Building permits, zoning and land rules in Albany County, New York

Yes, for work that must conform to New York's Uniform Code; the applicable town, village or city administers and enforces the permit requirement¹. Albany County construction is now governed by the 2025 Uniform Code, effective December 31, 2025⁸. A municipality may exempt limited work, including a one-story detached tool shed, storage shed or playhouse of 144 square feet or less on a one- or two-family lot, but exempt work must still comply with the codes⁶. Permit holders must leave specified work exposed and accessible until the municipality inspects and accepts it¹. A certificate of occupancy or compliance is required for permitted work and for a change in general occupancy classification¹. Farm buildings used directly and solely for agriculture, and not used as housing, as places of employment for processing or as places used by the public, are not subject to the construction-related provisions of the 2025 Building Code of New York State, and the exemption from regular periodic inspections applies to them as well^9,10. Building in a FEMA-mapped flood hazard area also needs a local floodplain development permit from the municipality¹¹.

Albany County does not issue the municipal building permit; the town, village or city with jurisdiction administers the statewide requirement¹. The Town of Bethlehem's Building Division is one municipal example, at Town Hall, Room 214, 445 Delaware Ave., Delmar, NY 12054, phone 518-439-4955, ext. 1112¹². For land elsewhere in Albany County, contact that parcel's municipality rather than Bethlehem. Ask the municipal code office for its current application, fee schedule, required plans and inspection sequence because those administrative details are local. A complete application under the statewide process includes the work location and scope, tax map number, street address, occupancy classification, required construction documents and any applicable special-inspection statement¹³.

Albany County has no zoning of its own, and cannot adopt any: New York law gives zoning power to cities, towns and villages, not counties². Each town, village and the City of Albany administers its own zoning, so what you can build, how far it must sit from the lot line, and whether a use is allowed can change at a municipal line⁴. The numbers differ widely: in the City of Albany's R-1L district the minimum lot area is 6,500 square feet and the minimum front yard is 25 feet, while a Town of Colonie single-family residential district applies a 30-foot front-yard and 25-foot rear-yard setback^14,15,16. In the Town of Bethlehem, the Economic Development & Planning department handles zoning code and comprehensive-plan questions at Town Hall, Room 203, 445 Delaware Ave., Delmar, NY 12054, phone 518-439-4955, ext. 1157¹⁷. Where a town board has authorized its planning board to review subdivisions outside any incorporated village, a preliminary plat generally gets a hearing and decision within 62 days of a complete submission, and an approved final plat must be filed within 62 days or the approval expires¹⁸.

Albany County Environmental Health reviews onsite wastewater designs, while a New York-licensed professional engineer or registered architect must perform the site evaluation and prepare the design³. Submit the EH-102 application and fee to the county before construction; the published onsite residential wastewater fee is $420^3,19. The county inspects the tank, distribution box and absorption trenches before backfilling, then performs a final inspection after the absorption area is finished³. Only about 4 percent of Albany County soils avoid a severe USDA limitation rating for a conventional drain field, so determine feasibility before committing to a house site⁷. A system discharging less than 1,000 gallons per day of domestic sewage to groundwater may avoid a state SPDES permit, but that does not replace county approval^3,20.

Whether you can live in an RV or place a tiny home on your own land in Albany County depends on the zoning ordinance of the specific town, village or city where the parcel sits, since zoning is set locally, not by the county⁴. The owner of a manufactured home who intends to live in it may apply for certification as its installer; a certified installer must be on site during installation⁵. A manufactured or mobile home installed in New York still needs a certificate of occupancy once a permit is issued and the work is inspected, the same as any other structure covered by the Uniform Code⁶. This guide could not confirm an Albany County or New York rule that specifically allows or forbids living full-time in a recreational vehicle on private land — ask the zoning office for the specific municipality before you buy with that plan in mind¹⁷.

1. Identify the Albany County town, village or city that has jurisdiction over the parcel; that municipality controls zoning and administers building permits^1,4.
2. Ask that municipality's zoning office whether the home, setbacks and accessory uses fit the parcel's district⁴.
3. For onsite water or wastewater, submit the applicable county application and fee; a licensed professional engineer or registered architect must evaluate and design an onsite wastewater system³.
4. Obtain county acceptance of water-supply and wastewater feasibility before seeking the building permit³.
5. File the building application with the municipal code office, including the location, scope, tax map number, address, occupancy classification and required plans¹³.
6. Keep permitted construction exposed for required municipal inspections and septic components exposed for the county's pre-backfill inspection^1,3.
7. Obtain a certificate of occupancy or compliance before occupying permitted work¹.

Albany County is about 78 percent wooded, and about 81 percent of its land has a slope of 15 percent or less⁷. Septic suitability is the sharper early test: only about 4 percent of county soils avoid a severe USDA limitation rating for a conventional drain field⁷. Albany County will not treat water-supply and wastewater feasibility as acceptable until its review is complete, and a building permit can be obtained only after that determination³. For a new or replacement individual residential well, the county procedure calls for the EH-101 application, a $230 fee, a state well-completion report and initial and final water testing^3,19. Also verify zoning, legal access and floodplain status with the municipality because zoning is set locally and a countywide rule for those parcel-level questions was not confirmed⁴. A driveway onto a state highway needs a permit from the New York State Department of Transportation, applied for online²¹. The median property-tax bill is $5,253 a year at an effective rate of about 1.9 percent⁷.