City of Bend, OR

Common application types

• Residential building permit
• Commercial building permit
• Commercial tenant improvement
• Plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits
• Sign permit
• Accessory dwelling unit
• Pre-Application meeting
• Type I, II and III planning applications
• Middle Housing Land Division (expedited Type I)

New homes and additions

Residential submittals on or after April 1, 2024 must follow the 2023 Oregon Residential Specialty Code and include the current energy checklist, using the City's submittal checklist file naming conventions. Plans should be flattened before upload. Accessory structures and garages must meet zoning setbacks and other standards in the Bend Development Code.

ADUs and middle housing

Bend allows up to two ADUs on a residential lot with a single-unit home, townhome or manufactured home, each 800 sq ft or less, and offers five free pre-approved plans that qualify as ADUs and can also be used for cottage clusters and detached duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes. Middle Housing Land Divisions for duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, cottage clusters and townhomes are an expedited Type I review with no public notice, and the City must decide within 63 days of a complete application.

Decks, retaining walls and accessory structures

A building permit is generally not required for a structure no larger than 200 sq ft and no taller than 15 ft, though setbacks and zoning still apply and electrical or plumbing work needs its own permit. Accessory structures in residential zones are limited to 1,500 sq ft, 25 ft tall when detached, and may have only a half bath or wet bar unless permitted as an ADU.

Commercial tenant improvements and change of use

All commercial projects must include the City of Bend Standard Commercial Cover Sheet and follow the commercial drawing file naming requirements; pre-submittal meetings are available for commercial projects. A tenant improvement permit cannot be submitted for plan review until the shell permit is issued, and is not issued until the shell is substantially complete.

Land use review

Type I applications (such as property line adjustments) are staff decisions without notice, Type II applications (such as subdivisions, multi-unit housing and variances) are staff decisions after a 14-day comment period, and Type III applications (such as zone changes, master plans and Deschutes River development) go to a hearing. Pre-application meetings are optional, and a Neighborhood Public Meeting is required before submitting certain applications, including land divisions, conditional use permits, master plans and site plan review for buildings of 10,000 sq ft or more.

Corrections and review

The City estimates 4 to 8 weeks to process an ADU permit, depending on completeness and response time to review comments. Planning completeness checks usually take 2 to 4 weeks, Type I decisions usually come within 30 days of completeness, and Type II decisions within 120 days (typically 6 to 8 weeks); unflattened commercial plans are returned for correction.

Tips from SASHKOV

• Flatten drawing files before uploading to the Online Permit Center.
• Hold any required Neighborhood Public Meeting before submitting a land division or conditional use application.
• Record a middle housing land division final plat with the Deschutes County Surveyor within 60 days of final plat approval.

Where to apply

Permitting authority: Community Development Department (Building Safety and Planning Divisions). Online submittals: Online Permit Center.