What do these permits involve in Forsyth County?

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Erosion Control, Watershed and Stormwater Permits

Ground-disturbing commercial development in Forsyth County carries three requirements that are easy to leave out of a budget, and the way each is priced matters more than any single figure. The erosion control permit is charged on a minimum of one acre with a further rate for each additional acre up to a stated maximum, so a new restaurant pad, retail building, childcare centre or veterinary hospital with parking scales with the disturbed area rather than paying a flat charge. The watershed permit is priced by density, with separate low-density and high-density rates that turn on how much of the site is impervious, and a high-density site is the one that then needs an engineered stormwater control structure. That structure brings the third requirement, and it is the only recurring one in this group: a stormwater control annual inspection, payable for as long as the device is in place, so a business that inherits a pond, filter or underground detention system with its site inherits an annual cost too. All three sit on the joint department's April 2026 INSPECTION FEES list under the mechanism UDO § 3.1 A sets, which requires fees to be established and modified by the Elected Body — the Board of County Commissioners for Forsyth County — and requires the lists applicable to the Planning Board and the Inspections Division to be maintained on file and available to the public in the respective offices. Because that list prices Winston-Salem and Forsyth County in one column, this page records the requirements and their structure and asks the reader to get the acreage rates and the annual inspection charge from the division for the specific site. Work in a mapped floodplain adds the separate floodplain requirement listed elsewhere on this page, and a site not served by a public sewer meets the on-site wastewater record, whose figures come from the county's own FY 26-27 schedule. The division covers all of Forsyth County except the town and city limits of High Point, Kernersville and King.

On-site Wastewater (Septic) Evaluation and Construction Authorisation

Forsyth County Environmental Health enforces on-site sewage disposal laws and regulations, performs soil and site evaluations to determine whether property not served by a public sewer system is suitable for a septic tank system, and inspects the installation of septic tank systems. The line a commercial business pays is SS1, whose own label on the county's FY 26-27 Fee Schedule reads '480-1500 gpd (business or church)' at $489.00 — not the SSA residential soil site application at $232.00 per lot, which prices a three to six bedroom house. Higher design flows move up the schedule: $739.00 for 1,500 to 3,000 gallons a day and $2,604.00 above 3,000 gallons a day, which is where a large restaurant, a sizeable childcare centre or a veterinary hospital on a rural site can land. The evaluation and the construction authorisation are separate charges, so a new conventional gravity system on a commercial site is $489.00 plus $265.00 before any revisit, and a pump installation adds $71.00. Taking over a property with an existing system is cheaper but not free: a T&J panel repair is $232.00, a redraw of the improvement permit or construction authorisation is $43.00 and a Health Department Release is $64.00. Every revisit is $64.00. The programme is countywide rather than confined to the unincorporated area, because Environmental Health acts for NC DHHS under G.S. 130A-4(b) across the whole county. A business on a public sewer has no county septic step at all. Applications go to Environmental Health at 799 N. Highland Avenue, Winston-Salem, (336) 703-3225, and the figures are from the county's FY 26-27 schedule running July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027.

Non-residential Building Plan Review

Plan review is priced by floor area rather than by construction value, and these are the tiers Forsyth County Code § 7-18(d) sets: $100.00 under 4,000 square feet, $125.00 from 4,000 to 15,000, $325.00 from 15,001 to 40,000 and $800.00 at 40,001 square feet and above, with condominium and apartment projects at $500.00 and parking lots at $100.00. The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County INSPECTION FEES list dated April 2026 prints the same amounts for these rows, which is why they are published here. That agreement is not universal, and it is the reason this page is selective about Chapter 7: the county ordinance and the joint list state different amounts for several other plan review rows, and those rows are left out rather than published from one document or the other. Most businesses in these ten industries sit in the first or second tier — a restaurant fit-out, a salon, a veterinary clinic or a small retail unit is usually under 4,000 or under 15,000 square feet — while a fitness club, a grocery-scale retail store or a large childcare centre can reach the higher tiers. Plan review is charged in addition to the building permit and to each trade permit, and to the zoning review the same division carries out. The Inspections Division reviews and inspects throughout Forsyth County except the town and city limits of High Point, Kernersville and King, and it enforces the adopted Unified Development Ordinances of Clemmons, Forsyth County, Lewisville, Walkertown and Winston-Salem, so which UDO applies depends on the address even though the fee does not. Contact: Suite 328, 100 East First Street, Winston-Salem, (336) 727-2624.

Non-residential Building Permit (work valued over $50,000)

Forsyth County Code § 7-18(a) and the joint department's April 2026 INSPECTION FEES list print the same three tiers for non-residential work valued above $50,000, and this record publishes only those: $232.00 plus $3.00 per $1,000 over $50,000 up to $100,000; $388.00 plus $2.60 per $1,000 over $100,000 up to $500,000; and $1,425.00 plus $2.40 per $1,000 over $500,000. The two documents state different amounts for work valued at $50,000 or less, so no amount for that band is published here, and neither is any minimum permit fee. Working without a permit is expensive in the ordinance's own terms: § 7-5 adds a late fee equal in amount to the fees specified for the work, on top of the fee itself. The county's inspection department is the joint Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Inspections Division, and the ordinance is what puts it there — § 7-1 defines 'building inspector' as the Inspection Division of the Planning and Development Services Department of the City of Winston-Salem or such other agency of that city as performs inspection services for the county under an agreement, and § 7-15(a) designates the City's building inspectors as county building inspectors to perform inspection services, collect inspection fees and enforce the building regulations, effective on approval by both the City Council and the Board of Commissioners. Its reach is everywhere in Forsyth County except the town and city limits of High Point, Kernersville and King. A licensed trade contractor has an alternative to paying at each visit: § 7-8 lets a licensed plumbing, mechanical or electrical contractor post a performance bond of not less than $2,500 in lieu of paying inspection fees daily. General contractor licensure is a separate state matter — G.S. 87-1(a) makes anyone undertaking construction where the cost of the undertaking is forty thousand dollars ($40,000) or more a general contractor licensed by the state Licensing Board. Plan review, zoning review and each trade permit are charged in addition to this one.

Commercial Electrical Permit (service change, reconnect and HVAC units)

These are the commercial electrical lines where Forsyth County Code § 7-101 Schedule II and the joint department's April 2026 INSPECTION FEES list state the same amount, and they are the ones a business fitting out a unit actually meets: $102.00 for a commercial change of service, $84.00 to reconnect current, $42.00 for each commercial heating or air conditioning unit, and temporary construction power at $75.00 for individual meters or $100.00 per gang for gang meters. A change of service is the common trigger when a retail unit, salon, restaurant or veterinary clinic takes on a space whose existing panel cannot carry the new equipment load, and the per-unit HVAC charge is additional to the mechanical permit for the same equipment listed separately. Several other electrical rows are left out on purpose: the county ordinance and the joint list state different amounts for bonding-only work, for manufactured and modular home electrical, for freestanding sign electrical, and for the minimum electrical permit fee, so no figure for any of those appears here. Forsyth County Code § 7-100 is what designates the joint Winston-Salem/Forsyth County department as the county's electrical inspection agency, in the same terms as §§ 7-15, 7-37 and 7-50 do for building, plumbing and mechanical. The division covers all of Forsyth County except the town and city limits of High Point, Kernersville and King. A licensed electrical contractor may post the § 7-8 performance bond of not less than $2,500 in lieu of paying inspection fees daily. Contact: Suite 328, 100 East First Street, Winston-Salem, (336) 727-2624.

Temporary Certificate of Occupancy

A business that wants to open before every trade has finished can ask the joint Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Inspections Division for a temporary certificate of occupancy, priced by Forsyth County Code § 7-18(a) at $50.00 plus $35.00 for each unfinished trade, with the April 2026 INSPECTION FEES list printing the same amounts. The per-trade structure is the practical point: a restaurant opening with plumbing, mechanical and electrical all still open costs $50.00 plus three times $35.00, so the cost rises with how much is left to do rather than being a flat administrative charge. This is a common step for a retail store or restaurant trying to hit a lease date or a holiday trading period, and it is worth pricing against the cost of waiting for the final certificate. The temporary certificate does not replace the completed inspections; the outstanding trades still have to pass. Other Chapter 7 charges around inspection timing are left out of this page because the county ordinance and the joint list state them differently: extra inspection trips beyond the included re-inspection, after-hours inspections, and the administrative charge and time limit for a permit refund all differ between the two documents, so no figure for any of them is published. The Inspections Division covers all of Forsyth County except the town and city limits of High Point, Kernersville and King. Contact: Suite 328, 100 East First Street, Winston-Salem, (336) 727-2624.

Commercial Building Evaluation

A commercial building evaluation is the $250.00 charge in Forsyth County Code § 7-18(a), printed at the same amount on the joint department's April 2026 INSPECTION FEES list, for the Inspections Division to assess an existing commercial building rather than to permit new work in it. It is the step that most often matters to a business taking on an older building whose last use was different from the intended one — a warehouse unit becoming a fitness studio, a shop becoming a restaurant, a former office becoming a veterinary clinic — because it establishes what the building currently complies with before the tenant commits to a fit-out budget or a lease. It is a separate charge from plan review, from the building permit and from the zoning review the same division carries out, all listed separately, and from the sanitation and fire inspections other county agencies perform. Because it is written into the county's own ordinance and matched on the joint list, it is published here without qualification, unlike the several Chapter 7 rows where the two documents disagree. The Inspections Division reviews and inspects building and zoning activity throughout Forsyth County with the exception of the town and city limits of High Point, Kernersville and King, and it enforces the adopted Unified Development Ordinances of Clemmons, Forsyth County, Lewisville, Walkertown and Winston-Salem. Contact: Suite 328, 100 East First Street, Winston-Salem, (336) 727-2624.

Foundation-only Permit and Stand-alone Parking Lot Permit

Two site-stage permits in Forsyth County Code § 7-18(a) are matched exactly on the joint department's April 2026 INSPECTION FEES list and so are published here: a foundation-only permit at $225.00, charged in addition to the building permit rather than instead of it, and a stand-alone parking lot permit at $150.00. The foundation-only permit is the one a developer or contractor uses to start footings and foundations while the rest of the plans are still in review, and the ordinance is explicit that it does not reduce the building permit fee that follows. The stand-alone parking lot permit is the one that catches businesses that are not building at all: resurfacing, restriping or extending a customer car park as a project in its own right needs its own permit at $150.00, which a restaurant, retail store, veterinary clinic or fitness studio improving its site without touching the building will meet. Non-residential plan review prices parking lots at $100.00 on the same schedule, a separate charge listed with the plan review record. Ground-disturbing work on the same site may also trigger the county's erosion control, watershed and stormwater charges, recorded separately. The Inspections Division covers all of Forsyth County except the town and city limits of High Point, Kernersville and King. Contact: Suite 328, 100 East First Street, Winston-Salem, (336) 727-2624.

Home Occupation Permit

The City of Winston-Salem's Business License page states plainly that home-based businesses located in Forsyth County require an occupation permit through City/County Inspections, so the duty reaches a home-based business at a Forsyth County address and is obtained from the joint department rather than from any city office. This is the step a great many small businesses in the county actually meet first — a baker or caterer working from a home kitchen, a mobile grooming or repair business run from a residence, a personal trainer, a home-based salon chair, a one-person contractor with a home office — and it is easy to miss because it is a zoning approval rather than anything called a business license. The fee-setting mechanism is the county's own Unified Development Ordinance: § 3.1 A provides that fees shall be charged for technical services necessitated by petitions and requests for permits, that those fees shall be established and modified by the Elected Body, and that lists of the fees applicable to the Planning Board and the Inspections Division shall be maintained on file and available to the public in the respective offices. The UDO defines the Elected Body as the legislative body of the adopting jurisdiction, which for Forsyth County is the Board of County Commissioners. The April 2026 list the division keeps under that provision covers Winston-Salem and Forsyth County together with no separate county column, and the same provision governs the Planning Board's list in identical terms, so the amounts on it are treated the same way throughout this page: the duty and the mechanism are recorded and no figure is published as the county's own. Ask the division for the amount charged at the specific address before applying. A home occupation that prepares food for sale separately meets the Environmental Health food records on this page, whose figures come from the county's own FY 26-27 fee schedule. Contact: Suite 328, 100 East First Street, Winston-Salem, (336) 727-2624.

Sign Permit

Signage is one of the first costs a new retail, food or service business meets in Forsyth County and it is permitted per sign. The joint department's April 2026 INSPECTION FEES list separates an on-premises ground sign from an off-premises one, prices a wall, roof, projecting or special event sign with a lower rate for each additional sign on the same application, prices a panel change-out on the same first-and-additional basis, and carries a sign plan review line of its own. The structure rewards doing the whole shopfront on one application rather than returning for each element, and the panel change-out line is the cheap route for a tenant taking over an existing sign cabinet in a shopping centre — a common situation for a salon, a coffee shop or a quick-service restaurant. Freestanding sign electrical work is a separate matter and is not priced on this page either: the county ordinance and the joint list state different amounts for the freestanding sign electrical permit, so no figure for it appears here. The fee mechanism is UDO § 3.1 A, which requires fees to be established and modified by the Elected Body, the Board of County Commissioners for Forsyth County, and requires the lists applicable to the Planning Board and the Inspections Division to be kept on file and available to the public in the respective offices. The April 2026 list is that document, it prices Winston-Salem and Forsyth County in one column, and this page therefore records the permit and its structure without publishing an amount as the county's own. Sign regulations themselves differ between the county's UDO text and each town's, so a business should confirm what is permitted at its address as well as what the permit costs. The division covers all of Forsyth County except the town and city limits of High Point, Kernersville and King.

Floodplain Structure Permit and Floodplain Letter

Building or altering a structure in a mapped floodplain in Forsyth County carries a charge added to the building permit, and a floodplain letter — the written determination a lender, insurer or prospective tenant usually asks for — is a separate and markedly cheaper line, both on the joint department's April 2026 INSPECTION FEES list. The letter is the more common of the two and is worth obtaining before committing to a site: a business looking at a unit near a creek in the county can establish for a small charge whether the floodplain permit, the elevation requirements and the flood insurance that follow will apply at all. The floodplain permit charge is additional to the ordinary building permit rather than instead of it, and additional to plan review and the zoning review the same division carries out, each listed separately. Ground-disturbing work near a watercourse commonly also triggers the county's erosion control, watershed and stormwater requirements, recorded separately. The fee mechanism is UDO § 3.1 A, which requires fees to be established and modified by the Elected Body — the Board of County Commissioners for Forsyth County — and requires the lists applicable to the Planning Board and the Inspections Division to be maintained on file and available to the public in the respective offices. The April 2026 document is that list, it prices Winston-Salem and Forsyth County together, and this page records the requirement without publishing an amount as the county's own. The division covers all of Forsyth County except the town and city limits of High Point, Kernersville and King. Contact: Suite 328, 100 East First Street, Winston-Salem, (336) 727-2624.

Fire Plan Review by the Joint Inspections Division

There are two separate fire plan review regimes in Forsyth County and confusing them will misstate the cost. This record is the joint Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Inspections Division's own review, which its April 2026 INSPECTION FEES list prices with separate lines for fire alarm plans, extinguishing systems, fire sprinkler plans and other drawings, a cheaper performance test on small systems, a higher charge for a flammable liquid tank, and construction drawing review banded by building cost. The Forsyth County Fire Department runs its own plan review at $120.00 per set for premises outside the town limits of Kernersville and the City of Winston-Salem, listed separately, and that figure is published because it appears on a Forsyth County page rather than on the joint list — the two regimes charge differently and which applies depends on the address. A restaurant installing a kitchen extinguishing system, a retail store or fitness studio sprinklering a fit-out, a childcare centre adding an alarm system and an auto-repair shop installing a flammable liquid tank all meet review here, in addition to the mechanical, electrical and plumbing permits for the same work. The banded construction drawing line means a large new building pays materially more for fire review than a small tenant fit-out, so the band matters as much as the rate. The fee mechanism is UDO § 3.1 A, which requires fees to be established and modified by the Elected Body, the Board of County Commissioners for Forsyth County, and requires the lists applicable to the Planning Board and the Inspections Division to be kept on file and available to the public in the respective offices; because the April 2026 list prices Winston-Salem and Forsyth County together, no amount from it is published here as the county's own.

Forsyth County Fire Annual Inspection and Re-inspections

The Forsyth County Fire Division states that its jurisdictional area covers all schools in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System and all businesses, institutions, assemblies and multi-family dwellings outside of the town limits of Kernersville and the City of Winston-Salem — so a business inside Winston-Salem or Kernersville is inspected by that municipality's own programme, and everywhere else in the county the county Fire Marshal is the inspecting authority. The annual inspection itself carries no charge on the county's own Fire Permit Application and Fees page. What costs money is failing to fix what the inspection finds: the first re-inspection is free where corrections have been made and $50.00 where they have not, and every re-inspection after that is $100.00. The same page publishes fines, including $200.00 per door for exits or egress ways locked or blocked, $200.00 for overcrowding, $100.00 where a fire and life safety system is not maintained, tested per schedule or documented, $50.00 per item or code for a general NC Fire Code violation, and $100.00 plus a stop work order for failing to submit required plans and obtain a required permit. The fee mechanism is Forsyth County Code § 10-9(a), which directs that fees be determined by resolution of the Board of County Commissioners and that the schedule be filed with the clerk to the board and the fire marshal's office for public inspection, so the authorising resolution is filed rather than posted and the amounts here are published as the county's own current page states them. § 10-4 adopts the North Carolina State Building Code: Fire Prevention Code including all appendices and all subsequent amendments and revisions, and § 10-4(b) makes Building Code Council amendments effective in Forsyth County when they become part of that Code, so the current edition applies; the Fire Division's page still refers to a 2006 edition. Forms go to fcfd9@forsyth.cc; 3000 Aviation Drive, Winston-Salem, (336) 703-2550.

Private Water Supply Well Construction, Abandonment and Sampling

Forsyth County Environmental Health enforces state and local private drinking water well laws and rules and handles the permitting and inspection of new wells, well repairs and well abandonment. A business on a rural site in the county — an old farm building becoming a veterinary clinic, a salon, a small restaurant or a childcare centre — meets this record rather than a public water connection. Two things are worth reading carefully on the county's FY 26-27 Fee Schedule. First, the well construction permit line appears twice, under the identical code and description 'WCP Water Supply Well Const. NFHC Permit', once at $398.00 and once at $489.00, with no printed criterion distinguishing the two amounts, so the safe course is to ask Environmental Health on (336) 703-3225 which applies before committing to a figure. Second, water sampling is priced per analyte rather than as a single package, so the total depends on what the site needs: bacteria alone is $52.00, nitrate/nitrite and fluoride are $54.00 each, inorganic is $102.00 and rises to $108.00 with nitrate, and pesticide, petroleum and organic (VOA) panels are $121.00 each, with a uranium plus three metals panel at $103.00 and iron and sulfate reducing bacteria at $86.00 and $96.00. Abandoning a well properly is a permitted act in its own right at $176.00, which matters when a business takes on a property with a disused or failed well. A site on a public water supply has no county well step. The figures are from the county's current FY 26-27 schedule, running July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027; applications go to 799 N. Highland Avenue, Winston-Salem.

Non-residential Mechanical Permit (heating, cooling, ductwork and gas)

Heating, cooling and gas-fired equipment in a non-residential building in Forsyth County is permitted per unit rather than per project. Schedule I of Forsyth County Code § 7-52(b) charges $25.00 for heat-producing equipment up to 150,000 Btu per hour or 45 kW and $108.00 above that, and the same two amounts apply to heat pumps and air conditioning by nominal compressor rating at the 25-ton threshold, with duct-only work at $21.00. Mechanical gas outlets and gas house connections are $8.00 each under Schedule IV. The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County INSPECTION FEES list of April 2026 prints these same amounts, which is the test this page applies before publishing any Chapter 7 figure. Two cautions follow from that test. First, the plumbing side of the code prices gas outlets and gas house connections differently from the mechanical side, and the county ordinance and the joint list state different amounts for the plumbing line, so the $8.00 above is the mechanical Schedule IV figure and nothing on this page publishes a plumbing gas outlet amount. Second, the two documents state different minimum mechanical permit amounts, so no minimum is published here. A restaurant, salon, veterinary clinic or fitness studio fitting out a unit typically pays this permit alongside the building permit, the non-residential plan review, the electrical permit and, where applicable, the hood and refrigeration permits listed separately. The Inspections Division covers all of Forsyth County except the town and city limits of High Point, Kernersville and King.

Non-residential Plumbing Permit (itemised fixtures, sewers and medical gas)

Forsyth County prices non-residential plumbing per item rather than per project, and these three lines are the ones where the county ordinance at § 7-38(a)(2) and the joint department's April 2026 INSPECTION FEES list state the same amount: $10.00 for each plumbed fixture, appliance, interceptor or sewer ejector, $16.00 per 200 feet of building sewer or drains, and $10.00 per medical gas station outlet. The fixture count is what drives the cost, so a restaurant with a three-compartment sink, hand sinks, a grease interceptor, a mop sink and customer toilets pays many times over, and a salon with wash basins at each station does the same; the grease interceptor a food business needs is charged on the interceptor line. The medical gas line is the one that matters to a veterinary practice fitting out surgery and recovery rooms. Other plumbing rows are deliberately absent: the county ordinance and the joint list state different amounts for building water lines, for plumbing gas outlets and gas house connections, and for the minimum plumbing permit fee, so no figure for those appears on this page. Forsyth County Code § 7-37 designates the joint Winston-Salem/Forsyth County department as the county's plumbing inspection agency, and § 7-8 lets a licensed plumbing contractor post a performance bond of not less than $2,500 in lieu of paying inspection fees daily. The division covers all of Forsyth County except the town and city limits of High Point, Kernersville and King. A site not served by a public sewer also meets the county's on-site wastewater record.

Zoning Permit and Commercial Zoning Review

Forsyth County zones its territory through the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Unified Development Ordinance, and the joint Inspections Division enforces it: the division's own page states that its staff completes plan review, issues permits and enforces zoning regulations consistent with the adopted zoning codes of Clemmons, Forsyth County, Lewisville, Walkertown and Winston-Salem, which means the county's UDO text applies at some addresses and a town's at others even though one department administers them all. The UDO marks the difference in its own text, italicising provisions that apply in Winston-Salem only and underlining those that apply in Forsyth County only. The April 2026 INSPECTION FEES list distinguishes the zoning step three ways, and the distinction is worth knowing even without the amounts: a zoning permit where both a zoning plan review and a zoning inspection are required, a cheaper administrative-only permit with no inspection, and a commercial zoning review and inspection added to the building permit. The administrative-only route is the one a simple change of tenant in an already-conforming unit may take, while a fit-out or a change of use meets the fuller review. The fee mechanism is UDO § 3.1 A, which requires fees to be established and modified by the Elected Body — for Forsyth County, the Board of County Commissioners — and requires the lists applicable to the Planning Board and the Inspections Division to be maintained on file and available to the public in the respective offices. Because that provision speaks to both lists in the same terms, and the April 2026 document sets one column of figures for Winston-Salem and Forsyth County together, this page treats the inspection-side amounts exactly as it treats the planning-side tier table and publishes neither as a county figure; ask the division for the amount at the specific address. A use that needs a variance or a special use permit goes to the Forsyth County Zoning Board of Adjustment, listed separately. Where a dead link in Forsyth County Code Chapter 23 points at a UDO site that no longer resolves, the live portal is udoclearcode.org.

Zoning Board of Adjustment Application (variance, special use permit, appeal)

Where a business's intended use does not fit the zoning as of right, the Forsyth County Zoning Board of Adjustment is the body that hears it. The county's own page states that the Board is governed by the Forsyth County zoning ordinance known as the Unified Development Ordinance and by state statutes, and that its three main functions are consideration of applications for special use permits, consideration of applications for variances, and rendering decisions on appeals of interpretations of the UDO and appeals of the decisions of the Historic Resources Commission and the County Housing Administrator; its five regular and two alternate members are appointed by the Board of County Commissioners for three-year terms. The joint department's April 2026 INSPECTION FEES list carries separate Board of Adjustment lines for a variance, a special use permit, a special use permit renewal, an appeal and an Urban Agriculture special use permit, so which line applies depends on the relief sought. These are the applications a childcare centre, a veterinary clinic with outdoor runs, an auto-repair shop, a restaurant seeking a drive-through or a fitness studio in a restrictive district is most likely to meet. The fee mechanism is UDO § 3.1 A, which requires fees to be established and modified by the Elected Body — the Board of County Commissioners for Forsyth County — and requires the lists applicable to the Planning Board and the Inspections Division to be maintained on file and available to the public in the respective offices. That single provision governs the Board of Adjustment lines and the planning tier table alike, and the April 2026 documents price Winston-Salem and Forsyth County together, so this page publishes no figure from either as a county amount and sends the applicant to the division for the current charge.

Forsyth County Fire Department Plan Review

The Forsyth County Fire Department reviews fire protection plans at $120.00 per set — sprinkler plans, fire alarm service plans, fire extinguisher system plans and storage tank plans — with a performance test where no plans are submitted at $60.00, all published on the county's own Fire Permit Application and Fees page. These are distinct from the joint Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Inspections Division's own fire plan review, listed separately, whose amounts appear only on the combined Winston-Salem/Forsyth County list and are not published as county figures: two different agencies with two different schedules, and which applies depends on the address, because the county Fire Division's jurisdiction is premises outside the town limits of Kernersville and the City of Winston-Salem. A restaurant installing a hood extinguishing system, a retail store or fitness studio sprinklering a fit-out, a childcare centre adding an alarm and an auto-repair shop installing a storage tank all meet review at one of the two. The technical standard is the same either way: § 10-4 adopts the North Carolina State Building Code: Fire Prevention Code including all appendices and all subsequent amendments and revisions, and § 10-4(b) makes Building Code Council amendments effective in Forsyth County as they become part of that Code, so the current edition governs. The fee mechanism is § 10-9(a), under which fees are determined by resolution of the Board of County Commissioners and the schedule is filed with the clerk to the board and the fire marshal's office for public inspection, so these figures are published as the county's own current page states them. Plans go to fcfd9@forsyth.cc; 3000 Aviation Drive, Winston-Salem, (336) 703-2550.

Permit	Issuing agency	Fee	Renews	Last checked
Erosion Control, Watershed and Stormwater Permitsonly if it applies to you	Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning and Development Services, Inspections Division	The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County INSPECTION FEES list dated April 2026 prints amounts for this permit as a single combined city-county list, headed for both jurisdictions with no separate Forsyth County column. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County UDO § 3.1 A provides that such fees shall be established and modified by the Elected Body — the legislative body of the adopting jurisdiction, which for Forsyth County is the Board of County Commissioners — and that the lists applicable to the Planning Board and the Inspections Division shall be maintained on file and available to the public in the respective offices. That mechanism establishes which body sets the fee and where the list is kept, so no amount from the combined list is published here as Forsyth County's own figure. Contact the Inspections Division on (336) 727-2624 for the amount charged at a Forsyth County address.	per permit for the erosion control and watershed permits; the stormwater control inspection recurs annually for as long as the control structure is in place	2026-09-30
On-site Wastewater (Septic) Evaluation and Construction Authorisationonly if it applies to you	Forsyth County Department of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health	County-only, from the Forsyth County Public Health FY 26-27 Fee Schedule. Soil and site evaluation by design flow: SS1, 480–1,500 gallons per day (business or church) $489.00; SS2, 1,500–3,000 gpd $739.00; SS3, over 3,000 gpd $2,604.00. Construction authorisation: CGN, conventional or alternative, gravity, new $265.00; CGR, conventional or alternative, gravity, T&J panel repair $232.00; LLP System $362.00; TPN, T&J Panel New $349.00; PMP, any pump installation, new only $71.00; MHP, mobile home connection in an existing park $133.00. Also REV Revisit $64.00, RED Redraw of an improvement permit or construction authorisation $43.00 and HDR Health Department Release $64.00. The residential SSA soil site application line, $232.00 per lot for a 3, 4, 5 or 6 bedroom house, is the house line rather than the commercial one.	one-time per project; a revisit is charged at $64.00 each time a further visit is needed and a redraw of the improvement permit or construction authorisation at $43.00	2026-09-30
Non-residential Building Plan Review	Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning and Development Services, Inspections Division	County-only, from Forsyth County Code § 7-18(d) with the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County INSPECTION FEES list of April 2026 printing the same amounts: under 4,000 square feet $100.00; 4,000 to 15,000 square feet $125.00; 15,001 to 40,000 square feet $325.00; 40,001 square feet and greater $800.00; condominium or apartment projects $500.00; parking lots $100.00.	one-time, per project, before the building permit is issued; a project that is redesigned and resubmitted is reviewed again	2026-09-30
Non-residential Building Permit (work valued over $50,000)	Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning and Development Services, Inspections Division	County-only, by value of the work, from Forsyth County Code § 7-18(a) with the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County INSPECTION FEES list of April 2026 printing the same tiers: $50,000.01 to $100,000, $232.00 plus $3.00 for each $1,000 or fraction over $50,000; $100,000.01 to $500,000, $388.00 plus $2.60 for each $1,000 over $100,000; $500,000.01 and above, $1,425.00 plus $2.40 for each $1,000 over $500,000. Working without a permit costs the fee again: § 7-5 imposes a late fee equal in amount to the fees specified for the work, in addition to the fee.	one-time, per permit, for the permitted scope of work; a temporary certificate of occupancy and any extra inspection trips are separate charges	2026-09-30
Commercial Electrical Permit (service change, reconnect and HVAC units)	Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning and Development Services, Inspections Division	County-only, from Forsyth County Code § 7-101 Schedule II, with the April 2026 INSPECTION FEES list printing the same amounts: commercial change of service $102.00; commercial reconnect current $84.00; each commercial heating or air conditioning unit $42.00; temporary current, individual meters $75.00; temporary current, gang meters $100.00 per gang.	one-time, per permitted electrical work; temporary current permits cover the construction period	2026-09-30
Temporary Certificate of Occupancyonly if it applies to you	Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning and Development Services, Inspections Division	County-only, from Forsyth County Code § 7-18(a), with the April 2026 INSPECTION FEES list printing the same amounts: $50.00 for a temporary certificate of occupancy plus $35.00 for each unfinished trade.	per temporary certificate, for the limited period the Inspections Division allows before the work is completed and a final certificate issues	2026-09-30
Commercial Building Evaluationonly if it applies to you	Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning and Development Services, Inspections Division	$250 per evaluation, county-only, set by Forsyth County Code § 7-18(a) and printed at the same amount on the April 2026 INSPECTION FEES list	per evaluation, carried out on request before a building is taken into use	2026-09-30
Foundation-only Permit and Stand-alone Parking Lot Permitonly if it applies to you	Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning and Development Services, Inspections Division	County-only, from Forsyth County Code § 7-18(a), with the April 2026 INSPECTION FEES list printing the same amounts: foundation-only permit $225.00, charged in addition to the building permit; stand-alone parking lot permit $150.00.	one-time; a foundation-only permit covers the foundation work while the building permit for the superstructure follows	2026-09-30
Home Occupation Permitonly if it applies to you	Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning and Development Services, Inspections Division	The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County INSPECTION FEES list dated April 2026 prints amounts for this permit as a single combined city-county list, headed for both jurisdictions with no separate Forsyth County column. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County UDO § 3.1 A provides that such fees shall be established and modified by the Elected Body — the legislative body of the adopting jurisdiction, which for Forsyth County is the Board of County Commissioners — and that the lists applicable to the Planning Board and the Inspections Division shall be maintained on file and available to the public in the respective offices. That mechanism establishes which body sets the fee and where the list is kept, so no amount from the combined list is published here as Forsyth County's own figure. Contact the Inspections Division on (336) 727-2624 for the amount charged at a Forsyth County address.	per permit, for the home occupation as approved; a change in the occupation or the premises calls for a new approval	2026-09-30
Sign Permitonly if it applies to you	Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning and Development Services, Inspections Division	The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County INSPECTION FEES list dated April 2026 prints amounts for this permit as a single combined city-county list, headed for both jurisdictions with no separate Forsyth County column. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County UDO § 3.1 A provides that such fees shall be established and modified by the Elected Body — the legislative body of the adopting jurisdiction, which for Forsyth County is the Board of County Commissioners — and that the lists applicable to the Planning Board and the Inspections Division shall be maintained on file and available to the public in the respective offices. That mechanism establishes which body sets the fee and where the list is kept, so no amount from the combined list is published here as Forsyth County's own figure. Contact the Inspections Division on (336) 727-2624 for the amount charged at a Forsyth County address.	one-time, per sign permitted; a later change of panel or face is a further permit	2026-09-30
Floodplain Structure Permit and Floodplain Letteronly if it applies to you	Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning and Development Services, Inspections Division	The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County INSPECTION FEES list dated April 2026 prints amounts for this permit as a single combined city-county list, headed for both jurisdictions with no separate Forsyth County column. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County UDO § 3.1 A provides that such fees shall be established and modified by the Elected Body — the legislative body of the adopting jurisdiction, which for Forsyth County is the Board of County Commissioners — and that the lists applicable to the Planning Board and the Inspections Division shall be maintained on file and available to the public in the respective offices. That mechanism establishes which body sets the fee and where the list is kept, so no amount from the combined list is published here as Forsyth County's own figure. Contact the Inspections Division on (336) 727-2624 for the amount charged at a Forsyth County address.	one-time, per project for the floodplain permit and per letter for the floodplain determination	2026-09-30
Fire Plan Review by the Joint Inspections Divisiononly if it applies to you	Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning and Development Services, Inspections Division	The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County INSPECTION FEES list dated April 2026 prints amounts for this permit as a single combined city-county list, headed for both jurisdictions with no separate Forsyth County column. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County UDO § 3.1 A provides that such fees shall be established and modified by the Elected Body — the legislative body of the adopting jurisdiction, which for Forsyth County is the Board of County Commissioners — and that the lists applicable to the Planning Board and the Inspections Division shall be maintained on file and available to the public in the respective offices. That mechanism establishes which body sets the fee and where the list is kept, so no amount from the combined list is published here as Forsyth County's own figure. Contact the Inspections Division on (336) 727-2624 for the amount charged at a Forsyth County address.	one-time per submittal; a revised design resubmitted for review is reviewed again	2026-09-30
Forsyth County Fire Annual Inspection and Re-inspections	Forsyth County Fire Department, Office of the Fire Marshal	As published on the Forsyth County Fire Department's Fire Permit Application and Fees page: annual inspection $0.00; first re-inspection for non-compliance $0.00 where corrections have been made and $50.00 where they have not; second and subsequent re-inspections for non-compliance $100.00 each. Forsyth County Code § 10-9(a) provides that fees for inspections required by the Code shall be determined by resolution of the Forsyth County Board of County Commissioners, with the schedule filed with the clerk to the board and the fire marshal's office for public inspection.	annual, with re-inspection charges arising only where a violation is not corrected; the fine schedule on the same page runs from $50.00 per item for a general Fire Code violation to $200.00 per door for a locked or blocked exit	2026-09-30
Private Water Supply Well Construction, Abandonment and Samplingonly if it applies to you	Forsyth County Department of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health	County-only, from the Forsyth County Public Health FY 26-27 Fee Schedule: WAB Well Abandonment $176.00. Water samples — bacteria $52.00; nitrate/nitrite $54.00; fluoride $54.00; inorganic $102.00; inorganic and nitrate $108.00; pesticide $121.00; petroleum $121.00; organic (VOA) $121.00; uranium plus three metals $103.00; iron reducing bacteria $86.00; sulfate reducing bacteria $96.00. The same schedule prints the line 'WCP Water Supply Well Const. NFHC Permit' twice, at $398.00 and at $489.00, on consecutive lines with the identical code and description, and prints no criterion separating them; contact Forsyth County Environmental Health on (336) 703-3225 for which amount applies to a given well before budgeting.	one-time per permit; sampling charges arise per sample, and a well that is taken out of service needs the $176.00 abandonment permit	2026-09-30
Non-residential Mechanical Permit (heating, cooling, ductwork and gas)	Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning and Development Services, Inspections Division	County-only, from Forsyth County Code § 7-52(b), with the April 2026 INSPECTION FEES list printing the same amounts. Schedule I, non-residential heat-producing equipment: 0 to 150,000 Btu per hour or 0 to 45 kW $25.00; above that $108.00 per unit. Heat pumps and air conditioning by nominal compressor rating: 0 to 25 tons $25.00; over 25 tons $108.00; duct only $21.00. Schedule IV, mechanical gas outlets and gas house connections, $8.00 each.	one-time, per unit, duct system or gas outlet installed or replaced	2026-09-30
Non-residential Plumbing Permit (itemised fixtures, sewers and medical gas)	Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning and Development Services, Inspections Division	County-only, from Forsyth County Code § 7-38(a)(2), with the April 2026 INSPECTION FEES list printing the same amounts on these lines: each plumbed fixture, appliance, interceptor or sewer ejector $10.00; building sewer or drains $16.00 per 200 feet; medical gas $10.00 per station outlet.	one-time, per fixture, run or outlet installed or replaced	2026-09-30
Zoning Permit and Commercial Zoning Review	Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning and Development Services, Inspections Division	The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County INSPECTION FEES list dated April 2026 prints amounts for this permit as a single combined city-county list, headed for both jurisdictions with no separate Forsyth County column. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County UDO § 3.1 A provides that such fees shall be established and modified by the Elected Body — the legislative body of the adopting jurisdiction, which for Forsyth County is the Board of County Commissioners — and that the lists applicable to the Planning Board and the Inspections Division shall be maintained on file and available to the public in the respective offices. That mechanism establishes which body sets the fee and where the list is kept, so no amount from the combined list is published here as Forsyth County's own figure. Contact the Inspections Division on (336) 727-2624 for the amount charged at a Forsyth County address.	per permit; a change in the use, the tenant or the site plan calls for a further zoning approval	2026-09-30
Zoning Board of Adjustment Application (variance, special use permit, appeal)only if it applies to you	Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Planning and Development Services, Inspections Division	The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County INSPECTION FEES list dated April 2026 prints amounts for this permit as a single combined city-county list, headed for both jurisdictions with no separate Forsyth County column. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County UDO § 3.1 A provides that such fees shall be established and modified by the Elected Body — the legislative body of the adopting jurisdiction, which for Forsyth County is the Board of County Commissioners — and that the lists applicable to the Planning Board and the Inspections Division shall be maintained on file and available to the public in the respective offices. That mechanism establishes which body sets the fee and where the list is kept, so no amount from the combined list is published here as Forsyth County's own figure. Contact the Inspections Division on (336) 727-2624 for the amount charged at a Forsyth County address.	per application; a special use permit renewal is a further application on its own line, and an approval runs with the use as the Board's decision provides	2026-09-30
Forsyth County Fire Department Plan Reviewonly if it applies to you	Forsyth County Fire Department, Office of the Fire Marshal	As published on the Forsyth County Fire Department's Fire Permit Application and Fees page: sprinkler plans $120.00; fire alarm service plans $120.00; fire extinguisher system plans $120.00; storage tank plans $120.00; performance test with no plans $60.00. Forsyth County Code § 10-9(a) provides that fees are determined by resolution of the Board of County Commissioners and filed with the clerk to the board and the fire marshal's office for public inspection.	one-time per submittal, with a performance test priced separately at $60.00	2026-09-30

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