For certain construction, building permits are required.  Within the jurisdiction of Allegany County, Unincorporated, a Building Permit is always combined with the Land Use Permit.  The building permit process involves the submittal of an application and construction drawings; issuance of a permit; inspection(s) of authorized work; and the issuance of a certificate of occupancy (CO).

• Application

• Construction Drawings

• Permit

• Certificate of Occupancy (CO)

Currently, inspections are conducted by private, third party inspection agencies.  An Applicant must arrange inspections for authorized work prior to the issuance of a building permit. The number of inspections, inspection reports related to inspections, and inspection fees will be determined on the nature, scale, schedule and scope of authorized work, and negotiated between the Applicant/Contractor(s) and the  private, third party inspection agency(ies).

Adoption of Building Code: The Annotated Code of the State of Maryland requires that the County adopt, implement  and enforce the Maryland Building Performance  Standards legislation. The building code for  Allegany County was adopted by the County Commissioners as Allegany County Code §101 (Now §255) on November 12, 1997. The Building Code of Allegany County is  periodically amended to adopt and enforce the current International Building Code (IBC) and the International Residential Code (IRC).  State and Local amendments are made to the IBC and IRC to compliment existing County  laws and accommodate local building  conditions. The current building code is commonly known as the 2007 Building Code of Allegany County, adopting by reference the 2006 IBC and 2006 IRC by reference (with local amendments). For further information of the County's Building Code, click here. 

Prefabricated structures: Prefabricated structures require field inspections relative to their foundations and  connection to utilities. Prefabricated structures must be listed on Maryland DLLR’s Codes Administration "approved list". Mobile homes (manufactured homes) are required to have U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) certification plates affixed, and the mobile home must be certified for the HUD Zone where it is to be installed. 

Renovations: Generally, renovation work of pre-code adoption, or previously authorized structures, does not require any further permitting from the Office of Permitting and Licensing. The Building Safety Office defines and classifies "renovation". The Permits Office will verify whether a structure subject to renovation is "pre-code" or "previously authorized" as well as in "good standing" with the Land Use Regulations and Building Code (no known infractions).