Commercial Compliance Hub

Fairfax County

Fairfax County Land Development Services

In short

Fairfax County Land Development Services issues 3 permits we publish for Fairfax County, last verified 2026-10-02. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.

What this agency issues

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Certificate of Occupancy / Non-Residential Use Permit (Non-RUP)Fairfax County Land Development Services$95 per Certificate of Occupancy (Non-RUP)Per occupancy or change of use.2026-10-02
Building Permit (Base Fees)only if it applies to youFairfax County Land Development ServicesBase fee (minimum for any permit) $141.75; reduced fee for multiple permits per unit or no-inspection permits $47.25; after-hours time-specific inspection, per 30 minutes, $316.05; amendment of permit, minimum $47.25; re-inspection $141.75 (same as the base fee).Per permit. Appendix Q fee schedule adopted May 5, 2026 (Ordinance 05-26-Q).2026-10-02
Home Improvement Contractor (HIC) Licenseonly if it applies to youFairfax County Land Development ServicesApplication processing fee $135.45; license issuance fee $84.00; license renewal fee $111.30; renewal after expiration, an additional $79.80 on top of the regular renewal fee.Annual renewal.2026-10-02

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

Certificate of Occupancy / Non-Residential Use Permit (Non-RUP)

Any of the ten industries this site tracks occupying commercial space for the first time, or changing the use of an existing commercial space, in Fairfax County needs a Certificate of Occupancy (Non-Residential Use Permit, or Non-RUP) from Land Development Services' Building Division before occupancy, required under Zoning Ordinance Article 8. The fee is $95, as stated verbatim on the county's own Non-RUP page: 'The fee for a Certificate of Occupancy (NonRUP) is $95.' That same county page states directly that Fairfax County does not issue NonRUPs for businesses located in the Town of Vienna, which instead runs its own equivalent process through viennava.gov. A salon or barbershop, classified under the Zoning Ordinance as a 'Personal Service' use (§4102.5.O), is an Associated Service accessory-only use in most residential and several commercial/industrial districts and is permitted as a stand-alone principal use by right only in four specific commercial districts, per the county's own current Article 4 Use Regulations — a free-standing salon should confirm it sits in one of those by-right commercial districts before relying on this occupancy permit alone.

Building Permit (Base Fees)

Any of the ten industries this site tracks doing building work in Fairfax County pays Land Development Services' Appendix Q fee schedule, downloaded and confirmed directly from the county's own PDF, most recently amended by Ordinance 05-26-Q, adopted by the Board of Supervisors on May 5, 2026: a base fee of $141.75 (the minimum for any permit, Ch. 61-1-3(d)1); a reduced fee of $47.25 for multiple permits per unit or for no-inspection permits (Ch. 61-1-3(d)2a/2b); an after-hours, time-specific inspection fee of $316.05 per 30 minutes (Ch. 61-1-3(d)4); a minimum amendment-of-permit fee of $47.25 (Ch. 61-1-3(d)5); and a re-inspection fee equal to the base fee, $141.75 (Ch. 61-1-3(d)18). The PDF's own authority clause lists Va. Code §§15.2-2241(A)(9), 15.2-2286(A)(6), 62.1-44.15:27(H)(4), 36-98.3, 36-105(D)(1), 62.1-44.15:28(9), and 62.1-44.15:29, along with Fairfax County Code Chapters 2, 61, 64, 65, 66 and 101, as confirmed verbatim in the PDF's own text.

Home Improvement Contractor (HIC) License

A Class C or below-threshold contractor needing Fairfax County's own Home Improvement Contractor (HIC) License, rather than a Virginia DPOR Class A or B contractor license, pays Land Development Services fees read directly from the county's own Appendix Q fee-schedule PDF (Fairfax County Code Chapter 61-3): an application processing fee of $135.45, a license issuance fee of $84.00, a license renewal fee of $111.30, and, for a renewal after expiration, an additional $79.80 on top of the regular renewal fee. Virginia Code §54.1-1111(B) sets the split between contractors who must hold a DPOR Class A or B license and those below that threshold who instead obtain this county HIC license.

Contact

Jurisdiction
Fairfax County
Phone
703-222-0801

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.

  1. Fairfax County Land Development Services — Appendix Q Fee Schedule (Ordinance 05-26-Q, adopted May 5, 2026)Fairfax County Land Development Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
  2. Fairfax County Land Development Services — Non-Residential Use Permit (Non-RUP)Fairfax County Land Development Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
  3. Fairfax County Zoning Ordinance, Article 4 — Use Regulations (current zMOD recodification)Fairfax County Department of Planning and Development · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02

Other offices serving Fairfax County

The full permit list for this jurisdiction

Industry permit lists that include this agency

Virginia jurisdictions

Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.