What Can You Build Without a Permit? Permit-Exempt Size Limits by Project & State (2026)
The 30-second answer
Under the model residential code (IRC Section R105.2), the most common projects you can build without a building permit are a one-story detached shed up to 200 sq ft, a fence up to 7 ft, a freestanding deck up to 200 sq ft that stays under 30 inches above grade and is not attached to the house, a retaining wall up to 4 ft, and cosmetic interior work (paint, tile, flooring, cabinets). The catch: your state and city can be — and often are — stricter, and even permit-exempt work still has to meet building code and zoning. This page gives you the baseline, the state exceptions we have verified, and a link to the deep guide for every project.
Permit-exempt limits by project
The baseline column is the 2021 IRC R105.2 exemption text. Treat it as the most you can usually do without a permit — many cities allow less. The right-hand column is what pushes an otherwise-exempt project back into needing one.
| Project | IRC baseline exemption | What triggers a permit anyway | Full guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached shed / accessory building | Exempt if one story and floor area ≤ 200 sq ft | Over 200 sq ft, on a permanent/poured foundation (some cities), or running electrical or plumbing to it. Zoning setbacks still apply. | Shed permit guide → |
| Deck | Exempt only if ALL of: ≤ 200 sq ft, ≤ 30 in above grade, not attached to the house, and not serving the required exit door | Fail any one of those four (attached, taller than 30 in, over 200 sq ft, at the back door), add a roof/cover, or add wiring. | Deck permit guide → |
| Fence | Exempt if ≤ 7 ft high | Over 7 ft, doubling as a pool barrier, corner-lot sight-triangle rules, or acting as a retaining wall. Many cities cap at 6 ft. | Fence permit guide → |
| Retaining wall | Exempt if ≤ 4 ft (bottom of footing to top) AND not supporting a surcharge | Over 4 ft, or supporting a surcharge (a slope, driveway, or structure above it), or built in tiers. | How to get a permit → |
| Patio (on grade) | An at-grade concrete or paver patio is usually not a building-permit item | Adding a roof or cover, attaching a structure, or exceeding local impervious-surface / drainage / zoning limits. | Patio permit guide → |
| Pergola | A small freestanding open pergola is often treated like an exempt accessory structure | Attaching it to the house, exceeding a size/height cap, or adding a solid roof or electrical. Many cities permit any permanent structure. | Pergola permit guide → |
| Driveway / sidewalk | Exempt if ≤ 30 in above grade, not over a basement, and not part of an accessible route | A new curb cut (a right-of-way permit from the city), expanding impervious coverage, or changing drainage. | Driveway permit guide → |
| Swimming pool | Prefab above-ground pools less than 24 in deep are exempt under the IRC | In-ground pools, anything needing a barrier/fence/alarm, electrical bonding (NEC 680), or deeper than 24 in — effectively almost all real pools. | Pool permit guide → |
| Interior finishes | Painting, wallpaper, tile, flooring, cabinets, and countertops are exempt | Moving a wall, touching plumbing or electrical, or finishing a basement (egress + ceiling height rules kick in). | Basement finishing guide → |
| Windows | A same-size, like-for-like retrofit is often over-the-counter or exempt | Changing the opening size, adding an egress window, altering a structural header, or triggering energy-code compliance. | Window permit guide → |
| Siding | A cosmetic re-side is often minor work | Replacing sheathing, changing the structure, or adding insulation that triggers energy code. Rules vary widely by city. | Siding permit guide → |
| Roof replacement | Usually NOT exempt — most jurisdictions require a permit even for like-for-like | Almost always required. A few cities exempt very small repairs (under a set number of squares). | Roof permit guide → |
| Water heater replacement | Usually NOT exempt — a like-for-like swap still needs a plumbing (and gas or electrical) permit in most places | Almost always required, because it touches gas, water, venting, or a 240V circuit. | Water heater permit guide → |
| Solar panels | NOT exempt — a roof-mount PV system needs a building + electrical permit and utility interconnection | Always required. | Solar permit guide → |
| Tree removal | Not a building permit, but many cities require a separate tree-removal permit | Protected species, trees over a set trunk diameter, heritage trees, or removal in a conservation/right-of-way zone. | Tree removal guide → |
| Swings / playground equipment | Exempt under the IRC | Rarely an issue; very large play structures can hit accessory-building rules. | How to get a permit → |
Source: 2021 International Residential Code, Section R105.2 (Work exempt from permit). Local amendments vary — confirm with your building department before you build.
"Permit-exempt" does not mean rule-free
I spent 25 years as a firefighter before I built PermitDeck, and this is the part I want you to hear. The single most dangerous misread of a permit-exemption list is thinking "no permit" means "no rules." It does not. When no permit is required, three things are still true, and now you are the one responsible for them because no inspector is coming to check:
- Building code still applies. A permit-exempt deck still has to meet the structural rules of IRC R507 — proper footings, ledger attachment, and guards. A shed still needs to handle your local snow and wind load. The code does not care whether a permit was pulled.
- Zoning and setbacks still apply. Exempt does not mean you can put it anywhere. Setbacks from property lines, easements, lot-coverage limits, and corner-lot sight lines all still bind you — and a neighbor complaint can force you to move it.
- HOA rules are separate. Your HOA architectural review is a private contract, not a government permit. You can be fully permit-exempt with the city and still be forced by your HOA to tear something out.
The homeowners who get burned — sometimes literally — are the ones who treated a size limit as permission to skip the engineering. Permit-exempt means the paperwork is waived. It never means the deck can be under-built or the wiring can be sketchy.
How the exemptions change by state
Most states adopt the IRC and inherit the R105.2 baseline above, but there are three important patterns. Some states amend the numbers (Kentucky and Virginia allow a 256 sq ft shed instead of 200). Some cities are tighter (Seattle uses 18 inches for decks instead of 30; NYC has essentially no exemption at all). And a handful of states — Texas, Missouri, Kansas, and the Dakotas among them — have no statewide residential code, so the answer is set purely city by city, and rural unincorporated land often has no permit requirement whatsoever. Here is what we have verified:
Detached decks under 30 in, unattached, and under 200 sq ft are exempt in most cities. The CBC/CRC add seismic and Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fire review, and many cities cap exempt sheds around 120 sq ft — verify your city.
No statewide residential code — exemptions are city by city. Houston and Austin both exempt a deck only if it is under 200 sq ft AND under 30 in high AND detached AND not at a required exit (Austin also: not in a flood zone).
Seattle uses an 18 in deck height threshold, not the usual 30 in — a tighter exemption. Environmentally Critical Areas remove the exemption entirely.
Denver: no permit for an uncovered deck 12 in or less above ground; 12–30 in is zoning review only; 30 in and up needs both zoning and building permits.
The Uniform Construction Code is statewide and municipalities cannot modify it: detached accessory under 200 sq ft is exempt and fences up to 6 ft are exempt.
One-story detached accessory buildings under 256 sq ft are exempt, and fences up to 7 ft, under the 2024 USBC.
One-story detached accessory buildings under 256 sq ft are exempt, and fences up to 7 ft.
Detached accessory under 200 sq ft is exempt, fences up to 6 ft, and retaining walls under 4 ft.
Detached storage accessories under 200 sq ft are exempt and fences up to 6 ft, under 780 CMR.
One-story detached accessory structures under 200 sq ft are exempt, and fences up to 7 ft.
One-story accessory under 200 sq ft is exempt in most cities; residential work under $5,000 is exempt from the builder-license requirement (a permit can still apply).
NYC is the strictest in the country — there is no simple size/height exemption, and almost all exterior work requires a DOB filing with a Professional Engineer or Registered Architect. Upstate follows the NYS Residential Code.
Not sure what your own city allows? The fastest way to be certain is to check the record for your address. Our guide on how to look up building permits walks you through every state's portal, and each project guide linked above carries the local thresholds we have verified.
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If your project crosses one of those thresholds, the cleanest path is to hire a licensed pro who pulls the permit in their own name and stands behind the inspection. Tell us the project once and we will send it to up to three verified local pros. It is free, it is capped at three, and we never sell your information — the opposite of the lead-farm sites.
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Project-by-project detail
Sheds
The 200 sq ft line is the most-used exemption in the country, but it is a floor-area number, not a footprint of the roof. Two-story or lofted sheds, sheds on a poured slab, and any shed you run power or water to usually need a permit even under 200 sq ft.
Read the full shed permit guideDecks
This is the exemption people get wrong most often, because it is an AND, not an OR. A ground-level 12x16 deck (192 sq ft) is exempt only if it is also freestanding, under 30 inches, and not at your back door. Bolt it to the house and it needs a permit no matter how small.
Read the full deck permit guideFences
Seven feet is the IRC line, but a lot of cities cap the exemption at 6 ft, and any fence that also serves as a pool barrier jumps into the pool code. Corner lots almost always have a sight-triangle rule near the intersection.
Read the full fence permit guidePatios and pergolas
A flat, on-grade paver or concrete patio is usually not a building-permit item — until you add a roof, attach it to the house, or blow past a local impervious-surface limit. A pergola sits in a gray zone: small and freestanding it often slides under an accessory exemption, but attach it or add a solid roof and it needs a permit.
Patio and pergola permit rulesWater heaters and windows
These feel cosmetic but often are not. A like-for-like window retrofit is frequently over-the-counter, but changing the opening size or adding egress triggers a permit. A water heater swap almost always needs one, because it touches gas, water, venting, or a 240V circuit — and that is a safety inspection worth having.
Read the water heater permit guidePools and solar
These are the two that people wrongly assume they can DIY quietly. Any in-ground pool, and effectively any pool over 24 inches deep, needs a permit plus barrier and electrical-bonding review. Rooftop solar always needs a building and electrical permit and a utility interconnection — there is no exempt version.
Read the pool permit guideWhat happens if you needed a permit and skipped it
Guessing wrong on the exemption is not a small risk. If a project that needed a permit gets built without one, the common outcomes are a stop-work order, a fine (often double the normal permit fee), and being ordered to open finished work back up for inspection or tear it out. The expensive part usually lands later: unpermitted work routinely kills a home sale during the buyer's inspection, and an insurance claim can be denied if the damage traces back to unpermitted construction. The good news is most jurisdictions let you get a retroactive (after-the-fact) permit — it costs more and sometimes means opening walls, but it clears the record.
Full detail: what happens if you build without a permit and how to get a building permit if you decide to do it right from the start.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the biggest structure I can build without a permit?
Under the model residential code (IRC R105.2), the common permit-exempt limits are a one-story detached shed up to 200 sq ft, a fence up to 7 ft, a freestanding deck up to 200 sq ft that stays under 30 inches above grade, and a retaining wall up to 4 feet. Your city can be stricter, so these are the ceiling in most places, not a guarantee.
Can I build a shed without a permit?
In most jurisdictions a one-story detached shed of 200 sq ft or less does not need a building permit. But a few states use a different number (Kentucky and Virginia use 256 sq ft; some California cities use about 120 sq ft), and adding a permanent foundation, electrical, or plumbing usually triggers a permit anyway. Zoning setbacks apply even when no permit is required.
Is a permit-exempt project still inspected?
No — if no permit is required, there is no inspection. That is exactly why permit-exempt work still has to meet code and zoning on your own. No inspector is checking your footing depth, your fence setback, or your deck ledger. Permit-exempt means the paperwork is waived, not the rules.
What is the fine for building without a permit when one was required?
It varies by city, but common penalties include a stop-work order, a fine (often double the normal permit fee, sometimes much more), and being ordered to open finished work back up for inspection or tear it out. The bigger costs usually show up later at resale or when an insurance claim is denied. See our guide on building without a permit for the full picture.
Does a permit-exempt project still have to meet building code?
Yes. Exemption from a permit is not exemption from the code. A permit-exempt deck still has to be built to the structural provisions of IRC R507, an exempt fence still has to respect setbacks and sight lines, and an exempt shed still has to sit outside easements. You are simply responsible for compliance yourself, without an inspector as a backstop.
Every threshold on this page is anchored to the 2021 IRC or to our verified state research. Where a number varies by city and we could not verify it, we say "verify locally" rather than guess — because a permit page you cannot trust is worse than no page at all.
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