Permits & licenses in Richmond City.
Richmond City is an independent city — not part of any county. Its building department, its fee schedule, and its review queue answer to nobody else's. A project inside the line files here and only here; the surrounding county's process, even a familiar one, does not apply.
- PDR carries land use review and building permits for the city.
- Richmond City sits outside Richmond County; the two are separate permit offices.
Talk to a permit specialist — for your Richmond City project.
Richmond City · drawn from Census boundaries
What we clear here
- Building permits — new construction, fit-outs, renovations
- Trade permits — electrical, plumbing, gas, mechanical
- Use & occupancy and the inspections behind it
- Business & contractor licensing
- Signs, site work, and right-of-way
How it moves
Your package is reviewed against the current Richmond City submission requirements before it's filed — forms, editions, scales, signatures. Then it's tracked in the queue and carried through comments. A resubmittal means the back of the line; the pre-filing review is there to help keep you out of it. The habit comes from volume: the team has processed 400+ permits annually across Maryland, D.C., and Virginia counters.
Straight answers
Who issues building permits in Richmond City?
City of Richmond Department of Planning and Development Review (PDR) — with the trade, health, and fire reviews that attach depending on the project.
Does DaKa work in Richmond City?
Yes — Richmond City is inside our Virginia home turf. Call (240) 344-5075, or send the project over, and we'll lay out your project's permits and licenses, in order, with what each review will take.
Talk to a permit specialist
Ten minutes on your project. You leave knowing the approvals it needs, in what order, and what each review will take. Or send the address, scope, and plans and we start from there.