit type using Greensboro permit guidance and residential or commercial plan review pages.
2. 02
   For projects requiring plan review, prepare PDF plans and required supporting documents. Residential projects needing review must be reviewed and signed by a plans examiner before permit issuance.
3. 03
   Submit electronically through Greensboro's Plan Review and Tracking system for newer workflows, or submit in person where Greensboro still directs in-person intake.
4. 04
   City staff checks the package for completeness, routes plans for trade review, and returns comments if revisions are needed.
5. 05
   Pay permit fees. Greensboro collects building permit fees at submittal for commercial review, and permit payment is required before issuance.
6. 06
   Receive permit, post permit card, and schedule inspections through APRIL or the Building Inspections Scheduler.

Source: Engineering and Inspections Department, Building Inspections / Development Services ↗

Permit payment may be made by check, cash, or credit card for in-person residential intake; online systems also accept portal-based payments.

Fees change periodically. Confirm at the official fee schedule ↗ before budgeting.

• APRIL automated phone system (phone)
• Greensboro Building Inspections Scheduler (online)

Scheduling deadline

Requests must be made by 8:00 p.m. the previous business day.

Inspection hours

Weekdays and non-holidays between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.; APRIL has 24-hour phone access for scheduling and status checks.

Typical sequence: Trade rough-ins as applicable, framing and other discipline-specific inspections, then final inspections for each trade and final building approval or certificate as applicable.

Source: Engineering and Inspections Department, Building Inspections / Development Services ↗