Do you need a patio permit in Maryland?
By Mario Bailey Last checked
Of the 4 Maryland counties and cities with a confirmed rule, 2 require a patio permit only past a size or scope limit and 2 exempt the work from a patio permit entirely.
- Always required
- 0
- of 5 jurisdictions
- Conditional
- 2
- depends on size or scope
- Not required
- 2
- exempt outright
Patio Permit rules nationwide, beyond Maryland.
Requirements and size thresholds for patio permits vary by locality. The table below compares what each Maryland county or city requires. Always confirm with the local office before starting.
Comparing states? See patio permit rules across every locality we cover.
The application steps and inspection sequence for patio permits come from the model code rather than from Maryland law, so they read the same wherever you build. We keep that walkthrough in one place: how a patio permit application and its inspections work, start to finish. What changes between Maryland jurisdictions is below: who requires a permit, what they charge, and which office you file with.
Swipe sideways to see thresholds and confidence.
| Locality | Permit required? | Typical threshold | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anne Arundel County | Conditional | patio height above adjacent grade; the exemption also requires that the patio is not over a basement or story below and is not part of an accessible route | Confirmed on official page |
| Baltimore County | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Howard County | No | Exempt | Confirmed on official page |
| Montgomery County | No | Exempt | Confirmed on official page |
| Prince George's County | Conditional | area of an at-grade patio, with a permit required at any size if stairs or ramps are built due to elevation change | Confirmed on official page |
| No localities match your filter. | |||
What a patio permit costs in Maryland
3 Maryland jurisdictions we cover publish a fee figure for this work. Each line is quoted from that office's own schedule and linked to its citation. The figures are not comparable to one another: some are flat minimums, some a percentage of job value, some charged per fixture, so what you pay depends on which schedule applies and on your job's valuation.
No building permit fee for an exempt patio. A Standard Grading Plan Application may be required depending on size and disturbed area (Do I Need a Permit? guide); a raised patio that needs a building permit is valuation-based: Building permits are valuation-based: "$0-$3,000 | $86.00" rising to "Above $25,000 | $242.00 plus .010 times estimated cost above $25,000.00", plus "A non-refundable application fee of $43.00 will be added to all building permits." Minimum Building Permit Fee $86.00 (Permit Fees page, effective October 1, 2024).
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Patios file under miscellaneous accessory structures per the county's residential permit handout, needing no filing fee and a flat $50 per structure, plus a 10% technology fee, per the FY27 Building Permit Fee Schedule effective 7/1/2026
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DPIE Fee Schedule, effective March 2, 2025, line item "Patio - Residential > 500 Sq Ft", minimum permit fee $151: "Total Fee = Administrative Fee $66 + Building Permit Fee $151 + $53 Grading Fee + $5 M-NCPPC. Plus Technology Fee 10%."
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Jurisdictions not listed publish no dollar figure we could quote. Absence does not mean a permit is free.
Common questions about patio permits in Maryland
- Do I need a patio permit in Maryland?
- In Maryland it depends on the size of the job. Permits are issued locally, so the answer comes from your Maryland city or county rather than a single statewide rule. Of the 4 Maryland jurisdictions we have verified for patio work, 0 require a permit outright, 2 depend on the size or scope of the job, and 2 require none.
- Is there a patio permit exemption in Maryland?
- 2 of the 4 Maryland jurisdictions we cover set a threshold rather than a flat rule, so the same job can be exempt in one Maryland county and permitted in the next. The table above lists each Maryland jurisdiction's published threshold in its own words, with the source and the date we verified it.
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