How to Fax Building Permits to Government Agencies
Local building departments authorize construction, renovation, and demolition through the permit process, and plenty of them still take applications and supplemental documents by fax, particularly for minor-work permits and jurisdictions that have not moved everything to an online portal. A faxed permit package usually carries the application form, the property's APN or legal description, the contractor's license number, and reduced-scale plans. Send FAX Mail is useful when a contractor is submitting to several jurisdictions in one afternoon, or when a plan checker requests added documentation mid-project and the response needs a dated record of when the department received it.
How to Fax a Building Permits
- 1Obtain the current permit application form for your jurisdiction — requirements vary significantly by municipality, and outdated forms are routinely rejected
- 2Complete all required fields including the property address, legal description (APN or lot/block), scope of work description, estimated project value, and contractor license number
- 3Attach reduced-scale site plans, floor plans, or elevation drawings if required — confirm the building department's fax-resolution requirements for plans (many require 1/8" scale minimum at 8.5"x11")
- 4Include all required supporting documents such as soils reports, energy compliance calculations (Title 24 in California, REScheck elsewhere), or structural calculations
- 5Locate the building department's official permit application fax number from the city or county website — not from third-party directories
- 6Log in to Send FAX Mail, upload the complete permit package, and save the delivery confirmation as proof of submission date
Document Format
Site plans and construction drawings must be clearly legible at standard fax resolution — fine line work and small text often does not reproduce well. Use PDF originals from design software rather than scanned paper drawings when possible. Include the permit application number on every page if one was pre-assigned. The property address and APN must appear on the permit application cover page exactly as they appear in county records. Include all contractor license numbers and expiration dates.
Legal Considerations
Construction without a required building permit violates local building codes and may result in stop-work orders, fines, required demolition of unpermitted work, and complications when selling the property. The permit application date establishes which edition of the building code applies to your project — submitting before a code change takes effect can significantly impact project requirements. Many jurisdictions consider a fax received after 5 PM as received the following business day for permit dating purposes.
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Faxing a Building Permits — FAQ
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