Commercial Compliance Hub

24 published records

Business licenses and permits in Clark County, Nevada

These Clark County records cover only the UNINCORPORATED area of Clark County — the Las Vegas Strip, Paradise, Enterprise, Spring Valley, Winchester, Sunrise Manor and the County's other unincorporated communities. Code §6.04.010 makes it unlawful to carry on a business 'in the county, outside the incorporated cities and towns' without a county license. The cities of Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Boulder City and Mesquite are separate incorporated municipalities with their own licensing departments and are out of scope here; a Las Vegas mailing address does not by itself place an address inside the City of Las Vegas, so it should be checked against the County's own jurisdiction-lookup GIS tool before any record below is relied on. Within the unincorporated area, the County's general business license (Code Title 6) is priced two ways: most storefront categories — restaurants, coffee shops, retail stores, fitness centers and auto repair — pay semiannually on the gross-revenue tier table at Code §6.12.995, while contractors, cosmetologists, barbers, veterinarians and several other categories pay flat per-unit or per-professional amounts. The County's published license category list states that 'There is NO local licensing requirement for preschools and/or childcare/daycare facilities within Clark County,' though a school-type 'kindergarten' does pay an educational-institution license. Selling alcohol needs a separate 'privileged' liquor license under Code Chapter 8.20, administered by the same Department of Business License; that chapter is under active 2026 amendment. Food, mobile-food, childcare and pool permits in the unincorporated area — as in all six Clark County jurisdictions — are issued by the Southern Nevada Health District, a regional agency distinct from both the County and the State, and the County will not issue or renew a business license without the Health District's sign-off. Land use runs through the Department of Comprehensive Planning under Title 30 (the Unified Development Code); building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing and sign permits and certificates of occupancy run through the Department of Building & Fire Prevention under Title 22; fire operational and construction permits run through that department's Fire Prevention Bureau under the Clark County Fire Code; auto body and paint shops with spray booths need a Division of Air Quality stationary-source permit and, for ground disturbance, a dust control permit; and restaurants on the Clark County Water Reclamation District's sewer system pay an annual grease-interceptor inspection charge.

What are you opening in Clark County?

Permits that apply to every type of business in Clark County

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Fire Prevention Permits — operational permits (places of assembly, open flames/candles in dining areas, hood suppression, mobile food preparation vehicles, tents, spray booths) and fire protection system construction permitsonly if it applies to youClark County Fire Prevention (Department of Building & Fire Prevention)Total Permit Fee = $65.00 Administrative Fee + $195.00 initial Plan Review Fee (covers the initial submittal and first resubmittal; waived for permit-by-inspection scopes) + Permit Fee, with the Permit Fee never less than $130.00. Places of assembly (Table 108.2.6(3)): Permit Fee = $130.00 x a range of 1 to 4 by occupant-load square footage (1 up to 14,999 sq ft, 2 up to 74,999, 3 up to 149,999, 4 above). Open flames and candles (Table 108.2.6(1)): $130.00 per device or assembly type. Spray booths and dipping areas (Table 108.2.6(1)): $130.00 multiplied by the number of spray booths, spray areas or dipping areas — the item relevant to an auto-repair paint booth. Fire protection systems (Table 108.2.6(5)): automatic sprinkler $20.00 per 1,000 sq ft; fire alarm $1.00 per 100 sq ft; wet chemical suppression $13.00 per 100 sq ft; dry chemical suppression $16.00 per 100 sq ft, each subject to the $130.00 minimum. Annual renewal = $65.00 Administrative Fee + Permit Fee, with a $130.00 late fee per 30-day period past the renewal due date.operational permits renew annually (§108.2.3); construction permits lapse if work does not commence within 180 days (§105.3.1)2026-09-25
Zoning Confirmation Letteronly if it applies to youClark County Department of Comprehensive Planning$45.00 for delivery within ten working days of receipt, or $75.00 for delivery within three working days, each plus $5.00 per net acre for every acre over ten, not to exceed $5,000 total.one-time2026-09-25
Certificate of Occupancy (and Temporary / Partial Certificate)Clark County Department of Building & Fire Prevention, Building DivisionNo fee — no separate fee for the final certificate of occupancy; a Temporary or Partial Certificate of Occupancy costs $125.00 per certificate (§22.02.370)one-time; no expiration once issued2026-09-25
Special Use Permit (Title 30), with Variance and Design Review as related land-use applicationsonly if it applies to youClark County Department of Comprehensive PlanningTitle 30 Fee Schedule effective July 1, 2026, Table 1 (Application | Mailed Notice | Sign): Special Use Permit $500 + $500; Variance $300 + $500; Design Review $500 + $500; Administrative Design Review $300; Temporary Use $100; Sign Design Review $500 + $500; Administrative Sign Design Review $300; Alcohol as Principal Use Outside GED $500 + $500 + $300 sign (the sign fee rose from $200 to $300 in the July 1, 2026 edition). The same edition also raised the Sign-column fee from $200 to $300 for Rezone, Expansion of GED and Concept Specific Plan applications; each of those carries its own separate application and mailed-notice fee not reproduced here, since the corrected sign figure is the only change verified against the current schedule.one-time, per application2026-09-25
Sign Construction Permit (and Title 30 sign approvals)only if it applies to youClark County Department of Building & Fire Prevention, Building DivisionTable 3-J (Code §22.02.431), by installed valuation: $0.00 to $500.00 -> $60.00; $501.00 to $35,000.00 -> $300.00; $35,001.00 to $100,000.00 -> $500.00; $100,001.00 and above, calculated using Table 3-A. Sign plan review (§22.02.345(K)) is 65% of the total sign construction permit fee, not charged where no plan review is performed. A Title 30 'Property/Yard Sign Permit' (a specialty sign placed in the ground under Chapter 30.07) costs $100 separately, and required construction-permit fees double for any sign work begun without a permit or exceeding the scope of a valid one.per installation2026-09-25
Zoning Compliance / Business License Zoning Review (Comprehensive Planning)Clark County Department of Comprehensive Planning$25 Business License Review administrative fee; an optional stand-alone Zoning Compliance application costs $150.00 (10 working days) where zoning does not otherwise require a land-use applicationone-time, per business license application2026-09-25
Building Permit — tenant improvement / commercial alteration / new commercial construction (with plan review)only if it applies to youClark County Department of Building & Fire Prevention, Building DivisionTable 3-A (Code §22.02.390), by total project valuation: $1.00 to $500.00 is a flat $54.00. Separately, $501.00 to $2,000.00 is $54.00 for the first $500.00 plus $1.683 for each additional $100.00 or fraction thereof. $2,001.00 to $25,000.00 is $79.29 for the first $2,000.00 plus $7.371 per additional $1,000.00 or fraction. $25,001.00 to $50,000.00 is $248.82 for the first $25,000.00 plus $4.725 per additional $1,000.00 or fraction. $50,001.00 to $100,000.00 is $366.95 for the first $50,000.00 plus $3.402 per additional $1,000.00 or fraction. $100,001.00 and up is $537.05 for the first $100,000.00 plus $2.934 per additional $1,000.00 or fraction. Building plan review (§22.02.345(C)) is 65% of the building permit fee, covering the initial review and one resubmittal; zoning plan review (§22.02.345(D)) is 10% of the permit fee, waived where a Title 30 major-project fee is collected instead. Electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits associated with a building permit are, per the Code text (§22.02.345(H)(1)), 18%, 16.5% and 15% of the building permit fee respectively, plus a $54 issuance fee for each — but the County's own live fee calculator does not add that $54 on top at higher valuations; it applies $54 only as a floor at very low valuations, so the Building Division should be asked, (702) 455-8972, which figure it actually assesses on a given project. Trade-permit plan review (§22.02.345(I)) is 25% of the total trade-permit fee, or 35% if the trade permit is submitted on its own rather than with a building permit. The online calculator also adds a Compliance Report Fee of $25 for residential work or $50 for commercial work, which does not appear in the Title 22 text itself.per project; the permit expires if work is not commenced within 180 days (Code §22.02.320)2026-09-25

Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.

What do these permits involve in Clark County?

Fire Prevention Permits — operational permits (places of assembly, open flames/candles in dining areas, hood suppression, mobile food preparation vehicles, tents, spray booths) and fire protection system construction permits

Commercial kitchens with hood suppression, dining rooms using open flames or candles, places of assembly, mobile food preparation vehicles with smoke- or grease-producing appliances, auto-repair paint booths and tents over 400 square feet need Fire Prevention operational permits; new or altered sprinkler, alarm and suppression systems need construction permits. Each permit's total is a $65 administrative fee plus a $195 plan review fee plus the permit fee itself (never less than $130); annual renewals cost the administrative fee plus the permit fee, with a $130 late fee for each 30-day period past due. An auto-repair shop with a spray booth or dipping area pays $130 per booth or area under Table 108.2.6(1), the same table that prices open flames and candles — a separate line item from the hood-suppression and mobile-food-vehicle operational permits, which the fee tables do not price individually beyond the $130 minimum. Code §13.04.070 was re-amended on April 21, 2026 by Ordinance No. 5365, after its December 2025 enactment by Ordinance No. 5321, so a permit holder should confirm the current text is being applied. The Fire Code allows these amounts to rise by up to 3% at the start of each fiscal year; ask Annual Operational Permits at (702) 455-3019 for the amount currently being assessed. Fire Prevention also reviews every general business license application except home occupations.

Zoning Confirmation Letter

An optional written confirmation of a parcel's zoning designation: $45 for delivery within ten working days, or $75 for delivery within three working days, for a parcel of ten acres or less; larger parcels add $5 per acre over ten, capped at $5,000 total. It is not required to open a business, but is useful before signing a lease or purchasing a site to confirm in writing what the zoning district allows. Ask Comprehensive Planning at (702) 455-4314.

Certificate of Occupancy (and Temporary / Partial Certificate)

No building or structure for which Title 30 requires a certificate of occupancy may be used or occupied, and no change in occupancy classification may be made, 'until the building official has issued a certificate of occupancy' (Code §22.02.550(A)); after an approved final inspection, the building official issues it, or a certificate of completion, within three working days (§22.02.550(D)). The Code lists no separate fee for the final certificate of occupancy itself: Code §22.02.340, §22.02.345, §22.02.360, §22.02.365, §22.02.370 and Tables 3-H, 3-I and 3-J were all checked and none prices it, and the County's own certificate-of-occupancy page states only that it will be available within about three working days of the final approved inspection, with no fee mentioned. Only a Temporary or Partial Certificate of Occupancy is priced, at $125.00 per certificate under §22.02.370, and it becomes void if not issued within 30 days of application. A separate document, the Certificate of Completion, also exists under §22.02.550(B) for situations where full occupancy sign-off is not what is being certified. The building official will not release a final inspection or certificate for assembly, business, educational, factory, hazardous, institutional, mercantile or residential occupancies until the sewer authority and water purveyor confirm their facilities have been accepted.

Special Use Permit (Title 30), with Variance and Design Review as related land-use applications

Only some uses need a Special Use Permit, Variance or Design Review; which ones depends on the parcel's zoning district under Title 30's use tables. The application fee is paid at filing and a separate mailed-notice fee is added after submittal; some applications also carry a sign-posting fee. A Special Use Permit costs $500 plus a $500 notice fee; a Variance costs $300 plus $500. The Title 30 Fee Schedule effective July 1, 2026 raised the sign fee from $200 to $300 for four application types: Rezone, Alcohol as Principal Use Outside GED, Expansion of GED, and Concept Specific Plan — a business adding alcohol sales as a principal use outside the County's Gaming Enterprise District, for instance, now pays a $300 sign fee rather than $200 on top of its $500 application and $500 notice fees. Every other figure in the fee table — Special Use Permit, Variance, Design Review, Administrative Design Review, Temporary Use, Sign Design Review and Administrative Sign Design Review — is unchanged from the prior edition. Ask Comprehensive Planning at (702) 455-4314 or zoning@clarkcountynv.gov whether a specific address and use needs one of these applications.

Sign Construction Permit (and Title 30 sign approvals)

A permanent sign in the unincorporated area needs a Building sign construction permit priced by installed valuation in Table 3-J: $60 for a sign valued up to $500, $300 up to $35,000, $500 up to $100,000, and Table 3-A above that, plus a 65% plan review fee. Signs needing Title 30 design review pay $300 (administrative) or $500 plus a $500 notice fee, under the Title 30 Fee Schedule cited in the Clark County special-use-permit record. Exempt from the Building permit: temporary on-premises signs of 300 square feet or less, construction signs of 32 square feet or less, nameplates of 4 square feet or less, and adhered vinyl signage (§22.02.210). A Title 30 'Property/Yard Sign Permit' — a specialty sign placed in the ground under Chapter 30.07 — costs a separate $100 and is not the same product as a wall, pole or monument sign permit. Required permit fees double for work started without a permit, or for a sign built beyond the scope of a valid permit. Ask Building at (702) 455-3000.

Zoning Compliance / Business License Zoning Review (Comprehensive Planning)

Title 30 §30.06.11C requires that 'No business license may be issued until all required land use applications have been approved and all conditions of approval have been satisfied,' so the Department of Business License routes every general application to Comprehensive Planning, which charges a $25 Business License Review fee under the Title 30 Fee Schedule (Table 2) and confirms the use is allowed by zoning. Where Title 30 does not otherwise require a land-use application for the site, an applicant may instead file a stand-alone Zoning Compliance application ($150, a 10-working-day process with no public notice required, §30.06.08G). If the use needs a Special Use Permit, Design Review, Variance or similar approval (listed as separate Clark County records), those approvals and their conditions must be satisfied before a business license issues. Whether the $25 review fee is billed as its own separate charge on top of the Department of Business License's $45 general application fee, or is treated as part of that same intake, is not stated on either agency's public fee page — ask Comprehensive Planning, (702) 455-4314 or zoning@clarkcountynv.gov, before relying on a combined total. The County's own guide states the application 'will then be sent electronically to the Comprehensive Planning Department for review and approval within 5 working days.'

Building Permit — tenant improvement / commercial alteration / new commercial construction (with plan review)

Any build-out, tenant improvement, change of occupancy, demolition or new commercial construction in the unincorporated area needs a County building permit, plus electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits where applicable. The permit fee is calculated from total project valuation using Table 3-A of Code §22.02.390: for example, $1 to $500 of work is a flat $54, and separately, $501 to $2,000 is $54 for the first $500 plus $1.683 per additional $100 or fraction — these are two distinct rows, not one merged band, and at $100,000 the table produces $537.05. A plan review fee of 65% of the permit fee is due at submittal, covering the first review and one resubmittal, plus a 10% zoning plan review fee unless a Title 30 major-project fee already applies. Trade permits (electrical, plumbing, mechanical) are priced in the Code text at 18%, 16.5% and 15% of the building permit fee plus a $54 issuance fee apiece, but the County's live online fee calculator does not actually add that $54 at typical commercial valuations — it treats $54 as a floor amount at very low valuations instead — so confirm with Building at (702) 455-8972 which approach applies to a given project. Trade-permit plan review adds 25% of the trade fee (35% if the trade permit stands alone), and the calculator layers on a Compliance Report Fee of $25 (residential) or $50 (commercial) that is not written into Title 22 itself. Re-inspection fees are $110 each and extra plan review is $110 per hour (Table 3-I). Work started without a permit adds a fee equal to the permit fee, capped at $4,000 for residential work and $50,000 for all other construction (§22.02.360(B)(2)), plus an investigation charge. Contractors must hold their Nevada State Contractors Board license (§22.02.245).

Sources

Every figure in the table above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.

  1. Code §13.04.070, Amendments to Chapter 1 of the International Fire Code (§105 permits, §108 Permit and Service Fee Schedule) — last amended by Ordinance No. 5321 (12-2-2025) and Ordinance No. 5365 (4-21-2026)Clark County / Municode · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
  2. Title 30 Fee Schedule, 'Latest Amendment Effective Date July 1, 2026' — the current edition; diffed against the prior (07/01/2025) copy, the only fee changes are the Sign column rising from $200 to $300 for Rezone, Alcohol as Principal Use Outside GED, Expansion of GED and Concept Specific Plan, and the tree fee-in-lieu rising from $980.14 to $1,005.62Clark County Department of Comprehensive Planning · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
  3. Clark County Code (Municode job 495815, 'Supplement 149' — codified through Ordinance No. 5387, enacted June 3, 2026, MaxTrackingDate 2026-08-25) — Titles 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 22Clark County / Municode · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
  4. Title 30 Unified Development Code, 'Effective 9/17/2026' — the current editionClark County Department of Comprehensive Planning · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
  5. Step-By-Step Guide to Apply for a General Business License — states that Clark County comprises six licensing jurisdictions and that a Las Vegas mailing address may still be unincorporated Clark CountyClark County Department of Business License · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27
  6. Building Fee Calculator — the Building Division's own live calculator; at a $100,000 valuation it returns permitFee $537.05, bldgPlanReviewFee $349.08 (65%), zoningPlanReviewFee $53.71 (10%), electrical $96.67 (18% of the permit fee, with no separate $54 added), plumbing $88.61 (16.5%), mechanical $80.56 (15%), trade-permit plan review at 25% of the trade fee, and a Compliance Report Fee of $25 (residential) or $50 (commercial) not found in the Title 22 textClark County Department of Building & Fire Prevention · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-27

Who issues business permits in Clark County?

Permitting in Clark County is split across 7 agencies we hold records for, with tax registration handled at state level. No single office issues everything, which is why an opening usually means filing in several places rather than one.

Clark County issuing agencies

Other Nevada jurisdictions we cover

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