Cottonwood Heights building permits

Building department

Address

2277 E Bengal Blvd, Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121

Phone

801-944-7062

Email

Office hours

City Hall regular business hours (specific daily hours not published on the Building Permits or Codes and Standards pages as of the dates verified below); contact 801-944-7060 (codes/standards) or 801-944-7062 (permits) to confirm.

Website

Official site

Permit portal

Apply online at Cottonwood Heights's portal

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. Cottonwood Heights' own Building Codes and Standards page, live-checked 2026-07-16, still lists '2021 International Building Code' verbatim — the city's page has NOT been updated to reflect the 7/1/2026 statewide flip. 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 city's Building Codes and Standards page (live-checked 2026-07-16: '2021 International Residential Code').
• Appendix AQ of the 2021 IRC — statewide per Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(c); not separately itemized on the city's own Building Codes and Standards page, added here per statute.
• 2024 International Mechanical Code (IMC) — CURRENT statewide as of 7/1/2026 per Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(e), superseding the 2021 IMC. The city's Building Codes and Standards page still lists '2021 International Mechanical Code' — live-checked 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. The city's Building Codes and Standards page still lists '2021 International Fuel Gas Code' — live-checked 2026-07-16, confirming lag. The statute controls.
• 2024 International Plumbing Code (IPC) — CURRENT statewide as of 7/1/2026 per Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(d), superseding the 2021 IPC. The city's Building Codes and Standards page still lists '2021 International Plumbing Code' — live-checked 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). The city's Building Codes and Standards page lists '2020 National Electric Code' — one edition behind the statewide-mandatory floor, confirmed still unchanged via live-check 2026-07-16. 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 the 2018 IECC. The city's Building Codes and Standards page still lists '2018 international energy conservation code' — live-checked 2026-07-16, confirming lag (this was already one edition behind the pre-7/1/2026 2021 IECC baseline other Salt Lake County cities used, and is now two editions behind current). The statute controls.
• 2024 International Existing Building Code (IEBC) — statewide per Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(i); not listed on the city's own Building Codes and Standards page (live-checked 2026-07-16), added here per statute since the city's own materials omit it entirely.
• Residential provisions of the 2024 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code (ISPSC) — statewide per Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(n); not listed on the city's own Building Codes and Standards page (live-checked 2026-07-16), added here per statute since the city's own materials omit it entirely.
• Modular Building Institute (MBI) Standards 1200 and 1205 — statewide per Utah Code § 15A-2-103(1)(o); not listed on the city's own Building Codes and Standards page, added here per statute.
• 2018 International Fire Code (IFC), with Utah state amendments — per the city's official Building Codes and Standards page (live-checked 2026-07-16, unchanged). NOTE: the IFC is NOT among the codes adopted by Utah Code § 15A-2-103 (Title 15A Chapter 2, State Construction Code) — Utah's Fire Code is separately adopted under Title 15A Chapter 5, State Fire Code Act; left as published by the city, no statutory edition change applies via § 15A-2-103.
• 2017 ANSI ICC A117.1 Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities (referenced on the codes page as '2017 ANSI ADA CODE') — per the city's official Building Codes and Standards page, live-checked 2026-07-16, unchanged.
• 2009 ANSI A117.1 Standard for Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities — also separately listed on the same official codes page (both 2017 and 2009 editions appear on the city's current list; reproduced verbatim rather than reconciled, since only the city's own text is authoritative here). Live-checked 2026-07-16, unchanged.
• 2015 Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings — per the city's official Building Codes and Standards page, live-checked 2026-07-16, unchanged.
• Cottonwood Heights Code of Ordinances (local amendments to the above, referenced but not separately itemized on the Codes and Standards page) — see localAmendments below.
• 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. The city's Building Codes and Standards page (cottonwoodheights.utah.gov/city-services/building/codes-and-standards) was live-checked 2026-07-16 via real-browser navigation and confirmed still lagging — it verbatim lists 2021 IBC/IMC/IFGC/IPC/IRC, 2020 National Electric Code, and 2018 IECC, and omits IEBC and ISPSC entirely. The statewide statute controls over the city's un-updated page; the prior version of this array presented the city's stale figures as simply 'the city's own page controls' without flagging that the statute itself had moved past them — this entry corrects that.

Permit types & fees

• Residential Building Permit (New Dwelling / Remodel)

  Required for new single-family residential construction and residential remodels regulated by the adopted 2021 IRC/IBC suite. Cottonwood Heights uses a single valuation-based fee structure (no separate flat-fee table) administered by its contracted Building Official.

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• Electrical, Mechanical & Plumbing Permit

  Covers standalone or combined electrical, mechanical, and plumbing work. Cottonwood Heights charges each trade at a flat 5% of the base building permit fee when applied for together with the building permit; if applied for separately, the fee instead follows the IBC fee schedule. EV charger/EVSE installation is electrical work and falls under this general Electrical, Mechanical & Plumbing Permit; the city's official Fee Schedule page (live-checked 2026-07-19) publishes no separate EV-specific line item or process.

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• Solar Installation Permit

  Required for residential and commercial solar photovoltaic installations. Cottonwood Heights publishes a dedicated Solar Installation Checklist as part of its supplemental residential plans/standards, but does not publish a separate flat solar permit fee distinct from the general valuation-based building permit fee.

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• Commercial Building Permit

  Required for new commercial construction in Cottonwood Heights, administered by a contracted Building Official (Sunrise Engineering). The building permit fee is 100% of the IBC building valuation data table — the same method used for residential — and the non-residential plan review fee is 65% of the base building permit fee, matching the residential rate.

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• Commercial Tenant Improvement / Tenant Finish Permit

  Required for commercial remodel and tenant-improvement work in Cottonwood Heights per the city's Commercial TI Checklist, which is lighter-weight than new commercial construction (no geotechnical, foundation, or site-plan mylar requirement). The building permit fee is 100% of the IBC building valuation data table; the non-residential plan review fee is 65% of the base building permit fee, the same rate as new construction.

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• Sign Permit

  Required to erect, convert, or display most signs in Cottonwood Heights under City Code chapter 19.82 (Signs). Monument, wall, and projecting signs are each independently regulated by size/height/setback charts specific to the zoning district. The city's Fee Schedule lists a $150 zoning review fee under 'Signs and building permits.' Re-chased 2026-07-20: the live fee schedule page (previously only reachable via a Wayback snapshot because a direct curl returned HTTP 403) was successfully re-fetched through a reader-proxy, confirming it is CURRENT (not a stale artifact) and that 'Wall signs — $150' remains the only sign-specific line item in the 'Zoning review: Signs and building permits' table — no monument or projecting sign line exists anywhere in that table. The enabling ordinance for the fee schedule (City Code § 3.16.010) was also fetched in full and simply defers to 'the city's consolidated fee schedule, as amended' without itemizing sign sub-types itself, and the full text of City Code § 19.82.140.D (Fees) likewise only states fees 'shall be as specified in the city's consolidated fee schedule' with no further sign-type breakdown. A separate, valuation-based general Building Permit Fee (City Code Title 15, 100% of the IBC building valuation data table) also applies to any sign requiring structural/electrical work, layered on top of whichever zoning-review fee applies. Whether monument and projecting signs are billed under the same $150 'Wall signs' line, a different unpublished amount, or are simply not subject to a distinct zoning-review fee, could not be resolved from any city-published source — this appears to be a genuine gap in the city's own fee schedule rather than a retrieval failure.

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• EV Charger / EVSE Permit

  Cottonwood Heights does not publish a separate EV-charger/EVSE permit or fee category. Installing an EV charger is electrical work and is processed under the city's general Electrical, Mechanical & Plumbing Permit — the city's own Fee Schedule page and Codes and Standards guidance (live-checked 2026-07-19) confirm there is no EV-specific line item or process, and this permit type exists here so EV charger installs are searchable in their own right.

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• Fire Sprinkler System Permit

  Cottonwood Heights is served by the Unified Fire Authority (UFA), a regional fire authority, not an in-house city fire department. Per International Fire Code § 104.8.2 as enforced by UFA, installation or modification of an automatic fire protection (sprinkler) system requires its own permit and, in most cases, a third-party 'peer review' (a design professional's technical opinion and report) — a distinct process from the general Building Permit. Neither the city's own Fee Schedule nor UFA's own official adopted Fee Schedule (verified in both the FY24/25 and FY25/26 UFA Budget Books) publishes a specific dollar figure for this permit or its plan review; the city's Fee Schedule instead defers entirely to UFA via a 'Fire department: Unified Fire Authority fee schedule' link, and UFA's own itemized 'Prevention Fees & Permits' table only lists hazardous-materials/operational permits (tanks, hazmat storage, fireworks, etc.), not a fire sprinkler construction-permit line.

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• Fire Alarm System Permit

  Cottonwood Heights is served by the Unified Fire Authority (UFA), not an in-house city fire department. Per International Fire Code § 104.8.2 as enforced by UFA, installation or modification of a fire alarm and detection system requires its own permit and, in most cases, a third-party 'peer review' — a distinct process from the general Building Permit. As with fire sprinkler systems, neither the city's own Fee Schedule nor UFA's own official adopted Fee Schedule (FY24/25 and FY25/26 UFA Budget Books) publishes a specific dollar figure for this permit or its plan review; the city's Fee Schedule defers entirely to UFA via a 'Fire department: Unified Fire Authority fee schedule' link.

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• Change of Use / Nonconforming Use Permit

  Cottonwood Heights has no single permit literally named 'Change of Use Permit.' Depending on the specific scenario, a change of use is instead processed through one of several distinct, separately fee'd mechanisms: (1) a Zoning Verification Letter ($150) confirming a property's current zoning/use status; (2) if the change is between two legally nonconforming uses, a Conditional Use application under City Code § 19.88.090(4) ($350 base fee, 'Conditional uses not requiring site plan approval'), reviewed by the Planning Commission; (3) if the change involves addition, enlargement, or reconstruction of a nonconforming building under City Code § 19.88.070, a 'Nonconforming Building or Use Application' ($900), reviewed by the Board of Adjustment / appeals hearing officer; and (4) for an ordinary new-tenant occupancy change in an existing commercial space, a Commercial Business License Change (Major Change, $170) that triggers zoning, fire, and health department review when the change involves a location/use change (vs. a $50 Minor Change for name/ownership changes requiring no departmental review). A same-use or code-conforming occupancy-classification change accompanied by construction is instead processed as the Commercial or Commercial Tenant Improvement Building Permit.

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