Requirements documents building plan review

Building Plans shall include:

• Site (TDEC NOC if required)
• Life Safety
• Structural
• Floor Plans
• Electrical
• Plumbing
• Gas
• Mechanical
• Fire Safety if applicable
• Approval letter from Madison County Health Dept.
• Electronic (pdf) copy of plan can be submitted to buildingpermits@madisoncountytn.gov.

For further information contact Jeff Clark Madison County Building Commissioner at 731-423-6014 or E-Mail. All Plans must be submitted to the Madison County Building Dept. located inside of the Madison County Courthouse.

100 E. Main St. Suite 100
Jackson, TN 38301

Requirements documents fire safety plan review

Three complete sets of Fire Safety Plans including any and all:

• Fire Sprinklers
• Standpipes
• Fire Alarms
• Fire Suppression Systems
• Fuel Storage Tanks
• Etc.
• A pdf copy of plans may be accepted (please contact Building Commissioner)

For further information contact Jeff Clark Madison County Building Commissioner at 731-423-6014. All Plans must be submitted to the Madison County Building Dept. located inside of the Madison County Courthouse.

100 E. Main St. Suite 100
Jackson, TN 38301

Projects Requiring Design Professionals

It is unlawful for anyone other than a registered design professional to prepare plans and specifications for the following building occupancies as defined in the 2018 edition of the International Building Code. Assembly, educational and institutional occupancies always require the use of design professionals regardless of the size or scope of a project.

• Assembly Occupancies (A) - buildings or structures, or any portion thereof, for the gathering of persons for purposes such as civic, social, or religious functions or for recreation, food or drink consumption, or awaiting transportation, having a capacity of 50 or more persons. A registered design professional is required for this type of occupancy regardless of the size of the facility. Examples include: amusement park buildings; auditoriums; churches, synagogues, mosques; dance halls; motion picture theaters; museums; passenger depots; public assembly halls; and restaurants that accommodate 100 or more people, or that have a stage, provide dancing or entertainment features.
• Business Occupancies (B) - use of a building or structure, or any portion thereof, for office, professional, or service transactions including normal accessory storage and the keeping of records or accounts. A registered design professional is required if the building or structure is over two stories in height or is five thousand square feet or more in total gross area. Examples include: office buildings; service stations; bowling alleys; greenhouses; banks; libraries (other than school); restaurants and dry cleaning establishments.
• Educational Occupancies (E) - use of a building or structure, or any portion thereof, for the gathering together of persons for the purpose of instruction. A registered design professional is required for this type of occupancy regardless of the size of the facility. Examples include: public and private schools; colleges; universities, academies and day care.
• Factory-Industrial Occupancies (F) - use of a building or structure, or any portion thereof, for assembling, disassembling, repairing, fabricating, finishing, manufacturing, packaging or processing operations but does not include buildings used principally for any purpose involving highly combustible, flammable, or explosive products or materials. A registered design professional is required if the building or structure is over two stories in height or is five thousand square feet or more in total gross area. Examples include: manufacturing plants, factories, assembly plants, processing plants and mills.
• Hazardous Occupancies (H) - principal use of a building or structure, or any portion thereof, that involves highly combustible materials or flammable materials, or explosive materials that have inherent characteristics that constitute a high fire hazard. A registered design professional is required if the building or structure is over two stories in height or is five thousand square feet or more in total gross area. Examples include: dry cleaning establishments, explosive manufacturing, grain elevators, paint or solvent manufacturing, pyroxylin plastic manufacturing, sodium nitrate or ammonium nitrate, storage of combustible film and tank farms used to store flammable liquids or gases.
• Institutional Occupancy (I) - A registered design professional is required for this type of occupancy regardless of the size of the facility:
  • unrestrained occupancy--use of a building or structure, or any portion thereof, for the purpose of providing medical care and sleeping facilities for four or more persons who are mostly incapable of self-preservation because of physical or mental disability; examples include: hospitals, nursing homes, mental institutions (restrained and unrestrained) and nursery facilities providing full time 24-hour care for persons under six years of age.
  • restrained occupancy - use of a building or structure, or any portion thereof, for the purpose of providing sleeping facilities for four or more persons who are confined or housed under some degree of restraint or security; examples include: jails, detention centers, correctional institutions, reformatories, pre-release centers and other residential-restrained care facilities.
• Mercantile Occupancies (M) - use of a building or structure, or any portion thereof, for the display and sale of merchandise. A registered design professional is required if the building or structure is over two stories in height or is five thousand square feet or more in total gross area. Examples include: shopping malls, stores, shops and markets.
• Residential Occupancy (R) - use of a building or structure, or any portion thereof, for sleeping accommodations not classified as institutional occupancies. A registered design professional is required if the building or structure is over two stories in height or is five thousand square feet or more in total gross area. Examples include: multiple dwellings (more than two families), hotels and motels, dormitories, lodging houses and convents and monasteries.
• Storage Occupancy (S) - principal use of a building or structure, or any portion thereof, for storage that is not classified as hazardous, or for the purpose of sheltering animals. A registered design professional is required if the building or structure is over two stories in height or is five thousand square feet or more in total gross area. Examples include: aircraft hangars, garages, warehouses, storage buildings, freight depots and automobile parking structures.

Exempt Building Projects

The following building projects/occupancies or portions thereof are exempt from having plans and specifications prepared by registered design professionals per Tennessee Code Annotated 62-2-102. However, if a design professional (architect, engineer and/or landscape architect) does prepare the plans and specifications for any of these projects, the plans and specifications must be sealed by the appropriately qualified Tennessee registrants.

1. One-family and two-family dwellings and domestic outbuildings appurtenant thereto;
2. Farm buildings not designed or intended for human occupancy; and
3. Structures classified as business, factory-industrial, hazardous, mercantile, residential and storage occupancies as such occupancies are defined in the 2018 edition of the International Building Code that are less than three (3) stories in height and less than five thousand square feet (5,000 square feet) in total gross area.
4. Signs that do not exceed either of the following limits (unless failure of the support system for the sign is likely to cause harm to people or property):
   • Any portion of the sign is twenty feet (20’) or more above the ground level; or
   • Any portion of the sign is fifteen feet (15’) or more above the ground level, if the sign has more than one hundred twenty square feet (120 square feet) in total sign face area.
   • Building Commissioner has the discretion, however, to require the services of a registered architect, engineer or landscape architect for any project.