Winnemucca building permits

Building department

Address

90 W. Fourth Street, Winnemucca, NV 89445

Phone

(775) 623-6319

Email

wmcasac@winnemuccacity.org

Office hours

City of Winnemucca Building Department, 90 W. Fourth Street, Winnemucca, NV 89445. Phone (775) 623-6319, fax (775) 623-6321 (per City of Winnemucca Basic Design Criteria handout) / (775) 623-6090 or (775) 623-6321 listed as fax on different department handouts. This is a distinct department from the Humboldt County Building Department (25 W. Fourth Street, (775) 623-6322), though both offices are located on Fourth Street in Winnemucca and jointly co-authored the Single Family Residence Permit Guide. All inspections require 24 hours notice; call (775) 623-6319 to schedule.

Website

Official site

Inspection guide

See how inspections work in Winnemucca — sequence, scheduling & re-inspection fees.

Codes adopted

Nevada does not mandate a single statewide building code edition. Under NRS 278.580, the governing body of each city or county may adopt its own building code, specifying design, soundness, and materials of structures, together with rules and ordinances for enforcement — a home-rule framework in which each jurisdiction selects and amends its code independently. There is no state-mandated IBC or IRC edition. The one statewide floor is for energy: under NRS 701.220, the Governor's Office of Energy (GOE) is required to adopt the most recently published edition of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) on a triennial basis. Upon adoption by GOE, local governments must incorporate that edition as the minimum energy standard and may adopt higher or more stringent requirements. GOE adopted the 2024 IECC, effective August 18, 2024, pursuant to NAC 701.185. Because building code editions, local amendments, and energy code effective dates vary by jurisdiction across Nevada, always confirm the current adopted edition and any local amendments with your specific city or county before submitting plans.

• Nevada is a home-rule state for building codes: there is no single mandatory statewide building-code edition — each city and county adopts and amends its own code. The only genuine statewide floor is the energy code: Nevada's energy standards reference the IECC, and NRS 701.220 directs the State to adopt and update energy efficiency standards for new construction. Always confirm the specific adopted edition for the city or county in question rather than assuming a uniform statewide building code. Source: Nevada Legislature NRS Chapter 701 (State Office of Energy).
• 2012 International Building Code (IBC), adopted by the City of Winnemucca per Winnemucca Municipal Code (WMC) 15.04. Source: City of Winnemucca Building Department 'Basic Design Criteria' handout and joint City/County 'Single Family Residence Permit Guide' (Revised 12-13).
• 2012 International Residential Code (IRC), adopted by the City of Winnemucca per WMC 15.04. Source: City of Winnemucca Building Department 'Basic Design Criteria' handout.
• 2011 National Electrical Code (NEC), adopted by the City of Winnemucca per WMC 15.04. Source: City of Winnemucca Building Department 'Basic Design Criteria' handout.
• 2012 Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC), adopted by the City of Winnemucca per WMC 15.04 — Nevada jurisdictions commonly use the Uniform Mechanical Code (IAPMO) rather than the International Mechanical Code. Source: City of Winnemucca Building Department 'Basic Design Criteria' handout.
• 2012 Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC), adopted by the City of Winnemucca per WMC 15.04 — not the International Plumbing Code. Source: City of Winnemucca Building Department 'Basic Design Criteria' handout.
• 2012 International Fire Code (IFC), adopted by the City of Winnemucca per WMC 15.04. Source: City of Winnemucca Building Department 'Basic Design Criteria' handout; also referenced in the City's 'Additions (Residential)' handout.
• 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), adopted by the City of Winnemucca per WMC 15.04. Source: City of Winnemucca Building Department 'Basic Design Criteria' handout and joint 'Single Family Residence Permit Guide' (Revised 12-13).
• 1997 Uniform Housing Code, 1997 Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings, 2012 International Property Maintenance Code, 2012 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, and 2009 ICC A117.1 (Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities), all adopted by the City of Winnemucca per WMC 15.04. Source: City of Winnemucca Building Department 'Basic Design Criteria' handout.
• See Winnemucca Municipal Code Chapter 15.04 (Building Code) for the local amendments to each adopted model code. Source: City of Winnemucca Building Department 'Basic Design Criteria' handout, which directs readers to WMC 15.04 for the amendment text. UPDATE (2026-07-16): unlike the 2018-2025 Wayback checks, Municode's hosted WMC (library.municode.com/nv/winnemucca) now renders live in a browser and was read directly section-by-section. Current online version: Supplement 14, updated April 8, 2026, codified through Ordinance No. 889 (enacted 3-19-2024) — but Chapter 15.04's code-adoption sections have not been touched since Ordinance No. 798, § 1.1 (adopted 1-21-2014), and the codified text confirms, verbatim: WMC 15.04.040 'The 2012 Edition of the International Building Code...is adopted by the city'; 15.04.050 same language for the 2012 IRC; 15.04.100 NEC section states 'The city designates the 2011 edition of the NEC as the adopted edition'; 15.04.120 'The 2009 Edition of the International Energy Conservation Code...is adopted by the city'; 15.04.140 same language for the 2012 IFC; 15.04.170 same language for the 2012 UMC; 15.04.190 UPC section states 'The city designates the 2012 Edition of the UPC...as such latest edition.' This directly confirms every codesAdopted edition below is still the City's codified law — see the 2026-07-16 RESOLUTION note in localAmendments for the fuller picture and the genuine City-ordinance-vs-joint-handout conflict this surfaced.

Permit types & fees

• Residential Building Permit (New Construction / Single-Family Dwelling)

  Required for construction of a new single-family dwelling (including manufactured housing designed to IRC requirements) within Winnemucca city limits. Reviewed against the 2012 IRC/IBC and City of Winnemucca design criteria (WMC 15.04) by the City of Winnemucca Building Department, with routing through Planning/Zoning, Public Works (street excavation), Fire Code Review, and utility connection review as applicable. This is a jointly-authored guide published by both the City of Winnemucca Building Department and the Humboldt County Building Department, since both offices coordinate on the same form set for the area.

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• Residential Addition / Remodel Permit

  Required for room additions, remodels, and structural alterations to existing single-family dwellings in Winnemucca. Reviewed against the same 2012 IRC/IBC, 2012 IFC, and City design criteria as new construction, with additional documentation of the existing structure's floor plan and systems.

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• Electrical Permit

  Required for electrical installation, alteration, or repair work in Winnemucca, governed by the 2011 National Electrical Code (NEC) as adopted by the City of Winnemucca (WMC 15.04). Fees are itemized per-unit and per-square-foot categories on the City's Application for an Electrical Permit form.

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• EV Charger Installation Permit

  Required for installation of an EV charging station (EVSE) in Winnemucca. EV charging has no dedicated permit category — it is billed as a standard electrical permit, governed by the 2011 NEC as adopted by the City (WMC 15.04.100), the same treatment already documented in this file's electrical-permit entry. As with all other electrical work, the City's own itemized fee-category form (new-service and new-construction line items) applies, but current dollar amounts are not published as a standalone fee schedule. Re-chased 2026-07-20 (exhaustive, still no dollar figure found): re-fetched the live Humboldt County Electrical Permit Application (blank fee-category template, unchanged) and separately checked the County Recorder's fee schedule (document recording/mining fees — wrong department), the Planning & Zoning Application Fees page (zoning fees only — wrong department), and Humboldt County Code §331.5-18 in Wayback (confirmed that page is actually Humboldt County, CALIFORNIA's code, not Nevada — a same-named-county mismatch, disregarded). None of these publish a dollar-denominated Building Department electrical/EV-charger fee table. The 'Power Apparatus (HP, KW, KVA or KVAR)' bracket on the electrical permit form is the category an EV charger would classify under by rating, but the form itself carries no filled-in dollar amounts (fees are entered per-application by staff).

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• Plumbing Permit

  Required for plumbing installation, alteration, or repair work in Winnemucca, governed by the 2012 Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) as adopted by the City of Winnemucca (WMC 15.04).

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• Mechanical / HVAC Permit

  Required for furnace, boiler, air-conditioning, and other mechanical installations in Winnemucca, governed by the 2012 Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC) as adopted by the City of Winnemucca (WMC 15.04).

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• Re-Roofing Permit

  A building permit is required for reroofing work in Winnemucca. Reroofing is explicitly listed as an example of a regulated 'alteration' requiring a permit under IBC 105.1 as quoted in the City's own 'Permit Requirements' handout.

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• Demolition Permit

  Required to demolish any building over 200 square feet, any one-story-or-taller building, or any building with plumbing fixtures, within Winnemucca city limits. Requires a completion/surety bond before work begins.

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• Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Permit

  Required for installation of rooftop or ground-mounted solar photovoltaic systems within Winnemucca city limits. The City of Winnemucca Building Department and Humboldt County Building Department jointly publish a detailed 'Solar Photo Voltaic Systems Submittal Guide' specifying plan-set, structural, electrical one-line diagram, and NEC signage requirements (referencing the 2017 NEC and 2018 IFC), but the guide itself publishes no dollar-figure fee. No standalone solar/PV fee line item was found on the City's fee materials; the same building-permit and electrical-permit fee mechanisms documented elsewhere in this file apply, and current dollar amounts are not published online for either.

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• Sign Permit

  Winnemucca regulates signs through two overlapping mechanisms: a zoning sign-permit system administered by the Planning Department under Winnemucca Municipal Code (WMC) Chapter 17.27 (Sign Standards), which sets allowed sign types and maximum size/height by zoning district, and a separate Building Department permit for the sign's structural/electrical installation, listed among the 'additional permits' required for temporary office trailers, fences, and signs in the City/County joint 'Commercial/Industrial Guide for Building Permit Applications.' Small, nonilluminated, flush-mounted flat signs are exempt from the building-permit side (but not necessarily from the zoning side).

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• Fire Sprinkler & Fire Alarm Permit (Fire Code Review)

  Automatic sprinkler and fire alarm system installations in Winnemucca are reviewed through 'Fire Code Review,' performed by the Humboldt County Building & Safety Department on behalf of the Nevada State Fire Marshal's office, using a shared 'Application for Fire Code Plan Review' form (with checkboxes for Automatic Sprinkler, Fire Alarm, Extinguishing System (non-sprinkler), Architectural/Construction, or Other) plus system-specific submittal checklists — a 48-item 'Submittal List for Automatic Sprinkler System' and a 19-item 'Submittal List for Fire Alarm Systems.' This review must be completed before a final inspection can be requested on the underlying building permit.

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• Change of Use / Occupancy Permit

  Winnemucca has no standalone 'change of use' permit product or dedicated Certificate of Occupancy application. A change in a building's use or occupancy classification requires a building permit under IBC 105.1 as adopted by the City of Winnemucca (already quoted in this file's re-roofing permit entry from the live Humboldt County 'Permit Requirements' page), applied for on the same universal 'Application for Building Permit' with the change of use entered as the Description of Work. The Certificate of Occupancy itself is issued directly on the permit's inspection record ('job card') after all required inspections, including the final, have passed — it is not a separate application or fee product.

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