18 published records
Business licenses and permits in Montgomery County, Alabama
Montgomery County, Alabama's state capital county, runs no privilege-license fee schedule of its own: its own local-acts chapter, Title 45, Chapter 51, Article 20 ('Licenses and Licensure'), contains only one section, §45-51-200, marked 'Reserved,' so the Probate Court, Licenses Division collects the same statewide Alabama Department of Revenue (ALDOR) Title 40-12 classification schedule used across most of the state. The identical 'Reserved' pattern in Article 4 ('Business, Labor, and Occupations,' §45-51-40) and Article 3 ('Boards and Commissions,' §45-51-30) independently confirms Montgomery County has no local barber commission and no local junk-dealer ordinance — a barber classification fee still applies, it is just collected under the statewide schedule rather than by a separate county board. Because Montgomery (population roughly 200,000) is the nearest incorporated municipality for nearly all of unincorporated Montgomery County, most population-tiered Title 40-12 classifications fall in the highest tier of their respective tables. The Montgomery County Health Department (MCHD) administers food, day care, mobile-food and pool/spa permits county-wide under a fee schedule printed 'Effective Date July 1, 2004' that Wayback Machine snapshots confirm has not changed since at least August 2024, and the county's Board of Health separately holds real rule-making authority under Ala. Code §§22-3-2(4) and 22-3-2(10). The Engineering Department issues building permits only in unincorporated Montgomery County outside the three-mile police jurisdictions of both the City of Montgomery and the Town of Pike Road. Montgomery County is Wet per the Alabama ABC Board's own Wet Cities list.
What are you opening in Montgomery County?
- RestaurantsFull-service restaurants carry the densest permit load of any small business: food, fire, occupancy, waste, and usually alcohol.See the full permit list
- Coffee shopsCafés are permitted as food service establishments even where no cooking happens, and the plan review step catches most operators by surprise.See the full permit list
- Retail storesRetail is the lightest common permit load, but the sales tax permit and the certificate of occupancy are non-negotiable in every jurisdiction.See the full permit list
- Salons and barbersPersonal care is licensed at state board level as well as locally, so the shop license and the practitioner licenses are separate obligations.See the full permit list
- Food trucksMobile food is the one category with no certificate of occupancy — but it gains a commissary agreement, and the unit itself is inspected rather than the premises.See the full permit list
- Fitness studiosPrepaid memberships trigger state registration and often a surety bond, which catches operators who budgeted only for the fit-out.See the full permit list
- Childcare centresThe heaviest permit load of any small business: state agency licensing, per-person background checks, and a stricter fire standard than ordinary commercial use.See the full permit list
- Contractors and tradesLicensed at state board level rather than locally, and the only common category with no premises permits at all — the bond is usually the long pole.See the full permit list
- Auto repair shopsOrdinary commercial permitting plus an environmental layer: waste oil, solvents and stormwater are each registered separately.See the full permit list
- Veterinary clinicsA state facility permit, controlled substances registration at both state and federal level, and a medical waste manifest — none of which a general business license covers.See the full permit list
Permits that apply to every type of business in Montgomery County
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building Permit — Unincorporated Montgomery Countyonly if it applies to you | Montgomery County Engineering Department | $100.00 minimum fee per structure for any structure in excess of 200 square feet, for a non-flood-prone structure where construction begins within 6 months of permit issuance; a flood-prone structure instead uses a sliding scale under the Montgomery County Floodplain Prevention Ordinance (effective 12/16/2025), whose exact dollar figures are not published online | one-time, per permit | 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.
What do these permits involve in Montgomery County?
Building Permit — Unincorporated Montgomery County
A business building or altering any structure over 200 square feet in Montgomery County needs a building permit from the County's own Engineering Department, but only within a specific, narrow footprint: unincorporated Montgomery County that also sits outside the police jurisdictions of both the City of Montgomery and the Town of Pike Road — each extending three miles beyond its own corporate limits, so this is genuinely 'outside both three-mile police jurisdictions,' not merely 'outside city limits.' The county's own page states this scope in exactly those terms. For a non-flood-prone structure where construction begins within six months of permit issuance, the fee is a $100.00 minimum per structure. A flood-prone structure instead uses a sliding scale under the county's Floodplain Prevention Ordinance, effective December 16, 2025; the exact dollar figures for that sliding scale are not published online. A business inside the City of Montgomery or the Town of Pike Road, or within either one's three-mile police jurisdiction, gets its building permit from that city's or town's own building department instead, not from the County.
Sources
Every figure in the table above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- Engineering Department — Building Permits page (scope, $100 minimum fee, 3-mile police-jurisdiction exclusions)Montgomery County, Alabama · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-28
Who issues business permits in Montgomery County?
Permitting in Montgomery County is split across 4 agencies we hold records for, with tax registration handled at state level. No single office issues everything, which is why an opening usually means filing in several places rather than one.
Montgomery County issuing agencies
- Montgomery County Probate Court, Licenses DivisionIssues the county general business/privilege license under Title 40, Chapter 12, Code of Alabama 1975 · Administers the statewide ALDOR Title 40-12 classification fee schedule locally, county-wide, because Montgomery County has no local act of its own (Title 45, Ch. 51, Art. 20, §45-51-200 — Reserved) · Files the veterinarian license-filing fee required by Ala. Code §34-29-8411 permits
- Montgomery County Health Department / Montgomery County Board of Health, Environmental Health DivisionPermits food establishments, mobile food units, retail food service, day care centers (food/environmental angle), hotels/lodging and body-art facilities, county-wide · The Montgomery County Board of Health separately holds local rule-making authority under Ala. Code §§22-3-2(4) and 22-3-2(10), used to adopt the county's public swimming pool and spa rules5 permits
- Montgomery County Commission (county governing body)County governing body for matters not otherwise assigned to the Probate Court, MCHD or Engineering Department · Relevant local governing body for state ABC Board alcohol-license approval when a premises is not inside an incorporated city's own council jurisdiction1 permit
- Montgomery County Engineering DepartmentIssues building permits for structures over 200 square feet in unincorporated Montgomery County · Applies ONLY outside the police jurisdictions of both the City of Montgomery and the Town of Pike Road (each extending 3 miles beyond their respective corporate limits) — every incorporated city/town runs its own building process instead1 permit
Other Alabama jurisdictions we cover
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.