Permit Applications

About Permits & Applications

The Fire Marshal Division is responsible for conducting plan review and inspections of permit required work. Plans and applications will be reviewed during the intake process and assigned to one of five levels based on the type and size of the project. Each level includes a projected review time for initial and subsequent submittals.

Is My Project in the City?

One of the first steps is to determine the appropriate jurisdiction for your project.  Areas such as West Ashley, James Island, Johns Island, and Cainhoy include mix of properties that may or may not be incorporated within the City of Charleston.  Please review the map tools available at https://gis.charleston-sc.gov/ to verify your project is within our jurisdiction.

Goals

Our goal is to review the plans and provide comments or approvals within the projected time frame. Review times will be extended based on volume of plans and workload of the Division. Projected review times may be reviewed in our Fire Plan Review and Permitting (PDF) information bulletin.

Requesting Inspections

Customers will need to register through the Customer Self Service (CSS) portal  to apply for permits, schedule inspections of permitted work and update business license information.

Fire Code Permit Applications

A list of the available fire permit applications is outlined below. Be sure to read, review, and understand the required information for each application. Incomplete applications cannot be processed and will delay the plan review. We are continually working to review, update, and improve this material so be sure to check back often to obtain the most current edition of the needed form.  

Please be sure to select the appropriate application for your project.  Projects initiated before 12/31/2022 should be submitted on the 2018 application, projects initiated after 1/1/2023should be submitted on the 2021 application.   Project initiation is considered the date when the life safety plans were first submitted for a new construction project or when the fire permit is submitted for a stand alone project: 

The following permit applications must be utilized for projects that will be initiated after January 1st, 2023: 

The following permit applications must be utilized for projects that will be initiated after January 1st, 2020: