Digital permit application gateway
Start with the issuing authority’s own submission lane. A complete application package, accurate valuation, and accessible inspection path are the fastest route through statutory plan review.
Recommended first click
Use the official digital gateway to submit plans, monitor review comments, pay required charges, and request inspections when the permit is issued. If the link is unavailable, use the agency website or phone number on the administrative profile to confirm the current lane.
Typical review lane
Approximately one week after all required application information is received.
Treat this as a planning signal, not a guaranteed approval date. Completeness, corrections, resubmittals, and agency workload control the actual clock.
Verify the parcel is inside this agency’s service area and note whether a city, state, fire marshal, septic authority, or utility district also has approval authority.
Prepare legible plans, site information, project valuation, ownership authorization, contractor information, and any energy, floodplain, zoning, or utility documentation the issuing office requires.
Keep the permit number, approved plan set, correction comments, fee receipts, and inspection results together. Those records establish the compliance trail for the next trade.
Application documents
Before submission, call 920-448-3300; Brown County shoreland, floodplain, and private-sewage permits: 920-448-6480 if the project involves a change of occupancy, structural alteration, accessory structure, demolition, or work near a regulated environmental feature.
Source trail
Use these direct agency or licensing links to confirm current instructions before you file, pay, or schedule work. External pages control if their information differs from this directory.
Project questions
This record is marked Municipal Fallback. Confirm whether a city, state agency, or other local authority controls the parcel before filing.
Begin with the online permit gateway listed in the application guide. If the portal does not recognize the address or project type, contact 920-448-3300; Brown County shoreland, floodplain, and private-sewage permits: 920-448-6480.
Approximately one week after all required application information is received.
Request an inspection at https://greenbaywi.gov/ScheduleInspection or call 920-448-3300 at least one business day in advance. Required stages depend on the project and can include footing, foundation, dampproofing or stone, framing and trade rough-ins, insulation, utility service, and finals. A final inspection is required for every project. Contact Brown County at 920-448-6480 separately for shoreland, floodplain, wetland, or private-sewage inspections outside the city's building program.
City of Green Bay Chapter 8 Buildings and Construction and Chapter 44 Zoning; Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code SPS 320-325; Wisconsin Commercial Building Code SPS 361-366; SPS 316 electrical code; and SPS 381-387 plumbing provisions, with Green Bay acting as an appointed agent under SPS 361.60 and SPS 382. General building permits are municipal rather than countywide. Brown County separately enforces Chapter 22 shorelands and Chapter 23 floodplains in unincorporated areas, and Chapter 11 private sewage where public sewer is unavailable. A building permit is generally not required for purely cosmetic painting or flooring, kitchen-cabinet replacement, insulating a detached garage, residential re-roofing without structural change, residential siding, an exact-size residential window replacement, a same-type water-heater replacement, a shed under 50 square feet, razing a building under 150 square feet, ordinary landscaping below the retaining-wall or berm threshold, residential tents, or small kiddie pools. Zoning, trade, egress, shoreland, floodplain, or sanitary rules can still apply. Owner-occupants may perform their own work; rental or other non-owner-occupied property requires appropriately licensed contractors.
What makes an application complete
Before you click submit, make sure the drawings agree with the site plan, project description, valuation, ownership authorization, and contractor information. If the work changes structure, occupancy, drainage, fire protection, energy performance, or utility demand, describe that scope plainly. Ambiguous narratives create correction cycles and delay the field schedule.
Save the confirmation number, payment receipt, uploaded plan set, and every correction comment. Those records are the backbone of a defensible compliance file when multiple trades or agencies share responsibility.
Submission quality check
Site: address, parcel, access, setbacks, and existing conditions are consistent.
Scope: structural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, fire, and energy work is identified.
Closeout: inspection contacts and the final approval path are understood before work begins.