General building work permit checklist — Nashville, Tennessee
Assembled from Nashville’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?
Nashville requires a permit for general building work.
Normal maintenance repairs do not require a permit. Metro defines normal maintenance repairs as repairs to an existing building or structure, including but not limited to exterior and interior painting, papering, glazing of windows and doors, floor finishing, minor repairs to chimneys, stairs, porches and underpinning, and repairs to an existing roof not exceeding 33 percent of the roof area.
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Sources
- building — permit rules ↗verified August 2026
Other permits Nashville 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
- Electrical work permit checklist
BuildSpec is a reference, not the authority having jurisdiction. Confirm requirements with Nashville before you build.