Permits & licensing in Virginia.
Virginia runs on the Uniform Statewide Building Code — one code, ninety-five counties and thirty-eight independent cities enforcing it, each with its own building department, submission format, and queue.
Independent cities sit outside county government entirely. Fairfax City and Fairfax County are two permit offices; so are Richmond City and Richmond County, Roanoke City and Roanoke County, Franklin City and Franklin County. The address decides which one holds the file.
Contractor licensing is state-level. The Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation licenses contractors through its Board for Contractors in Class A, B, and C, set by the monetary value of the contract, and the locality checks the class when the permit is pulled.
- Independent cities are not inside counties — Fairfax City and Fairfax County are two different permit offices with two different clocks, and the same holds for Richmond, Roanoke, and Franklin.
- DPOR licenses contractors statewide (Class A/B/C, by contract value); the locality still checks it at permit time.
- Charles City County is a county, not a city. James City County is a county too, and its seat, Williamsburg, is an independent city with its own building department.
- Portal names change at the border: PLUS in Fairfax County, APEX in Alexandria, ePortal in Prince William, Build Henrico in Henrico, eBUILD in Chesapeake, ELM in Chesterfield.
- Arlington issues permits through the Inspection Services Division inside CPHD rather than a standalone permit department.
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All 133 Virginia jurisdictions, A–Z
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