Permits & Inspections in Jefferson, Bullitt, and Nelson Counties (Plain English)
What you actually need a permit for in Jefferson, Bullitt, and Nelson counties — driveways, decks, retaining walls, sheds. Who issues them and how long they take.
Permitting in Kentucky isn't as bad as people make it out to be — but the rules are different in every county, and skipping a required permit can stop your project cold or kill your home sale later. Here's the working contractor's guide for the three counties we work in most.
Jefferson County (Louisville Metro)
Who: Develop Louisville handles most permits. The Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) handles anything that ties into storm or sanitary sewer.
What needs a permit:
- New construction of any kind
- Additions to existing structures
- Decks larger than 200 sq ft or attached to the house
- Retaining walls over 4 ft tall
- Driveway aprons that connect to a public road
- Sheds over 200 sq ft (varies by zoning)
- Pools in-ground always; above-ground over 24" deep
- Plumbing or electrical that goes underground or in walls
- Excavation that changes drainage or affects a floodplain
What doesn't:
- Replacing an existing concrete driveway in kind (no expansion, no new apron)
- Patios at grade with no roof
- Small landscaping walls under 4 ft
- Repairs to existing decks/porches
Typical timeline: 5–15 business days for residential review. Inspections usually within 48 hours of request.
Bullitt County
Who: Bullitt County Planning & Zoning. State route entrances (KY-44, KY-61, US-31E) need a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet entrance permit on top of the county permit.
What needs a permit:
- New construction, additions, decks attached to a house
- Driveway entrances to state routes
- Retaining walls over 4 ft
- Pools, sheds over 200 sq ft
Typical timeline: 7–10 business days. KYTC entrance permits add 2–4 weeks.
Nelson County
Who: Nelson County Planning & Zoning. The City of Bardstown handles permits inside city limits.
What needs a permit:
- New construction, additions, decks, pools
- Anything inside Bardstown city limits
- Major grading that affects drainage or a floodplain
Agricultural exemption applies to many farm-use buildings (pole barns, equipment sheds) on parcels actively used for agriculture — but not to residences or accessory living quarters.
Typical timeline: 5–10 business days for residential.
What we handle for you
On every permitted job, we:
- Confirm jurisdiction before quoting (city vs. county vs. state route)
- Pull the permit in our name when we're the GC
- Schedule the inspections
- Meet the inspector on-site
Permit fees are passed through at cost. We don't mark them up.
When you absolutely need a permit and someone tells you to skip it
Walk away. The contractor saving you a $250 permit fee is the same contractor who'll be unreachable when you go to sell the house and the buyer's inspector flags an unpermitted addition.
Talk to us before you start a project — we can usually tell you in 60 seconds whether you need a permit and roughly what it'll add to the timeline.