Remodel Permit Checker

Quick answer: under the model building code most US cities start from (the International Residential Code, section R105.2), painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets, counter tops and similar finish work need no permit. Moving a sink, a toilet or a shower, adding outlets or a circuit, a new exhaust fan, taking out any wall, cutting a bigger window and finishing a basement do need one. A like-for-like swap, such as a new vanity in the same spot, is the one to ask your city about. Tick your jobs above to see each one.

How to use the remodel permit checker

Pick a room with the tabs: kitchen, bathroom, the other rooms, the whole house, the basement or outside.
Tick every job you are planning there, then move to the next room. Ticked jobs stay ticked when you change tabs, and each tab shows how many you ticked.

Say what kind of home it is. The code this checker reads covers houses, duplexes and townhouses. A condo or an apartment in a larger building follows a different code and its building’s own rules.
Read each job’s answer: Permit, No permit or Ask your city, with the code’s own words and the section they come from.
Type your city to get a link to its building department’s permit page. Its rules have the last word. Copy link keeps your list of jobs.

Why the answer comes from the IRC, and why your city still decides

The International Residential Code (IRC) is a model code. It is not a law until a state, county or city adopts it, and each may adopt it with its own changes. The checker reads the 2021 edition, from a copy a state adopted without changes, so its words are the model code’s own. Three parts of its first chapter decide every answer:

R105.1, a permit is required to “construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish or change the occupancy of a building or structure, or to erect, install, enlarge, alter, repair, remove, convert or replace any electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system”.
R105.2, work exempt from permit: a short list, by trade. For a remodel the line that matters most is “Painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets, counter tops and similar finish work.”

R105.2.2, ordinary repairs need no application, but they “shall not include the cutting away of any wall, partition or portion thereof”, nor the “replacement or relocation of any water supply, sewer, drainage … piping, electric wiring”.

The code also warns that an exemption is not a pass on quality: “Exemption from permit requirements of this code shall not be deemed to grant authorization for any work to be done in any manner in violation of the provisions of this code”. Work with no permit must still be done to code.

Which remodeling jobs need a permit: the full list

Every job the checker knows, with its answer under the 2021 IRC and the section it comes from. “Ask your city” means the job is not on the exempt list but may count as an ordinary repair when no pipe and no wire is replaced.

Room	Job	Under the model code	Section
Kitchen	New cabinets	No permit	R105.2, Building 6
Kitchen	New countertops	No permit	R105.2, Building 6
Kitchen	Tile a backsplash	No permit	R105.2, Building 6
Kitchen	Swap the sink or faucet in the same spot	Ask your city	R105.2.2
Kitchen	Move the sink, or add an island sink or a dishwasher	Permit	R105.1; R105.2, Plumbing 2
Kitchen	New outlets, lights or a circuit (an island, under-cabinet lights)	Permit	R105.1; R105.2.2
Kitchen	Move the range or run a new gas line	Permit	R105.1
Kitchen	A range hood vented outside	Permit	R105.1
Kitchen	Open the kitchen: take a wall out	Permit	R105.2.2
Bathroom	Tile the floor or the shower walls	No permit	R105.2, Building 6
Bathroom	Swap the vanity, toilet or faucet in the same spot	Ask your city	R105.2.2
Bathroom	Take up and reset the toilet (to tile under it)	No permit	R105.2, Plumbing 2
Bathroom	Fix a leak or clear a clog	No permit	R105.2, Plumbing 2
Bathroom	Turn the tub into a walk-in shower	Permit	R105.1; R105.2, Plumbing 2
Bathroom	Move the toilet, the shower or the sink	Permit	R105.1; R105.2, Plumbing 2
Bathroom	A new exhaust fan	Permit	R105.1
Bathroom	A new outlet, new lights or a heated floor	Permit	R105.1; R105.2.2
Living room & bedrooms	Paint the walls, ceilings or trim	No permit	R105.2, Building 6
Living room & bedrooms	Hang wallpaper	No permit	R105.2, Building 6
Living room & bedrooms	New wood, vinyl or laminate floors	No permit	R105.2, Building 6
Living room & bedrooms	New carpet	No permit	R105.2, Building 6
Living room & bedrooms	Swap a light or a ceiling fan on the same box	Ask your city	R105.2.2
Living room & bedrooms	Replace an outlet in the same box	No permit	R105.2, Electrical 2
Living room & bedrooms	Add an outlet, a light or a circuit	Permit	R105.1; R105.2.2
Living room & bedrooms	Take out a wall	Permit	R105.2.2
Living room & bedrooms	Replace windows, the same size	Ask your city	R105.2.2
Living room & bedrooms	Make a window bigger, or cut a new window or door	Permit	R105.2.2
The whole house	Replace the furnace, the boiler or central air	Permit	R105.1
The whole house	Replace the water heater	Permit	R105.1
The whole house	A window air conditioner or a portable heater	No permit	R105.2, Mechanical 1 and 3
The whole house	New bulbs, or a lamp plugged in	No permit	R105.2, Electrical 5
The whole house	Replace a breaker with one the same size	No permit	R105.2, Electrical 3
The whole house	A doorbell or a thermostat on low-voltage wire (under 25 volts and 50 watts)	No permit	R105.2, Electrical 4
Basement & new rooms	Finish the basement	Permit	R105.1
Basement & new rooms	An addition, or the garage or attic turned into a room	Permit	R105.1
Outside	A free-standing deck: under 200 sq ft, under 30 in. high, not attached	No permit	R105.2, Building 10
Outside	A deck attached to the house, or bigger or higher	Permit	R105.1
Outside	A fence up to 7 ft high	No permit	R105.2, Building 2
Outside	A one-story shed up to 200 sq ft	No permit	R105.2, Building 1
Outside	A sidewalk or a driveway	No permit	R105.2, Building 5
Outside	A retaining wall up to 4 ft (footing to top)	No permit	R105.2, Building 3

Four worked examples

A bathroom refresh: new floor tile, a new vanity where the old one stood, the toilet taken up and reset on the new tile. None of the 3 jobs needs a permit under the model code: tiling is finish work, and “the removal and reinstallation of water closets” is on the plumbing exemption list. The vanity is the one to ask your city about. If its sink connects to the same pipes, it may count as an ordinary repair; if a pipe is replaced, it is plumbing work. The building department decides.

A tub turned into a walk-in shower, with new tile, an exhaust fan and new lights. 3 of the 4 jobs need a permit: the shower moves its drain and valve, the fan installs a venting system, and the lights add wiring. Only the tile needs none. The permits are for plumbing, electrical and mechanical work.

A kitchen opened to the dining room, with new cabinets, counters and backsplash, an island sink and new circuits. 3 of the 6 jobs need a permit: the wall, the island sink and the circuits. The cabinets, the counters and the backsplash are finish work. Before the wall comes out, check its clues with the free load-bearing wall checker; an engineer decides.

A finished basement: framing, new outlets and lights, paint and carpet. 2 of the 4 jobs need a permit: finishing the basement and the new wiring. Paint and carpet need none, but they go on last, after the inspections.

Common permit mistakes on a remodel

Thinking a small wall is exempt. The code makes no size rule for walls: “the cutting away of any wall, partition or portion thereof” is never an ordinary repair. That includes a wall that carries nothing.
Counting a fixture swap as finish work. Cabinets and counters are on the exempt list. A sink, a toilet or a faucet is plumbing, and only the reset of a toilet and the repair of a leak are exempt.

Reading a neighbor’s answer as yours. Your city adopts the code with its own changes, and some ask for a permit on work the model code exempts. Its building department’s page is the answer that counts.
Starting before the permit. R105.1 says the owner or the owner’s agent “shall first make application to the building official and obtain the required permit”. First means before the work.
Letting a permit lapse. Under R105.5 a permit becomes invalid if the work does not start within 180 days, or if more than 180 days pass between inspections.

What a permit costs

Block Renovation’s 2026 remodel cost guide puts building permit fees at $150 to $2,000, “depending on the size and scope of the project”, and notes that “structural or electrical work almost always triggers them”. The application states “the valuation of the proposed work” (R105.3) and each city sets its own fees, so ask your building department for its fee table. The free whole-house renovation planner puts a permit line in your budget, room by room.

Remodel permits: questions people ask

Do you need permits to remodel a bathroom?

For the finish work, no: new tile, paint, a vanity cabinet and a countertop are exempt under the model code (IRC R105.2). You do need one to move the toilet, the shower or the sink, to turn a tub into a shower, to add an exhaust fan, or to add outlets or lights. A new toilet or faucet in the same spot is the one to ask your city about.

Do I need a permit to redo my bathroom?

It depends on the jobs. A cosmetic redo (tile, paint, a new vanity cabinet, a mirror) needs none under the model code. A redo that moves plumbing, adds wiring or takes out a wall needs one. Tick your jobs in the checker to see each answer.

Do you need a permit to remodel a kitchen?

New cabinets, counter tops and a tile backsplash need no permit under the model code. Moving the sink, adding an island sink or a dishwasher, new circuits, a new gas line, a range hood vented outside and opening a wall each need one.

Do I need a permit to replace kitchen cabinets?

No, under the model code: “cabinets, counter tops and similar finish work” are on the IRC’s list of work exempt from permit (R105.2). If the new layout moves the sink or adds outlets, those jobs need a permit of their own.

Do I need a permit to replace a toilet?

Taking up a toilet and setting it back, for example to tile under it, is exempt: the code lists “the removal and reinstallation of water closets”. Putting in a new toilet in the same spot is not on the list. It may count as an ordinary repair if no pipe is replaced; your building department decides.

Do I need a permit to finish my basement?

Yes. Finishing a basement adds walls, wiring and often plumbing, and R105.1 requires a permit to “construct, enlarge, alter” a building. The paint and the carpet that go on last need none.

Who pulls the permit, me or the contractor?

The code says “any owner or owner’s authorized agent” applies (R105.1). That is you, or the contractor you hire to act for you. Ask your building department who may apply for the kind of work you plan.

How much is a permit for a bathroom remodel?

Block Renovation’s 2026 guide puts building permit fees at $150 to $2,000, depending on the size and scope of the project. Each city sets its own fees, and the application states the valuation of the work (R105.3), so the building department’s fee table is the real number.