Fairfax County's Department of Land Development Services handles thousands of permit applications a year. Most residential projects, from basement finishes to large additions, go through the ePlans system for electronic review. Before you submit anything, there are a few things you need to sort out first.
What Type of Permit Do You Need?
Most residential projects need a building permit: additions, basement finishes, structural alterations, decks, and demolition. Trade work - HVAC, electrical, plumbing - needs separate trade permits, which are often filed alongside the building permit. Fairfax County is stricter than many neighbors on small structures: replacing a deck requires a permit even if it's the same size in the same location, unless you're only swapping deck boards in kind.
- Building permit: additions, alterations, basement finishes, decks, demolition
- Trade permits: mechanical, electrical, plumbing (separate applications)
- Accessory structures: sheds and similar structures over the size threshold need permits
- Cosmetic-only work (paint, flooring, cabinets) generally does not
Check Your Zoning Before Anything Else
The most expensive permit mistakes in Fairfax County happen before drawings exist: designing something zoning won't allow. Check your setbacks, lot coverage, and height limits first, and find out whether your property sits in an overlay district - Route 1, Route 7, Tysons, and several Historic Areas all impose additional design and use restrictions with extra review steps. The county's 2021 Zoning Ordinance modernization also changed use categories, so older references to your property's zoning may be out of date.
What Your Drawings Need to Include
A complete residential submission typically includes a site plan (plat) showing the work and its setback distances, floor plans and elevations of the proposed work, structural details, and an energy compliance worksheet. Structural scopes generally need drawings prepared or reviewed by a licensed professional. Missing setback documentation and absent energy worksheets are two of the county's most common rejection reasons - both fully avoidable.
Submitting Through Fairfax ePlans
Fairfax County uses electronic plan review: you create an account, upload your drawing set and documents, pay fees online, and track review status through the portal. Reviews are distributed to zoning, building, and site reviewers electronically, and any comments come back through the same system. There's no need to visit the Government Center for a standard residential permit.
What Happens After You Submit
Residential additions and alterations typically take 4–8 weeks for the initial review of a complete first submission. Simple scopes like decks and fences usually run faster, commercial work slower. When review finishes, you either receive an approved permit or a set of review comments to resolve. Once the permit issues, work must begin within the validity window and each construction phase gets inspected - inspections are scheduled online or through the county's automated phone system.
Dealing With Correction Letters
If reviewers find problems, you get comments that must be resolved and resubmitted - and each correction cycle can add weeks. In Fairfax County the recurring offenders are insufficient setback documentation, missing energy compliance worksheets, incorrect zoning district references, and incomplete site plans. The fastest permit is the one that's right the first time: pre-checking the submission against the county's checklist eliminates most correction cycles entirely.
Want It Handled for You?
PermitCare has been filing Fairfax County permits for over 25 years - drawings, energy worksheets, ePlans submission, comment responses, and inspections, end to end. If you'd rather not learn the county's checklist the hard way, contact us for a free consultation.