Sacramento County Building Permits & Inspection Division

Building Permit / Tenant Improvement Permit

This permit applies only to construction, remodeling, or tenant-improvement work (structural, electrical, plumbing, or HVAC) in the UNINCORPORATED AREA of Sacramento County — each of the 7 incorporated cities runs its own building department and issues its own permit for work inside city limits instead. The permit fee is calculated from the project's construction valuation under the County's own adopted Building Permit and Plan Check fee schedule, the standard valuation-based method used across California building departments, rather than a single flat dollar figure. Permits can be issued only to the property owner, an authorized agent, or a state-licensed contractor, though a tenant may act as an authorized agent with the owner's written authorization. Plan review takes 15 to 45 days depending on the project's complexity. A fire-protection system (sprinkler or alarm) installed as part of the same project is billed separately by Metro Fire, or by that address's own independent fire department if outside Metro Fire's territory, on top of this building-permit fee.