Who issues building permits in Central Ohio, office by office
Central Ohio is not one jurisdiction for building permits. The Ohio Board of Building Standards' residential certification list names county, city, village and township departments across Franklin, Delaware, Licking, Fairfield, Union, Madison and Pickaway counties, and several places appear under a department that is not their own. This page sets out, county by county, what that list, stamped August 16, 2023, and the Board's map name for each place, what each office says on its own page, and where the Census Bureau's permit survey moved a place between reporting offices. Where records disagree, both are printed. It never says which office issued any one house's permit.
Last updated September 2026 · The Ohio Board of Building Standards' residential certification list stamped August 16, 2023, its jurisdiction map as queried September 15, 2026, each office's own page, and the Census Bureau's permit survey footnote files for 2007 to 2010 and 2016 to 2025 were read September 2026 · No prices on this page; the Estimate Builder carries those · Part of the knowledge base
Three records, and what each one can say
The Ohio Board of Building Standards' Residential Building Department Certification List read for this page carries the stamp 8/16/2023 on its pages and sorts its entries into county, municipal and township departments. Under a department's entry the list prints its Sub Departments, the smaller places it serves. A place can also carry an entry of its own that points elsewhere: Sunbury, in Delaware County, has entry #2454, which reads See Delaware County (#325).
The Board also keeps a live jurisdiction dataset behind an interactive map, whose Central Ohio county and township rows were last edited on September 9, 2025 and municipal rows on September 18, 2025. The Ohio Department of Commerce's release of September 2, 2025 describes the map as a tool that gives contact information for the building department responsible for an address, and counts approximately 800 certified building departments across Ohio. The Division of Industrial Compliance's look-up panel says it is based on the Board's records and that the owner is responsible for confirming authority with the listed jurisdiction.
By the Board's certifications page, on July 1, 2025 the Board adopted significant revisions to its rules for building department personnel, building departments and the local jurisdictions that enforce Ohio's codes. No residential certification list newer than the one stamped 8/16/2023 was found for this page.
The third record is the Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey, whose footnotes say which reporting office covers which place; a permit office listed there is a reporting office for the survey, not by that listing a certified building department. The survey's universe and its 2024 footnotes for cities that cross county lines are on the page on how many houses Central Ohio built each year.
Ohio Revised Code section 3791.04, in the version effective September 10, 2012, sends a building's plans "to the superintendent of industrial compliance" where no municipal, township or county building department certified for nonresidential buildings has jurisdiction. The clause after it, for houses, is on the page on which building code a Central Ohio house was built under.
The seven counties, office by office
The table sets out the Board's list of August 16, 2023 county by county. The county entries with their plumbing arrangements are also on the Union, Madison and Pickaway page and the Delaware, Licking and Fairfield page; the sections below add each office's own words and where other records differ.
| County | The county's own entry | Places the list names under the county's entry | Places with entries of their own |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin County | Franklin County, #343 | Harrisburg, Lockbourne, Minerva Park, Riverlea, Urbancrest and Valleyview | Bexley #286, Canal Winchester #299, Columbus #316, Dublin #327, Gahanna #344, Grandview Heights #354 (with Marble Cliff under it), Grove City #358, Groveport #359, Hilliard #368, New Albany #426, Obetz #440, Reynoldsburg #460, Upper Arlington #500, Westerville #519, Whitehall #521, Worthington #532 |
| Delaware County | Delaware County, #325 | Ashley, Galena, Ostrander, Shawnee Hills and Sunbury, whose own entry #2454 points to #325 | Delaware #324, Powell #455 |
| Licking County | Licking County, #384 | Ten places, among them Newark, Heath, Johnstown and Buckeye Lake | No entry for Hartford; the Board's 2025 map records it as residential-certified at the county department's address |
| Fairfield County | None for houses; the Board's 2025 map records the county as certified for commercial work, not residential | None | Violet Township #505, Lancaster #381, Pickerington #452, Baltimore #279, Lithopolis #387 |
| Union County | Union County, #498 | Magnetic Springs, Marysville, Milford Center and Richwood | Dublin #327, for its Union County part by Union County's own page; Plain City sits under West Jefferson #518 |
| Madison County | Madison County, #399 | None | London #390; West Jefferson #518, with Mount Sterling and Plain City under it |
| Pickaway County | Pickaway County, #451 | Among them New Holland and Tarlton | Circleville #308 and Commercial Point #317, both printed at the county department's address; Ashville #275; South Bloomfield #478 |
Franklin County
In Franklin County's unincorporated area and six of its villages the residential office is the county's: the Board lists Franklin County (#343) with Harrisburg, Lockbourne, Minerva Park, Riverlea, Urbancrest and Valleyview as sub-departments, and the county's own building page sends building permits in those villages to its office. The list and the Board's map print the Franklin County department at 150 S Front St Ste 10, Columbus, while the county's own building page and Mifflin Township's page, read in September 2026, give 142 S. Front Street.
Mifflin Township, in Franklin County, does not issue building permits itself on these records: its own page says its residents and businesses apply for permits through the Franklin County Economic Development and Planning Department. How a Franklin County township's zoning sits beside the county's code is on the page on township zoning and the county building code in Central Ohio.
Sixteen Franklin County cities and villages hold a residential certification of their own on the 2023 list. Groveport and Obetz, in Franklin County, are the places the county's page says issue their own building permits, and the list prints Groveport at 655 Blacklick St and Obetz at 4175 Alum Creek Dr. It prints the Columbus department in Franklin County, entry #316, at 111 N Front St, 1st and 2nd floors.
In Franklin County, Hilliard's Building Standards Division (#368) says it issues permits to construct, approves plans and provides on-site inspections, and Bexley's Building and Zoning Department (#286) says it is certified by the State of Ohio to approve and inspect all commercial and residential construction. Grove City's Building and Zoning Division, also in Franklin County, says it reviews building plans and issues permits for all construction, and the list prints its entry, #358, at 4035 Broadway.
Dublin's department, in Franklin County, has moved on the Board's own record: the 2023 list prints 5800 Shier Rings Rd, and the map, edited in September 2025, gives 5200 Emerald Parkway, Annex Building. Marble Cliff, a Franklin County village, has no entry of its own: the list names it a sub-department of Grandview Heights (#354), and the map gives it the Grandview Heights address, 1260 McKinley Ave, although the Census Bureau still lists Marble Cliff as its own permit office in its 2024 file. The village's history is on the Bexley, Upper Arlington, Grandview Heights and Marble Cliff page.
No residential certification record read for this page names an office for Brice, a Franklin County village: it has no entry and is no sub-department on the list stamped August 16, 2023, and the Board's map, as queried on September 15, 2026, records it as not residential-certified. The Census Bureau lists Brice, in Franklin County, as its own permit office in its 2024 file, a survey reporting office and not a certified department.
Delaware County
The list names Ashley, Galena, Ostrander, Shawnee Hills and Sunbury as sub-departments of Delaware County (#325), and the Census Bureau's 2024 footnote says Delaware County's permit system also covers the same five. Sunbury, in Delaware County, became a city in the Bureau's 2024 record, and both the Board's pointer entry and that footnote put Sunbury's permits with Delaware County.
The Board's 2023 list prints the Delaware County department at 50 Channing St, Delaware, while the county's own Building Safety site, read in September 2026, and the Board's 2025 map give 1610 State Route 521, PO Box 8006.
Two Delaware County cities hold their own certifications on the list: Delaware (#324) at 1 S Sandusky St and Powell (#455) at 47 Hall St. The Delaware County city's water and sewer history is on the Delaware, Ohio page.
Licking County
Newark, the Licking County seat, has no building department of its own on the records read here: the City of Newark's Department of Engineering and Zoning page says the Licking County Building Code Department is the agency responsible for the enforcement of residential and commercial building codes within Newark, and the Board's list names Newark a sub-department of Licking County (#384). The Licking County Building Code Department describes itself as enforcing building codes for all residential and commercial projects throughout the majority of Licking County.
Licking County's department says its approval follows a zoning certificate from the local zoning inspector, and where a Licking County township has no zoning enforcement it requires Licking County Health Department approval instead; the township side is on the townships page.
Hartford, a Licking County village the Census Bureau has published as Hartford (Croton) since its 2019 file, is not among the county's ten sub-departments on the 2023 list, but the Board's 2025 map records the village as residential-certified at the county department's address, 675 Price Rd. Buckeye Lake is split between two counties' records: the Board names it a sub-department of Licking County, the survey's footnotes give Licking County Unincorporated Area the one-, two- and three-family units for the portion of the village in Licking County, and from the 2020 file they give Fairfield County Part the four-or-more-family buildings for the portion in Fairfield County.
No residential certification record read for this page names an office for Hanover or St. Louisville, two Licking County villages: neither is on the list stamped August 16, 2023, and the Board's map, as queried on September 15, 2026, records both as not residential-certified. The Census Bureau lists each as its own permit office in 2024, and its Licking County Part footnote includes their four-or-more-family buildings.
The Census Bureau recorded the permit system of Gratiot village, which reaches into Licking County, as discontinued in 2015; from the 2017 file Gratiot has no footnote entry of its own, though the Licking County Part footnote still names Gratiot's Licking County portion for four-or-more-family buildings.
Fairfield County
Fairfield County's building department says it reviews commercial work in the unincorporated areas of the county with the exception of Violet Township, and the Board's 2025 map records Fairfield County as certified for commercial work and not for residential work. Violet Township, in Fairfield County, is a certified township department: the list prints Violet Township (#505) at 10190 Blacklick-Eastern Road, Pickerington, and the township calls itself a State Certified Department in Residential and Commercial Classification serving what it calls approximately 30+ square miles of the unincorporated area.
Violet Township, in Fairfield County, is the one township in the seven Central Ohio counties that the Board's map records as residential-certified. The Board's list and Violet Township's own page differ on plumbing: the list says Violet Township enforces plumbing locally, and the township's page says the Fairfield County Board of Health issues and inspects plumbing permits there.
Four Fairfield County municipalities hold residential certifications on the 2023 list: Lancaster (#381) at 121 E Chestnut St Ste 102, Pickerington (#452), Baltimore (#279) at 103 W Market St and Lithopolis (#387) at 33 N Market St PO Box 278. Pickerington's building department says the Fairfield County city is certified by the Ohio Board of Building Standards to enforce the 2019 Residential Code of Ohio and the 2024 Ohio Building Code. The Fairfield County city's address differs between records: the list and the 2025 map print 51 E Columbus St, and Pickerington's own page says 100 Lockville Road.
No residential certification record read for this page names an office for the Fairfield County villages of Amanda, Bremen, Carroll, Millersport, Pleasantville, Rushville, Sugar Grove, Thurston or West Rushville: none appears on the list stamped August 16, 2023, the Board's map as queried on September 15, 2026 records each as not residential-certified, and the Fairfield County department excepts one-, two- and three-family structures from what it regulates. The same two Board records carry no residential office for Stoutsville, a village the map files under Fairfield and Pickaway counties.
The Census Bureau lists ten Fairfield County townships besides Violet as their own permit offices in its 2024 file, Amanda, Berne, Bloom, Greenfield, Hocking, Liberty, Pleasant, Richland, Rush Creek and Walnut, each a reporting office for the survey and not a building department.
Tarlton, a village in Pickaway and Fairfield counties, straddles two counties' records: the Board names it a sub-department of Pickaway County, and since the 2020 file the survey's footnotes give Pickaway County the Pickaway portion and Fairfield County's multifamily office the Fairfield portion.
Union County
Union County's building department says it has agreements with all municipalities to enforce commercial and residential building codes except Unionville Center, the incorporated areas of Plain City and the City of Dublin, and names Marysville, Richwood, Milford Center and Magnetic Springs as contracting; the Board's list names those four as sub-departments of Union County (#498). Marysville, the Union County seat, issues zoning permits on its own permits page and refers building permit questions to the Union County Building Department.
Inside Plain City, a village in Union and Madison counties, the building office on three records is West Jefferson's. Union County's page calls West Jefferson's building department the permitting authority there, Plain City's own page says building permits are now issued by the Village of West Jefferson Building Department, and the Board's list names Plain City a sub-department of West Jefferson (#518), a Madison County village.
The Census Bureau's survey dates that Plain City move, in Union and Madison counties, to 2021. In the 2007 to 2010 and 2016 to 2020 footnote files Plain City's own office covered the portion of the village in Union County, and from the 2021 file West Jefferson's footnote covers the one-, two- and three-unit buildings for Plain City, including its Union County portion. That footnote for the Madison County village runs through the 2024 file and is absent from the 2025 file, which does not say why.
No residential certification record read for this page names an office for Unionville Center, a Union County village: Union County's agreements exclude it, it is not on the list stamped August 16, 2023, and the Board's map as queried on September 15, 2026 records it as not residential-certified. The survey's Union County Part footnote covers Unionville Center's four-or-more-family buildings in every file from 2016 to 2025.
For the part of Dublin in Union County, Union County's page says the Dublin Building Department is the regulatory authority within the incorporated area of Dublin, where Dublin holds entry #327. Dublin's own history is on the Dublin, Ohio page.
Madison County
Three Madison County records are printed here side by side and not reconciled. On the Board's list stamped August 16, 2023, Madison County's department is entry #399 at 1 N Main St, London, with no sub-departments, and the Board's 2025 map prints the same address. Madison County's own building page, read in September 2026, says the county contracts with the Village of West Jefferson for the building permit process and gives the address 28 East Main Street, West Jefferson. The Census Bureau's 2025 footnote file, posted in May 2026, records the permit system of Madison County Part, the office its 2021 to 2024 footnotes give the four-or-more-family buildings in Madison County outside London, as discontinued in 2025.
West Jefferson, a Madison County village, says its development office serves London, Plain City, Mt. Sterling and Madison County, and that it provides contractor and residential services for the City of London. London, in Madison County, holds its own certification on the Board's list, entry #390 at 20 S Walnut St Ste 105; London's own pages could not be read, so the list's entry and West Jefferson's statement print as two records.
Mount Sterling, a Madison County village, is a sub-department of West Jefferson on the Board's list, yet the Census Bureau has listed Mount Sterling as its own permit office in every file from 2003 to 2024. No residential certification record read for this page names an office for Midway or South Solon, two Madison County villages: neither appears on the list stamped August 16, 2023, and the Board's map as queried on September 15, 2026 records both as not residential-certified.
Pickaway County
Pickaway County's building department says it maintains and tracks permits issued for all new construction, alterations, additions, repairs and demolitions and inspects building projects, from 124 West Franklin Street, Circleville, where the Board's list prints its entry, #451. New Holland, a village in Pickaway and Fayette counties, is a Pickaway County sub-department on the list, and the survey's footnotes give Pickaway County's office the portion of New Holland in Fayette County from the 2016 file, naming the portions in both Fayette and Pickaway counties from 2021.
Circleville's status in Pickaway County differs between two publishers, and this page chooses neither. The Board's list carries Circleville as its own certified department, entry #308, at the Pickaway County department's address and telephone number, and the Board's map carries a residential-certified Circleville row at the same address. The City of Circleville's own business page says the city does not have its own building department and sends residents to the Pickaway County Building Department. Nothing the Board publishes explains entry #308.
Commercial Point's own entry on the list, #317, also prints the Pickaway County department's address, 124 W Franklin St, Circleville, and its telephone number. Ashville (#275, 200 E Station St) and South Bloomfield (#478, 5000 Park Place), both Pickaway County villages, hold their own entries, and they are two of the three villages the survey's 2024 footnote leaves out of Pickaway County's permit system.
No residential certification record read for this page names an office for Darbyville, the third, a Pickaway County village: it is not on the list stamped August 16, 2023, the Board's map as queried on September 15, 2026 records it as not residential-certified, and the survey leaves it out of the county's permit system while its Pickaway County Part footnote covers Darbyville's four-or-more-family units.
The survey's footnotes, year by year
The Census Bureau's Place folder holds no footnote file older than September 2016: the earliest is foot1609.txt, the annual files begin with foot2016.txt, and from 2018 the annual footnote file is an Excel workbook, the newest covering 2025. Four annual footnote files from before that, for 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, survive as PDFs in copies held by the Internet Archive. No footnote text was found for 1980 to 2006 or 2011 to 2015, so in those years a change of office shows, if at all, as a place appearing in or dropping out of the Bureau's place files.
What the 2007 to 2010 files say
In the survey's footnotes for 2007 to 2010, the reporting office the Census Bureau published under the name Newark is recorded as also covering all construction for Pataskala, for the villages of Granville, Hebron and Kirkersville and for the entire unincorporated area of Licking County. Those footnotes name a survey reporting office, not a building department, and they do not say whose department issued those permits.
In the same 2007 to 2010 footnotes, the permit system the survey published under the name Circleville covered the Pickaway County villages of Ashville, Commercial Point and Orient and the Pickaway County townships of Darby, Jackson and Scioto, and the four-or-more-family units for the whole unincorporated area and Tarlton. By the 2016 file the Pickaway County office covers the entire county except Ashville, Darbyville and South Bloomfield.
Union County's record changed after 2010. For Magnetic Springs, Richwood and Unionville Center, all Union County villages, the 2007 to 2010 footnotes gave Union County Unincorporated Area the one-, two- and three-family buildings and Union County Part the four-or-more-family buildings; in the 2016 file the Union County office covers Magnetic Springs and Richwood without that limit, and Union County Part covers Unionville Center's four-or-more-family buildings.
Delaware County's record widened after 2010. In 2007 to 2010 Delaware County Unincorporated Area covered the one-, two- and three-family buildings in the Delaware County villages of Galena, Shawnee Hills and Ostrander and the four-or-more-family buildings in Ashley and Shawnee Hills, while Delaware County Part held the four-or-more-family buildings in Galena, Ostrander and Sunbury. By the 2016 file the Delaware County office covers Ashley, Ostrander and Shawnee Hills without a limit.
Fairfield County's multifamily office changed its exceptions. The 2007 to 2010 footnotes excepted Lancaster and said the office did not cover Pickerington or the Fairfield County portions of Columbus, Reynoldsburg and Canal Winchester; from the 2016 file the exception reads Lancaster and Baltimore.
Harrisburg's record reversed. The 2007 to 2010 footnotes gave Franklin County Unincorporated Area the whole of Harrisburg, a Franklin County village, including its portion in Pickaway County. In every file from 2016 to 2025 the Census Bureau names two offices for Harrisburg's Franklin County portion: Franklin County Unincorporated Area covers the portion of Harrisburg in Franklin County, and Pickaway County Unincorporated Area covers the portion located in Franklin County in the 2016 to 2020 files and in Franklin and Pickaway counties from the 2021 file. The Board's list names Harrisburg a sub-department of Franklin County.
What moved from 2016 on
Galena's coverage in Delaware County changed between 2018 and 2019: the 2016 to 2018 footnotes gave Delaware County Unincorporated Area the one-, two- and three-family buildings in Galena, with its four-or-more-family buildings under Delaware County Part, and from 2019 the county office's footnote lists Galena with Ashley, Ostrander and Shawnee Hills without that limit. Powell's footnote, for the Delaware County city, narrowed in the same year: the 2018 file said Powell's permit system also covers Liberty township, and the 2019 file limits that to four-or-more-family buildings in Liberty township.
The survey widened Fairfield County's four-or-more-family office in its 2021 file to add the portions of Canal Winchester, Columbus, Pickerington and Reynoldsburg that lie in Fairfield County. It also records renamings as footnotes: Hartford village, in Licking County, became Hartford (Croton) in 2019; Obetz, in Franklin County, was published as a village until the 2023 file; and Sunbury, in Delaware County, until the 2024 file.
Before the footnotes: the place files
The Bureau's place files list the county unincorporated-area offices from different years. Franklin, Delaware and Union counties' offices appear in the first file, 1980, under abbreviated names such as FRANKLIN CO. UNINC. AREA, and under the full name from 1988 with the same office ID; Madison County's part unincorporated area also appears from 1980; Licking County's first appears in 2011 and Pickaway County's in 2013. The files give no reason for any of those dates.
In those place files the reporting office the Census Bureau published under the name Newark, in Licking County, is listed from 1980 to 2012, and an office published as Licking County Unincorporated Area appears from 2011, so the two overlap in the 2011 and 2012 files, which do not say why. The Licking County township offices last appear in 1994, and the listings for Heath and Pataskala, both Licking County cities, end in 1998. In Pickaway County, Circleville's own listing, carried since 1980, ends in 2014, as do most of the Pickaway County township offices.
What a mailing address does not say
A mailing address does not name the jurisdiction a property sits in, and a place can sit in more than one county on two publishers' records: Delaware County's own site lists Columbus, Dublin and Westerville among its cities, and the Board's map files Westerville under Delaware and Franklin counties and Reynoldsburg under Fairfield, Franklin and Licking counties.
The list's sub-department lines carry no county either. Huron Township's entry, #370, in Erie County, names an Oxford Township among its sub-departments; that is Erie County's own Oxford Township, and Delaware County's entry, #325, names no Oxford township, so a match on the name alone would put Delaware County's Oxford township under an Erie County office.
What a permit covers, and when one is needed, is set out on the page on bathroom remodel permits in Columbus.
What this page cannot say
Every office above is named by a dated record, and none of those records says which office issued any one house's permit; neither does this page. No record read gives a reason or an effective date for any move between offices beyond the survey file year in which a footnote changes.
Where no record read names an office for a place, the page says so, and not that the place has none. The 2025 footnote file's missing entries for West Jefferson, Delaware County Part and Obetz carry no stated reason, and nothing is read into them here.
Sources
Every figure, date and quotation on this page comes from one of these documents, read on the date given. Where two of them disagree, the page says so.
- Ohio Board of Building Standards, Ohio Department of Commerce, Residential Building Department Certification List, pages stamped August 16, 2023; read September 2026.
- Ohio Board of Building Standards, Ohio Department of Commerce (dataset hosted on the State of Ohio's ArcGIS server), BBS_Jurisdictions feature service, layer 0 (Jurisdictions), behind the Board's interactive jurisdiction map, Central Ohio rows last edited September 9 and 18, 2025, queried September 15, 2026; read September 2026.
- Ohio Department of Commerce, Construction Clarity: New Interactive Map Transforms How Ohioans Find Local Building Departments, September 2, 2025; read September 2026.
- Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Industrial Compliance, Industrial Compliance (DIC) home page, Building Department Look Up panel, undated; read September 2026.
- Ohio Board of Building Standards, Ohio Department of Commerce, BBS Certification Information, undated; read September 2026.
- Ohio Revised Code, Ohio Laws (codes.ohio.gov), Legislative Service Commission, Section 3791.04, Submission of plan - approvals - prohibition - fine, effective September 10, 2012; read September 2026.
- Union County, Ohio, County Engineer (Building Regulation), Residential Information, undated; read September 2026.
- Franklin County, Ohio, Economic Development and Planning Department, Building (Franklin County Building Department), undated; read September 2026.
- Mifflin Township, Franklin County, Ohio, Residential Building Permits and Zoning, undated; read September 2026.
- City of Hilliard, Ohio, Building Standards Division, Building Standards Division, undated; read September 2026.
- City of Bexley, Ohio, Building and Zoning Department, Building and Zoning Department, undated; read September 2026.
- City of Grove City, Ohio, Building and Zoning Division, About Building & Zoning, undated; read September 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, Midwest region place annual files mw1980a.txt to mw2024a.txt (first and last year each place is listed), 1980 to 2024 files; read September 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, Annual place footnote file footnote2024.xls, May 2025; read September 2026.
- Delaware County, Ohio, Department of Building Safety, Delaware County Building Safety (home page), undated; read September 2026.
- City of Newark, Ohio, Department of Engineering & Zoning, Department of Engineering & Zoning, undated; read September 2026.
- Licking County, Ohio, Building Code Department, Building Code (department home page), January 29, 2026; read September 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, Annual place footnote file footnote2019.xls, May 2020; read September 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, Annual place footnote file foot2016.txt, May 2017; read September 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, Annual place footnote file footnote2020.xls, May 2021; read September 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, Annual place footnote file foot2017.txt, May 2018; read September 2026.
- Fairfield County, Ohio, Building Department, Fairfield County Building Department, undated; read September 2026.
- Violet Township, Fairfield County, Ohio, Building Department, undated; read September 2026.
- City of Pickerington, Ohio, Building Department, Building Department, undated; read September 2026.
- City of Marysville, Ohio, Planning and Zoning, Permits, undated; read September 2026.
- Village of Plain City, Ohio, Development Services, Building Department, undated; read September 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey (copy held by the Internet Archive), Annual place footnote file foot2007.pdf, 2008; read September 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, Annual place footnote file footnote2021.xlsx, April 2022; read September 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, Annual place footnote file footnote2025.xlsx, May 2026; read September 2026.
- Madison County, Ohio, Building Department, Building Permits and Information, undated; read September 2026.
- Village of West Jefferson, Ohio, Department of Development, Other Communities Served, undated; read September 2026.
- Village of West Jefferson, Ohio, Department of Development, Department of Development, undated; read September 2026.
- Pickaway County, Ohio, Building Department, Pickaway County Building Department, undated; read September 2026.
- City of Circleville, Ohio, Business, undated; read September 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, Index of /econ/bps/Place (directory listing), listing as of August 2026; read September 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey (copy held by the Internet Archive), Annual place footnote file foot2008.pdf, 2009; read September 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey (copy held by the Internet Archive), Annual place footnote file foot2009.pdf, 2010; read September 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey (copy held by the Internet Archive), Annual place footnote file foot2010.pdf, 2011; read September 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, Annual place footnote file footnote2018.xls, June 2019; read September 2026.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, Annual place footnote file footnote2023.xls, April 2024; read September 2026.
- Delaware County, Ohio, Cities, Villages & Townships, undated; read September 2026.
Common questions
Who issues building permits in Powell, Ohio?
On the Ohio Board of Building Standards' residential certification list stamped August 16, 2023, the City of Powell in Delaware County holds its own certified department, entry 455, at 47 Hall St, and Delaware County's department is a separate entry, 325. The Census Bureau's permit survey footnote for Powell said in its 2018 file that Powell's permit system also covers Liberty township, and from its 2019 file limits that to four-or-more-family buildings in Liberty township. A Powell mailing address does not name the jurisdiction a property sits in, and no record read here says which office issued any one house's permit.
Does the City of Newark, Ohio have its own building department?
Not on the records read for this page. The City of Newark's own engineering and zoning page says the Licking County Building Code Department is the agency responsible for enforcing residential and commercial building codes within Newark, and the Ohio Board of Building Standards' residential certification list stamped August 16, 2023 names Newark as a sub-department of Licking County's entry, 384. The Licking County department describes itself as enforcing building codes for all residential and commercial projects throughout the majority of Licking County. The Census Bureau's older permit survey files carry a reporting office published under the name Newark, which is a survey reporting office, not a building department.
Who issues building permits in Marysville, Ohio?
The records read for this page name Union County's department. Union County's building department says it has agreements with all municipalities to enforce commercial and residential building codes except Unionville Center, the incorporated areas of Plain City and the City of Dublin, and it names Marysville among the places that contract with it. The Ohio Board of Building Standards' residential list stamped August 16, 2023 names Marysville, the Union County seat, as a sub-department of Union County's entry, 498. The City of Marysville's own permits page covers zoning permits and refers building permit questions to the Union County Building Department.
Who issues building permits in Plain City, Ohio?
Three records name the Village of West Jefferson's building department for Plain City, a village in Madison and Union counties. Union County's own page calls West Jefferson's building department the permitting authority in Plain City, Plain City's own page says its building permits are now issued by the Village of West Jefferson Building Department, and the Ohio Board of Building Standards' residential list stamped August 16, 2023 names Plain City as a sub-department of West Jefferson, entry 518. The Census Bureau's permit survey footnotes date the change to their 2021 file, when West Jefferson's footnote began covering Plain City's one-, two- and three-unit buildings, including its Union County portion.
Does Circleville, Ohio have its own building department?
Two publishers disagree, and neither is chosen here. The Ohio Board of Building Standards' residential certification list stamped August 16, 2023 carries Circleville, in Pickaway County, as its own certified department, entry 308, printed at the Pickaway County Building Department's address and telephone number, and the Board's map carries a Circleville row at the same address. The City of Circleville's own business page says the city does not have its own building department and refers residents to the Pickaway County Building Department. Nothing the Board publishes explains entry 308. Pickaway County's own department, entry 451, says it tracks permits for new construction, alterations, additions, repairs and demolitions.
Who issues building permits in Madison County, Ohio?
Three Madison County records are set side by side here, not reconciled. The Ohio Board of Building Standards' residential list stamped August 16, 2023 names Madison County's department as entry 399 at 1 N Main St, London, with no sub-departments, and names London and West Jefferson as departments of their own. Madison County's own building page says the county contracts with the Village of West Jefferson for the building permit process. The Census Bureau's 2025 permit survey footnote file, posted in May 2026, records the permit system of Madison County Part, the office its 2021 to 2024 footnotes give four-or-more-family buildings in Madison County outside London, as discontinued in 2025.
Is there a Central Ohio township with its own certified building department?
Violet Township in Fairfield County is the one. The Ohio Board of Building Standards' residential certification list stamped August 16, 2023 names Violet Township as entry 505, at 10190 Blacklick-Eastern Road, Pickerington, and the township calls itself a state certified department in the residential and commercial classifications. On the Board's jurisdiction map as queried in September 2026, Violet is the one township in Franklin, Delaware, Licking, Fairfield, Union, Madison and Pickaway counties recorded as residential-certified. Fairfield County's own building department reviews commercial work in the county's unincorporated areas with the exception of Violet Township.
Which years of Census Bureau building permit footnotes survive for Ohio places?
The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey place folder holds no footnote file older than September 2016: its earliest is foot1609.txt, the annual files begin with 2016, and from 2018 the annual file is an Excel workbook, the newest covering 2025 and posted in May 2026. Four earlier annual footnote files, for 2007 to 2010, survive as PDFs in copies held by the Internet Archive. No footnote text was found for 1980 to 2006 or 2011 to 2015, so in those years the place files' first and last listings are the record of a change. The footnotes name reporting offices for the survey, not building departments.
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