Moab building permits
VerifiedDepartment contacts, adopted codes, permit types, fees, and gotchas for Moab, Utah.
Last verified 2026-07-08 · Source · Embed this page’s badge · Version history
Building department
- Address
- 217 East Center Street, Moab, UT 84532
- Phone
- (435) 259-5129
- Office hours
- Mon–Thu 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Fri 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
- Website
- Official site
- Permit portal
- Apply online at Moab's portal
Inspection guide
See how inspections work in Moab — 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 — CURRENT statewide as of 7/1/2026 per Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(a), superseding the 2021 IBC. Moab City's official Building Inspection page (moabcity.gov/500/Building-Inspection) embeds a hidden 'BUILDING CODE' tab whose content is the verbatim text of an old snapshot of Utah Code § 15A-2-103 — live-inspected via DOM extraction 2026-07-16, that embedded text lists only 'Appendix J' (not C and J) and links frozen statute-version pages from 2014-2019, indicating the city's page predates even the pre-7/1/2026 code cycle, let alone the current one. The statute controls regardless of the city page's lag.
- 2021 International Residential Code (IRC) — REMAINS CURRENT; Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(b) did NOT change this edition in the 7/1/2026 amendment. Matches the (otherwise stale) statute text embedded on Moab's page.
- Appendix AQ of the 2021 IRC — statewide per Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(c); Moab's embedded page text instead cites 'Appendix Q of the 2021 edition of the International Residential Code' (an older statute numbering, live-inspected 2026-07-16) — reproduced verbatim as history; the current statute's Appendix AQ is added here as the operative citation.
- 2024 International Plumbing Code (IPC) — CURRENT statewide as of 7/1/2026 per Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(d), superseding the 2021 IPC. Moab's embedded page text still shows the 2021 IPC — live-inspected 2026-07-16, confirming lag. The statute controls.
- 2024 International Mechanical Code (IMC) — CURRENT statewide as of 7/1/2026 per Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(e), superseding the 2021 IMC. Moab's embedded page text still shows the 2021 IMC — live-inspected 2026-07-16, confirming lag. The statute controls.
- 2024 International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC) — CURRENT statewide as of 7/1/2026 per Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(f), superseding the 2021 IFGC. Moab's embedded page text still shows the 2021 IFGC — live-inspected 2026-07-16, confirming lag. The statute controls.
- 2024 International Existing Building Code (IEBC) — CURRENT statewide as of 7/1/2026 per Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(i), superseding the 2021 IEBC. Moab's embedded page text still shows the 2021 IEBC — live-inspected 2026-07-16, confirming lag. The statute controls.
- 2023 National Electrical Code (NEC) — statewide-mandatory edition per Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(g); UNCHANGED by the 7/1/2026 amendment (the 2023 NEC baseline predates this code cycle). Moab's embedded page text still shows the 2020 NEC — live-inspected 2026-07-16, one edition behind the statewide-mandatory floor. Per Utah Code § 15A-1-204 (statewide-mandatory construction code), the 2023 NEC governs regardless of the city's own page.
- 2024 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), single unsplit statewide edition — CURRENT as of 7/1/2026 per Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(h) (no residential/commercial split under current law), superseding Moab's residential/commercial split. Moab's embedded page text still cites 'Residential provisions of the 2015 edition' and 'Commercial provisions of the 2021 edition' of the IECC — live-inspected 2026-07-16, preserved as history — both are now collapsed into the single current 2024 IECC. The statute controls.
- Residential provisions of the 2024 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code (ISPSC) — statewide per Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(n); not present anywhere in the statute text Moab's own page embeds (live-inspected 2026-07-16 — that embedded text predates the ISPSC's addition to § 15A-2-103 and instead references now-superseded mobile/manufactured-home provisions), added here per the current statute.
- Modular Building Institute (MBI) Standards 1200 and 1205 — statewide per Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(o); not present in the statute text Moab's own page embeds, added here per the current statute.
- All per Moab City's official Building Inspection Department page (moabcity.gov/500/Building-Inspection), consistent with Utah Code § 15A-2-103 statewide code adoption.
- NOTE (2026-07-16 re-verification): Utah Code § 15A-2-103, version effective 7/1/2026 (superseded 1/1/2027), took effect 15 days before this re-verification. IBC/IPC/IMC/IFGC/IECC/IEBC/residential ISPSC are now 2024 statewide; IRC (2021) and NEC (2023) did NOT change. Moab's Building Inspection page (moabcity.gov/500/Building-Inspection) was live-inspected 2026-07-16 via DOM extraction of its hidden 'BUILDING CODE' tab panel, which turns out to embed the raw text of an old snapshot of § 15A-2-103 itself (with hyperlinks to frozen statute-version pages dated 2014-2019) rather than a city-authored summary — meaning Moab's page is not merely one cycle behind but reflects a substantially older statute snapshot (pre-dating even the introduction of the residential ISPSC provision). The current statewide statute, read live at le.utah.gov/xcode/Title15A/Chapter2/15A-2-S103.html, controls over this stale embedded text.
Permit types & fees
Residential Building Permit
Required for new single-family and two-family residential construction, additions, remodels, and any work regulated by the 2021 IRC and the 2024 IBC (current statewide per Utah Code § 15A-2-103, effective 7/1/2026) in Moab, including detached accessory dwelling units (Type 1 ADUs) built under Moab Municipal Code Chapter 17.70. Fees are valuation-based per the City's Master Fee Schedule (Moab Municipal Code § 3.50.165), most recently amended by Ordinance #2025-08 (effective June 24, 2025).
Commercial Building Permit
Required for new commercial construction in Moab. Uses the same generic valuation-based Building Permit Fee table (Moab Municipal Code § 3.50.165) as residential, but the Master Fee Schedule publishes a dedicated 'Plan review — commercial' section with its own nonrefundable plan-review deposit (10% of the building permit fee, $260 minimum — vs. the residential deposit's flat $170), plus a distinct hourly rate for additional commercial plan reviews. Fire Department review is required on all commercial applications.
Commercial Tenant Improvement / Tenant Finish Permit
Required for interior tenant-finish and tenant-improvement work within existing commercial space in Moab. Moab Municipal Code § 3.50.165 explicitly names 'tenant finish' in its commercial plan-review deposit line — the SAME 10%-of-building-permit-fee ($260 minimum) deposit and $85/hr additional-review rate documented for the Commercial Building Permit apply directly to tenant-improvement projects, making this one of the more explicitly-verified TI fee structures in this batch of jurisdictions.
Solar PV Permit
Required for rooftop-mounted or ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, including battery backup, in Moab. Moab runs a genuinely distinct solar permitting track from its general Building Permit: a dedicated digital-only Solar PV Plan Review Packet (compiled from the 2014 NEC and 2015 IRC) and its own flat, non-valuation-based fee line items in the Master Fee Schedule (Moab Municipal Code § 3.50.165), most recently raised by Ordinance #2025-08 (adopted June 24, 2025). Moab holds a SolSmart Bronze designation for streamlining residential/commercial solar permitting.
Sign Permit
Required in Moab for construction, creation, or installation of a new sign, or structural alteration of an existing sign, per Moab Municipal Code Chapter 17.93 Sign Code. A building permit may also be required. Fee is based on total sign square footage.
EV Charger / EVSE Permit
Moab does not publish a distinct EV-charger fee line item. Per the Moab Municipal Code Chapter 3.50 Master Fee Schedule, a standalone EV charger/EVSE installation is electrical work billed under the city's 'Separate mechanical, electrical, and/or plumbing permits' fee — $65.00 per inspection — rather than the valuation-based Building Permit fee, which applies to work tied to new construction.
Fire Sprinkler and Fire Alarm System Permit
The City of Moab's own Master Fee Schedule (Moab Municipal Code § 3.50.165) has no fire sprinkler or fire alarm line item. Fire plan review, permitting, and inspection for fire suppression and fire alarm systems within Moab city limits is instead handled by Moab Valley Fire Protection District (MVFD) — a special district separate from the City that functions as the City's own fire department: the City's official 'Release for Certificate of Occupancy' form lists 'Moab Valley Fire Inspector or Designee' as a required commercial CO sign-off line, and the official Building Permit Application marks Fire Department review 'REQUIRED ON ALL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS.' MVFD publishes its own itemized 2026 Amended Fee Schedule with Impact Fees (approved/effective 04.21.2026, fetched and read directly from moabfiredepartment.org 2026-07-22), which includes distinct Automatic Fire Sprinkler System Plan Review and Fire Alarm System plan-review/inspection fee tables, charged in addition to (not instead of) the City's own Building Permit fees. This same MVFD fee schedule is independently documented as governing unincorporated Grand County's parallel fire-sprinkler-alarm-permit entry in this dataset (MVFD annexed the county's previously-unserved areas in 2024-2025); MVFD's main station has been located within Moab city limits (45 S 100 E) since the department's 1957 founding, predating that county annexation, supporting that the City itself was always part of MVFD's core service area.
Change of Use / Change of Occupancy Permit
Moab does not publish a standalone Change of Use, Change of Occupancy, or Certificate of Occupancy re-issuance permit or fee. Moab Municipal Code § 17.06.020 defines 'building permit' to explicitly include work that would 'erect, construct, reconstruct, grade, excavate for a foundation, alter or change the use of a building or other structure or improvements of land' (independently confirmed via an indexed search-engine snippet of the code page 2026-07-22, since moab.municipal.codes returns a Cloudflare bot-challenge to direct automated fetch, consistent with this file's localAmendments note) — folding a use/occupancy classification change into the standard Building Permit process rather than a distinct application. This is corroborated by the City's official Release for Certificate of Occupancy form, which requires an active Building Permit No. on its face and has no standalone change-of-use track, and by the Master Fee Schedule (current through Ordinance 25-01, Jan 28, 2025, as amended by Ordinance #2025-08), which has no 'change of use,' 'change of occupancy,' or 'existing building' fee line. Separately, and not to be conflated with a building-code occupancy change: Moab Municipal Code § 5.04.060 requires an existing licensed business that relocates to file a 'business change of address' before operating at the new location, billed at a distinct, governing $50.00 Administration Fee per the Master Fee Schedule § 3.50.050 (excluding home-occupation licenses, which are $0) — a real fee, but scoped to a business's street address, not an IBC occupancy-classification change to a building.
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)
- No data reported
- Trailing 12 months
- 253units
11 of 12 months reported · #27 in Utah coverage by units
- Year to date (2026 YTD through 2026-05)
- 206units
18 buildings · $37.5M valuation
4 month(s) reported to Census
- Full year 2025
- 90units
15 buildings · $15.7M valuation
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
- Moab City's Building Safety / Building Inspection Division is a genuinely independent city department (Community Development Department, 217 E Center Street) — it is NOT contracted to or shared with Grand County. Grand County operates its own separate Building Inspector and permit process for unincorporated county land (grandcountyutah.net/143/Building-Inspector); the two are administratively distinct despite Moab being the county seat.
- Moab's Building Department is open Mon–Thu 8:00 AM–5:00 PM and Fri 8:00 AM–noon — a half-day Friday, unlike Murray's full Friday hours.
- As a major Arches/Canyonlands tourism gateway, Moab has an active accessory dwelling unit (ADU) ordinance (Municipal Code Chapter 17.70, adopted via Ordinance 21-16) permitting Type 1 (external/detached), Type 2, and Type 3 (internal, owner-occupied) ADUs in most residential zones, intended for employee/workforce housing amid the area's short-term-rental-driven housing pressure. ADUs use the standard Residential Building Permit fee table — there is no distinct ADU fee line in the Master Fee Schedule.
- Moab's Master Fee Schedule (§ 3.50.165) was last amended by Ordinance #2025-08 (adopted June 24, 2025), which raised numerous flat trade/miscellaneous building fees (garage, mobile/manufactured home, modular home, swimming pool, roofing minimum, RV park infrastructure, mechanical/electrical/plumbing inspection, solar roof/ground mount, plan review deposits) but left the core building-permit valuation table's upper tiers unchanged — only the $1–$500 tier moved from $65 to $85.
- A staff proposal circulated ahead of the June 24, 2025 hearing would have replaced the entire small-project ($1–$2,000) valuation tier with flat $865/$100 fees 'to bring in line with actual cost to process a permit' — this was NOT adopted in the final ordinance; only the $85 floor for the $1-$500 tier passed.
- A statewide 1% Building Code Training Fund surcharge (Utah Code Title 58-56, Utah Admin. Code R156-15A-230) applies on top of the base building permit fee for every Utah municipality including Moab — it shows up as its own 'STATE 1%' line on Moab's official fee routing sheet.
- No Moab-specific published plan-review turnaround time was found in official sources as of 2026-07-08; the Residential Building Permit's reviewTimelineDays field uses the Utah Code § 10-20-909 statutory floor (14 business days after a 3-business-day completeness screening period) rather than a fabricated or estimated figure.
- moab.municipal.codes (the searchable code library) returns a Cloudflare bot-challenge page to automated fetches — all fee and code figures in this file were instead sourced directly from the City's own adopted ordinance PDF attachments (moabcity.gov/DocumentCenter), which are the authoritative primary source anyway.