Blog Guides

State and City Requirement Guides

Jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction breakdowns of permit requirements, timelines, and where projects most often get stuck.

Aerial view of rows of ground-mounted solar panels at a large solar facility
Brenna Buckwalter Brenna Buckwalter

Solar Permit Requirements in Texas

Texas has no statewide building code that applies uniformly to commercial construction, so solar permitting runs through whatever code edition your jurisdiction has adopted. Layer on a wind-load structural stamp, TDLR electrical licensing, and interconnection through a TDU or municipal utility, and the process looks nothing like a state with a single codebook.

Aerial view of rows of ground-mounted solar panels at a large solar facility
Brenna Buckwalter Brenna Buckwalter

Solar Permit Requirements in Colorado

Colorado splits solar electrical permit authority between DORA and authorized local jurisdictions, requires solar-ready roof zones on new commercial construction under a 2023 model code, and funds SolarAPP+ adoption for residential systems only. There's no equivalent fast track for commercial-scale solar. Here's how the process works, and where projects most often get stuck.

Aerial view of rows of ground-mounted solar panels at a large solar facility
Brenna Buckwalter Brenna Buckwalter

Solar Permit Requirements in Washington State

Washington splits commercial solar permitting between L&I's statewide electrical authority, with a handful of large cities running their own electrical inspections instead, and local building departments that enforce structural, fire, and solar-readiness rules. There's no statewide fast track for commercial-scale systems. Here's how the process works, and where projects most often get stuck.

Aerial view of rows of ground-mounted solar panels at a large solar facility
Brenna Buckwalter Brenna Buckwalter

Solar Permit Requirements in Florida

Florida requires a building permit and an electrical permit for commercial solar, reviewed by the local jurisdiction, but the state's real differentiator is structural. Miami-Dade and Broward's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone requires wind uplift documentation and product approval that most other states never ask for. Here's how the process works, and where projects most often get stuck.

Aerial view of rows of ground-mounted solar panels at a large solar facility
Brenna Buckwalter Brenna Buckwalter

Solar Permit Requirements in Arizona

Arizona is a home rule state, so solar permit review varies by city, but state law actually limits when a jurisdiction can require a structural engineer's stamp at all. Add the APS/SRP utility split and Arizona's commercial solar permitting has its own shape. Here's how it works, and where projects get stuck.

Aerial view of rows of ground-mounted solar panels at a large solar facility
Brenna Buckwalter Brenna Buckwalter

Solar Permit Requirements in Nevada

NV Energy dominates utility coordination in Nevada, so that part of the process runs through one entity. Local permitting is another story: Clark County's own solar rulebook pulls nearly every commercial project into PE-stamped structural and electrical review well before it reaches NV Energy's interconnection queue.

Aerial view of rows of ground-mounted solar panels at a large solar facility
Brenna Buckwalter Brenna Buckwalter

Solar Permit Requirements in Oregon

Oregon requires a separate electrical permit and structural permit for commercial solar, unlike its single-permit EVSE process. The structural permit has a real fast path, but it's set by roof framing and load, not system size, so most commercial rooftop and ground-mount projects still land on full plan review.

A row of DC fast EV chargers under a canopy structure, with wind turbines visible in the background
Brenna Buckwalter Brenna Buckwalter

EV Charging Permit Requirements in New York

New York requires an electrical permit for every EV charger installation, but who issues it and which code applies depends entirely on whether the project is in New York City or anywhere else in the state. NYC runs its own construction and electrical code, separate from the state Uniform Code, and right now the two systems are enforcing two different NEC editions. Here's how the process actually works.

Aerial view of rows of ground-mounted solar panels at a large solar facility
Brenna Buckwalter Brenna Buckwalter

Solar Permit Requirements in California

California requires both a building permit and an electrical permit for most commercial solar projects, reviewed by the same local jurisdiction. The state's streamlined permitting law only covers small systems, so almost every commercial project runs the full discretionary track. Here's how the process works, and where projects most often get stuck.

Close-up of an EV charging connector plugged into a white electric vehicle
Brenna Buckwalter Brenna Buckwalter

EV Charging Permit Requirements in California

California requires a permit for every EV charger installation, and in most commercial cases you'll need two: an electrical permit and a building permit, both reviewed by the same local jurisdiction. Here's how the process works, and where commercial projects most often get stuck.

A row of DC fast EV chargers in a commercial parking lot
Brenna Buckwalter Brenna Buckwalter

EV Charging Permit Requirements in Oregon

Oregon has one structural advantage over most states: a statewide EVSE permit and inspection protocol that applies uniformly across all jurisdictions, including smaller counties that haven't developed their own process. Portland is the exception, running its own permitting authority on top of the state baseline.

A row of DC fast EV chargers at a charging station
Brenna Buckwalter Brenna Buckwalter

EV Charging Permit Requirements in Washington State

Washington requires two separate permits for most EV charger installations: an electrical permit reviewed under NEC Article 625, and a building or site permit that varies by city and county. Here's how the process works, and where projects most often get stuck.