Payson building permits

Building department

Address

439 W. Utah Ave, Payson, UT 84651

Phone

801-465-5200

Email

Office hours

Monday–Thursday, 7:30 AM – 6:00 PM, per paysonutah.gov/334/Building-Permits-Inspections and the Residential Building Permit Minimum Submittal Requirements document (paysonutah.gov/DocumentCenter/View/453/Residential-Building-Permit-Submittal-Requirements), both fetched 2026-07-03. No department email address is published on the Building Permits & Inspections page.

Website

Official site

Permit portal

Apply online at Payson's portal

Inspection guide

See how inspections work in Payson — 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.

• Payson City Code (PCC) Title 10, Chapter 10.04 ('Technical Construction Codes Adoption', PCC 10.04.040) adopts 'the technical construction codes' by reference for building, plumbing, electrical, and mechanical construction, without restating specific IBC/IRC/IMC/IPC/IECC/NEC edition years in the ordinance text itself — per the recodified Payson City Municipal Code (s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/municipalcodeonline.com-new/payson/ordinances/documents/1653339554_05-18-2022-D%20Recodified%20Municipal%20Code.pdf, Title 10.04, fetched 2026-07-03). This is consistent with Utah's Title 15A State Construction and Fire Codes Act model, under which every incorporated Utah city is automatically a compliance agency enforcing the state-adopted code suite; Payson's own ordinance text references 'the State Construction Code' and 'technical construction codes' generically rather than citing specific edition years.
• International Fire Code (IFC), 2009 edition, is explicitly named with its year in Payson's own code: PCC 9.04.010 'Adoption Of International Fire Code' states the adopted code is 'marked and designated as the International Fire Code, including Appendix Chapters B, C, D, II, I & J (see International Fire Code 101.2.1, 2009 edition)' — per the same recodified Municipal Code document, Title 9.04, fetched 2026-07-03. NOTE: this 2009 IFC citation is the only explicit code-edition year found anywhere in Payson's own currently-published municipal code text; it substantially predates the 2021 IBC/IRC/2023 NEC statewide baseline described in Utah Code Title 15A and may reflect a stale, un-updated ordinance section rather than the code editions actually enforced today. Reported as-published rather than corrected, per grounded-data policy of not inventing a fact the city's own source does not state.
• International Residential Code (IRC) — referenced generically ('in accordance with the requirements of the International Residential Code, as adopted') in PCC Title 10 without a stated edition year, per the same recodified Municipal Code document, fetched 2026-07-03.
• International Building Code (IBC) — referenced generically ('the International Building Code as adopted by the State of Utah') in PCC Title 10 without a stated edition year, per the same recodified Municipal Code document, fetched 2026-07-03.
• International Plumbing Code (IPC) — referenced generically ('The International Plumbing Code as adopted and amended by the State of Utah') in PCC Title 10 without a stated edition year, per the same recodified Municipal Code document, fetched 2026-07-03.
• National Electrical Code (NEC) — referenced generically ('National Electrical Code, and all fittings and materials used in such installations') in PCC Title 10 without a stated edition year, per the same recodified Municipal Code document, fetched 2026-07-03.

Permit types & fees

• Residential Building Permit (New Single Family / Additions)

  Required for new residential construction and additions in Payson, regulated by the state-adopted building code suite referenced generically in PCC Title 10. Fees are valuation-based using ICC building valuation data with a 0.75 regional multiplier.

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• Commercial Building Permit

  Required for new commercial construction in Payson. Fees are valuation-based using the same ICC valuation table and 0.75 regional multiplier as residential, with a distinct commercial plan review fee structure and deposit tier based on project valuation.

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• Demolition Permit

  Required for demolition of structures in Payson. Fees differ for parcels of 1 acre or less versus larger parcels.

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• Commercial Tenant Improvement / Tenant Finish Permit

  Payson does not issue a separate tenant-improvement permit; 'Tenant Finish' is one of the explicit checkbox options under the 'Commercial' Type of Use on the City's own Building Permit Application (Form BP, Revised 9-2023), alongside New Multi Family, Addition, Remodel, Shell, and Miscellaneous. Tenant-improvement/tenant-finish projects use the identical application form, the identical Commercial Plan Check Deposit tiers ($500.00 for valuation < $1,000,000; $1,000.00 for valuation >= $1,000,000 printed directly on the form), and the same valuation-based Building Permit Fee and Commercial Plan Review Fee structure as new commercial construction.

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• Solar Distributed Generation (Solar PV) Permit

  Required for residential and commercial solar photovoltaic and other distributed-generation (net-metered) electric installations in Payson. This is a genuinely distinct, dedicated program — Payson operates its own municipal electric utility (Payson Power) and requires solar installations to go through the city's own Distributed Generation Program: a dedicated application form co-signed by the contractor, property owner, Power Department, and Building Official, plus a separate interconnection application fee, in addition to the standard valuation-based Building Permit. Payson's own Distributed Generation informational page cites the governing ordinance as 'Payson City Code, Chapter 4, Section 4.24.060, Distributed Generation Program'; the program's own PDF text (paysonutah.gov/DocumentCenter/View/158) is internally numbered as 'Chapter 13.06, Distributed Generation Program' — both citations are reported as published, since the discrepancy could not be independently resolved and is likely a recodification artifact.

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• Sign Permit

  Payson City charges sign permit fees calculated using the same valuation table as its building permit fee schedule, with several flat-fee and no-fee exceptions published in the current Payson City Fee Schedule for A-frame signs, development promotional signs, home occupation signs, sponsorship signage, and other promotional signs (banners, streamers, pennants).

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• Automatic Fire Sprinkler System Permit

  Required for installation, modification, or extension of an automatic fire sprinkler system in Payson, enforced by Payson Fire & Rescue under the International Fire Code as adopted by Payson City Code (PCC) Title 9, Chapter 9.04. Payson's own Fire Department fee schedule publishes a genuinely distinct plan-review and inspection fee structure for sprinkler systems, separate from the general Building Permit fee table: plan review is billed on a sliding scale by the number of fire sprinkler heads in the system, and separate flat fees apply to underground flush test, rough-in/hydrostatic test, and final inspections.

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• Fire Alarm System Permit

  Required for installation, modification, or extension of a fire alarm system in Payson, enforced by Payson Fire & Rescue under the International Fire Code as adopted by PCC 9.04.010. Payson's Fire Department fee schedule publishes a distinct, flat per-system inspection fee for fire alarm systems, separate from both the sprinkler-system fee table and the general Building Permit fee table, plus a separate recurring annual inspection fee.

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• EV Charger / EVSE Permit

  Payson has no distinct EV charger/EVSE permit type or fee line item — installing electric vehicle charging equipment is electrical work billed under the city's single integrated Building Permit Fee (valuation-based, per ICC Building Valuation Data with a regional multiplier of .75, plus a 1% state surcharge), the same schedule used for all building/electrical/plumbing/mechanical work in Payson (there is no separate 'Electrical Permit' type in the city's own permit catalog). A direct text search of Payson City's current Fee Schedule (effective 7/3/2024, DocumentCenter/View/1324) found no 'EV,' 'electric vehicle,' or 'EVSE' line item anywhere in the document — the only electricity-related entries are Payson City Power's own utility connection/service fees, unrelated to building-permit EVSE installation.

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• Change of Use Permit (Zoning Verification / Commercial Business License)

  Payson does not publish a single, distinctly-named 'Change of Use Permit' or 'Certificate of Occupancy Permit' product. Instead, change-of-use/new-occupancy review is folded into three existing mechanisms, all independently confirmed via direct fetch of Payson's own currently-effective Fee Schedule (6/30/2025), Business Licenses page, and Building Permit Application (Form BP, Revised 9-2023): (1) any new business or new occupant establishing itself in Payson -- including a new tenant occupying a different existing building or space -- must obtain a Commercial Business License, billed at the base Commercial Businesses fee ($100.00) plus a New Application Commercial License fee ($25.00, listed under the Fee Schedule's 'Fees in Addition to Base Fees'), per Fee Schedule p.1; (2) a standalone Zoning Verification ($50.00) is available on request from Development Services -- Planning and Zoning to confirm a property's zoning district and use compliance, per Fee Schedule p.2, functioning as Payson's equivalent of a zoning confirmation letter; and (3) a Certificate of Occupancy is issued as part of the standard building-permit final-inspection process rather than as a separate permit product -- the Building Permit Application (Form BP) itself states, verbatim: 'I agree to comply with all city, county, and state building and zoning laws and agree that a certificate of occupancy will not be issued until the final inspection is passed.' Where the new use requires construction or interior buildout to accommodate it, the separate Commercial Building Permit or Commercial Tenant Improvement Permit fee structures documented elsewhere in this file apply in addition to the business-license fees; those valuation-based fees are not duplicated here. No Payson ordinance section number for a 'change of use' or 'change of occupancy' zoning trigger was located in the portions of the recodified Municipal Code and Title 19 Zoning Ordinance that were accessible during this research (as of 2026-07-22); the Fee Schedule and Business Licenses page were treated as the governing sources instead, consistent with grounded-data policy of reporting the mechanisms the city's own published fee and process documents actually describe rather than inventing an ordinance citation.

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