Louisville/Jefferson County
Louisville Metro Department of Codes & Regulations, Office of Construction Review
In short
Louisville Metro Department of Codes & Regulations, Office of Construction Review issues 5 permits we publish for Louisville/Jefferson County, last verified 2026-09-09. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial Building Permit | Louisville Metro Department of Codes & Regulations, Office of Construction Review | Calculated per square foot by Kentucky Building Code occupancy type: Assembly and High Hazard $0.16/sq ft; Business, Institutional, Mercantile, and Residential (other than 1-2 family) $0.15/sq ft; Educational and Factory $0.14/sq ft (Storage is also $0.14/sq ft); Utility/Miscellaneous $0.13/sq ft; Residential 1-2 Family $0.105/sq ft. Square footage is measured on every floor to the outside of the exterior walls. A plan review fee (for review without an issued permit) is the greater of $30 or one-third of the calculated permit fee. No building permit fee is ever less than $75. A foundation-only permit is $75 (single-family) or $125 (all other uses). Work whose cost cannot be calculated by square footage is billed at $50 plus $2.50 per $1,000 of the applicant's estimated cost. | one-time, per project | 2026-09-09 |
| Certificate of Use and Occupancy | Louisville Metro Department of Codes & Regulations, Office of Construction Review | $75 flat, administrative — only when issued without an associated building permit | one-time, per issuance | 2026-09-09 |
| Sign Permit (structural) | Louisville Metro Department of Codes & Regulations, Office of Construction Review | $75 for a sign face up to 50 square feet; $75 plus $1 per square foot for any area over 50 square feet. | one-time, per sign | 2026-09-09 |
| Fire Suppression/Detection System Installation Permitonly if it applies to you | Louisville Metro Department of Codes & Regulations, Office of Construction Review | Sprinkler system, by number of heads: $150 (4-200), $175 (201-300), $210 (301-400), $250 (401-750), $250 plus $0.20 per head above 750. Automatic/manual fire detection system: $150 up to 20,000 sq ft, plus $20 for each additional 10,000 sq ft. Standpipe system: $150 (included at no extra charge when combined with a sprinkler permit). Carbon dioxide suppression: $150 for the first 200 lbs of agent plus $0.02/lb above that. Clean-agent suppression: $150 for the first 35 lbs plus $0.06/lb above that. Range hood suppression system: $150. Dry chemical suppression: $150 for the first 30 lbs plus $0.25/lb above that. | one-time, per system installed | 2026-09-09 |
| Contractor Identification License | Louisville Metro Department of Codes & Regulations, Office of Construction Review | By trade, per year: Building Type A (multiple building permits; requires 6 hours of continuing education annually for 1-2 family/multi-family work) $125, cycle Jan 1-Dec 31. Building Type B (a single building permit only, one per applicant per year) $50, Jan 1-Dec 31. HVAC (requires a Kentucky Master HVAC Contractor license) $200, Mar 1-Feb 28. Manufactured Fireplace, Range Hood, and Mechanical Refrigeration $75 each, Mar 1-Feb 28. Fire Detection and Fire Suppression (requires a Kentucky Suppression Contractors license) $75 each, May 1-Apr 30. Moving $75, May 1-Apr 30. Sign installation/repair contractor $125, May 1-Apr 30. Wrecking Type A $125 and Wrecking Type B $225, both May 1-Apr 30. | annual, on a renewal cycle that differs by trade (see formula) | 2026-09-09 |
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
Commercial Building Permit
Electrical, HVAC/mechanical, and fire suppression/detection work are permitted and fee'd separately under the same chapter — see the standalone Fire Suppression/Detection Permit record for that portion.
Certificate of Use and Occupancy
Where a building permit is already being issued for the same project, the occupancy sign-off appears to be part of that permit's inspection process rather than separately billed at $75 — the fee document does not state this explicitly for the combined case.
Sign Permit (structural)
This is the Office of Construction Review's structural/building permit for erecting the sign. A separate Land Development Code zoning-compliance fee, charged by the Office of Planning, also applies to the same sign — see the Sign Zoning Review record.
Fire Suppression/Detection System Installation Permit
This is the Office of Construction Review's Metro-wide installation permit, not an ongoing fire-code inspection fee. Jefferson County's ongoing fire code enforcement and inspections are split across roughly a dozen independent fire protection districts plus the Louisville Division of Fire (which covers only the historic Urban Services District) — no single, Metro-wide recurring inspection fee could be confirmed, and none is asserted here.
Contractor Identification License
Genuinely separate from and additional to any Commonwealth of Kentucky trade license. Every type requires an occupational license number already on file with the Revenue Commission, proof of unemployment-insurance compliance, workers' compensation coverage (or an affidavit of no employees), and commercial general liability insurance of at least $250,000 — wrecking contractors need $300,000 (Type A) or $1,000,000 (Type B), with Louisville Metro Government named as additional insured.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Louisville/Jefferson County
- Phone
- (502) 574-3321
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.
- Contractor Identification License Application, with fee schedule by trade typeLouisville Metro Department of Codes & Regulations, Office of Construction Review · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-09
- LMCO Chapter 150.096 Promulgated Fees & Regulations — Construction Permits and Inspection Fees (revised 2/6/2024)Louisville Metro Department of Codes & Regulations, Office of Construction Review · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-09
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Kentucky jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.