Building Development Division

• Building Development Division – 703-792-6930
• Building Permitting Service – 703-792-6924
• Building Plan Intake – 703-792-4040
• Building Plan Review – 703-792-6930
• Building Construction Inspections – 703-792-7006
• Building Code Enforcement – 703-792-6931
• Building Special Inspections – 703-792-6112
• Automated Phone Inspection Scheduling and Plan Review Status System - 1-866-457-5280

View the Building Development Division Web page for the hours of operation for each branch/section.

View Home Improvements – Do I need a permit? for more information regarding common improvements and construction. If you have additional questions, contact Building Permitting Services at 703-792-6924 or BDD@pwcgov.org.

A permit to operate an inflatable amusement device is not required if the device has an unexpired certificate of inspection issued by a local building department in this Commonwealth, regardless of whether the device has been disassembled or moved to a new site. The certificate of inspection is valid for 1 year from date of inspection. View the Policy for Amusement Device Permits/Inspection for more information. If you have additional questions, contact Building Permitting Services at 703-792-6924 or BDD@pwcgov.org.

View the Who should apply for the permit? Web page for information regarding who to assign as the permit holder.

All fees can be found in the Building Development Fee Schedule. If you have additional questions regarding fees, for residential projects, contact 703-792-6924 or BDD@pwcgov.org; or for commercial projects, contact 703-792-4040 or PlanIntake@pwcgov.org.

Payment can be made using cash, checks, or credit/debit cards for all development related fees. However, credit card payments for bonds and/or escrows (including lot escrows) will not be accepted (cash or separate check only). Checks should be made payable to ‘Prince William County’ or ‘PWC’. Only the following credit/debit cards will be accepted for land development fees: Master Card, Visa, and Discover.

A building release letter is required any time there is an approved site or subdivision plan related to the building permit. To obtain this letter, take a copy of the approved plan to the Development Services Land Division counters. If the item is shown on the plans, a building release letter will be issued. If the item is not shown, you will need to speak with the Planner of the Day to find out what steps need to be taken next. Some items that might require a building release letter are retaining walls, fuel tanks, antennas, pole lights, new structures and anything commercial outside of an existing building. If you have any questions, please contact Development Services Land Development Division at 703-792-6830 or LDD@pwcgov.org.

See ePortal Guide - How to Check Status.

See ePortal Guide - How to Pay Review Fees.

See Why don't I see attachments on my plan after submission section of ePortal FAQs.

Please note – plan documents are not immediately viewable once they have been approved. Permits & Plans are only set to viewable once any remaining fee(s) have been paid and all issuance requirements have been met.

See ePortal Guide - Where Do I Upload My Documents for Review.

Plan Intake receives automatic notifications when any review fees are paid or any items are uploaded to permit/plan cases via the ePortal. Those notifications are then queued and processed according to date. Please note – Targeted Industry projects receive priority processing.

View Residential Deck for more information.

You should have received a plat from your Settlement Attorney during the closing of your home. Check the legal documents you received at settlement. If you cannot locate the plat, you may contact the Zoning Division at 703-792-6830 or ZoningCounters@pwcgov.org for further assistance.

View Finishing a Residential Basement for more information.

Visit ePortal or call the Automated Phone System at 1-866-457-5280 to check plan status. If your plans have been put on hold, you may review comment letters on the website. If your plans are approved you can find a checklist on the website of the items needed to pick up your permit. If you provided a contact sheet at plan submission, you should be contacted via email with a list of everything needed to pick up your permit.

If you are replacing an old water heater with a new water heater of the same size and type (direct replacement), and you do not currently have an expansion tank or drain pan, those items are not required.

Yes, and the backflow preventer requires a permit and an inspection. More information.

Visit ePortal or call the Automated Phone System at 1-866-457-5280. For help with the scheduling codes related to projects, review the Guidelines to Using the Automated System, or contact the Building Construction Inspection Branch at 703-792-7006 or BDDInspections@pwcgov.org. Note that inspection staff members are not able to schedule inspections for you.

Visit ePortal on the day of your inspection to see who your inspector is and what place you are on his or her schedule. Unfortunately, we cannot know how long each inspection will take, or the arrival time of your inspector; however, the ePortal system will indicate when inspections from the posted schedule are completed. This should allow you to track your inspector and get a better idea of approximately when your inspector will arrive.

The inspection sequence of concealments is electrical and plumbing first, followed by the Fire Marshal’s Office sprinkler visual, then mechanical and building. The final trade inspections and building inspection can be performed in any order, but the Fire Marshal’s Office pre-occupancy inspection must be scheduled last. See Basic Inspection Guidelines for Commercial Projects handout for additional information.

After obtaining an electrical permit, the homeowner or contractor should arrange a scheduled date and time with the power company for disconnection of the power. Once that is scheduled, visit ePortal or call the Automated Phone System at 1-866-457-5280 and schedule an electrical inspection, code 202 and 250, for the same day as the power company’s scheduled date for the outage. It is crucial that the owner or contractor contact the Building Construction Inspection Branch the morning of the scheduled date at 703-792-7006 or BDDInspections@pwcgov.org between 7:30 and 8 a.m. to give the inspector an approximate time that the heavy up will be ready to inspect. After the inspection is approved, a notice will be sent to the power company to let it know the service was approved to reconnect. The power company is very responsive in reconnecting the power the same day.

See the Policy for Electrical and Plumbing Inspection Certification Program for the requirements and a list of items that can be certified.

The following shop drawings, which will normally include design calculations, shall be submitted via Prince William County’s ePortal system. Consult the Customer Electronic Plan Review (ePlans) Guide for information on how to prepare and submit documents for electronic plan review and the electronic plan review guide for building ePlan submission guidelines for review and approval: Wood Trusses, Light Gage (cold formed), Steel Trusses, Light Gage Framing, Pre-Engineered Metal Buildings, or any other structural building elements, designed by the general contractors specialty Virginia registered design professional, and not previously reviewed with the approved construction plans.

Projects or building elements determined to be minor critical in nature by the County structural plan reviewer shall be classified as requiring mandatory third party inspections per Building Development Division Policy 1.18. Some of these projects shall be subject to the requirements of the Special Inspections program and shall be managed by the Special Inspections Section.

A waiver of preconstruction meeting may be requested by the owner when all the involved parties have attended a preconstruction meeting for a similar project within the last 6 months from the date of the request. All documents relating to the new permit must be submitted before the issuance of the building permit. Refer to Chapter 4 of the Special Inspections Manual for additional information.

‘Special Inspection Projects’ and ‘Mandatory Third Party Inspections Managed by SIS’ projects are governed by the Building Development Division Policies 1.14 and 1.18, respectively. The major differences are summarized in the Table below.

Yes, but Construction Field Revision approval by SIS for Special Inspection Projects is seldom. Please refer to Special Inspections – Field Revisions Policy 1.14.5.

Significant changes in the special inspections items specified in the statement of special inspections schedule must be submitted to the Plan Review Branch for approval.

For very minor changes such as RFI that clarifies items already approved by the County or changes that result in over design of structural elements of the County approved construction documents may be approved by the SIS. Such changes must be approved with an engineer’s seal.

Special Inspections sample letter forms are available in Appendix II of the Special Inspection Manual in copy and paste PDF format.

If you find out that you have authorized or performed work without obtaining the required permits and inspections, contact Building Permitting Services at 703-792-6924 or BDD@pwcgov.org. Staff will work with you to help you obtain the necessary permits and inspections which will correct the deficiency.

Any person with a concern of possible construction or repairs being done without the required permits should contact the Building Code Enforcement Section at 703-792-6931. Be prepared to provide the correct address and a description of the observed concern to the Code Enforcement staff so that a case investigation of the possible building code violations can be initiated. If a building code violation is determined to be valid, the Building Code Enforcement staff will take the appropriate actions to enforce the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code.

The Building Code Enforcement Section investigates complaints that deal with new construction that never received permits, open permits that never had inspections, occupying without valid certificate of occupancies, unsafe buildings and more.

Prosecution of Building Code violations under Code of Virginia 36-106 shall commence within one year of discovery of the offense by the Building Official; provided that such discovery occurs within two years of the date of initial occupancy or use after construction of the building or structure, or the issuance of a certificate of use and occupancy for the building or structure, whichever is later.

The Building Code Enforcement Section only asks to prosecute those who are not working to abate their violations.

Usually monetary restitution is a civil matter and is either resolved by the parties involved (e.g. contractor and owner) or settled in circuit court by a judge. The County has no involvement in this action.