Home Improvements
Not Sure if You Need a Permit?
Call MC 311 (240-777-0311) or visit the Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services (DPS) customer service lobby at 2425 Reedie Drive, 7th Floor, in Wheaton. Office hours are 7:30 a.m.- 4 p.m. Monday-Friday, and no appointment is necessary.
Permits Required
Before you start work on your home or property in Montgomery County, it is important to know if you need a permit. If you are constructing, demolishing, adding, installing, altering any of the following you will likely need a permit:
- Accessory Structure
- Addition
- Deck
- Driveway (apron only)
- Electrical Work
- Exterior Work on Historic Property
- Fence
- Garage
- Hot Tub
- HVAC Heating (replacing)
- Interior Alteration
- Land Disturbance (greater than 5,000 square feet or 100 cubic yards or more of earth movement)
- Plumbing - Contact WSSC
- Retaining Wall
- Septic System
- Shed
- Signs
- Swimming Pool
- Well
No Permits Required
If you are installing, painting, repairing, or replacing the following on your home or property you most likely will not need a permit:
- Bathroom Caulking
- Cabinets - Install, Repair, Replace
- Driveway on Property
- Electrical Plug Receptacles - Repair, Replace Same Location n
- Fence Repair/Replace Same Location and Height (if fence was originally installed with a fence permit)
- Floor Coverings
- Gutters and Downspouts
- Patios
- Prefabricated Pools less than 18 inches deep
- Private Walkways
- Retaining walls not over 48 inches in height measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, unless supporting a surcharge
- Retractable awnings and canopies
- Roof (covering only)
- Siding
- Storm Windows (Replace in-kind)
- Swings or other playground equipment, playhouses, treehouses or similar structures
- Walls Repairing, Painting
- Windows and doors without changing the opening size and without changing the net clear opening dimensions
- Window Screens
Note:
This information does not include municipality and homeowner association rules and regulations. If you live in a municipality or have a homeowners association, it is important to check the bylaws and regulations. Any work that is exempt from permits must not violate the requirements of the building code or any other laws or ordinances for that jurisdiction.