Do you need a shed permit in Tennessee?
By Mario Bailey Last checked
- Always required
- 1
- of 3 jurisdictions
- Conditional
- 1
- depends on size or scope
- Not required
- 0
- exempt outright
Shed Permit rules nationwide, beyond Tennessee.
Requirements and size thresholds for shed permits vary by locality. The table below compares what each Tennessee county or city requires. Always confirm with the local office before starting.
Comparing states? See shed permit rules across every locality we cover.
The application steps and inspection sequence for shed permits come from the model code rather than from Tennessee law, so they read the same wherever you build. We keep that walkthrough in one place: how a shed permit application and its inspections work, start to finish. What changes between Tennessee 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis | Yes | Not specified | Confirmed on official page |
| Nashville | Conditional | accessory structures 100 sq ft or larger require a permit; structures under 100 sq ft may not require a permit | Confirmed on official page |
| Williamson County | Not confirmed | Not specified | Not confirmed |
| No localities match your filter. | |||
What a shed permit costs in Tennessee
3 Tennessee 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.
DETATCHED ACCESSORY BUILDINGS 400 SQ. FT. OR LESS $25.00 and DETATCHED ACCESSORY BUILDINGS OVER 400 SQ. FT. at $0.07 per sq ft with a $50.00 minimum, plus the APP. FEE for ALTERATIONS, REPAIRS, ACCESSORY of $25.00, per the 2022 Fee Schedule, Building Section, Residential Fees. The ONE & TWO FAMILY DWELLINGS PLAN REVIEW FEE of $125.00 up to 2,500 sq ft applies only to detached accessory buildings over 400 sq. ft. All fees exclude an administrative charge of $4.00 and a residential surcharge of $1.00, so $5.00 is added to the residential total, per the 2022 Fee Schedule.
last checked
Sheds of 100 sq ft or more are billed as a residential building permit at $5 per $1,000 of valuation plus a $25 zoning fee and 10% codes tech fee, per the Metro Codes fee schedule (Dec 2025)
last checked
No shed-specific line; an accessory structure needing a permit bills under the Section B101 valuation table, no fee at $1,000 or less unless inspected, then $15 for the first $1,000 plus $5 per additional thousand up to $50,000, per the county Schedule of Building Permit Fees
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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 shed permits in Tennessee
- Do I need a shed permit in Tennessee?
- In Tennessee it depends on the size of the job. Permits are issued locally, so the answer comes from your Tennessee city or county rather than a single statewide rule. Of the 2 Tennessee jurisdictions we have verified for shed work, 1 requires a permit outright, 1 depends on the size or scope of the job, and 0 require none.
- Is there a shed permit exemption in Tennessee?
- 1 of the 2 Tennessee jurisdictions we cover sets a threshold rather than a flat rule, so the same job can be exempt in one Tennessee county and permitted in the next. The table above lists each Tennessee jurisdiction's published threshold in its own words, with the source and the date we verified it.
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