Madison County
Madison County Inspection Department
In short
Madison County Inspection Department issues 1 permit we publish for Madison County, last verified 2026-09-28. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building Permit, Unincorporated Madison Countyonly if it applies to you | Madison County Inspection Department | The Madison County Inspection Department requires a building permit for construction in unincorporated Madison County, under the 2018 IBC/IRC family of codes (effective January 2021, adopted by county resolution) — one resolution for one-/two-family residential and townhome construction, a separate one for commercial, industrial, multifamily and institutional construction, each with its own current fee schedule. Neither resolution's dollar fee table is published on the county's public web pages. Ala. Code §45-45-70 separately requires that any fee the county sets for commercial or industrial building-code enforcement be revenue-and-performance-neutral, and Ala. Code §45-45-200.02 lets the county and each municipality add a flat $20.00 surcharge to residential building permits (covering building, mechanical, plumbing and electrical permits), earmarked for the North Alabama Homebuilding Academy trades-training program. Contact the Madison County Inspection Department, 100 Northside Square, Huntsville, AL, directly for the current base fee schedule before applying. | one-time, per project — no annual renewal applies to the permit itself | 2026-09-28 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
Building Permit, Unincorporated Madison County
Applies to unincorporated Madison County only — Huntsville, Madison and every other incorporated city in the county enforces its own building code independently, and §45-45-70 itself carves out any municipality already enforcing its own code without that municipality's consent. Agricultural-purpose improvements are excluded from the county's commercial/industrial building-code authority under the same section. The county's site states there are no planned code updates in the near term as of this record's verification date. A contractor working in the unincorporated area should confirm the base permit fee directly with the Inspection Department, since it is not published online, and should also account for the county's classification tax (code 0084) and any applicable municipal contractor license if the same business also does work inside a city.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Madison County
- Phone
- Not verified — use the website
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- Ala. Code §45-45-200.02 — $20 residential building-permit surcharge, North Alabama Homebuilding AcademyJustia / Code of Alabama · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-28
- Ala. Code §45-45-70 — county commercial/industrial building-code authority, unincorporated areasJustia / Code of Alabama · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-28
- Madison County Inspection Department — Building CodesMadison County, Alabama · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-28
Other offices serving Madison County
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
Industry permit lists that include this agency
Alabama jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.