Sheds are significant for a property that allows you to store the equipment and tools you need regularly. Nowadays, people love gardening, and they prefer building more than one shed on their property to store garden tools, garden accessories, lawnmowers, etc.
How many sheds you can build on your property totally depends on the zoning rules of your area. In some places, you are allowed to build more than one storage shed while others only allow a single shed on a property of a single-family residence district.
However, I’ve listed the shed building permit rules of some states, that tell about the required size, height, and distance from your house of a shed that doesn’t need any permits.
Too many tools require additional space in your property that a single shed can not fulfill but building more than one shed on a property without knowing your state rules and regulations could keep you in trouble.
If you want to build a shed, you will need to obtain a building permit from your local government authority. There are some rules that you will have to abide by before you can build a shed on your property.
In Guidingpapa I’ve listed the rules and regulations of different states regarding building sheds on your property. I have also cleared some very important doubts related to sheds building in this article.
So without further ado…
Let’s get started…
Table of Contents
Why You Need Building And Zonal Permits To Build Shed On Your Property?
There are three very strong reasons behind such type of permit:
Reason 1: Reducing The Risk Of Damage During Flood And Storms
The local government of Florida wants to reduce the risk of damage during a flood and storm-like natural disaster and wants that the residents of Florida give detail about the anchoring and materials of building sheds.
This way the government ensures that the shed doesn’t detach from the ground in a storm.
This information helps prevent damage to the surrounding property due to a detached shed in a storm.
Reason 2: Set Back Requirement Of Sheds
People usually prefer to build sheds rear of their property and the government wants to know whether a property’s rear area is suitable for building sheds.
This is why a setback requirement for building sheds on Florida property is necessary.
Reason 3: Building Something Else With The Name Of Shed
Florida residents must clear to the local government that the property is being used only for building sheds.
Many people don’t take seriously the local laws and community HOA guidelines and build tiny homes, guest houses, or something else with the name of a shed.
Also Read: Can I Put A Shed Right Next To My House [Don’t Make Mistake]
Shed Building Rules Of Different States
Different states have different rules to build a shed, if you live in a particular state then you must have knowledge about where which size and how many sheds you are allowed to build on your property.
Here, I’m going to share the most important rules and regulations to build sheds in some states.
1. Florida Shed Permit Laws
Whether you are going to hire a contractor to build a shed or want to install a ready-made shed on your property, you must have to submit an application for approval for such type of additional development on your property in Collier County and other jurisdictions of Florida.
In Florida, you are allowed to build storage sheds in all zoning districts but you have to take care of a few very important things which are listed below:
- According to the Florida building code, you are allowed to build a shed of size 200 square feet which is only being utilized for storage purposes. You don’t need to take permits for such constructions on your property.
- Make sure the location of your shed must not prevent any driveway, or cause trouble to pedestrians, cyclists, or motorists.
- Make sure that the location of your shed which you are going to build on the rear or side of your property shall be 5 feet far from your property line.
- If you are going to build your shed in the front yard of your property then make sure that the structure of your shed must correspond to the front minimal building setback requirement according to the law of your zoning district.
- You are not allowed to utilize your mobile home, truck trailer, or any other vehicles as a storage building.
Also Read: Neighbors Shed Overlooking My Garden [Do This]
2. California Shed Permit Laws
According to the California Building code or California Residential Code 105.2, you are allowed to build a detached shed on your property of a size not larger than 120 square feet. You don’t need to take a permit to build such a tiny one-story shed on your property if you are going to only utilize it for storage purposes.
Note: The allowed size of 120 square feet is the floor area of your shed. There are different rules and regulations for the height of your shed and are vary from place to place.
Let’s talk about shed building rules and regulations of California’s most famous state Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles County Public Works Official Site, If you are building a shed whose height is under 12 feet and the roof projection is under 24 inches then you don’t need to take building permits from the government for this type of construction on your property.
Let’s take the example of California another capital city named Sacramento. In Sacramento, all the shed building laws are the same except the height of the shed which should not exceed 9 feet.
3. New Jersey Shed Permits Law
In New Jersey (NJ) you are allowed to build a shed of size not more than 200 square feet without a UCC (Uniform Construction Code) permit.
The height of the shed shall not be more than 10 feet.
Note: People need to enquire about their local zoning official to ensure what is allowed and what is not before starting the construction of any of the buildings on their property.
The shed must be setback at the 3 feet distance from the rear and side lot lines and 10 feet distance from the surrounding structures.
4. Toronto Ontario Shed Permits Law
According to Ontario’s Building Code (O.Reg. 332/12), if you want to build a shed whose size is 10 square meters or less then you don’t need to take building permits because a shed with a size of 10 square meters is not counting a building.
According to the new amendment proposal on the building code act, people get an exemption on
- A shed of size up to 15 square meters.
- If it has only one story height.
- If it is not attached to surrounding properties.
- If it is 3 meters away from the property line.
- If you only use it for storage purposes.
- The shed must not include Plumbing and electric works.
5. Washington State Shed Permits Law
In Washington state, you are allowed to build only one shed in the single-family residential districts (R1-5, R1-6, R1-7.5, R1-10, and R1-20) at the rear or side setback of your property.
- To exempt building permits, the size of your shed structure should not be larger than 200 square feet (floor area) and its height should be less than 12 feet.
- The setback location of your shed must be 2 feet away from your property line. The height of your shed floor elevation is 18 inches or less.
- Make sure that the roof drainage contains on-site and that no utilities are connected to your shed.
You don’t need to take building permission in the Washington Stata if your shed structure does follow all the above-mentioned statements.
Note: You must have to take building permits if you want to build a shed within a wetland, habitat, or shoreline area and if its size exceeded 200 square feet.
6. Massachusetts Shed Permit Laws
According to Marlborough’s official site,” The shed structure of size under 200 square feet is exempt from building permit in Massachusetts.
According to the Massachusetts state building code (CMR 780) if you want to build a shed of size 600 square feet or more required footings.
If you live in districts like DN, MSR, GR, etc then you are exempt from building permits for a shed structure of size less than 120 square feet with a height of 5 feet.
7. Pennsylvania Shed Permit Law
In Pennsylvania’s largest city Philadelphia, If you want to build a shed of size less than 120 square feet in the rear yard of your property then you are exempted from taking zonal and building permits for such construction.
But if you want to build that shed in the front or side yard of your property then you have to get the zonal permit but are exempted from taking a building permit for such construction.
You don’t need to take a building permit but have to apply for the zonal permit if your shed structure size is greater than 120 square feet and less than 130 square feet. The height of your shed should not exceed 15 feet.
If the size of your shed is greater than 200 square feet and setback in the rear lot line and its height is not more than 15 feet then you have to take both zonal and building permits for it.
Source: Philadelphia Shed Permit Laws.
8. Brookhaven City Shed Permits law
In Brookhaven city, you can build a shed of the maximum size of 600 square feet, and the maximum allowed height of a shed is 12 feet but you must have to take a building permit to build it.
However, you don’t need to take building permits for a shed of size 144 square feet or less that is setback at the rear area of your property.
Documents Required To Take Building Permit For A Shed Larger Than 144 Square Feet In Most States
If your shed is large in size than the minimum allowed size to be exempt from taking a building permit you must have these documents to take a building permit to build the shed on your property:
- Building application of shed.
- Transactional disclosed form.
- Property survey copy (4 Copies are required in most cases).
- Plot plan copies of a shed (4 Copies) that show your shed location.
- All occupancy certificates (one copy) issued on your property.
- Your property tax bill copy.
- Insurance or Exemption Affidavit.
- Construction plans copy (3 copies).
Note: These required documents are listed based on the location of Brookhaven city. There may be some changes to the required documents based on your location.
Conclusion
In conclusion, in most cases, a single-family residence district in most states allows to build of only a single shed and you can build a shed in your rear yard, side yard, or on the front yard of your property but make sure that it should follow the setback zonal codes of your area.
I’ve mentioned the shed building permit rules of some states in this article, I hope this will help you to decide whether you should take a shed building permit or avoid it to build a shed on your property.
FAQ
Q.1 Can you put a shed anywhere on your property?
Ans: You are allowed to put a shed under the rear lot line, side lot line, and front lot line of your property. Make sure its height should not exceed 10 feet (in some states it is 15 feet) and it must be single-story to be exempt from building and zonal permits.
Q.2 Would shed increase the resell value of a property?
Ans: Today most people prefer organic vegetables, and fruits and they are willing to grow them in their backyard. In this case spacious shed that is made of high-quality material and matches the look of your home can definitely increase the resell value of your property.
