Building permits, zoning and land rules in the Town of Burgaw, NC

At a glance

Building permits

Town Inspections handles building permits; state-law exceptions apply.²¹

Zoning

Town UDO applies in Burgaw and its extraterritorial jurisdiction.³

Septic

Pender County Environmental Health; approval required before installation.⁴⁵

Tiny homes

Permanent dwellings must meet state building requirements and local zoning.⁶

Owner-builder

Conditional exemption from general-contractor licensing, with affidavit requirements.⁷

Private wells

County health-department permit before construction; completion approval before use.⁸

Floodplain

Town floodplain development permit required in the Special Flood Hazard Area.⁹

Who to call

Contact details are copied from each office’s official page and were checked against it on October 11, 2026.

Do you need a building permit in the Town of Burgaw, NC?

A new home in Burgaw requires building permits under North Carolina law, and Burgaw’s own Inspections Department administers building permits and inspections.¹² The state’s exemption for qualifying work costing $40,000 or less is conditional: structural, plumbing-design, HVAC, electrical and other listed work can still require a building permit.¹ Ask Burgaw Building Inspections to classify your proposed work before construction. An owner-builder licensing exemption requires qualifying ownership and intended occupancy, a verified affidavit and personal management of construction; building-permit requirements still apply.⁷

Who handles building permits and inspections in the Town of Burgaw?

Burgaw Building Inspections takes inspection requests at 910-259-9934; have the building-permit number ready when calling.¹⁰ Requests received before 4 pm are scheduled for the following business day, while later requests are scheduled for the day after the next business day.¹⁰ Burgaw’s Planning Department handles town zoning enforcement and subdivision-plat review.¹¹ Contact Planning about land use and Building Inspections about construction inspections. Credit/debit card payments for town permits, zoning and inspections incur a 3% service fee; that surcharge is not the entire building-permit price.¹²

Does the Town of Burgaw have zoning, lot-size and setback rules?

Burgaw has its own Unified Development Ordinance governing land use, site design, subdivisions and zoning throughout the town and its extraterritorial jurisdiction.³ Burgaw publishes its UDO and Official Zoning Map, so the parcel’s district is the starting point for checking permitted uses and dimensional controls.¹³ Ask town Planning for the applicable minimum lot size, dwelling size, setbacks and lot coverage before choosing a house plan. Rezoning, master development plans, special-use permits, variances and reasonable-accommodation applications require pre-submittal meetings.¹⁴ Minor and major subdivisions require a pre-application conference and sketch-plan review before preliminary plat review.¹⁵

How do septic permits and private wells work inside the Town of Burgaw?

Pender County Environmental Health handles septic systems and private-well approvals inside Burgaw; town zoning approval does not replace wastewater approval.⁴ For a home not served by an approved wastewater system, North Carolina generally requires an improvement permit and construction authorization, with engineered-option and authorized-evaluator alternatives.⁵ The county’s application says construction authorization is needed to obtain a building permit and install a septic system.¹⁶ County approval of final well and wastewater inspections must precede use or occupancy of a new home.¹⁶ A new private drinking-water well needs a local health-department construction permit and a Certificate of Completion before use.⁸

Can you live in an RV or tiny home in the Town of Burgaw?

We could not confirm Burgaw’s rule for residential RV occupancy or temporary camping on a private lot; ask town Planning about your proposed use before buying or moving an RV onto the property. North Carolina accepts tiny homes as permanent single-family dwellings only when building-code, foundation, inspection, local zoning and applicable covenant requirements are met.⁶ RV-industry-certified units remain recreational vehicles under the state guidance, so a tiny-home label does not establish approval as a permanent dwelling.⁶ A portable or chemical toilet cannot substitute for a permanent wastewater connection where the State Building Code requires that connection.¹⁷

Building a home in the Town of Burgaw: what are the steps?

1. Start with Burgaw Planning to establish zoning compliance and identify the approvals your development needs.²
2. Resolve site approvals identified during zoning review, including applicable water/sewer, driveway and stormwater approvals, before applying for building permits.²
3. If using septic, obtain county construction authorization before the building permit and septic installation.¹⁶
4. Apply through Burgaw Inspections for building permits and arrange required inspections.²
5. Complete final building and zoning inspections before the town issues a certificate of occupancy; obtain county final approval for a well and wastewater system before using either or occupying the new home.²¹⁶

What should you check before buying land in the Town of Burgaw?

Burgaw provides water and sewer service to residences within town limits through a utility application and agreement, but we could not confirm a universal connection threshold; ask town Utilities about service availability and connection requirements for the parcel.¹⁸ Burgaw requires a floodplain development permit for all development in the Special Flood Hazard Area, including filling, grading and paving as well as construction.⁹ Ask town Planning to review the flood designation before arranging site work. For land outside Burgaw’s planning jurisdiction, use the Pender County guide; Burgaw’s UDO also reaches its extraterritorial jurisdiction.³

Watch-outs

• Burgaw’s zoning jurisdiction extends beyond town limits into its extraterritorial jurisdiction; confirm which office governs the parcel before applying.³
• A town building permit does not replace county approval of final well and wastewater inspections before use or new-home occupancy.¹⁶

Sources

1. G.S. 160D-1110. Building permits. (North Carolina statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
2. Town of Burgaw Planning and Inspections — development process (burgawnc.gov)
3. Development Regulations, Forms & Documents (Town of Burgaw), quoted and re-checked
4. Environmental Health (Town of Burgaw), quoted and re-checked
5. G.S. 130A-336. Improvement permit and construction authorization required (North Carolina statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
6. Guidelines for Tiny Homes in North Carolina (North Carolina statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
7. G.S. 87-1. "General contractor" defined; exceptions. (North Carolina statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
8. Rules Governing the Permitting and Inspection of Private Drinking Water Wells, 15A NCAC 02C .0300 (North Carolina statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
9. Flood Damage Prevention (Town of Burgaw), quoted and re-checked
10. Town of Burgaw Building Inspections (burgawnc.gov)
11. Town of Burgaw Planning Department (burgawnc.gov)
12. Building Inspections (Town of Burgaw), quoted and re-checked
13. Development Regulations, Forms & Documents (Town of Burgaw), quoted and re-checked
14. Development Regulations, Forms & Documents (Town of Burgaw), quoted and re-checked
15. Development Regulations, Forms & Documents (Town of Burgaw), quoted and re-checked
16. Pender County Health Department — Environmental Health Division (pendercountync.gov)
17. G.S. 130A-335 PDF, subsection (h) (North Carolina statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
18. burgawnc.gov (Town of Burgaw), quoted and re-checked

Written October 11, 2026 from the rules quoted below, each taken from an official source and re-checked by an independent reviewer. This is research, not legal advice: rules change, so confirm with the office before you buy or build.