Riverton building permits

Verified

Department contacts, adopted codes, permit types, fees, and gotchas for Riverton, Wyoming.

Last verified 2026-07-01 · Source

Building department

Address: 816 N. Federal Blvd., Riverton, WY 82501
Phone: (307) 856-2999
Email: kpetersen@rivertonwy.gov
Office hours: Mon–Fri (contact department for current hours); building permitting/inspection line (307) 857-7708
Website: Official site

Codes adopted

Wyoming has no statewide-mandated building code for general private construction. Under Wyoming Statute § 35-9-106, the Council on Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety in Buildings adopts minimum fire, building, mechanical, existing-building, and fuel-gas standards (not exceeding the International Codes), but § 35-9-121 makes local enforcement an opt-in delegation: a municipality or county must apply to the State Fire Marshal for local enforcement authority and adopt, by ordinance or resolution, standards equivalent to or more stringent than the state's — otherwise no local building code applies at all. In practice this produces exactly the fragmented picture that describes most of the state: some cities and counties (e.g., Laramie County, Natrona County) have adopted and enforce their own building codes, while many unincorporated county areas genuinely require no building permit for general construction. Electrical is different: under § 35-9-119(a)(i), the Chief Electrical Inspector (Wyoming State Fire Marshal's Office, Department of Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety) enforces the National Electrical Code statewide by default, EXCEPT in localities that have been separately granted their own certified electrical-enforcement authority under § 35-9-121(a) — so electrical permitting may be issued by the state program or by the local jurisdiction depending on which one currently holds delegated authority. Always confirm both the current building-code adoption status (if any) and which entity — state or local — issues the electrical permit with the specific jurisdiction before submitting plans.

2024 International Building Code (IBC), including appendices A, B, C, F, H, I, J, K — adopted by Enrolled Ordinance No. 25-003 (effective March 22, 2025)2024 International Residential Code (IRC), including appendices AA, BA, BB, BC, BD, BE, BF, BG, BH, BO, CA, CB, CC, CD, CE, CF (excluding Chapter 11) — Ordinance No. 25-0032024 International Mechanical Code (IMC), including appendix A — Ordinance No. 25-0032024 International Plumbing Code (IPC), including appendices C, D, E, F — Ordinance No. 25-0032024 International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC), including appendices A, B, C, D — Ordinance No. 25-0032024 International Fire Code (IFC), including appendices A–G — Ordinance No. 25-0032024 International Code Council Performance Code (ICCPC) — Ordinance No. 25-0032024 International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC), including appendices A, B — Ordinance No. 25-0032024 International Existing Building Code (IEBC) — Ordinance No. 25-003National Electrical Code (NEC) — NFPA 70, 2023 edition, effective July 1, 2023 — adopted by the City of Riverton itself as Riverton Municipal Code Chapter 15.08 'Electrical Code'; enforced by the city's own electrical inspector, NOT solely the Wyoming State Fire Marshal's default statewide programNational Fire Codes (NFC), current editions, NFPANational Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (as amended through May 30, 2006, HUD) — governs manufactured/mobile home constructionICC/ANSI A117.1-2017 — Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities

Permit types & fees

Residential Building Permit (New Construction)

Required for new single-family dwellings, manufactured homes on permanent foundations (IRC or HUD standard), and accessory buildings/additions/covered decks in the City of Riverton. Governed by the 2024 IRC (Riverton Municipal Code Chapter 15.04, Ordinance No. 25-003).

Residential Addition / Remodel Permit

Required for additions, alterations, and remodels to existing residential structures in Riverton, including equipment/material replacement and structural changes. Charged under the alterations category of the adopted fee schedule (Resolution No. 1355).

Electrical Permit

Required for electrical wiring installation, alteration, or repair in the City of Riverton. Per the Wyoming Dept. of Fire Prevention & Electrical Safety 'LOCAL AND STATE JURISDICTIONS' chart, Fremont County's ELEC columns are marked S/S (state) at the COUNTY level — but Riverton's own Municipal Code shows the CITY itself independently adopted the 2023 National Electrical Code (Chapter 15.08 'Electrical Code') and operates its own electrical permitting and inspection program under a city Electrical Inspector, distinct from the unincorporated-county default. The State of Wyoming (WSFM) continues to license individual electrical contractors/journeymen statewide, but inside Riverton city limits it is the CITY that issues the wiring permit and performs rough/final inspections.

Plumbing Permit

Required for plumbing installations, alterations, and repairs in Riverton. Governed by the 2024 International Plumbing Code with local amendments (RMC Chapter 15.04), including simplified rough-in testing procedures.

Mechanical / HVAC Permit

Required for heating, cooling, ventilation, and equipment replacement in Riverton. Governed by the 2024 International Mechanical Code (RMC Chapter 15.04/15.12).

Roofing Permit (Reroof)

Required for roof replacement (reroofing) exceeding 100 sq ft on residential structures, and for commercial reroofing, in the City of Riverton.

Solar PV Permit

Required for installation of rooftop or ground-mounted solar photovoltaic systems in Riverton. Zoning treats a solar energy system as part of the building for height and lot-area purposes (RMC Chapter 17.24); construction is permitted under the standard building/electrical permit process.

Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Permit

The City of Riverton has NO dedicated Accessory Dwelling Unit ordinance, definition, or permit category in its Zoning Code (Title 17, ecode360, chapters 17.04 through 17.88 reviewed in full). 'Accessory building/use' in Riverton's code means a subordinate NON-DWELLING structure (shed, garage, storage building) — not a secondary living unit. The closest legal pathway to a second housing unit on one lot is the R-2 Residential District, which permits 'multiple-family dwellings containing not more than two living units' (RMC § 17.32.010.A) as a true duplex — each unit independently meeting the district's own minimum floor area (425 sq ft per unit) — built and permitted as standard new residential construction, not as an accessory/ADU pathway.

Demolition Permit

Required for demolition of structures within the City of Riverton, charged per square foot under the general alterations fee category (Resolution No. 1355).

Commercial Tenant Improvement Permit

Required for interior build-out, remodeling, or alteration of commercial spaces in Riverton. Charged under the New Commercial Construction / Alterations valuation-per-square-foot categories of Resolution No. 1355, with a more detailed submittal checklist than residential projects.

Fence Permit

Required for fences installed in the right-of-way or front-yard area, or exceeding 7 feet in height, in the City of Riverton. Fences not exceeding 7 feet installed entirely on the owner's property do not require a permit.

Tips & gotchas

ELECTRICAL DETERMINATION FLAG: the WY jurisdictions chart (WSFM 'LOCAL AND STATE JURISDICTIONS,' updated 5/11/2026) marks Fremont County's electrical columns S/S at the unincorporated-county level, which was the starting assumption for Riverton. However, Riverton's OWN Municipal Code Chapter 15.08 ('Electrical Code') shows the city independently adopted the 2023 NEC and runs its own electrical permitting/inspection program via a city Electrical Inspector — grounded in RMC §§ 15.08.010–15.08.100, the city's 'Local Design Criteria' page ('We have adopted the 2023 National Electrical Code Effective July 1st, 2023'), and the city's own Inspection Procedures list (Temporary Electric Service, Rough Electric as city-performed steps). This is analogous to Cheyenne/Casper/Sheridan's home-rule electrical delegation, not Green River's pure state-program model. The State of Wyoming continues to LICENSE individual electricians statewide (a separate function from permitting/inspection). Flagging for controller re-confirmation since it deviates from the chart's county-level default — the site is unambiguous and was read directly (ecode360 print view), not inferred.
Riverton's fee schedule (Resolution No. 1355, adopted May 16, 2017) is a PER-SQUARE-FOOT valuation table (not a percentage-of-construction-cost table like many other WY cities) — $0.42/sq ft residential new construction, $0.53/sq ft commercial new construction, $0.13/sq ft for storage/accessory/pole-barn structures. This resolution is still the current, live-linked fee schedule as of the site's 2025 update — RMC § 15.04.030 provides for annual CPI review but no superseding resolution was found.
Riverton adopted the 2024 ICC code family (IBC, IRC, IMC, IPC, IFGC, IFC, ICCPC, IPMC, IEBC) via Enrolled Ordinance No. 25-003, effective March 22, 2025 — upgrading from the 2021 editions. The 2023 NEC (adopted effective July 1, 2023) was NOT changed by this ordinance.
Local design criteria (RMC § 15.04.040, current 2024 table): 30 psf ground snow load, 100 mph basic wind speed (Risk Category II, no topographic/special-wind-region/windborne-debris flags), Seismic Design Category C, severe weathering, 30-inch frost line depth, termite risk none to slight, ICE BARRIER UNDERLAYMENT REQUIRED (='Yes'), air freezing index 3,500 BF-days, mean annual temperature 45°F.
Riverton has NO Accessory Dwelling Unit ordinance anywhere in its Zoning Code (Title 17, chapters 17.04–17.88 read in full via ecode360). The only path to a second unit on one lot is the R-2 district's duplex allowance (max 2 units per lot, 425 sq ft minimum floor area per unit) — a full second dwelling, not a reduced-standard accessory unit, with no owner-occupancy requirement.
Riverton's combined 'Application for Building Permit' form covers building, plumbing, electrical, and mechanical scope on ONE application — most permit types in this file cite the same underlying application document, differentiated by which section of the form (and which Resolution 1355 fee category) applies.
IBC § 903.2.8 (automatic sprinklers for Group R) was locally amended to EXEMPT detached one- and two-family dwellings, townhouses, and Group R-4 Condition 1 occupancies built to the IRC — typical single-family homes in Riverton do NOT need to sprinkler.
Building permit exemptions worth knowing: detached accessory structures (sheds/playhouses) ≤120 sq ft; decks/platforms/sidewalks/driveways ≤30 inches above grade; rear-yard fences ≤7 ft on the owner's own property; retaining walls ≤4 ft (footing to top) unless supporting a surcharge; finish work (paint, paper, tile, carpet, cabinets, countertops).
Some permit types (solar PV, certain accessory structures) have no dedicated flat-fee line in Resolution No. 1355 — per the framework's rule, charging these under the general valuation/alteration fee categories is a fully verified fee treatment, not a partial/gap.
ecode360.com (Riverton's code host) and library.municode.com (used by neighboring WY cities) both 403/return shell HTML to plain curl and even basic Playwright navigation in a shared/contended browser session — the print endpoint `https://ecode360.com/print/RI4997?guid=<chapter-guid>` reliably returned full server-rendered text and was the method that unlocked Chapter 15.08 and Title 17 for this file.
Two of the source PDFs (Resolution No. 1355 fee schedule; the 25-003 ICC code adoption ordinance) are scanned/image PDFs with zero extractable text — both were rendered to PNG (150 dpi) via pdftoppm and read visually to transcribe the fee table and code adoption list.