Are you a resident planning to build a new house? This process will include acquiring permits and completing all necessary inspections. The following is detailed below.

Permits Required

Building a new house requires a variety of permits to insure that your house is safe and up to code.

• Residential Building Permit for construction of architectural and structural elements
• Electrical Permit for all electrical installations
• Plumbing Permit for all installations of plumbing and gas piping systems.
• Mechanical Permit for installations of heating and air conditioning systems.

Department of Environmental Services Permits

• Land Disturbance Permit for any area of disturbance equal to 2500 square feet or greater. Guidelines on how to calculate total area of disturbance. Tree protection and specifications.
• Water Quality Impact Worksheet is required if the property is located within a Resource Protection Area (RPA) or County required Flood Buffer Zone. Check the RPA map for details.
• Flood Plain Permit is required if purposed construction is within the 100 year flood plain or County required Flood Buffer Zone.
• Right-of-Way Permit is required for installation, connection, repairs of utilities and/or any work performed within the county right-of-way. (Sidewalk, curb and gutter, driveway apron, gas, electric, etc.)
• Transportation Right-of-Way Permits is required for any proposed work that may block or substantially limit the use of the roadway, sidewalks and/or parking meters. The use of construction equipment, cranes, dumpster, PODs, trailers, trucks, lane closures, over weight and oversized vehicles, parking meter closures, and sidewalk closures in the public right of way.

Permit Process

Building a new house is a route-through review process.  For details about the process, see the Resident Permit Review Process link below.

Residential Permit Review Process

Construction Document Requirements

Submitted Construction documents must contain sufficient information for plan reviewers to be able to review the proposed construction work. For details about what information is required on plans, see the Residential Permit Checklist link below.

Residential Permit Submission Requirements

Inspections

Throughout your building permit process and depending upon the extent of the work, you will be required to complete different inspections throughout your building process. For details about Inspections, see the Residential Inspections link below.

Required Residential Inspections

Call Arlington to schedule your inspection appointment 24hrs in advance:

• Integrated Voice Response (IVR): 703-222-3700, 24 hours
• Permit Specialists: 703-228-3800, 8am-4:30pm, Monday – Friday

Fees

The cost for permits varies depending upon each project. For an overview of permit fees, see:

• Fee Schedule