Permit Requirements

Garage permits across Tennessee

Where each city draws the line on garage work. Sort any column — useful if you build across several towns and need to know where the rules change.

Cities compared 23
Always need one 1
Depends on size 21

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 Depends Over 200 sq ft $5.00 per $1,000 total valuation (residential construction)
Memphis 610,919 Depends Over 200 sq ft
Knoxville 198,722 Depends Over 200 Per Fee Schedule adopted by City Council resolution
Chattanooga 191,496 Depends Up to 200
Clarksville 185,690 Depends Over 200
Murfreesboro 168,387 Depends Over 200
Franklin 89,142 Yes No size threshold in the code
Johnson City 73,635 Depends Over 100 The Board of Commissioners may set a permit fee schedule (S…
Jackson 69,303 Depends Over 200 Fee schedule as approved by city council resolution (§ 12-2…
Hendersonville 63,947 Depends Over 200
Smyrna 60,302 Depends Over 100
Kingsport 57,109 Depends Up to 120
Gallatin 52,489 Depends Up to 200 Current permit fee schedules are available in the Building …
Brentwood 45,525 Depends Over 200
Mount Juliet 44,066 Depends Over 200
La Vergne 41,430 Depends Over 120 As set forth in the fee schedule adopted with the annual bu…
Germantown 40,128 Unconfirmed
Morristown 32,994 Depends Up to 200 Based on current fee schedule approved by Morristown City C…
Bristol 27,867 Depends Over 200 Permit fees shall be set by resolution of city council and …
Farragut 25,242 Depends Over 200 Permit fees set by the general fee schedule resolution adop…
Springfield 19,842 Depends Over 200 Fees established by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen by sepa…
Goodlettsville 17,433 Depends Up to 200
Nolensville 15,809 Depends Over 200 As provided by ordinance of the Board of Commissioners, on …

“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.

This is a reference, not legal advice. Confirm with the building department in the city you're building in. How we build these pages.