Unincorporated Garfield County building permits

Building department

Address

Garfield County Courthouse, 55 South Main St, PO Box 77, Panguitch, UT 84759

Phone

(435) 676-1111

Email

jared.woolsey@garfield.utah.gov

Office hours

Monday–Friday 8:00 AM–12:00 PM, 1:00 PM–5:00 PM (closed noon–1pm and all holidays)

Website

Official site

Permit portal

Apply online at Unincorporated Garfield County's portal

Inspection guide

See how inspections work in Unincorporated Garfield 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 — Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(a); current edition as of July 1, 2026 (2021 edition governed through June 30, 2026)
• 2021 International Residential Code (IRC), plus Appendix AQ of the 2021 IRC — Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(b)/(c); unchanged by the July 1, 2026 revision — still the current edition
• 2024 International Plumbing Code (IPC) — Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(d); current edition as of July 1, 2026 (2021 edition governed through June 30, 2026)
• 2024 International Mechanical Code (IMC) — Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(e); current edition as of July 1, 2026 (2021 edition governed through June 30, 2026)
• 2024 International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC) — Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(f); current edition as of July 1, 2026 (2021 edition governed through June 30, 2026)
• 2024 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) — Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(h); current edition as of July 1, 2026 (2021 edition governed through June 30, 2026); statute has no residential/commercial split — one edition applies to both
• 2024 International Existing Building Code (IEBC) — Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(i); current edition as of July 1, 2026 (2021 edition governed through June 30, 2026)
• 2024 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code (ISPSC), residential provisions — Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(n). ADDED 2026-07-16: this code is not listed on Garfield County's own building-department pages, but it is adopted statewide by statute, so it applies here regardless of the county page's omission.
• 2023 National Electrical Code (NEC) — Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(g); statewide in force, unchanged by the July 1, 2026 revision
• Utah Wildland Urban Interface Code — adopted under Utah Code § 15A-2-103; Garfield County charges a WUI plan review fee (one per parcel)
• NOTE (verified 2026-07-16 against the live Utah Code § 15A-2-103 text, version headed 'Effective 7/1/2026 / Superseded 1/1/2027'): the 2024 editions of IBC, IPC, IMC, IFGC, IECC, and IEBC listed above took effect July 1, 2026, replacing the 2021 editions; IRC (2021) and NEC (2023) did not change. The 1/1/2027 version of the statute carries identical editions, so no further flip is expected then. This file previously forecast this change but still led with the 2021 editions as current — corrected on this date.

Permit types & fees

• Residential Building Permit

  Required for new single-family/manufactured home construction, additions, and structural alterations in unincorporated Garfield County. The Garfield County Building Department issues the building permit, performs plan review, and conducts all inspections for the unincorporated county AND — per contract — for essentially all of the county's small incorporated towns (documented explicitly for Boulder Town, which contracts with Garfield County 'to issue the actual Building Permit, conduct all building code inspections, and issue the Certificate of Occupancy'). Property inside city/town limits requires town-level zoning/project approval first, but the building permit itself still comes from the county.

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• Commercial Building Permit

  Required for new commercial construction in unincorporated Garfield County. The Garfield County Building Department Fees schedule publishes a Commercial Building plan-review fee at a distinctly different rate than the residential dwelling rate: 'Commercial Building — 65% of permit price' vs. 'Residential Dwelling — $100.00' flat. The base building-permit fee uses the same generic sliding-scale valuation table as residential and other structures.

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• Commercial Tenant Improvement / Tenant Finish Permit

  Required for interior tenant-improvement and remodel work within existing commercial space in unincorporated Garfield County. The Building Department Fees schedule lists 'Remodel' as its own Plan Review line item ('$20.00 / based on bid price'), distinct from both the flat Residential Dwelling rate and the percentage-based Commercial Building rate.

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• Solar Permit

  Garfield County Building Department publishes a distinct fee schedule for solar photovoltaic installations, separate from the general Residential Dwelling and Commercial Building permit fee lines. Applications are submitted through City Inspect, the county's online permitting portal, the same as other building permits.

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• EV Charger / EVSE Permit

  Garfield County publishes no distinct EV charger / EVSE permit or fee. The county's Building Department Fees schedule prices work through a valuation-based Total Building Permit Valuation table plus itemized categories (stem walls, decks, garages, sheds, solar, signs, etc.); the only catch-all category that could apply to a minor scope with no specific line item is 'Inspections with No Specific Fee — $60.00 per hour.'

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• Sign Permit

  Garfield County's Code of Ordinances (Chapter 155: Zoning, §§ 155.340-155.347, adopted by Ord. 2021-10, passed 9-27-2021) regulates signs directly, but a sign permit is the exception rather than the default: per § 155.346(A), 'a permit shall not be required for the erection and maintenance of a sign' unless the Building Official or Planning Department specifically requires one due to the sign's size, height, weight, or electrical connections. When a permit is required, construction documents are filed with the Zoning Administrator and/or Building Official, and specific design standards are adopted by reference from the International Zoning Code (§ 155.347).

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• Fire Sprinkler & Fire Alarm Permit

  Garfield County's Code of Ordinances has no distinct chapter or section for fire sprinkler or fire alarm permits — Chapter 150 (Building Codes) adopts the state's building/fire codes by reference (§ 150.01: '...Uniform Fire Code, and Model Energy Code...hereby adopted') but creates no separate sprinkler/alarm permit process, and the county's Building Permit Application instead tracks fire sprinkler approval as a Required/Received/Approved checkbox within its general office-use-only section (documented under this jurisdiction's Commercial Building Permit type). Statewide, the Utah State Fire Marshal's Office (SFMO) operates a direct plan-review submittal path for both Automatic Fire Sprinkler Systems and Fire Alarm Systems, billed at $0.022 per square foot with a $75.00 minimum fee — confirmed by reading the SFMO's own submittal forms (410 West 9800 South, 3rd Floor, Sandy, UT 84070; planreviews@utah.gov) directly. However, SFMO's own published 'Local Fire Ordinances' guidance states that local fire ordinances are adopted and enforced by 'specific municipal or county jurisdictions' and directs applicants to their local fire department, without stating whether SFMO review is mandatory, optional, or inapplicable for private construction in a rural unincorporated county like Garfield that has no distinct local fire district or fire-plan-review office of its own. This jurisdictional gap is why this entry is marked partial rather than verified.

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• Change of Use / Certificate of Occupancy Permit

  Unincorporated Garfield County has no standalone 'Change of Use Permit' application distinct from its Building Permit / Certificate of Occupancy (CO) process. Per Zoning Ordinance § 155.099, a Certificate of Occupancy 'shall be applied for coincidentally with the application for a building permit and shall be issued within ten days after the erection or structural alteration of such building or structure or part thereof...[has] been completed in conformity with the provisions of this chapter' — the CO is the mechanism the county uses to sign off on both new construction and any use change of an existing building. A narrower, explicit change-of-use rule also governs nonconforming uses: under § 155.152(B) ('Changes of Nonconforming Use'), 'a change of use of a nonconforming use of a structure or parcel of land shall not be made except to that of a conforming use,' and once changed, the property may not revert to the prior nonconforming use. Both provisions are current law under Ord. 2021-10 (passed 9-27-2021).

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