What permits do you need to build a house in Virginia?

The building permit is the permit people name, but in Carroll County it is the last approval of the first round, not the first. The county's posted cover sheet for a new dwelling spells out the order.

If any of the above Agencies will be involved or required for your project, evidence of approval or authorization from the appropriate agency is required before any Building Permits can be issued.

Carroll County Building Official, cover sheet for a new dwelling

The agencies above that sentence on the sheet are these:

1. Land disturbance: a project of 10,000 square feet or more is told to contact the county Inspection Department, and one acre or more also brings stormwater compliance.
2. VDOT: an entrance permit for access from VDOT-regulated roads.
3. The Virginia Department of Health: a construction permit, or a Safe, Adequate and Proper determination letter, for a private septic system.
4. An E911 address from the Twin County E-911 Commission, 276-236-5122.

The same sheet says the state is under the 2021 Uniform Statewide Building Code, made effective January 18, 2024. Virginia's Board of Housing and Community Development adopts that code and it supersedes local building codes, so the rules for the house itself are the same across the state even where the checklist in front of them differs. In Carroll the application is a fillable form emailed to the Building Official, (276) 730-3016, with all required plan documents. What a building permit covers, and which small projects are exempt, is defined separately.

Two approvals attach the lot to the outside world: where the drive meets the road, and what the house is called.

Where a new private entrance meets a state highway, 24VAC30-73-90 puts the duty on the property owner to obtain the entrance permit. The counties add their own qualifiers. Wythe County wants the entrance permit before a building permit application when a new driveway is cut off a state-maintained road, and says that does not apply to an existing driveway or a private road. Grayson lists a VDOT entrance permit for new buildings served by a new drive onto a secondary highway. Which residency takes the application and what it reviews is under whether you need a VDOT permit for a driveway.

The address is a separate step. Carroll's cover sheet points applicants to the Twin County E-911 Commission, and Grayson's building permit prerequisites include a 911 address for the building location, posted visible from the road. How an address is assigned to ground that has never had one is covered under getting a 911 address for vacant land.

With the prerequisites in hand, the building permit application goes to the local building official, and under USBC Section 108.1 the permit has to be obtained before construction begins, unless the building official authorizes work to start sooner.

Enforcement is local. The local building department enforces the code for construction, and a town under 3,500 people may choose to enforce it; where a town does not, the county does it for the town. Separate or combined permits may be required for building, plumbing, electrical and mechanical work, so one house can carry more than one permit number.

The permit sets up the inspections, from the footing excavations before any concrete goes in through the final inspection that completes the permit.

A manufactured home follows its own path under the building code's exemption for homes built to their own state safety regulations, with exceptions; that does not mean no permit, and Carroll County posts a separate Manufactured Home Permit Application Packet. The placement rules are under whether you can put a manufactured home on land here.