The permits that still apply where the county has no building code

Counties that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program adopt a flood damage prevention ordinance and require a permit before development in a special flood hazard area, which is the mapped floodplain on the FEMA map. The county engineer, or a flood management office where the county has one, administers it. The permit governs where and how high a structure sits relative to the base flood elevation, and it applies whether or not the county has a building code, because it is a separate ordinance under a separate program.

On the official sites read on 2026-09-05: Etowah County posts a floodplain development ordinance under its Engineering Department; Cullman County's Road Department handles the floodplain ordinance and an NFIP development permit; Morgan County's Engineer's Office administers the county flood ordinance; St. Clair County runs a Flood Management office with a flood damage prevention ordinance and a development permit; Lawrence County posts a floodplain ordinance; and Limestone County posts a flood damage prevention ordinance under Engineering. This site read the department pages that name those ordinances, not the full ordinance texts, so the elevation rules and fees are the county's to state. The county pages carry each office and number.

The FEMA Flood Map Service Center shows the flood zone for any address or parcel, free. If any part of the parcel is in a zone beginning with A or V, assume the county's ordinance applies to anything built there and call the county engineer before the site plan is drawn. A lender will also order a flood determination and will require flood insurance for a structure in a mapped zone, which is a permanent monthly cost worth knowing before you buy the lot. Building on the high part of a parcel that has a low, mapped corner is often the answer, and the county engineer can tell you whether the ordinance treats the whole parcel or the structure's footprint.

A permit from the county road department or engineer to cut a new entrance from a county-maintained road onto your lot, usually with a culvert pipe under the drive set to the county's size and grade so the roadside ditch keeps draining. Counties care because a bad entrance floods the road or their ditch, and because construction traffic tears up an unpermitted one. On the sites read 2026-09-05: Cullman County's Road Department handles driveway pipe permits, Blount County's Engineering Department publishes a driveway access permit, and Lawrence County publishes a pipe or access permit for a new access within the county right-of-way, which its site says carries no fee. Other counties handle it through the engineer's office without a posted form; ask.

Get it before the first delivery. A post-frame package arrives on a long truck, a concrete pour arrives on several heavy ones, and the entrance has to be in and approved before either turns off the road.

Usually only when land is being divided. Every county here publishes subdivision regulations through its engineer, and they govern splitting a parcel into lots, road standards for a new subdivision, and plat approval. If you are buying a lot that was recently cut off a larger tract, ask whether the split was done under the county's regulations and whether the access road meets them, because an unapproved split can leave you with a lot the county will not recognize for a permit or the utilities will not serve.

The septic permit through the county health department, which applies on any lot without public sewer, and the state home builder license on any contractor doing over $10,000 of residential work. Those two are covered on their own pages: the septic permit and checking the builder's license. Inside city limits, the city's building department adds its own permit on top of everything here.

Source: Alabama Department of Public Health, Soil and Onsite Sewage: Can I Live On This Lot?, read 2026-09-05.

Source: Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board, frequently asked questions, read 2026-09-05.

Four calls before the slab is scheduled: the county health department about septic, the county engineer or road department about the floodplain and the driveway, the city clerk to confirm the lot is outside city limits, and the builder about which of those the contract assigns to whom. In a county that inspects nothing, those four calls are the inspection. The permit guide puts each county's status beside its phone number.