Building Department

Building Permits and Design Criteria:

Building permits are beneficial to you and the community toward protecting the outcome and investment value of your construction project and guarding against a lawsuit or injury. By working with a code official, you will benefit from their knowledge of the building codes to ensure your project is built right and will be safe.

Permits are required for new construction, additions, decks, garages, renovations, conversions, basement finishes, electrical systems, plumbing systems, HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems), accessory structures, retaining walls over four feet in height, roofs, etc.

Roofing Permits are Required
The fee for the permit is $110.00 with the state fee $1.10 totalling $111.10.  We require 2 inspections for roofs, a mid-roof/decking inspection and a final.

Building Permit Packets are available at City Hall, 160 S. Main, or can be downloaded from this website. The packet contains a permit application. Basically, the city requires two sets of plans (to scale) and engineering calculations wet-stamped by an engineer, three copies of a site plan including grading and drainage, a completed application with contractor information, and a $75.00 plan review fee for single family residence, $25.00 for smaller projects (i.e. basements, additions & remodels) and $250.00 for commercial projects. Details are noted in the packet. The plan check process takes approximately 3 to 4 weeks.

Permit fees for an average-sized home in a subdivision are approximately $12,000. This includes the building fee, plan check fee, state fee, water meter/connection, sewer connection, irrigation connection if applicable, transportation, police and fire facilities fees, street cleaning, stormwater application fee and a stormwater bond that is refundable upon final inspection and approval.

If the property is not in a subdivision, the average permit fee would be approx. $22,000. This includes the fees stated above and the impact fees for water, storm sewer, and parks.

Farmington City's design criterions are 2018 International Building Code, 2018 Mechanical, Plumbing, and Energy Codes and 2020 Electrical Code and the 2015 International Residential Code. Seismic Zone D2, V-ult ASCE-7 exposure B for most of Farmington (engineer shall evaluate), snow load 30 lb. (40 lb. in foothill zones).

Wind speed is as follows:

Risk Category II: 140 MPH (Residential)
Risk Category III: 150 MPH (Based on 2018 IBC)
Risk Category IV: 160 MPH (Essential Buildings)

3-second gust