Greenville County Building Permits

I frequently pull permits without any problem. Unfortunately, I also observe people trying to pull permits without all of the needed documentation or incomplete permit apps. If you are going to be a jackass at the permit office, you'll probably be treated like one.

Recently finished a project in Greenville and had wonderful experience with this office. Dean Chapman was my inspector and he was awesome. Thank you and great job Greenville Co Building Dept.

I'm writing this review from a customer support perspective. Often times, governments will put you on long holds and have terrible customer service. I've had nothing but wonderful experiences interacting with the support desk. Always quick to respond and very professional. Thank you!

I was in the Greenville county permit office about 2 hours and they were so slow there I finally had to leave. It's like they really don't know what they are doing. I'm not able to sit and wait on very slow workers. I went back a very nice man helped me find the paperwork that I needed. That is the reason I'm changing my review from one star to a 4 star. I can't give a 5 star because they should have been someone to tell me what to do the day before

I don’t know why they have a low rating. I guess some people can’t follow directions. The only reason I give 4 stars and not 5 is because I think they Should start automating things with online scheduling and permit options. Some of us are disabled and getting all the way downtown is very difficult. I always have a good experience with all the employees including the inspectors.

UPDATE: permits are now online only. Not as fast turnaround as other counties, but making progress.

Their slowness is exceeded only by their incompetence. Expect to spend several hours waiting, don't be surprised if they then send you to the back of the line for a trivial detail. Understaffed, overregulated.

Outside of city limits. 10 phone calls and 3 days plus the $10 fee just to get an answer. Metal carport does require a building permit, site inspection, property tax adjustment. I will not pay the county more money for a temp car cover that I would keep paying for every year it lasts, then what? File a complaint to have extra taxes removed for a rusted carport once it goes to the dump? A permit in a rural area for a prefab carport, insane. The staff were very nice, overworked and expect underpaid, they went the extra mile to provide an educated answer. Awesome job, only reason this is two stars vs 1.

As a resident of Greenvile county and someone who also pulls permits with the county, it makes ZERO sense as to why the county does not have an online portal for pulling permits with ease. The amount that is paid in taxes and the size of Greenville County are adequate enough reasons to implement such a system rather than using a "back logged" email system that can't even be used in a timely manner. Unacceptable Greenville County, there are many smaller counties who have already implemented effective systems. Get with the program.

I've only dealt with 2 individuals in this office that are nice. The rest appear to be lazy. Regardless of the time of year it is they always nit pick at everything and take more than a week to reply to you. They don't seem to want to put in effort when it comes to anything.

I purchased a property in Greenville sc
I don’t know if is because I am a new owner or
They are racist , the minute I became the owner the Greenville county wanted me to clear and clean up the trashy trailers old cars with grown trees all over the trailers and the cars , it was like that for years , I was planning on cleaning up anyway
But Greenville county gave me 5 days and I live in Florida . Unbelievable
No one said pull a permit. Just remove and clean up or we will fine you . I have a problem with home less people , living in there that I had to evict them because they have rights .
The whole property is clean beautiful with the exception of the old house wish homeless people brake in live there use drugs when I go there they run away, I leave they’re back the whole situation is a nightmare. now I stared to fix the old existing house , I called several times asking what kind of permit s I need ? To renovate they didn’t even know what was that .. It was a nightmare to get someone just to s answer phones , but finally answered
Do I need a permit to renovate my house?
No . was the answers do I need a permit to replace the siding?? No . was the answer.
Well I stared little by little i am finally able to do the siding windows and doors .
And yesterday I get a notification in the mail stop all work I am in violation.in violation of what I am fixing up the area instead. That I have to pull building permits before the 5th of February .
Is insane because is a weekend Monday is the the 5th . They probably put a tag at the door.
But no one is living there and I am in Florida.
I wish Greenville county office will hire more professional employees and train them.
I wish I would never bought a property there.
I hope this helps for new buyers.

To be clear, I don't fault the permit processors as they are totally overwhelmed. When a contractor has to physically arrive an hour or more before the office opens, just to sign in and get in line so they can be done "hopefully" in a few hours, is ABSURD. At a minimum, there should be online permitting like other local cities and counties; otherwise at least 2 other processors to cut the current workload in half for the other two. No way to operate a business for us contractors to get our jobs done and I speak for just about everyone that is similarly frustrated. Doesn't matter what time of day either, I've tried early, mid-morning, late morning, after lunch....incredibly slow process. Please do something to make this more palatable.

Been on hold now for 2 hours to ask one question. I just want to know when the inspector is scheduled to come. That’s it. I know he’s coming today and I know they have a scheduled time that they are expected to come out this is not my first rodeo. I have a sick kid at home and need to cover my wife’s work schedule as well as mine so I just need a time frame. Too much to ask I guess. Called as soon as they opened it would be a 1 minute conversation and I guarantee you the inspector will be done with the inspection before they pick up my phone call. Totally unacceptable.

I apply for demo permits with counties and the city. Greenville has definitely been the most difficult. They never answer the phone even after being on hold for over 1 hour. If I do get a response to my emails it’s a one or two word response and doesn’t even answer my question. Poor communication and a month or much longer in receiving permits.
Poor customer service.

I have to pull permits all over the state and by far Greenville county is the worst. The wait times are horrible only one person working the windows at a time and very rarely two. You can do a permit on line by filling out a permit and email it only to have it done weeks later. Then you have to go pick it up so if you need it sooner be prepared to wait Hopefully they will catch up with the rest of the world

Very rude. Waited 8 hours to get two permits. Now they have went to online and I’ve waited a month and still nothing. I called and the lady was VERY rude and no help. Horrible. Sloths could work faster and more efficiently.

Incredibly frustrating experience. Trying to pull simple permits and get turned away because paper work isn’t dated properly. But they couldn’t tell me what would be proper. Come back the next day with new paperwork. Was told I could only pull one permit at a time because it was lunchtime and people were waiting. I had been there for over an hour and there was no one else there. Was told I had to enter into the queue again. I did so. Twice for the last two permits. Was then told I couldn’t do that. Apparently the rules change on a whim. And then they didn’t even look at the paperwork from the day before. This place is a joke.

We pull permits all across South Carolina. Greenville is by far the worst. It is 2023 get a portal like every other county. People shouldn’t have to sit for hours just to pick up a permit.

I have never been so disappointed in a county office as I am right now. A elderly lady waited over a hour to get permits and was three quarters done and at the stroke of 4:30 they threw her out to come back tomorrow because they stop seeing people at 4:30. I will be taking this to the top. Greenville county employees feel entitled and wouldn’t put water on you if you were on fire unless it’s their family. No humanity or kindness. Just rude, disrespectful and unkind!