Residential Building Permit in Unincorporated Rich County, Utah

Tips

• Rich County's own Building Permit Application Information packet states processing 'will require 7 days or more, unless there is a problem found, to process a building permit' once ALL required items are submitted together — submit every document as a single complete packet to avoid restarting the clock.
• Randolph, Woodruff, and Laketown residents: obtain your town's Zoning Clearance Letter FIRST — Rich County will not process the building permit application without it. Randolph Town Office: (435) 793-3185 (Tue/Thu 9-12, 1-4). Woodruff Town Hall: (435) 793-4201. Laketown Town Office: (435) 946-9000 / clerk@laketown.utah.gov (Mon–Wed mornings).
• Garden City is NOT covered by this Rich County file — Garden City runs its own independent building department with its own online permit filing and its own contracted inspector (enforcement@gardencityutah.gov, (435) 557-1385). Look up a separate Garden City jurisdiction file for that town.
• No permit is required for structures of 200 sq ft or less.
• Roof snow loads vary sharply by location within Rich County: Sweetwater Hill and Swan Creek Village 60 lbs/sq ft (ground) / 86 lbs/sq ft; Laketown, Randolph, and Woodruff 40 lbs/sq ft (ground) / 57 lbs/sq ft; Garden City's snow load varies per location — contact the Building Inspector directly for site-specific figures.
• County-wide design parameters: frost depth 36 inches, wind speed 90 mph, soil bearing 1,500 psi, Seismic Design Category D.
• A building permit is valid for 18 months from issuance, and can be extended in 6-month increments at the Building Inspector's discretion where there is evidence of substantial progress. A permit expired more than 90 days is void and must be reapplied for as new (full fees apply again).
• A refundable deposit (tiered $500/$1,000/$2,000 by project cost) is required at permit issuance and returned after final inspection and certificate of occupancy — it is forfeited if the permit lapses without required inspections, or if the property is occupied before the CO is issued.
• Beyond the county's own SLA, Utah Code § 17-79-810(4)(a) (County Land Use, Development, and Management Act; renumbered from the former § 17-36-55 effective 11/6/2025) sets a 14-business-day statutory ceiling for plan review of a one-/two-family dwelling or townhome — Rich County's own published 7-day-or-more SLA for a complete building permit packet is faster than this statutory floor and is the controlling figure for typical residential permits.
• Solar PV installations fall under this same general Building Permit — Rich County's Building Permits and Certificate of Occupancy ordinance states a utility company may not provide an electrical hook-up without a valid building permit on file, and the county adopts its permit fees from the International Residential Code rather than publishing a distinct solar-specific fee or process.
• EV charger / EVSE installation would fall under this same Building Permit — Rich County's Building Permit Information handout is explicit that a standalone electrical inspection (the closest published analog to a standalone EV charging-circuit install) is $50.00 if inspected without an accompanying building permit, or included in the building permit fee when bundled with one; no distinct EV/EVSE line item was found in a full-text review of the handout (re-checked 2026-07-20).