Building permits, zoning and septic rules in King and Queen County, Virginia

Yes. Building and construction work in King and Queen County, including residential dwellings and manufactured homes, requires a county building permit and inspections under Virginia's Uniform Statewide Building Code^1,10. Working without a permit is a violation and doubles the permit fee¹. The current statewide code is the 2021 Uniform Statewide Building Code, effective January 18, 2024¹¹. Virginia exempts some limited work from permit applications, including a qualifying one-story detached tool shed, storage shed, playhouse or similar structure no larger than 256 square feet¹². A qualifying farm building used primarily for farm purposes and not as a residence is exempt from the Building Code, although a farm structure in a floodplain remains subject to applicable flood-protection rules¹³. All permits require a final inspection, and the county may require additional inspections when a residential project has special conditions¹⁰. A certificate of occupancy is required before occupying a dwelling or manufactured home, and the Health Department must first issue an Operations Certificate^1,14.

King and Queen County Building Inspection handles permitting, inspections and code enforcement from 242 Allens Circle, Suite L, King and Queen Court House, Virginia; call (804) 785-5975 or email buildingofficial@kingandqueenco.net¹⁵. The county's IWorQ portal lets applicants submit projects, track progress and request inspections online¹⁵. Virginia requires a permit application to go to the building official before covered work begins, although special timing applies to emergency work¹². An owner may perform or supervise work on one primary residence owned for personal use during a 24-month period without a contractor license, but that exemption does not remove building-code, permit or inspection requirements⁸. Local permit fees can depend on square footage, volume, construction cost or another locally selected measure, and Virginia adds a code-academy levy equal to 2% of permit fees in most localities¹⁶.

Yes. King and Queen County administers zoning within the county through its Comprehensive Plan and its Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances³. Depending on the proposal, county review can include a zoning application, site plan, conditional-use approval or variance³. The Planning & Zoning Department is the practical first call for a parcel-specific use question; it can be reached at (804) 785-5975 x2, option 1³. For new lots created through the county's one- or two-lot and related family-subdivision procedures, the published minimum is 2 or 3 acres with 200 or 300 feet of road frontage, as applicable¹⁷. Setbacks are not safely reduced to one countywide figure: plats for newly created parcels must show building setback lines, while the applicable distance depends on the cited zoning provisions and special corner-lot rules¹⁷.

For King and Queen County property without public sewer, the owner must obtain a Virginia Department of Health permit to construct a sewage disposal system before the county will issue a building permit⁴. An existing system needs health-department adequacy certification or a construction permit for required upgrades⁴. The local contact is the King & Queen County Health Department at 167 Courthouse Landing Road; call 804-785-6154⁵. Virginia requires written approval before a sewage system is constructed, operated, expanded or modified, and the statutory application fee is $75, subject to the stated waiver and refund provisions¹⁸. Only 0.2% of county soils rate without severe limits for a conventional drain field, so make the site evaluation an early purchase contingency and allow for a nonconventional design⁹. The county also inspects the septic or sewer-line connection before backfilling¹⁰.

King and Queen County's ordinance bars using a recreational vehicle for permanent living, sleeping or other occupancy when it is parked or stored on a residential lot or any other location not approved for such use⁷. The ordinance makes an exception for locations approved for recreational-vehicle use, so ask the Planning & Zoning Department whether any approved location applies. We could not confirm a county rule that allows a tiny home as a permanent dwelling. Because the county administers zoning, ask the Planning & Zoning Department whether the proposed use is allowed in the parcel's district and what approvals apply³. Virginia's campground law excludes some camping by an individual property owner from the campground definition, but that exception does not establish a right to occupy an RV as a residence or override county zoning, private restrictions or sanitation requirements¹⁹. A tiny home intended as a dwelling must still clear county zoning and the building-permit process applicable to residential construction^1,3. A manufactured home in King and Queen County needs a building permit and must be skirted, and a replacement home requires removing the old home within 60 days of occupying the new one¹. Starting July 1, 2027, Virginia law will generally treat qualifying accessory dwelling units as permitted accessory uses in single-family residential districts, subject to permits and the statute's conditions and exceptions²⁰.

1. Ask Planning & Zoning to confirm the parcel's allowed residential use, setbacks and any site-plan or land-use approvals³.
2. Arrange the sewage-site review early; where public sewer is unavailable, obtain the Virginia Department of Health septic permit before the county building permit⁴.
3. Settle access before finalizing the site plan. An entrance connecting to a VDOT-maintained highway needs a VDOT land-use permit²¹. For a one- or two-lot subdivision using direct road access, the plat may have to require both lots to share the ingress-and-egress easement and state that no other entrance will be approved¹⁷.
4. Submit the building application to King and Queen County Building Inspection through the county's permit portal or office^12,15.
5. Schedule the required county inspections in sequence; rough-ins must be complete before framing, the septic or sewer connection is checked before backfilling, and every permit receives a final inspection¹⁰.
6. Get the Health Department's Operations Certificate, then obtain the certificate of occupancy before moving into the completed home^1,14.

Start with septic feasibility: only 0.2% of King and Queen County soils rate without severe limits for a conventional drain field, so a parcel can need a more complex system even when the land looks buildable⁹. Confirm the zoning district, permitted residential use and setbacks with Planning & Zoning³. If the purchase depends on dividing land, confirm lot area, road frontage and access before closing: the county's one- or two-lot and related family-subdivision procedures call for 2- or 3-acre minimum lots and 200 or 300 feet of frontage, as applicable, and review can also involve health, wetlands, erosion, easements and private roads¹⁷. Check flood status before designing, because Virginia allows the building official to require permits for otherwise exempt work in a special flood hazard area¹². For context, 74.2% of the county is wooded and 82.4% of its land has slopes of 15% or less⁹. The effective property-tax rate is about 0.5%, and the median annual property-tax bill is about $1,261⁹.