Building Permits
New construction, additions, remodels and structural work inside city limits.
Apply at City Hall · 201 Second Street · 601.736.8201
Measure twice. Permit once.
Building, remodeling, opening, connecting — call City Hall and staff will route you to the right person.
Download the form
Building Permit Application
The City of Columbia building permit application is available to download, print, and bring to City Hall at 201 Second Street
⬇ Download the Building Permit Application (PDF)
Questions about which permit you need, or what a project requires? Call 601.736.8201 and we'll walk you through it before you fill anything out.
What a permit costs
The fee comes off your cost of construction.
Set by Ordinance No. 486, adopted 1 July 2008, which amended Section 10 of Ordinance No. 457.
| Value of construction | Permit fee |
|---|---|
| $5,000 and less | $30 |
| $5,001 – $10,000 | $30 plus $5 for each additional $1,000 over $5,000 |
| $10,001 – $50,000 | $55 plus $3 for each additional $1,000 over $10,000 |
| $50,001 and more | $175 plus $2 for each additional $1,000 over $50,000 |
The ordinance says "each additional $1,000 or fraction thereof" — so a part of a thousand counts as a whole one. A $18,500 job is treated as $9,000 over the $10,000 mark, not $8,500, which makes the fee $82.
Put your cost into the application below and it will work the fee out as you type. The city sets the final amount — if what you are told at City Hall differs from this, City Hall is right and we would be glad to know, at 601.736.8201.
Building Permit Application
Start your building permit application.
This sends the city everything on the paper application so the Building Inspector can review it before you make a trip.
This is an application, not a permit. The city confirms the fee, works out your setbacks, and issues the permit itself — that part is signed at City Hall. Nothing here is approved automatically and no payment is taken.
Two things worth knowing before you start, both straight off the city's own form: a permit is invalid unless the work begins within six months of being issued, and a Certificate of Occupancy is required when the work is finished and before the building is used.
Rather do it on paper? The printable application is the same form. Questions first: 601.736.8201.
What we issue
One building, two responsible offices.
A building permit application can now be started online, using the form below. Everything else here is handled in person at City Hall — but business licenses are handled by the Deputy City Clerk's office, separately from building, gas, zoning and inspections. A phone call first will save you a trip.
Gas Permits
Gas line installation and connection work — permitted before the work begins.
Business Licenses
Handled by the Deputy City Clerk's office, separately from building, gas, zoning and inspections. Called a privilege license on the paperwork.
Inspections
The follow-through — city inspections that close out permitted work properly.
Business licenses
"Privilege license" just means business license.
If you are opening anything in Columbia, this is the one you need. The paperwork calls it a privilege license — that is the term in the ordinance — but it is simply the city license to do business here, and it is renewed each year.
It covers more than storefronts:
- Storefronts and offices — anyone operating from a commercial address in the city
- Home-based businesses — running it from your kitchen table does not exempt you
- Food trucks and mobile vendors — a food truck operating in Columbia is licensed like any other business, not permitted like a building project
- Contractors working inside the city limits
Not sure whether what you're doing counts? Call 601.736.8201 and describe it. That question gets asked every week and nobody minds answering it.
Setting up an event rather than a business — a festival, a parade, a street closure? That is an event permit, which is a different form and a different person. See below.
How to apply
One phone call saves three trips.
1. Call first — 601.736.8201. Tell us what you're planning. The clerk's office will tell you exactly which application you need and what to bring with it.
2. Apply at the counter. City Hall, 201 Second Street Applications are handled in person, and fees depend on the project — ask for the current schedule when you call.
3. Build with confidence. Your permit and inspections keep the work legal, insurable, and up to code — and the city on your side if questions ever come up.
Events, parades & street closures
Hosting something? This is a different form.
An event permit is not a business license and not a building permit. If you are holding a festival, a parade, a sidewalk sale, a customer-appreciation day, a funeral procession — anything that uses public space or closes a street — this is your route.
How the city handles it depends on scale:
Temporary closures — a few hours, streets reopened the same day. The application is a single page, and the Mayor signs off. A downtown shop hosting a Saturday-morning event is this.
Multi-day, overnight, or anything beyond a temporary closure — this goes to the Board of Aldermen for approval, so allow time for it to reach a board agenda. Board meetings are the 1st and 3rd Tuesday.
Events on Main Street — start with Main Street Columbia. They coordinate downtown events and will route you to the city from there.
Use the form below and City Hall will come back to you. If it is easier to talk it through, call 601.736.8201.
Food trucks, trailers and pushcarts
Mobile food vending.
Selling food from a truck, trailer or pushcart in Columbia is governed by Ordinance No. 536, which amended the original 2018 ordinance to widen where vending is allowed.
Download Ordinance No. 536 — Mobile Food Vending
What it costs. The Mobile Food Vending permit and the privilege licence together are $500.00 a year, per vehicle or cart. A separate licence is required for each cart or vehicle, and for each location a stationary vendor works from.
What you need. A City of Columbia privilege licence, a Mobile Food Vending permit for each unit, and proof of liability insurance of at least $500,000 per vehicle or cart with the City named as an additional insured. Renewals are filed annually with the City Clerk.
When you can operate. Monday through Saturday, 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., plus any hours a special-event permit allows. Cleanup and removal within 30 minutes of closing.
Where you can operate. Only in areas approved by the Board of Aldermen. Two hard rules worth knowing before you park: never where you would block the view of traffic or a traffic sign, and never within ten feet of a fire hydrant.
Two deadlines people miss. Check with the City Clerk's office at least 30 days ahead to make sure a permitted event is not already booked for your date — the City can cancel a permit that conflicts with one. Then confirm your location with the Clerk's office or the Code Enforcement Officer no less than 72 hours before your permit time.
Other conditions in the ordinance: the operator must be present at all times; sales are limited to food and beverage; you handle all your own waste, and no grease or liquid waste goes into a drain, a tree pit, a storm sewer or anyone else's bin; utilities must be self-contained; and canopies or umbrellas may not exceed eight feet high or six feet across, with a maximum of two per unit.
If you are turned down, you can appeal to the Board of Aldermen at a regular meeting.
Fines run $200 for a first violation, $300 for a second within a year, and $500 for a third. The download above is the ordinance in full — this summary is not a substitute for it.
What a business licence costs
Business licence fees.
Columbia's business licence fee is set by state law, and which table you use depends on what kind of business you run. Two types cover almost everybody.
Service businesses — priced by employee count
Doctors' offices, clinics, attorneys, restaurants, nail and hair salons — the category is deliberately broad, because the legislation set out to capture every service industry without missing one. If you hold inventory but use it to perform your service — a restaurant with a stock of food it cooks and serves — you are Service, not Retail.
| Employees | Fee |
|---|---|
| 0 – 3 | $20.00 |
| 4 – 10 | $30.00 |
| Over 10 | $30.00 plus $3.00 for each employee above 10, up to a maximum of $150.00 |
Retail businesses — priced by inventory
Retail is priced off your assessed inventory value, which is 15% of the estimated true value of your inventory. Work out 15% first, then find that figure in the table.
| Assessed value of inventory | Fee |
|---|---|
| $0 – $7,000 | $20.00 |
| $7,001 – $10,000 | $25.00 |
| $10,001 – $12,000 | $32.50 |
| $12,001 – $15,000 | $40.00 |
| $15,001 – $20,000 | $50.00 |
| $20,001 – $25,000 | $62.50 |
| $25,001 – $30,000 | $75.00 |
| $30,001 – $40,000 | $92.50 |
| $40,001 – $50,000 | $150.00 |
| $50,001 – $60,000 | $200.00 |
| $60,001 – $70,000 | $250.00 |
| $70,001 – $80,000 | $300.00 |
| $80,001 – $90,000 | $340.00 |
| $90,001 – $100,000 | $380.00 |
| $100,001 – $125,000 | $440.00 |
| $125,001 – $150,000 | $560.00 |
| $150,001 – $175,000 | $680.00 |
| $175,001 – $200,000 | $800.00 |
| $200,001 – $225,000 | $920.00 |
| $225,001 – $250,000 | $1,040.00 |
| $250,001 – $300,000 | $1,200.00 |
| $300,001 – $350,000 | $1,360.00 |
| $350,001 – $400,000 | $1,520.00 |
| $400,001 – $450,000 | $1,680.00 |
| $450,001 and over | $1,840.00 |
Other categories
Pawn shops, tobacco, wholesale and a number of others have their own rates, printed on the reverse of the application. Ask at City Hall — 601.736.8201 — if none of the above fits.
Fee tables supplied by the City Clerk's office, August 2026. These are the two most common categories, not the complete schedule.
Event request
Tell us what you're planning.
Fill this in and City Hall will confirm what you need and whether it has to go to the board. Send it as early as you can — anything needing board approval has to reach a meeting agenda, and the board meets the 1st and 3rd Tuesday.
Hosting on Main Street? Start with Main Street Columbia — they coordinate downtown events and will loop the city in.
Forms & applications
Downloads land here.
As the city publishes its application forms online, they'll be linked right here — one click, print at home, walk in ready.
| Form | Status |
|---|---|
| Building permit application | ⬇ Download (PDF) |
| Gas permit application | Available at the City Hall counter |
| Business (privilege) license application | Available at the City Hall counter |
| Food truck / mobile vendor license | Available at the City Hall counter |
| Event permit | Call 601.736.8201 — see above |
| Certificate of Appropriateness (historic district) | ⏳ Coming to this page |
| Inspection request | Call 601.736.8201 to schedule |
Until forms post online, every application is ready for you at 201 Second Street
Not sure where to start?
One call sorts it out.
601.736.8201 — tell us what you're building, opening, or fixing.