You are viewing the permanent link for the record currently in effect, published 2026-07-07.
Wells building permits
VerifiedWells, Nevada — as published 2026-07-07.
Verified 2026-07-03 · Source
Codes adopted
Permit types & fees
Building, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit
VerifiedThe City of Wells uses a single universal permit application covering Building, Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing, and Foundation permit types, for Commercial, Residential, or Manufactured Home projects, classified as New, Addition, Remodel, or Repair. This is the only permit form published by the City of Wells Building Department.
Verified 2026-07-03 · Source
Requirements
- Completed universal Building, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit application, including Assessor's Parcel Number and job site address
- Applicant, owner, and contractor (with Nevada contractor license number) contact information
- Sub-contractor information (electrical, mechanical, plumbing) with Nevada license numbers, where applicable
- Engineer of Record and/or Architect of Record license numbers, where applicable
- Stated Value of Project Work
- Permit Type selected (Commercial / Residential / Manufactured Home; Building / Electrical / Mechanical / Plumbing / Foundation) and Classification selected (New / Addition / Remodel / Repair)
- Brief description of work
- Applicable special approvals identified: Nevada State Fire Marshal, Nevada State Health, Fire Sprinklers, Engineering, Addressing, and/or Contract Plan Review, as determined by the Building Department
Required documents
- RequiredBuilding, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit ApplicationCity of Wells universal permit application covering all permit types (Building, Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing, Foundation) for Commercial, Residential, and Manufactured Home projects
Fee schedule
| Fee type | Amount | Notes |
|---|
Solar PV Installation (Building, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit)
VerifiedThe City of Wells has no dedicated solar-PV application, checklist, or fee line — the city publishes only the single universal 'Building, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit' application (see building-permit), which covers Building, Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing, and Foundation permit types for Commercial, Residential, and Manufactured Home projects, classified New/Addition/Remodel/Repair, with no separate 'Solar' or 'Photovoltaic' checkbox. A residential rooftop or ground-mount PV installation is filed on this same universal form (selecting Building and/or Electrical as applicable) and billed under the City's general Building Permit Fee and Electrical Permit Fee tables adopted by City Council Resolution No. 19-04 ('A Resolution Establishing Building Valuations and Amending Building Permit Fees Pursuant to Wells City Code, Title 4, Building Codes, Chapter 4, Section 4-1-4'), which by its own terms remains in force 'until further action taken by the Wells City Council to amend, delete or otherwise change the same.' Re-chased 2026-07-20: located this fee resolution via a Wayback Machine CDX search of cityofwellsnv.com (it is not linked from any current top-level Building Department page) and confirmed it is still hosted live on the current site — https://cityofwellsnv.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Resolution-19-04-Building-Valuations-and-Building-Permit-Fees.pdf returns HTTP 200 with an identical file hash to the 2023 and 2025 Wayback captures, i.e. unchanged and current. No PV-specific line item exists within it, so a solar installation is billed under the same valuation-based Building Permit Fee table plus the Electrical Permit processing/unit fees, same as any other electrical work.
Verified 2026-07-20 · Source
Requirements
- File the same universal Building, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit application used for all other permit types, selecting Building and/or Electrical as applicable to the solar installation scope
- Nevada State Contractors Board C-2g (Photovoltaic) subclassification is required statewide for solar installation contractors (a state licensing requirement, not a city-specific one)
- NV Energy interconnection approval is required statewide before a grid-tied system can be activated — this is separate from, and in addition to, the city's building/electrical permit
- Applicable special approvals identified on the universal application (Nevada State Fire Marshal, Nevada State Health, Fire Sprinklers, Engineering, Addressing, and/or Contract Plan Review) should be confirmed with the Building Department for a solar project specifically
- No adopted-code edition or review-timeline SLA is published for ANY permit type at the City of Wells (confirmed by exhaustive chase across the current website, WordPress uploads, and Wayback Machine CDX search of all archived cityofwellsnv.com URLs) — but the Building Permit Fee and Electrical Permit Fee ARE published, in City Council Resolution No. 19-04 (see fees below), which was not previously located
Required documents
- RequiredBuilding, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit ApplicationSame universal City of Wells permit application used for all permit types; no dedicated solar-specific form or checklist is published
Fee schedule
| Fee type | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Building Permit Fee (structural/racking scope, valuation-based) | Minimum charge $43.50 (a $20.00 Processing Fee + $23.50 Permit Fee) for valuations of $1-$500; rises per the Resolution 19-04 Fees Valuation Table, e.g. $391.25 for a $25,000 valuation, $993.75 for a $100,000 valuation, up to $5,608.75 for the first $1,000,000 plus $3.65 per additional $1,000 above that | City of Wells Resolution No. 19-04, Table 1 / 'Building Permit Fees and Plan Review Fees' table, adopted Feb. 12, 2019 and still in force by its own terms; no PV-specific line item exists, so a solar structural/racking installation is billed under this general valuation table |
| Plan Check / Plan Review Fee | 65% of the Building Permit Fee | City of Wells Resolution No. 19-04, footnote to Table 1 |
| Electrical Permit Processing Fee | $20.00 | City of Wells Resolution No. 19-04, Table 5 (Electrical Permit Fees) — in addition to any system or unit fees below |
| Electrical Permit — Service fee (PV interconnection/service, if a new/upgraded service is part of the installation) | $27.25 (services 600V or less, up to 200 amps); $55.50 (600V or less, over 200 to 1,000 amps); $111.00 (over 600V or over 1,000 amps) | City of Wells Resolution No. 19-04, Table 5, Electrical Unit Fees item 8 |
| Electrical Permit — Power Apparatus / Miscellaneous apparatus fee (inverter or PV equipment not separately categorized) | $4.25 to $66.50 depending on rated HP/kW/kVA tier (Power Apparatus), or a flat $16.25 catch-all fee if no other listed category applies (Miscellaneous apparatus, conduits and conductors) | City of Wells Resolution No. 19-04, Table 5, Electrical Unit Fees items 5 and 9 — no PV/inverter-specific line item exists in the 2019 resolution, so the Building Department classifies a solar installation's electrical equipment under whichever of these general categories fits at intake |
EV Charger Installation (Building, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit)
The City of Wells has no dedicated EV-charger/EVSE application, checklist, or fee line — the city publishes only the single universal 'Building, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit' application (see building-permit), which covers Building, Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing, and Foundation permit types for Commercial, Residential, and Manufactured Home projects, with no separate 'EV Charger' or 'Electric Vehicle' checkbox. A Level 2 or DC fast charger installation would be filed on this same universal form (selecting Electrical, and Building if a new support structure/canopy is involved) — the same genuine finding already documented for this city's general permitting process and for its solar-pv-permit entry: no published fee schedule, no published adopted-code edition, and no published review timeline exist anywhere on the city's current website for ANY permit type, not EV charging specifically. Wells does not appear on SolarAPP+'s (gosolarapp.org) list of participating jurisdictions. Re-chased 2026-07-20: directly re-read the full Building/Electrical/Plumbing/Mechanical Permit application PDF -- confirmed it has a blank "Deposit Amount" and "Value of Project Work" field with no printed fee table or schedule anywhere on the form. Searched for a separate fee resolution or ordinance (none found); the Wells, NV municipal code library (codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/wellsnv) returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch and has no Wayback Machine snapshot available for its building/electrical fee sections. No indication was found that Elko County (which does publish its own fee schedule/travel-fee structure) administers permitting on behalf of the City of Wells -- Wells appears to self-administer via this single blank-fee application form.
Reviewed 2026-07-20 · Source
Requirements
- File the same universal Building, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit application used for all other permit types, selecting Electrical (and Building, if a new canopy/support structure or panel-service upgrade tied to new construction is involved)
- Nevada-licensed electrical contractor (or Nevada Contractors Board-licensed C-2 electrical classification) required for the circuit/wiring/interconnection work, per statewide Nevada Contractors Board licensing law
- NV Energy coordination/notification may be required for a service or panel upgrade tied to a Level 2 or DC fast charger installation — this is a statewide utility requirement, separate from and in addition to the city's building/electrical permit
- Applicable special approvals identified on the universal application (Nevada State Fire Marshal, Nevada State Health, Fire Sprinklers, Engineering, Addressing, and/or Contract Plan Review) should be confirmed with the Building Department for an EV-charger project specifically
- No published fee schedule, adopted-code edition, or review-timeline SLA exists for ANY permit type at the City of Wells (confirmed by exhaustive chase across the current website, WordPress uploads, and Wayback Machine CDX search of all archived cityofwellsnv.com URLs, per the existing localAmendments finding in this file) — this is not an EV-specific information gap, it applies to every permit type the city issues
Required documents
- RequiredBuilding, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit ApplicationSame universal City of Wells permit application used for all permit types; no dedicated EV-charger-specific form or checklist is published
Fee schedule
| Fee type | Amount | Notes |
|---|
Sign Permit (Building, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit)
VerifiedThe City of Wells requires a sign permit for wall, ground, pole, projecting, and roof signs, plus outline lighting and marquees, filed on the same universal Building, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit application used for all other permit types (see building-permit) -- selecting Building for the structural/mounting scope and/or Electrical for illuminated signs, outline lighting, or marquees wired to a branch circuit. Unlike most other permit types at the City of Wells, signs have a dedicated, currently-published fee: City Council Resolution No. 19-04 (the same fee resolution already documented in this file's solar-pv-permit and ev-charger-permit entries, re-confirmed live on 2026-07-22) contains a standalone 'Table 10: Sign Permit Fee' plus a 'Signs, Outline Lighting and Marquees' line item within the Electrical Unit Fees (Table 5, item 7). No adopted-code edition or review-timeline SLA is published for signs specifically, matching the same gap already documented for every other permit type at this jurisdiction.
Verified 2026-07-22 · Source
Requirements
- File the universal Building, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit application, selecting Building (for wall/ground/pole/projecting/roof sign structures) and/or Electrical (for illuminated signs, outline lighting, or marquees wired to a branch circuit)
- Identify the sign type and advertising area (wall sign vs. ground/pole/projecting/roof sign) so the Building Department can apply the correct Table 10 fee tier
- Nevada-licensed contractor (general/sign or electrical, as applicable to scope) per statewide Nevada Contractors Board licensing law
- Applicable special approvals identified on the universal application (Nevada State Fire Marshal, Engineering, Addressing, Contract Plan Review) should be confirmed with the Building Department for a sign project specifically
- No adopted-code edition or review-timeline SLA is published for ANY permit type at the City of Wells (same exhaustive chase documented elsewhere in this file), though the Sign Permit Fee itself IS separately itemized in Resolution 19-04, unlike most other permit types
Required documents
- RequiredBuilding, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit ApplicationSame universal City of Wells permit application used for all permit types; select Building and/or Electrical scope and specify sign type/advertising area for fee calculation
Fee schedule
| Fee type | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sign Permit Fee -- Wall sign, 0-300 square feet advertising area | $23.50 | City of Wells Resolution No. 19-04, Table 10 'Sign Permit Fee'; fee is in addition to the standard permit processing fee |
| Sign Permit Fee -- Wall sign over 300 square feet, or any Ground, Pole, Projecting, or Roof sign requiring a permit | Per Table 1 (Building Permit Fees Valuation Table), based on valuation | City of Wells Resolution No. 19-04, Table 10 'Sign Permit Fee' |
| Electrical Unit Fee -- Signs, Outline Lighting and Marquees (per sign/system supplied from one branch circuit) | $22.00 each; $4.25 for each additional branch circuit within the same sign, outline lighting system, or marquee | City of Wells Resolution No. 19-04, Table 5 'Electrical Permit Fees', item 7 -- applies when the sign is illuminated or wired |
| Electrical Permit Processing Fee | $20.00 | City of Wells Resolution No. 19-04, Table 5 -- in addition to unit fees, if Electrical scope is selected for an illuminated sign |
Fire Sprinkler & Fire Alarm Permit (Special Approval)
VerifiedThe City of Wells has no standalone fire-sprinkler or fire-alarm permit application, checklist, or published fee -- fire sprinkler and fire alarm work is instead flagged as a 'Special Approvals Required' item (Nevada State Fire Marshal, Fire Sprinklers) on the same universal Building, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit application used for all other permit types. Verified directly against the live City Code of Wells (rendered via American Legal Publishing's code library, which blocks direct automated fetch but renders through a browser): Title 5, Chapter 3 adopts the Uniform Fire Code and establishes a city Bureau of Fire Prevention operated under the supervision of the Fire Department chief, with permit-refusal appeals running to the Board of Councilmen (sections 5-3-1 through 5-3-4) -- confirming Wells retains its own local fire-code enforcement authority rather than deferring entirely to the state or county. Separately, Title 4, Chapter 1 (Building Codes, section 4-1-1) confirms the city's currently adopted technical fire code is the 2012 International Fire Code, and that the 2012 IRC was adopted with section R-313 (automatic residential fire sprinkler systems) specifically DELETED for one- and two-family dwellings -- so Wells does NOT require automatic sprinklers in typical single-family/duplex construction, only where triggered by IBC/IFC commercial-occupancy thresholds. No fee line item for fire sprinkler or fire alarm plan review/permits appears anywhere in City Council Resolution No. 19-04 (the city's only published building/electrical/mechanical/plumbing fee schedule) -- sprinkler and alarm work is absent from all nine of that resolution's fee tables, confirming this is a genuine publication gap rather than an omission by this corpus.
Verified 2026-07-22 · Source
Requirements
- File the universal Building, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit application and mark the 'Special Approvals Required' checkboxes for Nevada State Fire Marshal and/or Fire Sprinklers, as applicable to the project
- Fire sprinkler and fire alarm installers/contractors must hold the applicable Nevada Contractors Board fire-protection classification
- Plans for any fire suppression or alarm system likely require review coordination between the City of Wells Building Department, the city's Bureau of Fire Prevention (City Code 5-3-2, operated under the Fire Department chief), and/or the Nevada State Fire Marshal's office -- confirm the specific review path with the Building Department, (775) 752-3355, before submitting
- One- and two-family dwellings are NOT required to install automatic fire sprinklers under the city's adopted 2012 IRC, which specifically deletes section R-313; commercial/multi-family occupancies remain subject to the adopted 2012 IBC/2012 IFC sprinkler and alarm thresholds
- No published fee schedule, adopted permit-specific timeline, or standalone application exists for fire sprinkler/alarm work -- confirmed by a full review of City Council Resolution No. 19-04's nine fee tables (none address fire suppression/alarm systems), in addition to the website/Wayback/amlegal chases already documented elsewhere in this file
Required documents
- RequiredBuilding, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit ApplicationSame universal City of Wells permit application used for all permit types; check 'Fire Sprinklers' and/or 'Nevada State Fire Marshal' under Special Approvals Required for fire suppression/alarm work
Fee schedule
| Fee type | Amount | Notes |
|---|
Occupancy Permit / Change Of Use (Building, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit)
VerifiedThe City of Wells has no separate change-of-use or certificate-of-occupancy application, checklist, or fee. The city's own Zoning Code (Title 10, Chapter 2, Section 10-2-2) defines 'OCCUPANCY PERMIT' as simply 'a permit issued by the Building Department indicating that a newly constructed building is complete and safe for occupancy or use' -- issued as part of the standard Building Department permitting process rather than as a distinct product. A change of occupancy or use is processed through the same universal Building, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit application used for all other permit types (see building-permit), and is governed technically by the city's adopted 2012 International Existing Building Code (IEBC), which by its own terms in City Code 4-1-1.C.6 'shall apply to the repair, alteration, and change of occupancy, addition and relocation of existing buildings.' Zoning Code Section 10-3-1 (Zoning Certificate-Building Permit) additionally requires a zoning certificate-building permit 'for the construction of all buildings and structures' -- the same permit under which a change-of-use project is reviewed for zoning-district conformity (Title 10, Chapter 6, Section 10-6-1, 'Conformity Required'). No dedicated fee, checklist, or review-timeline exists specifically for occupancy/change-of-use projects; they are billed under the same general Building Permit Fee valuation table (Resolution No. 19-04, Table 1) as any other building-scope project.
Verified 2026-07-22 · Source
Requirements
- File the universal Building, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit application, selecting Building (and other trades as applicable to the scope of work triggered by the occupancy/use change)
- The proposed new use must conform to the zoning district's allowable/special uses under Title 10, Chapter 7 ('Zoning Districts; Allowable And Special Uses') -- a use not permitted outright in the district may require a special use permit (Title 10, Section 10-3-2) rather than a simple occupancy change
- Work triggered by the change of occupancy is reviewed under the city's adopted 2012 International Existing Building Code (repair, alteration, and change of occupancy of existing buildings) and 2012 IBC/IRC as applicable
- Applicable special approvals identified on the universal application (Nevada State Fire Marshal, Nevada State Health, Fire Sprinklers, Engineering, Addressing, Contract Plan Review) should be confirmed with the Building Department for a change-of-use project specifically
- No published fee schedule item, checklist, or review-timeline SLA is specific to occupancy permits or changes of use -- billed under the general Building Permit Fee valuation table (Resolution No. 19-04, Table 1) like any other building-scope permit
Required documents
- RequiredBuilding, Electrical, Plumbing & Mechanical Permit ApplicationSame universal City of Wells permit application used for all permit types; no dedicated change-of-use or certificate-of-occupancy form is published
Fee schedule
| Fee type | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Building Permit Fee (valuation-based, general table -- no distinct change-of-use/occupancy line item) | Minimum charge $43.50 ($20.00 Processing Fee + $23.50 Permit Fee) for valuations of $1-$500, rising per Resolution 19-04 Table 1 (e.g. $391.25 at $25,000 valuation, $993.75 at $100,000 valuation) | City of Wells Resolution No. 19-04, Table 1 -- the same general valuation-based table used for all other building-scope permit types; no separate occupancy/change-of-use fee exists |
Sources & verification
Verified against official sources. Last reviewed 2026-07-03.
Fees, timelines, and adopted codes are researched from each jurisdiction's published records — see how we verify. Requirements change and vary by project, so always confirm the current details with the Wells building department before you submit. PermitBase is an independent reference and is not affiliated with any government agency.