Highland building permits

Building department

Address

5400 W Civic Center Drive, Suite 1, Highland, UT 84003

Phone

(801) 772-4516

Email

jnelson@highlandut.gov

Office hours

Mon–Thu 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM (closed Friday; inspections available Mon–Thu 8:00 AM–6:00 PM by appointment via My City Inspector or (801) 772-4516, scheduled at least 24 hours in advance)

Website

Official site

Permit portal

Apply online at Highland's portal

Inspection guide

See how inspections work in Highland — 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.

• 2021 International Residential Code (IRC) — adopted, effective July 1, 2026 per Highland City's official Building Division page; the city states 'any submittals after July 1, 2026' must be designed to these standards.
• 2024 International Building Code (IBC) — adopted, effective July 1, 2026 per Highland City's official Building Division page.
• 2023 National Electrical Code (NEC) — adopted, effective July 1, 2026 per Highland City's official Building Division page.
• Other 2024 International Codes (IPC, IMC, IEBC, IECC) — Highland's Building Division page references adoption of 'other 2024 codes' alongside the 2024 IBC and 2023 NEC effective July 1, 2026, consistent with the statewide framework under Utah Code § 15A-1-204/Title 15A, but does not itemize each code title individually by name on the page; only the IRC, IBC, and NEC editions are explicitly named.

Permit types & fees

• Residential Building Permit (New Home)

  Required for new single-family residential construction in Highland. Both the Permit Fee and Plan Check Fee are valuation-based, set 'As Set Forth by the International Code Council' rather than a fixed city table (distinct from Murray's own flat valuation chart) — confirmed identically in both the FY2025 (adopted 3/18/25) and FY2026 (adopted 5/5/26) Highland City Comprehensive Fee Schedules. Highland City's FY2026 Fee Schedule (adopted 6/17/2025) lists Building Permit Bonds, Deposits, and Permit Fees with several flat trade-permit categories (e.g., a $45.00 fee tier covering categories such as accessory structure, addition, basement, and remodel work), but no distinct EV charger/EVSE fee line item was found as of 2026-07-19 — EV charger installation would be handled as standard electrical/trade work under this fee schedule.

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• EV Charger / EVSE Permit

  Highland City does not publish a distinct EV charger/EVSE fee line item, and has no standalone electrical-trade permit type at all — a full check of the FY2025 (adopted 3/18/25) and FY2026 (adopted 5/5/26) Comprehensive Fee Schedules against 'EV,' 'electric vehicle,' 'charging station,' and 'EVSE' found no matches. Installing an EV charger is standard electrical/trade work and is billed under the general Building Permit fee, which is set 'As Set Forth by the International Code Council' rather than a fixed city table.

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• Residential Addition / Remodel / Basement Finish Permit

  Required for additions, remodels, and basement finishes to existing homes in Highland. Per the city's official 'Notice to All Builders and Owners,' finishing a basement or any other part of a home requires its own permit application. The fee schedule groups Accessory Structure, Addition, Basement, and Remodel under a single $45 deposit tier, distinct from the $500 new-home/commercial tier.

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• Fence Permit

  Required for construction of any new fence or change to an existing fence in Highland, SEPARATE from any other building permit, per the city's official Notice to All Builders and Owners and its dedicated Fence Permit Application. Governed by Highland City Development Code § 3-612 (Fences, Walls, and Hedges).

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• Retaining Wall Permit

  Required for all retaining walls in Highland from Planning/Zoning; walls exceeding 4 feet in height (measured from bottom of footing) or carrying a surcharge additionally require a building permit, per the city's official Notice to All Builders and Owners.

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• Swimming Pool Permit

  Required prior to building or installing any new pool in Highland, SEPARATE and distinct from any other building permit, per the city's official Notice to All Builders and Owners. Carries its own $100 plan submittal deposit tier plus a dedicated $2,500 refundable residential construction cash bond category.

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• Solar Panel (PV) Permit

  Required for solar installations in Highland. The city publishes a distinct $90 solar deposit plus a per-watt Solar Valuation figure used to compute the ICC-referenced permit/plan-check fee, confirmed identically in both the FY2025 and FY2026 fee schedules.

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• Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Registration/Approval

  Required for construction or establishment of an Accessory Dwelling Unit in Highland, submitted after all other required permits have been approved, per the city's official Notice to All Builders and Owners. Governed by Highland City Development Code § 3-624.

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• Commercial Building Permit

  Required for new commercial (ground-up/shell) construction in Highland. Both the Permit Fee and Plan Check Fee are valuation-based, set 'As Set Forth by the International Code Council' — the same ICC-referenced framework used for residential permits — but new commercial construction is tracked under its own dedicated 'Commercial' $500.00 plan submittal deposit line (confirmed identically in both the FY2025 and FY2026 Highland City Comprehensive Fee Schedules), distinct from the $45.00 tier that groups residential Accessory Structure/Remodel/Addition/Basement work. Highland has not published a dedicated document checklist specifically for new commercial construction (unlike its separate Commercial Tenant Improvement checklist), and Commercial Impact Fees are not a fixed published dollar figure — the fee schedule states only that they are set 'as set forth by the current impact fee study,' so confidence is marked partial pending that missing figure.

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• Commercial Tenant Improvement / Tenant Finish Permit

  Required for tenant improvement, remodel, or finish-out work inside existing commercial buildings/spaces in Highland, per the city's official 'Commercial Tenant Improvement Building Permit Checklist' (Community Development Department). The checklist requires the SAME $500.00 plan submittal deposit as new commercial construction — Highland's fee schedule does not publish a separate, lower-tier commercial-remodel/TI deposit category, unlike Pleasant Grove (also in Utah County), which publishes a distinct, lower $250 'Commercial Remodel/Tenant Improvement' fee tier alongside its $500 new-commercial-shell tier.

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• Sign Permit

  Highland City does not publish a distinct fee line item for permanent signs — permanent wall signs are submitted as part of a standard building permit application and require a Wall Sign Location and Size Worksheet, with the fee falling under the general ICC valuation-based Building Permit Fee. Temporary signs are handled separately by Planning & Zoning with a flat $25.00 Temporary Sign Permit fee.

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• Fire Sprinkler System Permit / Plan Review

  Highland City does not publish a distinct fire sprinkler permit fee — a full-text review of the FY2026 Comprehensive Fee Schedule (22 pages, adopted 5/5/26) found no 'sprinkler' or 'fire protection system' fee line item; a sprinkler system is filed and reviewed as part of the underlying Building Permit Application, billed at the same ICC valuation-based Permit Fee/Plan Check Fee used for the rest of the project. Highland's own local amendment (effective December 3, 2024, per the Building Division page) requires automatic fire sprinklers 'in all conditions allowed by state fire code, including for residences over 10,000 square feet' — broader than a purely commercial trigger — but this is enforced through the general Building Permit process, not a separate sprinkler permit. Fire code enforcement for Highland is provided by Lone Peak Fire District (part of the Lone Peak Public Safety District, also serving Alpine), per Highland's own official Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Medical Services page: 'Highland City contracts with the Lone Peak Fire District to provide fire protection and EMS services to the residents of Highland.' A direct check of Lone Peak Fire District's own website (lonepeakfire.com, checked 2026-07-21) found no published fire sprinkler permit application, fee schedule, or plan-review guidance of any kind. The Utah State Fire Marshal's Office separately publishes a statewide Automatic Fire Sprinkler Plan Submittal Form with its own published fee ($75 minimum, or $0.022 per square foot of review scope, whichever is greater, confirmed by direct read of the form 2026-07-21) — cited here as the best available grounded fee reference in the absence of any Lone Peak-published figure — but the State Fire Marshal's own enforcement jurisdiction under Utah Code § 53-7-104(3) is limited to areas outside corporate cities/fire districts, state/school property, and certain institutional occupancies (or by request of the local fire official), so it is not certain this state-level fee is what Lone Peak Fire District actually charges for an ordinary sprinkler system in Highland. Applicants should confirm directly with Lone Peak Fire District (801-763-5365) which review path and fee apply to a specific project.

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• Fire Alarm System Permit / Plan Review

  Highland City does not publish a distinct fire alarm permit fee — a full-text review of the FY2026 Comprehensive Fee Schedule (22 pages, adopted 5/5/26) found no 'fire alarm' fee line item; a fire alarm system is filed and reviewed as part of the underlying Building Permit Application, billed at the same ICC valuation-based Permit Fee/Plan Check Fee used for the rest of the project. Fire code enforcement for Highland is provided by Lone Peak Fire District (part of the Lone Peak Public Safety District, also serving Alpine), per Highland's own official Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Medical Services page: 'Highland City contracts with the Lone Peak Fire District to provide fire protection and EMS services to the residents of Highland.' A direct check of Lone Peak Fire District's own website (lonepeakfire.com, checked 2026-07-21) found no published fire alarm permit application, fee schedule, or plan-review guidance of any kind. The Utah State Fire Marshal's Office separately publishes a statewide Fire Alarm Plan Review Submittal Form with its own published fee ($75 minimum, or $0.022 per square foot of review scope, whichever is greater, confirmed by direct read of the form 2026-07-21) — cited here as the best available grounded fee reference in the absence of any Lone Peak-published figure — but the State Fire Marshal's own enforcement jurisdiction under Utah Code § 53-7-104(3) is limited to areas outside corporate cities/fire districts, state/school property, and certain institutional occupancies (or by request of the local fire official), so it is not certain this state-level fee is what Lone Peak Fire District actually charges for an ordinary fire alarm system in Highland. Applicants should confirm directly with Lone Peak Fire District (801-763-5365) which review path and fee apply to a specific project.

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• Change of Use / Change of Occupancy

  Highland City does not publish a standalone Change of Use, Change of Occupancy, or existing-building Certificate of Occupancy re-issuance permit or fee — a full-text review of the FY2026 Comprehensive Fee Schedule (22 pages, adopted 5/5/26), the Building Division page, and the Applications & Fees page found no 'change of use' or 'change of occupancy' line item anywhere. In practice, a use change in an existing commercial space in Highland is processed through two mechanisms: (1) a Use Determination application at Planning & Zoning — either a $50.00 Classification Request (confirming a new use is sufficiently similar to an already-allowed use) or a $500.00 Approval of New/Unlisted Business Use (for a use not similar to any already-allowed use) — per Highland's official Applications & Fees page and the FY2026 Fee Schedule; and (2) an annual Commercial Business License, which Highland's official Business Licensing page states REQUIRES a passed fire inspection: 'Fire inspections are required for all commercial businesses, and record of a passed inspection must be attached with the business application,' scheduled directly with Lone Peak Fire District (801-763-5365). If the use change also involves construction or tenant-improvement scope, it is processed via this record's existing Commercial Tenant Improvement / Tenant Finish Permit entry.

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