Short answer: in the City of Portland, a remodel needs permits when it moves or adds plumbing fixtures, moves or adds outlets, lights, or fans, changes walls or openings, changes heating or ventilation, or touches load-bearing framing. Painting, new flooring, and new cabinets or countertops that don’t move plumbing or electrical usually don’t need a permit. Construction can start only after the permit is issued.
When a Portland remodel needs a permit
The City’s remodel guidance says you’ll likely need one or more permits if you are:
- ✓ Moving or adding plumbing fixtures: a toilet, sink, shower, or tub
- ✓ Moving or adding electrical outlets, lights, or fans
- ✓ Changing walls or openings: adding or removing walls, or changing a door or window size
- ✓ Installing or moving heating or ventilation
- ✓ Making structural changes to load-bearing framing
What usually doesn’t need a permit
- ✓ Painting or wallpapering
- ✓ Replacing flooring
- ✓ Installing new cabinets or countertops without moving plumbing or electrical
- ✓ Replacing plumbing fixtures in the same location, without altering plumbing, wiring, or structure
One catch: “usually doesn’t need a permit” refers to the building permit. The City’s trade-permit page lists replacing plumbing fixtures in the same location, and replacing water lines, as plumbing-permit work. A like-for-like swap can still need a plumbing permit. Ask before you assume.
Building permits vs trade permits
A remodel can need two kinds of permits:
- ✓ Building permit for walls, openings, and structure.
- ✓ Trade permits for electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work. The City’s examples: adding an outlet needs an electrical permit; replacing a furnace needs a mechanical permit; adding a bathroom to a house needs plumbing, electrical, and building permits.
Many bathroom remodels only need trade permits. A remodel that moves walls or touches structure needs a building permit too.
Bathrooms: the standard process vs the Simple Bathroom Program
Portland has a faster Simple Bathroom Program, but it’s for adding a new bathroom, not remodeling an existing one. If remodeling an existing bathroom needs a building permit, it goes through the standard process. That means applying online through the City’s DevHub system, with full plan review and floor and structural plans.
Kitchens
The City doesn’t publish a kitchen-specific permit page. In practice, the same triggers from the City’s remodel and trade-permit guidance apply in a kitchen. Moving a sink or dishwasher, adding outlets or circuits, or opening a wall means permits. Swapping cabinets and counters in place usually doesn’t need a building permit. When in doubt, call the City’s permit line at 503-823-7300 (Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) or ask your contractor to confirm.
How long permits take
The City publishes average and median review times, the time until a permit is approved to issue, on its Permit Review Dashboard. The dashboard is updated every Monday and goes back to 2020. Those are past figures, so a specific application can be faster or slower. On our Portland projects, a typical kitchen or bathroom permit has been approved in 1–2 weeks, and work that moves walls or changes structure in 3–4 weeks.
Inspections
Construction can start only after the permit is issued, and every project needs inspections before the permit is officially complete. Inspectors check the work for code compliance, and against the plans if there are any.
Who pulls the permit
On our jobs, we pull the permits and schedule the inspections as part of the project. Ask any contractor you’re considering who will pull the permits and which inspections the job needs. A permitted job is on record when you sell the house; an unpermitted one is a problem waiting for a buyer’s inspector.
Outside the City of Portland
These are City of Portland rules. Lake Oswego, Beaverton, Milwaukie, and the unincorporated parts of Washington and Clackamas counties run their own permit offices, with their own rules and timing. See our pages for Lake Oswego, Beaverton, and Milwaukie.
Questions homeowners ask
Do I need a permit to replace kitchen cabinets in Portland?
Usually not, if no plumbing or electrical moves. The City lists new cabinets or countertops without moving plumbing or electrical as work that usually doesn’t need a permit. Confirm with the City for your project.
Do I need a permit to remodel a bathroom in Portland?
If you move or add fixtures, outlets, lights, or fans, change walls, or touch structure, yes. Often only trade permits are needed. Remodeling an existing bathroom can’t use the Simple Bathroom Program.
Can work start before the permit is issued?
No. The City says construction can start only after the permit is issued.
Not sure what your remodel needs?
We’ll tell you at the free consultation, then pull the permits and schedule the inspections.
Related: how long a bathroom remodel takes · how long a kitchen remodel takes · how to choose a contractor.
Sources: City of Portland, Portland Permitting & Development: Residential bathrooms, Do you need trade permits?, Do you need a permit? (retrieved October 28, 2026). Rules change; confirm with the City before you start.
