Alexander County
Taylorsville, Bethlehem, Hiddenite, Stony Point
This is the county where my own project sits, so this is the guide I can write from experience. My mailing address says Hickory. My permit says Alexander County.
Metal building permits, county by county
My contract made the permit my problem, and I learned how my county works the hard way. These guides cover the counties around my project and around L&G Building & Concrete’s home base, so the next buyer starts out knowing more than I did.
Hickory, Lenoir, Morganton and Statesville
Catawba County
Hickory, Newton, Conover, Maiden, Claremont, Long View
In Catawba County one office issues building permits for everybody, but you cannot get one until the right zoning office has signed off, and which zoning office depends on where your lot is.
Caldwell County
Lenoir, Granite Falls, Hudson, Sawmills
Caldwell County keeps permitting simple: one Building Inspections office in Lenoir, reachable by phone and email. The part that deserves your attention is a single line on the application.
Burke County
Morganton, Valdese, Hildebran, Connelly Springs, Drexel, Glen Alpine, Rutherford College
Burke County has two building inspections departments, and a metal building buyer needs to know which one they belong to before signing anything.
Iredell County
Statesville, Mooresville, Troutman, Harmony, Union Grove
Iredell County changed how it permits in 2023, and out-of-town metal building sellers are not always aware of it.
Lincoln County
Lincolnton, Denver, Iron Station, Vale, Westport
Lincoln County runs a single Planning and Inspections office out of downtown Lincolnton, and it has moved almost everything online. That is convenient until you are the owner-applicant on a job you did not plan to manage.
Wilkes County
Wilkesboro, North Wilkesboro, Millers Creek, Moravian Falls, Ronda
Wilkes County puts its permit offices on three different floors of one building and tells you which order to visit them. For a metal building on a septic lot, that order matters.
Rowan County
Salisbury, China Grove, Landis, Rockwell, Granite Quarry, Cleveland
Rowan County is the one place I found where the permit application itself explains the licensing rule. If you are buying a metal building here, the form will ask the question my contract never did.
Gaston County
Gastonia, Belmont, Mount Holly, Dallas, Cherryville, Stanley, Bessemer City
Gaston County consolidated building permits for the whole county in 2022. Gastonia kept zoning. If you are buying a metal building inside the city, you deal with both, in order.
Cleveland County
Shelby, Kings Mountain, Boiling Springs, Lawndale, Fallston, Casar
Cleveland County and the City of Shelby both have building inspections offices a few miles apart. Which one you call depends on which side of the city line your lot sits.
Asheboro, Greensboro and High Point
Randolph County
Asheboro, Archdale, Randleman, Trinity, Ramseur, Liberty, Seagrove
Asheboro is where L&G Building & Concrete is based. If you live in Randolph County, you are its home market, and this is the office your permit will run through.
Guilford County
Greensboro, High Point, Jamestown, Pleasant Garden, Summerfield, Oak Ridge
Guilford County is the one place where I found L&G Building & Concrete’s name in a public permit record, and the way that permit was filed looks a lot like mine.
Why a review site has permit guides
Because the permit is where my project went sideways first. L&G’s contract says the company does not provide permits and that the customer is solely responsible. I pulled mine as the owner without understanding what that meant on a $98,750 job. Every county handles it a little differently, and none of the sellers explain it. So I looked it up, office by office, and wrote it down.
More counties will be added as I verify them. I only publish an office’s details after checking them against that office’s own website.