Unincorporated Daggett County building permits
Department contacts, adopted codes, permit types, fees, and gotchas for Unincorporated Daggett County, Utah.
Last verified 2026-07-08 · Source · Embed this page’s badge · Version history
Building department
- Address
- Daggett County Courthouse, 95 North 100 West (also listed as 95 North 1st West), P.O. Box 219, Manila, UT 84046
- Phone
- 435-784-3218 ext. 230 (Planning & Zoning — Carrie Poulsen); 435-784-3222 ext. 230 (alternate listing); Building Inspector Matt Tate: 435-219-7545 / 435-247-2799
- Office hours
- Monday–Wednesday, 9:00 AM–1:00 PM and 1:00 PM–5:00 PM (closed holidays), per Daggett County Planning and Zoning page
- Website
- Official site
Inspection guide
See how inspections work in Unincorporated Daggett County — sequence, scheduling & re-inspection fees.
Codes adopted
Utah adopts construction codes statewide under Utah Code Title 15A (State Construction and Fire Codes Act), enforced by every jurisdiction. Chapter 4 of Title 15A codifies Legislature-enacted amendments for specific named jurisdictions (e.g., Park City, Salt Lake City, Sandy City) as part of the state construction code. Through June 30, 2026, the editions in force under Utah Code § 15A-2-103 are the 2021 IBC (with Appendices C and J), 2021 IRC, 2021 IPC, 2021 IMC, 2021 IFGC, 2021 IECC, 2021 IEBC, and 2021 ISPSC (residential provisions), together with the 2023 NEC. Effective July 1, 2026, § 15A-2-103 adopts the 2024 editions of the IBC, IPC, IMC, IFGC, IECC, IEBC, and ISPSC; the IRC remains the 2021 edition and the NEC remains the 2023 edition. Note: residential energy requirements are modified by statewide amendments, and several Utah jurisdictions document their residential energy provisions at the 2015 IECC level rather than the adopted IECC year — confirm the applicable residential energy code with your local jurisdiction. Always confirm the edition in force with your local jurisdiction.
- 2024 International Building Code (IBC), including Appendices C and J — legally controlling in unincorporated Daggett County per Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(a), in force statewide since July 1, 2026 and binding on counties per § 15A-1-204. HISTORY / COUNTY LAG: Daggett County's own Commercial Building Permit plans checklist still expressly cites the long-superseded 2015 IBC by section ('Type of construction (required) IBC 2015 Chapter 6', 'Occupancy type (required) IBC 2015 Chapter 3', 'Occupant load (required) IBC 2015 Section 1004') — re-confirmed by direct PDF fetch 2026-07-16; see NOTE below.
- 2021 International Residential Code (IRC), including Appendix AQ — legally controlling in unincorporated Daggett County per Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(b) and (1)(c); the IRC edition was NOT changed by the July 1, 2026 statewide amendment and remains the 2021 edition. HISTORY / COUNTY LAG: Daggett County's own Residential Building Permit packet still expressly cites the long-superseded 2015 IRC ('SECTION R109 OF THE 2015 INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTIAL CODE REQUIRES THAT YOU HAVE INSPECTION DURING CONSTRUCTION', with the full R109.1 series inspection text reproduced in the county's own packet) — see NOTE below.
- NOTE: Utah Code § 15A-2-103 sets the statewide-adopted baseline: the 2024 editions of the IBC, IPC, IMC, IFGC, IECC, and IEBC, plus the residential provisions of the 2024 ISPSC, are all currently in force statewide (effective July 1, 2026), alongside the 2021 IRC (unchanged) and 2023 NEC (unchanged). This statewide baseline binds counties as well as municipalities per § 15A-1-204. Daggett County's own public-facing permit packets (residential packet, commercial packet) still explicitly cite the 2015 IBC/IRC by section number — confirmed still true on re-check of the county's Commercial Building Permit Plans Checklist PDF on 2026-07-16, which additionally cites '2015 IMC' for mechanical design (IMC § 312) and duct sizing (IMC § 603), a pre-existing lag not previously captured here. This is analogous to other small Utah counties in this corpus (e.g., Cache, Rich) whose public materials lag the statewide-adopted edition. The statewide-adopted edition per § 15A-2-103 is the legally controlling one; Daggett County's own documentation has not been updated to reflect it.
- 2023 National Electrical Code (NEC) — Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(g); statewide in force (Daggett County's own permit forms do not name a specific NEC edition)
Permit types & fees
Residential Building Permit
Required for new residential construction (stick-built or manufactured), additions, remodels, demolition, and moving of residential structures in unincorporated Daggett County, per County Code § 8-3-4. Issued by the Daggett County Planning & Zoning office; inspections performed by the county Building Inspector.
Commercial Building Permit
Required for new commercial construction, additions, remodels, demolition, or moving of commercial/pre-manufactured buildings in unincorporated Daggett County. Plans must be stamped by both a Utah-licensed architect/engineer and the county Fire Chief before the Building Official issues the permit.
Electrical, Mechanical, and Plumbing Permit
Required for electrical, mechanical, or plumbing work in unincorporated Daggett County, for residential, commercial, or agricultural improvements, issued via a single combined application form. EV charger/EVSE installation is electrical work and falls under this general combined permit; the county publishes no EV-specific application, fee, or process, and no separate fee schedule for this permit is published at all.
Roofing, Siding, Window, and Deck Permit
Required for roofing, siding, window replacement, and deck construction/alteration in unincorporated Daggett County, issued via a single combined application form. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
Accessory / Outbuilding Building Permit
Required for accessory structures and outbuildings over 200 square feet in unincorporated Daggett County. Structures 200 square feet or less are exempt per County Code § 8-6A-1A and IRC R105.2.
Demolition Permit
Required for demolition of any structure in unincorporated Daggett County. Requires sign-off from utility providers, Tri County Health, and fire department, plus State of Utah Division of Air Quality asbestos notification if performed by a hired contractor.
Commercial Tenant Improvement / Tenant Finish Permit
Unincorporated Daggett County does NOT publish a separate tenant-improvement/tenant-finish permit application, fee, or checklist. Direct inspection of the county's own Commercial Building Permit Application (fetched 2026-07-19; PDF text extracted with pdftotext) confirms the single 'COMMERCIAL BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATION' form includes a 'Type of Improvement' checkbox listing 'New Building, Addition, Remodel, Demo, Pre-Manufactured Building, Moving' as options on one combined form — a tenant-improvement/tenant-finish project is filed under this same application (checking 'Remodel' or 'Addition' as applicable), reviewed against the same Commercial Building Plans Checklist, and subject to the same fee/deposit mechanism as new commercial construction. No web search of daggettcounty.gov or general search engines located any Daggett-specific tenant-improvement or tenant-finish document, fee line, or process distinct from this general commercial application.
EV Charger / EVSE Permit
Daggett County publishes no distinct EV charger / EVSE permit or fee. A home or commercial EV charger installation (new circuit) is electrical work and is covered under the county's combined Electrical, Mechanical, and Plumbing Permit — check the 'Electrical' box on that single application form — but the county publishes no fee schedule for this permit at all, and does not name EV chargers, EVSE, or charging stations anywhere in its permit materials.
Solar / Solar PV Permit
Daggett County publishes no distinct solar or solar-PV permit application, checklist, or fee. Solar electricity systems are instead governed as a zoning/accessory-use classification under County Code Title 8, Chapter 14 (Solar Electricity Systems, §§ 8-14-1 through 8-14-5): structurally attached (roof-mount) solar panels are a permitted accessory use in all zones subject to height limits, while freestanding (ground-mount) solar panels are treated as an accessory building. The construction/electrical work itself is then processed through the county's existing general permits — the Accessory/Outbuilding Building Permit for a ground-mount array's support structure, and the combined Electrical, Mechanical, and Plumbing Permit for the PV circuit/inverter/interconnection — not a standalone solar permit.
Sign Permit
Unincorporated Daggett County does NOT publish a distinct sign-permit application, checklist, or fee. Signs are instead regulated as a permitted, conditional, or accessory use directly within the zoning-district use tables of County Code Title 8, Chapter 6 (Zoning Districts) — confirmed by direct PDF text extraction of the county's own Title 8 ordinance (fetched and re-verified 2026-07-22). A new or replacement sign is reviewed for zoning-table compliance as part of whatever permit governs the underlying property (the Commercial Building Permit's plan review for signage tied to new commercial construction, or an informal Planning & Zoning zoning-compliance check for a freestanding/accessory sign added to an existing building), and a sign exceeding the base zoning-table allowance (a taller 'pole sign' or an off-premise advertising sign) requires Planning Commission approval, which the county processes through its published Conditional Use Permit Application rather than a sign-specific form.
Fire Sprinkler / Fire Alarm Permit
Unincorporated Daggett County does not publish a distinct fire-sprinkler or fire-alarm permit, application, checklist, or fee of its own. For ordinary commercial construction, fire protection is reviewed as part of the general Commercial Building Permit: the county's own Commercial Building Plans Checklist requires 'Fire separation, fire wall, fire barrier or any fire resistant construction detail' and 'Smoke detectors and/or fire alarm locations' to be shown on the submitted plans, which must be stamped by the county Fire Chief (Dutch John Fire Department, or the Manila/Flaming Gorge Fire and EMS District, depending on location) before the Building Official issues the permit — confirmed by direct PDF text extraction of the county's Commercial Building Permit Application. Separately, for the narrower set of building types that fall under the Utah State Fire Prevention Board's own jurisdiction under Utah Admin. Code R710-4 — publicly owned buildings; public/private schools, colleges, and universities; hospitals, assisted-living facilities, day cares, and similar institutional occupancies; and any place of assemblage where 50 or more persons gather — the Utah State Fire Marshal's Office runs a separate, statewide plan-review submittal process (Automatic Fire Sprinkler Plan Submittal Form and Fire Alarm Plan Review Submittal Form, $0.022 per square foot reviewed, $75 minimum fee, submitted to planreviews@utah.gov) that applies regardless of whether the county has its own dedicated Fire Marshal capacity. Whether a specific Daggett County project (e.g., a rural church hall, community center, or assisted-living use) crosses the 50-person/institutional threshold that triggers this state-level review is a project-specific determination not resolved by any published county document, so this entry is marked partial.
Change of Use / Occupancy Permit
Unincorporated Daggett County does not publish a standalone 'change of use' or 'certificate of occupancy' application among its roughly 25 published permit forms. Instead, County Code § 8-9-23 (Occupancy Permits, Chapter 9 - Supplementary and Qualifying Regulations) establishes a general, county-wide occupancy-permit requirement: land, buildings, and premises in any zone may be used only for the purposes permitted in that zone, the Building Inspector must inspect the premises and determine the use meets zoning requirements before issuing the occupancy permit, and — critically — 'such a permit shall also be required whenever the character or use of any building or land is proposed to be changed from one use to another use,' independent of whether any new construction is involved. For new construction, this occupancy/CO step is already folded into the Residential and Commercial Building Permit entries in this dataset (both require a complete contractor list before a Certificate of Occupancy is issued, and County Code § 8-7-8.D separately requires a Certificate of Occupancy for Planned Unit Developments upon completion). This entry documents the broader, freestanding version of the mechanism — a pure change of use in an existing building with no construction — for which the county publishes no dedicated application form, checklist, or fee; verified directly from the county's own Title 8 ordinance text.
New residential construction activity
New privately-owned residential construction onlyHousing units authorized by building permits for new privately-owned residential construction — this is not total permit volume (no commercial permits or remodels).
- Latest month (2026-05)
- 0units
0 buildings · $0 valuation
- Trailing 12 months
- 9units
12 of 12 months reported · #86 in Utah coverage by units
- Year to date (2026 YTD through 2026-05)
- 3units
3 buildings · $1.8M valuation
- Full year 2025
- 17units
17 buildings · $6.7M valuation
County-wide figures: Daggett County Planning & Zoning issues building permits directly for the unincorporated county, including the Dutch John area (governed by the county's own Dutch John Planning District Zoning Regulation) and other unincorporated communities/areas (Browns Park, Clay Basin, Pines, Taylor Flat). The Town of Manila (the county seat and only incorporated municipality in the county) issues its own culinary water/sewer approvals via the Manila Town Office and is referenced separately in county permit materials ('For information about the Town of Manila's requirements please contact the Manila Town Office at 435-784-3143'), but the Daggett County Building Official/Planning & Zoning office is confirmed as the building-permit-issuing authority for construction in Manila's building-permit forms as well — the county's own residential permit packet lists Manila-area snow load (30 lbs) alongside Browns Park, Dutch John, Clay Basin, and Pines, indicating one county-wide building permit program covers all these areas. County FIPS 49/009.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey (BPS), 2026-05 vintage. Census survey data — separate from the permit-requirements verification above. All Utah building activity
Tips & gotchas
- Daggett County is Utah's least-populous county (roughly 900–1,100 residents) but runs its OWN genuine, independently staffed building permit program — not a state fallback and not administered by a neighboring county. Confirmed via named staff (Planning & Zoning: Carrie Poulsen; Building Inspector: Matt Tate), a real fee/deposit structure, an active DocumentCenter of 15+ distinct permit-type application forms, and County Code §§ 8-3-4 / 8-6A-1A governing permits.
- Dutch John (the Bureau of Reclamation-adjacent unincorporated community) is covered by the same county building permit program — it is governed by the county's own 'Dutch John Planning District Zoning Regulation' and is explicitly listed in the county's residential permit packet's snow-load table (Dutch John 40 lbs) alongside Manila, Browns Park, Clay Basin, and Pines. No separate federal-land permitting quirk was found; BLM/Bureau of Reclamation land-ownership status does not appear to create a distinct permitting path in the county's own materials.
- The Town of Manila (county seat, the only incorporated municipality in Daggett County) handles its own culinary water/sewer service and has a separate Town Office (435-784-3143) — contact them directly for water/sewer questions in the Manila area, but building permits themselves are referenced through the same county packet.
- Daggett County's own public permit packets still cite the 2015 IBC/IRC/IMC by section number, not the current statewide-adopted editions per Utah Code § 15A-2-103 (2024 IBC/IPC/IMC/IFGC/IECC/IEBC and 2021 IRC) — this appears to be stale public-facing documentation, consistent with a pattern seen in other small Utah counties in this corpus (e.g., Cache County's NEC page, Rich County's IBC page).
- No independently published dollar-figure permit fee schedule (valuation table, fee-per-permit-type list) was found on the county's website — permit costs are described as 'calculated as per current State guidelines' plus a nonrefundable deposit ($200 accessory / $600 dwelling) and 1% state surcharge. Contact Planning & Zoning directly (435-784-3218 ext. 230) to obtain a specific fee quote.
- No county-published building-permit review-timeline SLA was found (county budget/KPI documents were not located publishing a review-timeline metric); reviewTimelineDays for all permit types falls back to the Utah Code § 17-79-810 statutory floor (3-business-day screening period + 14 business days for one/two-family dwelling and townhome plan review = ~17 business days total; 21 business days for other structures under § 17-79-810(4)(b)).
- Snow load requirements vary sharply by area within the county: Manila and Browns Park 30 lbs, Dutch John and Clay Basin 40 lbs, Pines 80 lbs — always confirm which zone a specific parcel falls in.
- All permits expire if no approved inspection occurs within 180 days of issuance, and construction must be completed within 2 years of the original permit date (extendable by 6 months on request to Planning & Zoning).