General building work permit checklist — Memphis, Tennessee
Assembled from Memphis’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?
Memphis requires a permit for general building work.
Joint Ordinance No. 569 substitutes its own building-side list for the one in Section R105.2, and it carries the standard caveat that skipping a permit never licenses work that breaks the code or any other law or ordinance in force in the jurisdiction. The first two slots on the substituted list are reserved. What remains: earth-retaining walls topping out at 3 feet (914 mm) or under, measured upward from finished grade at the base, so long as no adjoining structure, a permanent building or a public roadway for instance, loads them from behind; unsupported free-standing walls at 4 feet (1220 mm) or under by the same measurement; grade-set water tanks capped at 5,000 gallons (18927 L) whose height runs no more than double the diameter or width; walkways and driveways rising 30 inches (762 mm) or less over the ground next to them with no basement or story beneath; finish and surface work such as paint, wallpaper, tile, floor covering, cabinetry and countertops; factory-built pools holding water shallower than 24 inches (610 mm); backyard play structures at a one- or two-family home; awnings hung off an exterior wall that reach out 54 inches (1732 mm) at most and need no posts of their own; freestanding decks of 200 square feet or less that sit within 30 inches (762 mm) of grade throughout, touch no dwelling, and are not the landing for the exit door Section R311.4 calls for; and reroofing of any detached single-family home, provided the job leaves decking, structural members and equipment supports untouched.
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Sources
- building — fee schedule ↗verified August 2026
Other permits Memphis 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
- Shed permit checklist
- Water heater permit checklist
- Re-roof permit checklist
- Retaining wall permit checklist
- Electrical work permit checklist
BuildSpec is a reference, not the authority having jurisdiction. Confirm requirements with Memphis before you build.