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Change of Use / Change of Occupancy Permit in Moab, Utah

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.

Verified 2026-07-22 · Source

When you need this permit

  • A change in use or occupancy classification for an existing building in Moab is evaluated through the standard Commercial Building Permit process, not a separate application, per Moab Municipal Code § 17.06.020's definition of 'building permit'
  • If the use/occupancy change involves construction or tenant-improvement scope, it is processed and fee'd as a Commercial Building Permit or Commercial Tenant Improvement Permit (see those entries in this file)
  • A Certificate of Occupancy is tied to an active Building Permit No.: the official Release for Certificate of Occupancy form requires one on its face and, for commercial occupancies, requires Moab Valley Fire Inspector and Southeast Utah Health Department sign-off in addition to Zoning, Engineering, Public Works, and Waste Water approval
  • An existing licensed business that changes its physical location (a distinct event from a building's occupancy classification changing) must file a business change of address per Moab Municipal Code § 5.04.060 prior to conducting business at the new location
  • Home-occupation business licenses are excluded from the $50.00 change-of-address administration fee per the Master Fee Schedule's own table

Required documents

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Fee schedule

No distinct Change of Use / Change of Occupancy building-permit fee existsThe Master Fee Schedule (Moab Municipal Code § 3.50.165, current through Ordinance 25-01 as amended by Ordinance #2025-08) has no 'change of use,' 'change of occupancy,' or 'certificate of occupancy' fee line item. Where the change involves construction or tenant-improvement scope, the standard valuation-based Building Permit Fee applies — see the Commercial Building Permit and Commercial Tenant Improvement Permit entries in this file.
Not applicable as a separate line item
Administration fee for business change of address application (excluding home occupation)Moab Municipal Code § 3.50.050 Master Fee Schedule (current through Ordinance 25-01, passed January 28, 2025), 'Business licenses' table — fetched and read directly from the current codified Chapter 3.50 PDF 2026-07-22. This fee governs an existing licensed business relocating to a new address under § 5.04.060; it is a real, distinct, itemized fee, but it is not a building-code change-of-use/occupancy fee and should not be conflated with one.
$50.00 each request

Review timeline

Plan review
Not published — contact the department

How long did your Change of Use / Change of Occupancy Permit permit actually take in Moab?

Anonymous — one question, no email. Answers are combined and only shown once at least 5 people have reported.

Inspection process

  1. 1

    Code Analysis / Occupancy Classification Review

    A change in use or occupancy classification is reviewed as part of the standard Building Permit plan review process, per Moab Municipal Code § 17.06.020's definition of 'building permit.'

  2. 2

    Certificate of Occupancy Sign-off Chain

    Per the official Release for Certificate of Occupancy form: Zoning Director, City Engineer, Public Works Director, and Waste Water/Grand Water Sewer Services approval required for both residential and commercial; Moab Valley Fire Inspector and Southeast Utah Health Department approval additionally required for commercial, before the Building Inspector issues the Certificate of Occupancy.

See the full Moab inspection guide — scheduling & re-inspection fees →

Tips

  • Do not look for a standalone 'Change of Use Permit' or 'Change of Occupancy Permit' application on moabcity.gov — none exists. A use/occupancy change is captured within the standard Building Permit definition (Moab Municipal Code § 17.06.020: a building permit covers work to 'alter or change the use of a building or other structure').
  • Do not confuse the $50.00 'business change of address' administration fee (Moab Municipal Code § 5.04.060 / Master Fee Schedule § 3.50.050) with a building-code change-of-use or change-of-occupancy review — the former applies only when an existing licensed business physically relocates; the latter (no distinct fee) applies when a building's occupancy classification changes and is processed through the standard Building Permit.
  • Moab Valley Fire Inspector and Southeast Utah Health Department sign-off are both required on every commercial Certificate of Occupancy, per the City's official Release for Certificate of Occupancy form — budget time for both in addition to Zoning, Engineering, Public Works, and Waste Water approval.
  • moab.municipal.codes returns a Cloudflare bot-challenge to automated fetches (consistent with this file's other localAmendments notes); the § 17.06.020 and § 5.04.060 code text cited here was independently confirmed via indexed search-engine snippets of the same official code pages rather than a live render.

Frequently asked questions

Moab requires a change of use / change of occupancy permit for: A change in use or occupancy classification for an existing building in Moab is evaluated through the standard Commercial Building Permit process, not a separate application, per Moab Municipal Code § 17.06.020's definition of 'building permit'; If the use/occupancy change involves construction or tenant-improvement scope, it is processed and fee'd as a Commercial Building Permit or Commercial Tenant Improvement Permit (see those entries in this file); A Certificate of Occupancy is tied to an active Building Permit No.: the official Release for Certificate of Occupancy form requires one on its face and, for commercial occupancies, requires Moab Valley Fire Inspector and Southeast Utah Health Department sign-off in addition to Zoning, Engineering, Public Works, and Waste Water approval; An existing licensed business that changes its physical location (a distinct event from a building's occupancy classification changing) must file a business change of address per Moab Municipal Code § 5.04.060 prior to conducting business at the new location; Home-occupation business licenses are excluded from the $50.00 change-of-address administration fee per the Master Fee Schedule's own table. If your project isn't listed, confirm with Moab City Building Safety / Building Inspection Division (Community Development Department) at (435) 259-5129 before starting work.

No. Moab Municipal Code § 5.04.060 requires an existing licensed business that relocates to a new address to file a business change of address, billed at a flat $50.00 administration fee (home-occupation licenses excluded). That fee applies to a business changing its street address, not to a change in a building's IBC occupancy classification, which is instead reviewed through the standard Building Permit process at no separate fee.

Moab does not publish a plan-review timeline for this permit. Contact Moab City Building Safety / Building Inspection Division (Community Development Department) at (435) 259-5129 for current turnaround.

You'll need: Release for Certificate of Occupancy. Depending on your project, Moab may also ask for: Building Permit Application (marked Commercial); Business Change of Address Application. See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Moab requires 2 inspection(s) for a change of use / change of occupancy permit, in order: Code Analysis / Occupancy Classification Review, Certificate of Occupancy Sign-off Chain. Schedule each through Moab City Building Safety / Building Inspection Division (Community Development Department) ((435) 259-5129).

Apply through Moab City Building Safety / Building Inspection Division (Community Development Department) at 217 East Center Street, Moab, UT 84532. Phone: (435) 259-5129, email: permitting@moabcity.gov. Office hours: Mon–Thu 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Fri 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM. Official information: https://www.moabcity.gov/500/Building-Inspection.

Moab, Utah has adopted: 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.. Local amendments apply — see the Moab overview page for the full list.

No. 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 a 'building permit' to already cover work to alter or change the use of a building, so a use/occupancy change is processed through the standard Commercial Building Permit (or Tenant Improvement Permit) process instead.

Sources & verification

Verified against official sources. Last reviewed 2026-07-22.

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 Moab building department before you submit. PermitBase is an independent reference and is not affiliated with any government agency.

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