Building permits, zoning and land rules in Mobile County, Alabama

Yes. Unlike most counties around it in Alabama, Mobile County requires a county building permit¹⁴. Almost any residential or commercial work needs one; the county lists painting, redecorating, new countertops or cabinetry, light-fixture swaps and fences seven feet or shorter as exceptions¹⁴. Unincorporated Mobile County requires a permit for construction, demolition, alteration and repair covered by its adopted building codes or Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance; limited exceptions include specified small detached accessory structures and certain private-property sidewalks and driveways¹. The property owner, installer and contractor share responsibility for making sure a valid permit exists¹. Inspection Services also inspects that work, including building sewer piping before backfill and water service piping before backfill². The county adopted the 2024 building, residential, mechanical, plumbing, fuel-gas, swimming-pool and existing-building codes, along with the 2023 electrical code, effective July 1, 2026⁹. Permanent electrical and water service follows a Certificate of Occupancy or Certificate of Completion; temporary authorization lasts 90 days¹¹. Alabama's agricultural-building licensing exemption does not settle the county question: a barn is a state builder-licensing matter, while the county permit rule above is separate, and a residence inside an agricultural building is not exempt from state licensing¹⁵.

Mobile County Inspection Services handles plan review, building permits and inspections for covered work in unincorporated Mobile County². The office is at 1110 Schillinger Road N., Mobile, Alabama 36608; call 251-574-3507 or email inspections@mobilecountyal.gov². Commercial development has two county phases: Commercial Site Plan Review serves as the land-disturbance permit, then Inspection Services reviews code compliance and issues building permits³. Inside city limits the city, not the county, may run permitting: Chickasaw issues its own building-trade permits, such as electrical permits, and Creola requires its own building permits^5,6. Development and Zoning can tell you which jurisdiction handles a parcel; its office is at Mobile Government Plaza, 205 Government Street, Mobile, Alabama 36644-1600, and its phone is 251-574-8595³. Septic permits stay with the Mobile County Health Department either way⁷. The county's current permit fee schedule took effect July 1, 2026 and is on the Inspection Services Downloads page¹⁴.

Unincorporated Mobile County has no zoning ordinance, because the county does not have zoning power^3,16. As a result, no county rule sets a minimum home size, minimum lot size, setback, lot-coverage or height limit, or restricts accessory dwellings, RVs, tiny homes, manufactured homes or temporary camping on unincorporated land⁴. Other controls still apply: Mobile County regulates subdivisions, construction under its adopted codes, flood-hazard development, onsite sewage and work in county rights-of-way^2,7,9,10. Cities zone only inside their own limits: Mobile¹⁷, Chickasaw¹⁸, Citronelle¹⁹ and Creola²⁰ each publish their own zoning, and the county's other municipalities have adopted zoning too, with the exception of Semmes¹⁶. Subdivisions outside a municipal planning jurisdiction go through county staff review, notice to adjacent owners and utilities, County Commission approval and the County Engineer's signature¹⁰. Ask Development and Zoning to identify the controlling jurisdiction for a parcel³.

The Mobile County Health Department's Onsite Sewage division regulates permits, installation and inspection for residential and commercial onsite systems, following the Alabama Department of Public Health's onsite sewage rules⁷. That holds for every address in the county, city or not: the Health Department issues septic permits in Mobile, Chickasaw, Creola and Citronelle too^7,21,22. The published residential application and inspection fee is $200, while the commercial fee is $270⁷. State law requires property not connected to public sanitary sewer to obtain a local health-department Permit to Install before installing or repairing an onsite system²³. Inspection and Approval for Use are required before occupancy²⁴. Mobile County allows an individual sewage disposal system only when public sewer is unavailable¹. The only recurring inspection the county page states is the annual pump-truck inspection for septic haulers; it does not set an interval for installed home systems⁷. About 26.4% of county soils are rated not limited for a conventional drain field, so most parcels need a site and soil evaluation and some need an engineered system²⁵.

In unincorporated Mobile County, no county zoning rule restricts RV living, tiny homes, accessory dwellings or temporary camping, because the county has no zoning ordinance⁴. That is a zoning answer only: any permanent structure, including a tiny home built or installed as a dwelling, needs a building permit and inspections when it falls within the adopted codes^1,2. Any home with plumbing also needs a Mobile County Health Department septic permit where public sewer is unavailable¹. Permanent electrical and water service follows a Certificate of Occupancy or Completion¹¹. Alabama treats a park model as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel or seasonal use rather than a permanent dwelling¹³. A qualifying manufactured home may be used as a residence when it bears a HUD Seal and connects to required utilities²⁶. Inside a city such as Mobile, Chickasaw, Citronelle or Creola, city zoning applies instead, so check with the city first^17,18,19,20.

1. Ask Development and Zoning whether the parcel is under county or municipal permitting jurisdiction³.
2. If creating or changing lots, complete the applicable subdivision review; no utilities or county services are extended to a subdivision until it has final county approval^10,27.
3. Apply to Inspection Services for the building permit and plan review required for covered work^1,2.
4. An owner-builder must satisfy state-law eligibility and the Building Official's competency determination, and must give the Building Official a list of subcontractors and contract costs within 15 days after permit issuance⁸; trade permits require a score of at least 70 on the applicable county competency test¹¹. State law adds that subcontractors must be licensed when their portion costs more than $10,000¹².
5. If public sewer is unavailable, obtain the septic Permit to Install from the Mobile County Health Department before construction^1,23.
6. Obtain a Right of Way Encroachment Permit for driveway, utility or drainage work in a county right-of-way².
7. Complete required inspections and obtain the occupancy or completion approval needed for permanent electrical and water service^2,11.

Check flood exposure early because Mobile County applies its Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance in flood-hazard areas, and a small accessory structure loses its cited permit exception when placed in a Special Flood Hazard Area^2,11. Verify road access too: driveway work within a Mobile County right-of-way requires a Right of Way Encroachment Permit². For water, we could not confirm a general Mobile County permit rule for an individual private well; an ADEM permit applies to a new or altered coastal-area groundwater well extracting at least 50 gallons per minute²⁸. Septic suitability varies by parcel, with about 26.4% of county soils rated not limited for a conventional drain field²⁵. Mobile County's effective property-tax rate is about 0.5%, and the median annual bill is about $849²⁵.