City of Portland, OR

Common application types

• New Single Family Residence (NSFR)
• Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU)
• Residential Addition
• Major Residential Alteration and Addition (MRAA)
• Attic, Basement or Garage Conversion
• Deck
• Retaining Wall
• Commercial Alteration / Tenant Improvement
• Change of Use or Occupancy
• Land Use Review

New homes and additions

New single family residences and detached ADUs are submitted through DevHub and reviewed under the Oregon Residential Specialty Code and the Portland Zoning Code (Title 33). Depending on the project, submittals can include a Bureau of Environmental Services Simplified Approach Form for stormwater, a Simple Site Plan - Erosion Control Requirements Form, and a Request for Partial Plan Review Exemption; after issuance, erosion control must be inspected and approved before further ground-disturbing work. Projects with three or more units on one lot, or attached to each other, are submitted by email, are assigned a Process Manager, and need a Life Safety Completeness Checklist and a Residential Batch Intake Worksheet. More than one structure on a lot requires a separate Site Development permit for shared infrastructure.

ADUs and middle housing

An ADU can be added to a lot with a house, attached house, duplex or manufactured home, must be smaller than the main dwelling, and needs a site plan; free pre-approved detached ADU plans are available. Under the Residential Infill Project, duplexes are allowed on single-dwelling lots where a primary structure is allowed (except RF), and triplexes, fourplexes, multiple ADUs and cottage clusters (3 to 16 units under 900 sq ft footprint) are options with limits such as the two-unit cap on unmaintained streets and no infill types in the z overlay. Middle Housing Land Divisions use the Expedited Land Division procedure.

Decks, retaining walls and accessory structures

A building permit is required to build, alter or demolish a garage, carport or shed over 200 sq ft (measured inside the exterior walls) or over 15 feet tall (finish floor to average roof height), and for fences taller than seven feet. Retaining walls need a building permit when more than four feet from bottom of footing to top of wall or when supporting a surcharge, and walls over four feet need drawings and calculations stamped by an Oregon-registered engineer; smaller walls may still need a zoning permit. Some decks may be exempt from a building permit, but a zoning permit may still apply.

Commercial tenant improvements and change of use

A permit is required to document any change of use or occupancy classification, and inspections are required even when no construction is done; the permit expires if 180 days pass without an approved inspection. New work must meet current code including accessibility, with up to 25 percent of total construction cost directed to removing existing barriers, and seismic upgrades depend on the new use and occupant load under Portland City Code 24.85. Plans must be prepared by a licensed architect in cases such as buildings over 4,000 sq ft, floor-to-ceiling heights over 20 feet, structural alterations or changes of occupancy. The goal for first review of a simple change of use is about four weeks. Published first review goals for commercial permits are 10 days for alterations and 20 days for additions and new construction.

Land use review

Land use reviews use Expedited Land Division, Type I, Type Ix, Type II, Type IIx, Type III and Type IV procedures, with staff decisions for most types and hearings for Type III and IV. Middle Housing Land Divisions use the Expedited Land Division procedure with a staff decision 14 to 63 days after completeness. Early Assistance is optional for most types, and a Pre-Application Conference is required before Type III and Type IV applications.

Corrections and review

Reviewers issue Checksheets, and applicants respond through the DevHub Upload Corrections portal with the checksheet, a completed checksheet response form, clouded revised pages and any revised calculations; incorrect or incomplete corrections are rejected. Published first review goals are 7 days for residential alterations and 15 days for residential additions and new construction (10 and 20 days for commercial), and the re-review goal is 5 to 7 days after Checksheet responses are received.

Tips from SASHKOV

• Wait until all reviews are finished, then respond to every Checksheet at once with a response form noting where each change is on the plans.
• Stamp every resubmitted page with SUBMITTED and the date in the bottom right corner (14 pt or larger), and cloud only the current changes.
• Free 15-minute appointments with planners, building code reviewers and permit technicians are available before applying.
• Write "Pre-Approved ADU" in the project description when using the city's pre-approved detached ADU plans.

Where to apply

Permitting authority: Portland Permitting & Development. Online submittals: Development Hub PDX (DevHub).