What do these permits involve in Durham County?

Question

Accepted Answer

Well Water Sample

Durham County charges $135.00 for each well water sample, and the price is the same whichever of the four analyses is ordered: bacteriological for total coliform and E. coli, inorganic including nitrate and nitrite, pesticide, and petroleum. All four lines appear at $135.00 in the Environmental Health division of the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, and the department's own Environmental Health fee web page agrees on every one of the six well and sampling lines, which makes this one of the most solidly corroborated figures in the county's schedule. The sampling programme rests on G.S. 87-97, which places the permitting, inspection and testing of private drinking water wells with the local health department, and the fee authority is G.S. 130A-39(g), which names G.S. 87-97 services expressly. For a restaurant, coffee shop, childcare centre or veterinary clinic on a private well the cost is cumulative rather than a single charge, because a full round of the four analyses is $540.00 and a new well is normally sampled before the business may open; the well permit itself is a further $425.00 and is listed separately. A business on a public water supply has no well sampling to pay for.

Nonresidential Building Permit and Plan Review

Building permits and plan review for a commercial project in Durham County are handled by the merged Durham City-County Building & Safety Department, which the county's FY 2026-27 budget describes as 'a merged City and County department that administers and enforces the North Carolina State Building Codes and Durham City-County Zoning Ordinances' and which 'receives permit applications for all construction trades (building, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical), reviews plans and specifications, issues permits for all building construction activity, and follows up with field inspections'. The schedule published here is dated: it carries the stamp 'Effective 7/1/18—Includes Technology Surcharge', and all four trade schedules on the department's Fee Schedules page — building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing — carry the identical stamp. It is nonetheless the current one, because the Planning & Development Department's Development Services Fees and Payment Menu effective July 1, 2026 states that 'Fees for building permits, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and multi-trade permits are on the Inspections Department web page' and points at the same page, and because Durham County Code § 6-1 keeps the county schedule 'on file in the office of the county building official' rather than printing it in the code. Two clauses on the schedule change the arithmetic on a badly managed job: work begun without a permit is charged a double fee, and voiding a permit costs 15% of the permit cost with no maximum. Enhanced Plan Review under Schedule H is $600.00 per hour with a one-hour minimum and a $600.00 booking fee, and after-hours inspections under Schedule I are $125.00 per hour with a two-hour minimum. A contractor undertaking work costing forty thousand dollars ($40,000) or more is a general contractor under G.S. 87-1(a) and must hold a license from the NC Licensing Board for General Contractors; that threshold was last amended by S.L. 2023-108, s. 2(a). Planning and development review fees for the same project are adopted by the City of Durham rather than by the county and are not published here as county fees.

County Fire Operational Permit

Durham County's page states that the county 'has adopted all required and optional operational permits listed in the North Carolina Fire Code', which is a wider net than many counties cast, and its own fee schedule prices each of those permits. Several land squarely on the ten industries: Repair Garages at $150.00 for an auto-repair shop, Mobile Food Preparation Vehicles at $150.00 for a food truck, Motor Fuel-Dispensing Facilities at $150.00, Carbon Dioxide Systems for beverage dispensing at $50.00 for a coffee shop or bar with bulk CO2, Places of Assembly at $75.00 for a gym or restaurant with an assembly occupancy, Refrigeration Equipment at $75.00, High-Piled Storage at $200.00 for a retail stockroom, and Hot Work, Cutting and Welding at $75.00 each for a contractor. Two figures moved for FY 2026-27 in opposite directions: High-Piled Storage rose from $75.00 to $200.00 and HPM Facilities from $150.00 to $200.00, while Flammable and Combustible Liquids as an operational permit fell from $150.00 to $75.00. The Blasting/Explosives permit is now a 30-day permit at $400.00 where the FY 2025-26 schedule made it a 90-day permit, which shortens the window a contractor gets for the same money. Industrial Ovens appear twice at different amounts and for different things — $75.00 as an operational permit and $150.00 as a construction permit for the same equipment — so a bakery installing an oven pays both lines rather than choosing between them. Which agency issues the permit depends on the property's address, because the City of Durham Fire Department runs its own team for city addresses.

Septic Construction Authorization

The construction authorization is the second half of a Durham County septic approval and is priced by system type rather than by site: $200.00 for a Type I or II system, $350.00 for a Type III pump system and $525.00 for a Type IV, V or VI system, in the Environmental Health division of the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, unchanged from the FY 2025-26 column. A commercial kitchen or a veterinary clinic on an unsewered site frequently lands in the higher tiers because of flow and pretreatment, so the difference between $200.00 and $525.00 is a real design decision rather than a formality. The same adopted schedule prices the a(2) construction-authorization-only variants at $80.00 for Type I and II, $140.00 for Type III and $210.00 for Type IV, V and VI, and the combined improvement permit plus authorization packages at $180.00, $240.00 and $310.00 respectively; a Type V or VI system also carries an operational permit renewal fee of $50.00 every five years. The improvement permit that must precede this authorization is listed separately at $300.00, and an Improvement Permit Revisit costs a further $100.00. The county's authority for all of these is G.S. 130A-39(g), which lets a local board of health impose cost-related fees for services performed under Article 11 of Chapter 130A on a fee plan approved by the local board of health and the county board of commissioners.

Private Well Permit

A Durham County business drawing its water from a private well rather than a public supply needs a well permit from Environmental Health's On-Site Water Protection programme, at $425.00, and this is one of the county lines where the adopted schedule and the department's own fee web page agree exactly — both print $425.00 for the well permit and $0.00 for a Well Repair Permit, so repairing an existing well is a permit without a charge. The amounts sit in the Environmental Health division of the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026. The statutory basis is G.S. 87-97, which puts the permitting, inspection and testing of private drinking water wells with the local health department, and G.S. 130A-39(g) names G.S. 87-97 expressly among the services for which a local board of health may impose cost-related fees on a plan approved by the local board of health and the county board of commissioners. For a food business the well is not the end of it: water sampling is charged per sample at $135.00 each on the same schedule, listed separately, and a restaurant or coffee shop on a private well will normally be sampled before it may operate. A site that is on neither public water nor public sewer pays this alongside the improvement permit and construction authorization for its septic system, so the water and wastewater side of an unsewered commercial site starts well above a thousand dollars in county charges alone.

County Fire Code Routine Inspection

Durham County's Fire Prevention & Life Safety division inspects buildings on a cycle set by occupancy type and bills by gross building area, and the schedule's own preamble states that 'All owners or tenants of buildings in Durham County, which are required to be inspected by the Durham County Fire Marshal's Division are subject to the following inspection fee schedule.' Which agency inspects a given building is settled by address rather than by anything the business does: the county page states that 'Durham County and the City of Durham Fire Department each have a team dedicated to fire prevention and life safety. The address of the property determines which agency you need to contact for issues regarding permits, inspections or fire code questions.' The three-year cycle for business, mercantile, storage and religious occupancies is the one that catches most of the ten industries — a retail store, a salon, an auto-repair shop or a contractor's yard — while a gym or a childcare centre sits in the annual assembly or institutional band, and the page adds that 'Frequency rates for inspections of occupancies as mandated by the state General Statutes shall supersede the above schedule.' On the schedule question, the county's own Permits & Inspections page is what settles it: it states that 'The Durham County Fire Prevention & Life Safety requires fire protection permits for any work as prescribed by the North Carolina Fire Code' and links its own Approved Fee Schedule, which is the schedule published here, and it routes only Emergency Responder Radio Coverage requests to the City-County Inspections site. Existing-building inspections must be requested at least 5 business days ahead and construction inspections no less than 72 hours ahead, and for facilities with fire alarms, sprinklers or kitchen hood suppression the county asks operators to 'be prepared to have three years' worth of recent inspections on site'. Failure to obtain permits required by code is charged at $1,000 for a first violation and $3,000 for a second, a stop work order at $1,000 and blocked egress at $750.

County Fire Life Safety Plan Review

A new build or a substantial fit-out in the Durham County fire marshal's jurisdiction is reviewed for life safety before construction, at $100.00 under 5,000 square feet, $150.00 from 5,000 to 10,000 square feet, and $175.00 above 10,000 square feet plus $25.00 for each additional 5,000 square feet, with a site plan review priced separately at $150.00. The amounts are in the FY 2026-27 Approved Durham County Fire Prevention and Protection Code Fee Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, and the schedule also prices an Expedited Review at $300.00 per hour. One line changed shape rather than amount for the new year: before and after hours inspections are now $300.00 per hour plus the square-foot fee, where the FY 2025-26 schedule charged the $300.00 per hour on its own, so an out-of-hours inspection on a large building now costs materially more. A contractor submitting to this review should note the county's submittal requirement that 'All design drawings are required to be sealed by a NC Licensed Professional Engineer or a NC Licensed Fire Sprinkler Contractor as permitted by North Carolina General Statutes', which the county's Permits and Inspections page states directly, and that construction inspections must be requested no less than 72 hours ahead. The review is the design-stage charge and does not include the construction permits for sprinklers, alarms, hoods, standpipes and the rest, which are priced per system and listed separately.

Occupancy and Miscellaneous Building Permits

Schedule F of the Durham City-County building fee schedule is where a business that is not building anything still pays, and the $50.00 Change of Occupancy Permit is the line most new tenants meet: it applies where no building permit is otherwise required and no construction is necessary, which is exactly the case of a retail unit becoming a salon or a clinic taking over a finished suite. Opening in stages costs more: a Stocking Permit is $100.00, a Partial Occupancy permit $200.00, and Posting of Occupancy not associated with a permit a further $50.00. A restaurant or shop fitting out an existing building often meets the roofing line at $100.00 up to $20,000 of work or $150.00 above it, the demolition line at $75.00 up to 5,000 square feet or $150.00 above, and the $250.00 charge for changing impervious surface on a permit; a site in the floodplain pays $150.00 or $500.00 for a Floodplain Development Permit depending on scale. Two small lines are worth knowing because they catch paperwork rather than work: changing the address, PIN or PID on permits is $10.00 per trade, and the schedule spells the trades out as 'building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, and/or fire', and a re-stamped or replacement plan set is $20.00 per plan. Every amount here comes from the schedule stamped 'Effective 7/1/18—Includes Technology Surcharge', which remains the schedule the July 2026 Development Services fee menu points applicants to, and the merged department is funded entirely by permit user fees with no impact on the City's or County's General Fund.

Building Re-Inspection and Plan Re-Review

Durham's merged building department charges for wasted visits and for repeated plan submittals, and the structure rewards getting the first submittal right. On plan review the first re-review carries no charge, the second is $200.00 and every one after that is $300.00, so a design that goes back three times costs $500.00 in re-review alone. On inspections the ladder is $100.00 for a second re-inspection, $200.00 for a third and $300.00 for a fourth, with a separate $100.00 charge simply for calling an inspection when the work is not ready and another $100.00 where eight or more code violations are found at one visit. Two clauses sit alongside these and dwarf them: work begun without a permit is charged at double the permit fee, and voiding a permit costs 15% of the permit cost with no maximum, which on a large commercial permit is a substantial sum. All of these amounts come from the schedule stamped 'Effective 7/1/18—Includes Technology Surcharge', the same schedule the Planning & Development Department's July 2026 Development Services fee menu still directs applicants to for building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing and multi-trade permit fees. For a business on a fixed opening date the timing matters as much as the money, because each failed visit is another scheduling cycle; the county fire marshal runs a separate re-inspection ladder of $50.00, $150.00 and $300.00 on its own schedule, listed separately, so a project can be paying both at once.

County Sewer Certificate of Occupancy Inspection

Occupying a new commercial building on Durham County sewer needs a certificate-of-occupancy inspection from the county utility as well as the occupancy paperwork from the merged building department, and the county utility charges $120.00 per building connection for all development other than single family, where the charge is $37.00 per lot for each inspection. Both amounts appear identically in the Utilities Division's own FY27 Fee Schedule effective July 1, 2026 and in the Sewer Utilities schedule of the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Budget levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, which makes them two independently published county sources for the same figures. The schedule treats this inspection specially in one respect worth knowing: the $120.00 per hour re-inspection or failed inspection fee that applies to the utility's other construction inspections expressly excludes the certificate-of-occupancy inspection, so a failed CO inspection does not attract the hourly charge, although the Not Ready Inspection Fee of $120.00 for each occurrence still applies and must be paid before as-built approval. A 5% non-refundable technology fee is added to all construction inspection fees. This is one of three or four county utility charges a restaurant or retail fit-out on county sewer meets in sequence — construction drawing review, grease trap inspection, lateral inspection and then this — each listed separately.

County Land Disturbance Plan Review and Permit

Any Durham County project that breaks ground over about 12,000 square feet needs a land disturbance permit from Engineering & Environmental Services, priced at $275 from 12,000 square feet to an acre, $525 per acre from one to ten acres and $800 per acre above ten acres, with plan review charged separately at $100 up to an acre or $125 per acre above it. The figures that matter most to a contractor are the penalties rather than the permits: unauthorized land disturbance activity is charged at 200% of the required permit fee, so starting work before the permit issues doubles it, and a re-inspection after a notice of violation is $1,000 for the first visit and $500 for subsequent visits where there is no or a minor civil penalty, rising to $5,000 first and $500 subsequent where there is a major civil penalty. A site of five acres or greater must also post performance security of $4,000 per disturbed acre, which is working capital held rather than a fee spent. An extension of an existing permit costs 25% of the original permit fee. All of these amounts sit in the FY 2026-2027 Approved Stormwater Erosion Control Fee Schedule inside the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Budget, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, and every line is unchanged from the FY 2025-26 column. The stormwater plan review and permit charges listed separately apply to the same project, so a one-acre commercial site pays on both schedules.

On-Site Wastewater Improvement Permit

A business on an unsewered Durham County site starts with an improvement permit from Environmental Health's On-Site Water Protection programme, and the FY 2026-27 adopted amount is $300.00 for an application with a 2 acre limit. The figure to use is the adopted one: the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, raises this line from the $250.00 shown in its FY 2025-26 column to $300.00, and the department's own Environmental Health fee web page still shows the superseded $250.00, along with the old $100.00 for the Existing System Authorization Site Visit that the same adopted schedule raised to $150.00. The same adopted schedule prices a smaller set of a(2) variants separately — improvement permit only $250.00, improvement permit with a Type I or II construction authorization $180.00, with a Type III pump authorization $240.00 and with a Type IV, V or VI authorization $310.00 — and adds an Improvement Permit Revisit Fee of $100.00, a Wastewater System Reconnection Permit of $200.00, a Type V or VI Operational Permit Renewal Fee of $50.00 every five years, an Engineered Option Permit at $35.00, an Authorized On-Site Wastewater Evaluator Permit at $35.00 and an Appeal of Permit Condition at $200.00. The department's fee page adds that tracts greater than 2 acres already evaluated by a licensed soil scientist with a sealed report submitted are charged $200.00, with only the area the consultant specifies evaluated. The fee authority is G.S. 130A-39(g), which names Article 11 wastewater services expressly.

Existing System Authorization Site Visit

Taking over an unsewered Durham County property that already has a septic system, or changing what the building is used for, brings Environmental Health out to look at the existing system, and the FY 2026-27 adopted charge for that visit is $150.00. This line rose in the new schedule: the FY 2025-26 column of the county's Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule shows $100.00 and the FY 2026-27 column shows $150.00, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, while the department's own Environmental Health fee web page still carries the superseded $100.00, so the adopted schedule is the figure published here. The visit matters most on a change of use, because a system sized for one occupancy may not support another — a retail unit becoming a restaurant, or a house becoming a veterinary clinic or a childcare centre, changes both flow and waste strength — and the authorization is what lets the new use proceed on the existing system. Where the existing system cannot serve the proposed use, the improvement permit and construction authorization listed separately apply instead, at $300.00 and $200.00 to $525.00. The same adopted schedule prices a Wastewater System Reconnection Permit at $200.00, which is the route where a system is being reconnected rather than newly authorised. The fee authority is G.S. 130A-39(g), which names Article 11 wastewater services expressly.

County Fire Re-Inspection

Where a Durham County fire inspection finds violations that are not corrected, the return visits are charged on a rising ladder: $50.00 for the first re-inspection, $150.00 for the second and $300.00 for the third. Two of the three steps rose for the new fiscal year — the FY 2025-26 column of the Durham County Fire Prevention and Protection Code Fee Schedule shows $100.00 and $200.00 for the second and third re-inspections against $150.00 and $300.00 in the FY 2026-27 Approved schedule — so a business working from last year's figures will understate the cost of a second failure. The schedule is levied by Section 7 of the county's FY 2026-27 Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, and appears both as a standalone county PDF and as appendices to the county budget document. The ladder applies in the county fire marshal's jurisdiction, which the county's Permits and Inspections page determines by property address, and it is separate from the routine inspection charge that is banded by gross building area and listed separately. The practical exposure for an operator is larger than the fee itself, because the same schedule prices failure to obtain permits required by code at $1,000.00 for a first violation and $3,000.00 for a second, a stop work order at $1,000.00 and blocked egress at $750.00, the last of which rose from $250.00; an out-of-service exit or emergency light, previously $50.00 per unit, is now priced at $0.00.

County Sewer Lateral Inspection

Every new building connection to Durham County sewer is inspected at $360.00 per connection, a figure that appears identically in the Utilities Division's own FY27 Fee Schedule effective July 1, 2026 and in the Sewer Utilities schedule of the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Budget levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026. Two charges commonly ride along with it and are worth budgeting for at the same time: a Not Ready Inspection Fee of $120.00 for each occurrence, which the schedule states must be paid before as-built approval, and a re-inspection or failed inspection fee of $120.00 per hour based on the scheduled inspection time, excluding the certificate-of-occupancy inspection. A 5% non-refundable technology fee is added to all construction inspection fees. Larger work is priced by the foot or by the structure on the same schedule: a sewer main or outfall is $3.70 per linear foot at 8 to 12 inches and $6.00 per linear foot above 12 inches, a force main $3.70 per linear foot, a private lift station $605.00 and a public lift station $2,625.00, so a development extending the system rather than simply tapping it faces a much larger bill. The charge applies to premises served by the county utility, and a business inside the City of Durham deals with the city's own utility instead. The certificate-of-occupancy sewer inspection at $120.00 per building connection is a separate step listed separately.

County Stormwater Utility Fee

A non-residential property in Durham County's stormwater service area is billed $96.00 per equivalent residential unit per year, so the annual cost scales with how much impervious surface a business occupies rather than being a flat charge. The amount is in the FY 2026-2027 Approved Stormwater Erosion Control Fee Schedule inside the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Budget, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, and it is unchanged from the FY 2025-26 column. The residential side of the same schedule is tiered — Tier 0 at $0.00 a year, Tier 1 at $48.00, Tier 2 at $96.00 and Tier 3 at $192.00 — which is useful context for a home-based business and shows that the non-residential rate is set at the Tier 2 equivalent per ERU. This is a standing utility charge rather than a development permit, so it continues for as long as the business occupies the property, unlike the stormwater plan review, stormwater permit and land disturbance charges listed separately, which attach to a project. A business adding parking, an extension or any other impervious surface should expect its ERU count and therefore this annual charge to rise, as well as triggering the project-stage charges. Engineering & Environmental Services administers the fee alongside the county's land disturbance and erosion and sedimentation control programme.

County Stormwater Plan Review and Permit

The single largest county development charge a Durham County business is likely to meet is the stormwater permit at $2,500 per Stormwater Control Measure, and because it is priced per measure rather than per project a site needing two devices pays $5,000. Plan review comes first, at $225 for a project under an acre or $325 per disturbed acre above an acre, so the review of a three-acre site is $975 before the permit is considered. After construction the measure carries a $100 annual inspection per SCM for as long as it exists. The renewal line rewards newer permits: a stormwater permit issued in 2018 or earlier renews at $250 per SCM, while a permit issued in January 2019 or later carries no renewal charge, which is a genuine distinction between two otherwise identical sites. All of these amounts are in the FY 2026-2027 Approved Stormwater Erosion Control Fee Schedule inside the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Budget, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, and every line is unchanged from the FY 2025-26 column. The same schedule prices a stream delineation in the Cape Fear River Basin at a $750 base fee plus $100 per acre. Land disturbance review and permitting are charged and listed separately, and the annual stormwater utility fee of $96 per ERU continues alongside all of it.

Permit	Issuing agency	Fee	Renews	Last checked
Well Water Sampleonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$135 per sample, county-only, at the same amount for each of the four sample types — bacteriological (total coliform and E. coli), inorganic including nitrate and nitrite, pesticide and petroleum; per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	per sample; sampling recurs whenever the county or the operator's own programme calls for it rather than on a license term	2026-09-30
Nonresidential Building Permit and Plan Reviewonly if it applies to you	Durham City-County Building & Safety Department	Charged per project on Schedule E, by construction value based on construction contracts unless a reason is identified to base cost on other information — building permit fee then plan review fee: $0-$5,000 $104.00 and $104.00; $5,001-$50,000 $104.00 plus $7.80 per thousand or fraction over $5,000, and $104.00; $50,001-$100,000 $456.00 plus $6.60 per thousand or fraction over $50,000, and $230.00; $100,001-$500,000 $786.00 plus $4.32 per thousand or fraction over $100,000, and $400.00; over $500,000 $2,513.00 plus $1.25 per thousand or fraction over $500,000, and $1,300.00. As published on the Durham City-County Building & Safety Department Building Permit Fee Schedule, effective July 1, 2018 and including the technology surcharge.	per project; the schedule prices voiding of permits at 15% of permit cost with no maximum, and charges a double fee where work is begun without a permit	2026-09-30
County Fire Operational Permitonly if it applies to you	Durham County Emergency Services — Fire Prevention & Life Safety	Charged per operational permit, county-only: Places of Assembly $75; Repair Garages $150; Mobile Food Preparation Vehicles $150; Motor Fuel-Dispensing Facilities $150; Carbon Dioxide Systems for beverage dispensing applications $50; Hot Work Operations $75; Cutting and Welding $75; Storage of Scrap Tires & Tire Byproducts $75; Tire-Rebuilding Plants $150; Waste Handling, Junk Yard, Wrecking Yard $150; Refrigeration Equipment $75; Dry Cleaning $150; Spraying or Dipping $150; High-Piled Storage $200; Covered Malls, Buildings $150; Temporary Membrane Structures and Tents $75; Open Burning $150; Exhibits and Trade Shows $150; Carnivals and Fairs $250; Lumber Yards and Woodworking Plants $150; Miscellaneous Combustible Storage $150; Aerosol Products $75; Combustible Dust-Producing Operations $75; each Compressed Gases class $75; Fire Hydrants and Valves $75; Flammable and Combustible Liquids $75; Floor Finishing $150; Fumigation & Thermal Insecticide Fogging $150; Hazardous Materials $150; HPM Facilities $200; Industrial Ovens $75; Pyrotechnic Special Effects Material $175 per location; Blasting/Explosives $400 for a 30-day permit. As published in the FY 2026-27 Approved Durham County Fire Prevention and Protection Code Fee Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026.	per permit, for the operation it authorises; the Blasting/Explosives permit runs 30 days, where the FY 2025-26 schedule made it a 90-day permit, and the others attach to the ongoing operation and are managed through the building's inspection cycle	2026-09-30
Septic Construction Authorizationonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$200–$525 per construction authorization, county-only, by system type: Type I and II $200.00, Type III (pump) $350.00, Type IV, V and VI $525.00; per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	per authorization, issued after the improvement permit and before the system is installed; a Type V or VI system then carries an operational permit renewed every five years at $50.00 on the same schedule	2026-09-30
Private Well Permitonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$425 per well permit, county-only; the same schedule prices a Well Repair Permit at $0.00; per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	per permit, for the construction of the well; water sampling is charged per sample and is listed as its own requirement	2026-09-30
County Fire Code Routine Inspection	Durham County Emergency Services — Fire Prevention & Life Safety	Charged per inspection by gross building area, county-only: up to 999 sq ft $30; 1,000-2,499 $45; 2,500-10,000 $100; 10,001-25,000 $140; 25,001-50,000 $180; 50,001-75,000 $225; 75,001-100,000 $300; 100,001-200,000 $425; 200,001-300,000 $475; 300,001-400,000 $525; 400,001-500,000 $600; 500,001-600,000 $675; 600,001-700,000 $750; 700,001-800,000 $825; 800,001-900,000 $900; 900,001-1,000,000 $975; 1,000,000 sq ft and greater $1,200. As published in the FY 2026-27 Approved Durham County Fire Prevention and Protection Code Fee Schedule, which is also printed in the county's FY 2026-27 budget and levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, and unchanged from FY 2025-26.	cyclical, by occupancy type, per the county's Permits and Inspections page: once a year for hazardous, institutional, high rise, assembly and residential occupancies and new and existing lodging establishments; once every two years for educational (except public schools) and industrial; once every three years for business, mercantile, storage and religious institutions; twice a year for public and private schools — with statutory frequencies superseding that schedule where they apply	2026-09-30
County Fire Life Safety Plan Reviewonly if it applies to you	Durham County Emergency Services — Fire Prevention & Life Safety	Charged per project by floor area, county-only: new construction under 5,000 sq ft $100; 5,000-10,000 sq ft $150; over 10,000 sq ft $175 plus $25 for each additional 5,000 sq ft. Site Plan Review $150. Expedited Review $300 per hour. Before and after hours inspections $300 per hour plus the square-foot fee. As published in the FY 2026-27 Approved Durham County Fire Prevention and Protection Code Fee Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026; the before and after hours line was a flat $300 per hour in FY 2025-26.	per project, at design and before construction; the construction permits for the individual fire protection systems and the routine inspection cycle that follows occupancy are separate and are listed as their own requirements	2026-09-30
Occupancy and Miscellaneous Building Permitsonly if it applies to you	Durham City-County Building & Safety Department	Charged per permit on Schedule F: Change of Occupancy Permit where no building permit is otherwise required and no construction is necessary $50.00; Stocking Permit $100.00; Partial Occupancy $200.00; Posting of Occupancy not associated with a permit $50.00; Commercial Roofing or Reroofing $100.00 for $0-$20,000 or $150.00 over $20,000; Demolition Permit $75.00 up to 5,000 sq ft or $150.00 over 5,000 sq ft, and $75.00 where associated with a forthcoming permit; Mobile Home unit installation and foundation $150.00; Modular Units $200.00; Moving Permit including new foundation $125.00; Change of impervious surface on a permit $250.00; Floodplain Development Permit $150.00 small or $500.00 large; Homeowner's Recovery Fund $10.00; Re-Stamp Plans or replacement copy of digital plans $20.00 per plan; Change of address, PIN or PID on permits $10.00 per trade (building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and/or fire); duplicate placard $5.00. As published on the Durham City-County Building & Safety Department Building Permit Fee Schedule, effective July 1, 2018.	per permit; a stocking permit and a partial occupancy permit each cover a stated stage of occupancy before the full occupancy posting, and a floodplain development permit attaches to the development it authorises	2026-09-30
Building Re-Inspection and Plan Re-Reviewonly if it applies to you	Durham City-County Building & Safety Department	Re-inspection, charged per occurrence: not ready for inspection $100.00; 8 or more code violations found $100.00; second re-inspection $100.00; third $200.00; fourth $300.00. Plan re-review: first no charge; second $200.00; each thereafter $300.00. Work begun without a permit is charged a double fee, and voiding of permits is 15% of permit cost with no maximum. As published on the Durham City-County Building & Safety Department Building Permit Fee Schedule, effective July 1, 2018.	per occurrence, rising with each further re-inspection or re-review on the same project rather than resetting; the first plan re-review carries no charge	2026-09-30
County Sewer Certificate of Occupancy Inspectiononly if it applies to you	Durham County Engineering & Environmental Services	Charged per connection, county-only: $120.00 per building connection for all other development; $37.00 per lot for each inspection for single family. Per the Durham County Utilities Division FY27 Fee Schedule effective July 1, 2026 and the Sewer Utilities schedule in the county's FY 2026-27 budget. A 5% non-refundable technology fee applies to all construction inspection fees, and the schedule excludes this inspection from the $120.00 per hour re-inspection or failed inspection charge.	per connection, at the point of occupancy; it is the county utility's own sign-off and is separate from the merged building department's occupancy permits	2026-09-30
County Land Disturbance Plan Review and Permitonly if it applies to you	Durham County Engineering & Environmental Services	Charged per project, county-only: Land Disturbance Plan Review $100 for greater than 20,000 sq ft to 1 acre, $100 per lot for single-family lots in a residential development or common plan of development of less than one acre, and $125 per acre for greater than 1 acre; Land Disturbance Permit $275 for 12,000 sq ft to 1 acre, $525 per acre for greater than 1 acre to 10 acres, and $800 per acre for greater than 10 acres; extension 25% of the original permit fee; Unauthorized Land Disturbance Activity 200% of the required permit fee; Performance Security $4,000 per disturbed acre at 5 acres or greater; re-inspection after a notice of violation $1,000 first and $500 subsequent with no or a minor civil penalty, or $5,000 first and $500 subsequent with a major civil penalty. As published in the FY 2026-2027 Approved Stormwater Erosion Control Fee Schedule in the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Budget, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, and unchanged from FY 2025-26.	per project; an extension of the permit costs 25% of the original permit fee, and a performance security of $4,000 per disturbed acre is held on sites of 5 acres or greater	2026-09-30
On-Site Wastewater Improvement Permitonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$300 per application for an improvement permit with a 2 acre limit, county-only, per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	per application; the improvement permit is the site evaluation stage and is followed by a separate construction authorization before the system may be installed, and by an operation permit for the system types that require one	2026-09-30
Existing System Authorization Site Visitonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$150 per site visit, county-only, per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	per site visit; the authorization that follows attaches to the existing system and the proposed use rather than to a renewable term	2026-09-30
County Fire Re-Inspectiononly if it applies to you	Durham County Emergency Services — Fire Prevention & Life Safety	Charged per re-inspection on a rising ladder, county-only: first re-inspection $50; second $150; third $300. As published in the FY 2026-27 Approved Durham County Fire Prevention and Protection Code Fee Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026; the second and third steps rose from $100 and $200 in the FY 2025-26 schedule.	per re-inspection, rising with each return visit on the same matter rather than resetting; the routine inspection cycle that triggered it continues on its own occupancy-based frequency	2026-09-30
County Sewer Lateral Inspectiononly if it applies to you	Durham County Engineering & Environmental Services	$360 per building connection, county-only, per the Durham County Utilities Division FY27 Fee Schedule effective July 1, 2026 and the Sewer Utilities schedule in the county's FY 2026-27 budget; a 5% non-refundable technology fee applies to all construction inspection fees	per building connection, at construction; a Not Ready Inspection is a further $120.00 for each occurrence and must be paid before as-built approval, and a re-inspection or failed inspection is $120.00 per hour based on the scheduled inspection time	2026-09-30
County Stormwater Utility Fee	Durham County Engineering & Environmental Services	$96 per equivalent residential unit per year for non-residential property, county-only, per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	annual, billed for as long as the property is in the county's stormwater service area; it is a recurring utility charge rather than a permit with a term	2026-09-30
County Stormwater Plan Review and Permitonly if it applies to you	Durham County Engineering & Environmental Services	Charged per project and then annually, county-only: Stormwater Plan Review $225 for less than 1 acre, or $325 per disturbed acre for more than 1 acre; Stormwater Permit $2,500 per Stormwater Control Measure; Stormwater Control Measure Annual Inspection $100 per SCM; Stormwater Permit Renewal $250 per SCM for permits issued 2018 and prior, and none for permits issued January 2019 and after. As published in the FY 2026-2027 Approved Stormwater Erosion Control Fee Schedule in the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Budget, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, and unchanged from FY 2025-26.	the plan review and permit are per project; the $100 per SCM inspection is annual, and renewal at $250 per SCM applies only to permits issued in 2018 and earlier, with permits issued from January 2019 onward carrying no renewal charge	2026-09-30

Business licenses and permits in Durham County, North Carolina

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