Charlotte
Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement, Land Use and Environmental Services Agency
In short
Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement, Land Use and Environmental Services Agency issues 6 permits we publish for Charlotte, last verified 2026-09-04. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Business License — North Carolina 2015 Privilege Tax Repeal (Charlotte)only if it applies to you | Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement, Land Use and Environmental Services Agency | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-04 |
| Certificate of Occupancy | Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement, Land Use and Environmental Services Agency | $10 flat, per certificate | issued once per qualifying occupancy | 2026-09-04 |
| Sign Permitonly if it applies to you | Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement, Land Use and Environmental Services Agency | $160–$220 $160 for a sign of 100 square feet or less, $220 above that | per sign | 2026-09-04 |
| Contractor Permit Bond | Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement, Land Use and Environmental Services Agency | $2,000 minimum bond for permits inside the city, versus $1,000 for county-only work | held for as long as the contractor pulls permits | 2026-09-04 |
| Commercial Building Permitonly if it applies to you | Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement, Land Use and Environmental Services Agency | For a commercial project requiring plan review, a minimum $79.61 fee; from $3,001 to $50,000 in value, $59.70 plus $12.19 per $1,000 over $3,000; from $50,001 to $100,000, $632.57 plus $5.49 per $1,000; continuing in bands up to $29,214.74 plus $1.35 per $1,000 for anything over $10,000,000. A flat $3 technology charge applies to every permit. | one-time — the permit expires 6 months after issuance if no work has commenced, or 12 months after the last inspection if work has started but stopped | 2026-09-04 |
| Day Care Plan Review and Inspection | Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement, Land Use and Environmental Services Agency | $300 preliminary plan review per project site, plus a $100 first licensing inspection and a $60 annual renewal inspection | annual, for the renewal inspection | 2026-09-04 |
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
General Business License — North Carolina 2015 Privilege Tax Repeal (Charlotte)
According to the UNC School of Government's account of the 2014 legislation, North Carolina eliminated nearly every local privilege license tax statewide for tax years beginning on or after July 1, 2015, and Charlotte's general business license was among those repealed, so this record carries no fee. A business in Charlotte still needs any state licenses for its trade and the county and city permits listed separately.
Certificate of Occupancy
Issued by Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement rather than the City of Charlotte, even though the City's own Development Center runs the zoning review that precedes it. A temporary certificate of occupancy costs $90 per open trade permit initially, or $55 to renew with re-inspection.
Sign Permit
This is the county-wide zoning fee schedule; confirm it applies to a Charlotte address specifically rather than only the unincorporated county or a smaller town, since Charlotte administers some of its own zoning functions separately.
Contractor Permit Bond
General contractor licensing is a North Carolina state function rather than a city or county one. What Mecklenburg County requires instead is this permit bond, waived only for an owner doing their own work under $2,000, or an owner-occupant's single-family repair or accessory construction under $40,000.
Commercial Building Permit
The City of Charlotte layers its own separate gateway fees on top of this county permit — planning review $1,180, zoning review $1,435, and further transportation and stormwater review fees before the county permit is even reached.
Day Care Plan Review and Inspection
The plan review fee is credited toward the building permit cost if the project later needs one exceeding $450. A separate Charlotte Fire Department renewable inspection fee of $60 a year applies on top, and Mecklenburg County Public Health charges its own $70 new or $50 renewal Home Day Permit fee for the sanitation side of a home-based facility.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Charlotte
- Phone
- 980-314-2633
- Website
- code.mecknc.gov
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.
- Mecklenburg County LUESA Fee Ordinance — certificates of occupancy, building permits, sign permits and bondingMecklenburg County Land Use and Environmental Services Agency · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- UNC School of Government — North Carolina's statewide repeal of local privilege license taxes, effective July 1, 2015UNC School of Government, Coates' Canons · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
Other offices serving Charlotte
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
Industry permit lists that include this agency
North Carolina jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.