Los Alamos County

All submitted plans must conform to:

 

1. Los Alamos County Building Codes

2015 International Building Code or

2015 International Residential Code as amended by the State of New Mexico).

2018 International Energy Conservation Code 

 Los Alamos County Municipal Code of Ordinances: 

Building Regulations in the Los Alamos County Code of Ordinances

2. State of NM Building Code:

2015 New Mexico Building Codes 

Uniform Plumbing Code 2015

Uniform Mechanical Code 2015

National Electrical Code 2017

Water line frost depth is 48 depth in Los Alamos Town Site and 36 in White Rock

Sewer 12” foot below the surface of the ground

Gas 12” steel and 18” for the Polly Ethelene

Electrical yard lien 24” below the surface of the ground

Los Alamos County Fire Code;

The Fire Marshal's Office for International Fire Code 2021,

3. The Los Alamos County Building Design Loads

The design criteria required by the Chief Building Official in Los Alamos County as listed below. This section has information on climatic and geographic design criteria which designers should meet in designing a building in Los Alamos County. The Climate Zone for The Energy Conservation Code for Los Alamos County is 5B.

Ground Snow Load	30 Lbs
Wind Speed (mph)	90 with 3-second                   gusts
Seismic Design Category	C
Subject to Damage From	Weathering-Moderate Frost Line Depth- 3' LA, 2' WR Termite- Moderate to Heavy
Winter Design Temp	10
Ice Barrier Underlayment Required on shingled roofs	Yes
Flood Hazards	September 1987
Air Freezing Index	650
Mean Annual Temp	48.5

https://www.iasonline.org/?post_type=ias_certificate&orderby=org&order=ASC&s=&global=1&service=13564&keyword=&number=&org=&city=&state=&country=&zip=&status=

The International Code Council provides public access to its published codes including building codes adopted in the state of New Mexico in the public access portion of its I-Codes website at: https://codes.iccsafe.org/public/collections/I-Codes.Confirm which code is applicable to your project with Building Safety Division as not every code and not every portion of code may have been adopted or apply to your project.

New Construction: All commercial site plans must be approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission before a permit can be submitted. (see Planning) Planning can be reached by calling (505) 662-8120. 

A building permit is required for all new commercial structures, additions, and any footprint changes. Submit two (2) sets of plans, site plans, and other documentation.

Do not begin work before obtaining your permit card and please post the permit card so it is visible from the street. If work is done without a permit, double fees and delays may occur. You may be required to remove some of your work for inspection purposes if found working without a permit.

Upon submittal of the building permit, a plan review fee or 65% of the estimated building permit fee must be paid. The plan review fee is in addition to the building permit fee. Fees are calculated based on the valuation of the project.

New Commercial installations OR existing commercial installations requiring an electrical permit for the service entrance shall require an exterior disconnecting means in accordance with DPU-ED requirements. Exterior disconnecting means shall be a load break fused disconnect, or the main breaker at an MDP (main distribution panel or MSB (main switchboard).

When the plan review is complete, we notify you. Most commercial building permits take five (5) business days for the Building Safety Division to review, other departments may take longer.

The State of New Mexico's Construction Industries Division(CID) permits electrical and plumbing/mechanical work in Los Alamos County. Those permits need to be obtained separately from the application to the County. CID can be reached by phone at (505) 476-4700.

COMMERCIAL PERMIT CHECKLISTS

Building Permit Application
Commercial Additions Checklist 
 Commercial Remodel 
   Commercial Sign Checklist 
Foundation Only 
 New Commercial Building 
Owner's Affidavit 
Drone Consent Form
Permit Fee Schedule

The list of all required inspections is provided below.

• Two (2) sets of the building plans and the site plans must be provided for plan review.
• You will be notified when your permit is ready. Most residential permits take three (3) business days to process.
• Please don't start construction before obtaining your permit or you will incur double fees and risk delays by having to remove some of your work for inspection purposes.

RESIDENTIAL PERMIT CHECKLISTS

Building Permit Application 

Building Permit Application
Decks, Deck Covers, porches, and Carports
 Demolition 
Fences, Yard Walls 
Foundation Only 
Ground Mounted Photovoltaic
Large Residential Accessory Structure 
 New Dwelling Template 
 New Roof Structure 
NM Homeowner as Contractor Permit
New Re-Roof Covering
PV-Solar Application 
 Residential Addition 
Residential Patio Enclosures & Sunrooms 
 Retaining Wall 
 Residential Remodel 
Roof Mounted Photovoltaic
 Siding Stucco 
Window, Door Replacement
 Small Accessory Structure Checklist 
Swimming Pool 
Wood or Gas Stove Checklist 
Drone Consent Form
Amendment Form

Permit Fee Schedule

Public Works Design and Construction Standards
Revised September 2008, This standard presents criteria for use in the design and construction of municipal Public Works Infrastructure in the County of Los Alamos, New Mexico. Material presented is intended for the use of qualified design professionals familiar with municipal infrastructure. The County has adopted NMDOT Design Standards and Serials for the constructions of roads and bridges.

Criteria for building construction and design are provided in the Los Alamos County Code - Title 10. Criteria for fire protection and Life Safety are provided in the Los Alamos County Code - Title 22.

Clarifications of this document shall be made by the County Engineer of Los Alamos County. Any subject/situation not addressed in this document or other County Standards shall be revised and approved by the County Engineer.

Outdoor Lighting 16-276: All outdoor lighting fixtures shall be designed to comply with the performance standards relative to the glare of the zoning district in which such area is located. The standards can also be found in the Los Alamos Municipal Code.

Please consult the Public Works Design and Construction Standards for more information.

For County of Los Alamos inspections, an inspection request must be called in by 5:00 p.m. to (505) 662-8120 the day before the planned inspection.

Contractors may request a two-hour time frame for a scheduled inspection via email to: [email protected]  before 8:00 a.m. on the day of the scheduled inspection. No two-hour time frame requests may be made by telephone. If a request for a two-hour time frame is received before 8:00 a. m.on the day of the inspection, an inspector will contact you with the two-hour timeframe which the Building Official has assigned​ for that inspection.

All construction must obtain final for that inspection inspections for a Certificate of Completion or a Certificate of Occupancy. The final inspection should not be called in until the final State of New Mexico electrical and mechanical inspections have been completed. Allow a minimum of one week for all commercial final inspections.

For more information call (505) 662-8120.