Types of permits in Massachusetts: building, electrical, plumbing, gas, mechanical and sheet metal, and who issues each

The state building code is 780 CMR, and M.G.L. c. 143, § 96 says it "shall incorporate any specialized construction codes" issued by the boards the legislature has authorized: the plumbing code, electrical code, sheet metal regulations, fire prevention regulations, architectural barriers regulations and elevator regulations among them (M.G.L. c. 143, § 96). The building code's own permit section makes the split explicit: a building permit is required to construct, alter, repair, remove or demolish a building or install regulated equipment, "while other kinds of permits may be required for work governed by other laws, by-laws, rules and the specialized codes of M.G.L. c. 143, § 96, such as electrical, plumbing, and sheet metal" (780 CMR 105.1–105.2). Each trade has its own licensing board, and each board's rule is that its permit goes to its licensee.

The building permit covers the structure and everything 780 CMR regulates that is not a trade permit: new construction, additions, alterations, repairs, demolition, changes of use and the installation of regulated equipment. The residential code exempts a short list, a one-storey detached shed of 200 square feet or less, a fence up to seven feet, a retaining wall not over four feet, sidewalks and driveways, painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets and counter tops, a detached deck of up to 200 square feet and no more than 30 inches above grade, among others, and its "ordinary repairs" clause never reaches the cutting of a wall or structural member or any change to a required means of egress (780 CMR 51.00 R105.2). Roofing, siding, windows and doors are building-permit work; Barnstable, Plymouth and Essex handle them on expedited or short-form building applications (Barnstable; Plymouth; Essex). The owner or the owner's agent applies; on an owner-occupied one- or two-family home the homeowner may pull it under the homeowner exemption, otherwise a licensed construction supervisor does (780 CMR 110.R5). The building official issues it, inspects the work, and issues the certificate of occupancy where one is required (780 CMR 111.1).

Wiring, fixtures, panels, the circuit to a heat pump, mini split, air conditioner or generator, and fire warning and security systems are electrical work. M.G.L. c. 141, § 1A bars anyone not licensed by the state examiners of electricians from working at it (M.G.L. c. 141, § 1A), and the Board's fact sheet says only a licensed master or journeyman electrician can legally be hired for electrical work at your home, that the permit is your guarantee the work will be inspected, and that a licensed electrician may not connect wiring that an unlicensed person installed (electricians consumer fact sheet). The town's wiring inspector issues the permit to the electrician and inspects the work: towns such as Attleboro state outright that homeowners cannot obtain electrical permits (Attleboro).

Plumbing is the water supply and distribution piping, fixtures and traps, and the soil, waste, vent and drain piping to the property line; gas fitting is the piping of fuel gas to appliances and the vent piping for flue gases. Both are licensed by the Board of Registration of Plumbers and Gas Fitters under M.G.L. c. 142, which also writes the uniform state plumbing and gas codes (248 CMR). The Board's fact sheet is the rule in one place: the local plumbing inspector must issue a permit before any plumbing is installed, altered, removed, replaced or repaired; permits are issued only to licensed plumbers; a licensed plumber may also do gas fitting, but a gas fitter may not do plumbing; and only fixing a leaky faucet or valve or clearing a blocked drain falls outside a permit (plumbers and gas fitters consumer fact sheet; M.G.L. c. 142, § 3). A gas furnace, boiler, water heater, range or fireplace connection is a gas permit, issued to the gas fitter or plumber who makes it.

Ductwork, intake and exhaust louvers, dampers and the ventilation side of a heating and cooling system, and metal roofing on commercial and industrial buildings, are sheet metal work. The Board of Examiners of Sheet Metal Workers' fact sheet says the local building inspector must issue a permit before any sheet metal work is installed, altered, removed, replaced or repaired, that permits are issued only to licensed sheet metal workers, and that Massachusetts law prohibits anyone else from doing the work; restricted licensees may work on homes of up to three storeys (sheet metal worker consumer fact sheet). That is why a ducted furnace or central air installation can carry a sheet metal permit alongside the gas and electrical ones. Our Massachusetts sheet metal permit explainer covers the permit form and what it records in detail.

Heating, cooling, refrigeration and related equipment is regulated by the building code's mechanical chapter, 780 CMR chapter 28, which adopts the International Mechanical Code with Massachusetts amendments (780 CMR chapter 28). There is no separate state mechanical licence: the piping is the gas fitter's, the wiring the electrician's, the ducts the sheet metal worker's, and the equipment itself is permitted under 780 CMR. Towns differ in how they name that permit, Worcester lists a mechanical permit among its permit types, Littleton issues mechanical permits to contractors only, and Grafton takes mechanical applications on its online system alongside electrical, plumbing and gas (Worcester; Littleton; Grafton), so the town page is where to check which permits a heat pump or boiler needs there.

A few permits sit at the edges. Demolition is a building permit for taking a structure down: Somerville distinguishes an interior gut, which takes a building permit, from a total teardown, which takes a demolition permit (Somerville ISD), and towns with demolition-delay by-laws send those applications to the historical commission first, as Essex does for every demolition regardless of the building's age (Essex Building Inspector). Installing a sign needs a building permit as well: Somerville and Cambridge both say so on their department pages (Cambridge ISD). Fire alarm and sprinkler work needs the fire department as well as the building department: Rockland requires a Rockland Fire Department permit for every fire alarm and sprinkler permit (Rockland). And no new or changed-use building may be occupied until the building commissioner or inspector of buildings issues a certificate of occupancy and use, which requires conformance with the specialized codes (780 CMR 111.1).

The city or town. 780 CMR is the building code for every municipality, and the building official, the building commissioner or inspector of buildings, issues building permits; the wiring inspector, plumbing inspector and gas inspector, usually housed in the same department, issue the trade permits to the licensees (780 CMR 101.2). The state licenses the tradespeople and writes the codes; it does not issue your permit. Each town page on this site names the department, its portal and which permits it issues.