Demolition permits across Tennessee
Where each city draws the line on demolition work. Sort any column — useful if you build across several towns and need to know where the rules change.
The statewide starting point is International Residential Code, принятый Теннесси, 2018. Cities that changed the rule are the interesting rows below.
| Where the line falls | Fee | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville | 704,963 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Memphis | 610,919 | Yes | You cannot tear down any house or building in Memphis wit… | The charter does not set a demolition permit fee. If the jo… |
| Knoxville | 198,722 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Chattanooga | 191,496 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Clarksville | 185,690 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Murfreesboro | 168,387 | Unconfirmed | — | Permit fees are set by the City Council; no amount is liste… |
| Franklin | 89,142 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | — |
| Johnson City | 73,635 | Unconfirmed | — | The Board of Commissioners may set a permit fee schedule (S… |
| Jackson | 69,303 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Hendersonville | 63,947 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | — |
| Smyrna | 60,302 | Yes | Demolishing a structure or part of one needs a permit. De… | — |
| Kingsport | 57,109 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | — |
| Gallatin | 52,489 | Unconfirmed | — | Current permit fee schedules are available in the Building … |
| Brentwood | 45,525 | Yes | 90-day waiting period before a permit issues if the struc… | — |
| Mount Juliet | 44,066 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| La Vergne | 41,430 | Unconfirmed | — | Set by the fee schedule adopted with the annual budget. |
| Germantown | 40,128 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Morristown | 32,994 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | permit cost set by the city's building-permit fee schedule … |
| Bristol | 27,867 | Unconfirmed | — | Permit fees set by resolution of city council (§ 14-33(b));… |
| Farragut | 25,242 | Yes | No size threshold in the code | — |
| Springfield | 19,842 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Goodlettsville | 17,433 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
| Nolensville | 15,809 | Unconfirmed | — | — |
“Unconfirmed” means the city's code doesn't state the rule plainly enough to publish. Those city pages link straight to the ordinance section instead.
Why neighboring cities disagree
Every city starts from a model code and then edits it. One town raises the shed cutoff, the next lowers the fence height, a third exempts the structure where its neighbor only exempts repairs to it. None of that is visible from a national article — you have to read each ordinance, which is what these pages do.