Permit Requirements

HVAC Replacement permits across Tennessee

Where each city draws the line on hvac replacement 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 11
Depends on size 1
No permit 1

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 Yes Replacing an air conditioner, furnace, or heat pump needs… Fees depend on how the appliance is classified in the gas/m…
Memphis 610,919 Unconfirmed
Knoxville 198,722 Yes Replacing an air conditioner, furnace, or heat pump needs… Mechanical permit fees are set in the city Fee Schedule ado…
Chattanooga 191,496 Yes Replacing an air conditioner, furnace, or heat pump needs…
Clarksville 185,690 Yes No size threshold in the code Electrical HVAC inspection: $32.00 per unit.
Murfreesboro 168,387 No Replacing like package or split HVAC equipment that is pe… Not applicable; like-for-like replacement is exempt.
Franklin 89,142 Yes No size threshold in the code Mechanical inspection fee in the Appendix A fee schedule.
Johnson City 73,635 Yes Replacing an air conditioner, furnace, or heat pump needs… 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 Replacing a full air conditioner, furnace, or heat pump n…
Kingsport 57,109 Unconfirmed
Gallatin 52,489 Yes No size threshold in the code Current permit fee schedules are available in the Building …
Brentwood 45,525 Yes No size threshold in the code
Mount Juliet 44,066 Unconfirmed
La Vergne 41,430 Depends exempt if heating and cooling capacity and fuel source st… Set by the fee schedule adopted with the annual budget.
Germantown 40,128 Unconfirmed
Morristown 32,994 Unconfirmed
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.

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