California › San Bernardino County

Shed permit checklist — San Bernardino County, California

Assembled from San Bernardino County’s own published permit rules. Every line below is quoted from a city document and linked to it. Nothing here is generated, estimated, or inferred from another jurisdiction.

Do you need a permit?

San Bernardino County requires a permit for a shed.

San Bernardino County sets the line at 120 square feet: 'New Buildings and Structures greater than 120 square feet' require a permit, so a detached shed of 120 sq ft or less is generally exempt from a building permit. That is a lower threshold than the 200 sq ft several other large Western counties use, so a 150 sq ft shed that needs no permit elsewhere does need one here. The exemption does not extend to sheds with electrical, plumbing or mechanical service, which require the relevant trade permits regardless of size. Zoning setbacks, and in the mountain communities WUI defensible-space clearances, still apply to exempt sheds.

Loading the full checklist…

Sources

• shed — permit rules ↗verified August 2026

Other permits San Bernardino County publishes rules for

Listed because the city publishes a separate rule for each type — not because this project necessarily triggers one. Whether it does depends on your scope of work.

• Deck permit checklist
• Fence permit checklist
• Water heater permit checklist
• Re-roof permit checklist
• Retaining wall permit checklist
• Electrical work permit checklist
• General building work permit checklist

BuildSpec is a reference, not the authority having jurisdiction. Confirm requirements with San Bernardino County before you build.