Electrical Permits- Commercial

Who can do commercial electrical permit work 

Any electrical work in commercial buildings needs a permit. Only a licensed contractor can buy a commercial electrical permit. 
Contractors must have a license to work in Oregon. The Oregon Construction Contractors Board (CCB) issues licenses to contractors. The permit application and their company materials must list the license number. To do most electrical work, contractors must also have their BCD electrical license and a BCD supervising electrical license.

Need help finding a contractor? The CCB website has good tips on how to search for one. 

Apply for a commercial electrical permit

• You can get your commercial electrical permit via Development Hub PDX.
• You can also submit your completed application by email.
• If you need to submit paper plans, you can set up an appointment to pick up plans or drop off plans in person. Or, please call us and we will work with you. 

Electrical work that needs plans 

If the electrical work needs plans, you can submit the application with plans online through Development Hub.  This includes:

• Fire pump
• Emergency system
• Addition of new motor load of 100 HP or more
• Six or more residential units
• Patient care areas of health care facilities
• Recreational vehicle parks
• Hazardous locations
• Supply over 600 volts nominal
• Service or feeder 400 amps or more where the available fault current exceeds 10,000 amps at 150 volts or less to the ground, or exceeds 14,000 amps for all other installations
• Service or feeder 600 amps or over
• Building over three stories
• Marinas and boatyards
• Floating buildings
• Commercial use agricultural buildings
• Installation of 150 KVA or larger separately derived system
• A, E, I-2, I-3 occupancies
• Voluntary plan review

You will need submit two sets of electrical plans drawn to scale with: 

• Definitions for legends used
• Clearly the location of the work.
• Show the type and extent of the work
• Show in detail that the work conforms to the applicable electrical code requirements, laws, ordinances, rules, and regulations

The plans need to also contain the following:

• Feeder riser diagram showing panel location and circuit schedules
• One line riser diagram diagram showing bonding and grounding and conductor sizes
• Available fault current current on the line side of service disconnect
• Complete load calculations (or provide applicable load records) for all new installations and for additions to existing installations
• Fixture schedule, showing type, location, and layout of the fixtures
• Address of the installation and name of owner and address
• Identification of the employer, identification and signature of person who prepared the plan, license number if the person is an electrical supervisor and professional registration number if the person is an architect or registered professional electrical engineer
• Location of emergency systems, identifying the power source and the system on plan

When a plan review is required, use this document for help using eplans:

Plan review

The Commercial Electrical section of Portland Permitting & Development reviews the plans. It generally takes ten business days to review and issue the permit. If you have questions, call Commercial Electrical Inspections.  

Commercial electrical permit fees

Based on the scope of work, the fees are listed on the electrical permit application. 

On the application you will need to describe the scope of work and provide a detailed list of all electrical work. If you have questions, contact Commercial Inspections-Electrical. 

Schedule commercial electrical inspections, get inspection results and make corrections

To schedule an inspection, call the automated Requests for Inspection phone number. You will need your IVR or permit number and the three-digit code for the inspection.

Get the results of the inspection on Portland Maps.

If you need to make corrections 

Not approved - there are some reasons why the electrical work did not get approved:

• no access - the inspector may not have been able to inspect the work
• incomplete work
• code violations

The inspector will list the corrections needed on the inspection report. 

Schedule an electrical re-inspection

• Call for a reinspection after making the corrections. Use the same three-digit inspection code.
• If you make the corrections the same day wait until 5 pm to request a reinspection. The inspector needs to enter their results before you can schedule the reinspection.
• There is a reinspection fee charged for more than one reinspection for a single issue.

Request a commercial courtesy electrical inspection 

Commercial electrical Inspections allows some inspections prior to the issuance of an electrical permit. Including:

• Permits that are under review
• Underground and slab inspection (permit is under review)
• Cover inspections up to the 1^st floor (permit is under review)

If your permit is in "issued" or "under inspection" status, request an inspection or consultation inspection through the IVR system.

Eligible inspections allowed:

• Permits under review
• Underground and slab
• Covers up to the 1^st floor
• Existing buildings on a case-by-case review

Ineligible: 

• Services
• Finals
• Applications in an intake (”INTK”) status

How to request a commercial electrical courtesy inspection

For commercial courtesy electrical inspections for permits that are under review, please send your request before 6:30 a.m. on the day of the inspection to this email address:

PPD-CO-ETCourtesyInspect@PortlandOregon.gov

The request may be denied without all required information.Required information to be included when requesting a commercial courtesy electrical inspection:

• The full permit number
• The IVR number
• Your name
• Your role: (project manager, electrician, GC)
• The site address
• The site contact (if applicable
• A contact phone number
• Email address for the report to be sent

Disclaimer

If courtesy inspections are authorized, the permittee proceeds with limited installations at his or her own risk, without assurance that the permit for the entire installation will be granted, or that corrections will not be required, including on those portions inspected and approved through the courtesy inspection protocol. Courtesy inspection(s) shall allow the electrical contractor to proceed with work pertaining to the electrical system of the new structure, up to and including the first-floor ceiling, and on existing buildings on a case-by-case basis. Any inspections performed by the local jurisdiction on the site or of the groundwork shall be counted toward the number of electrical inspections allowed by the full permit once plan review is complete and the permit is issued.

Contact commercial electrical inspectors

If you have questions before your inspection, you can talk to an inspector. The commercial electrical inspector area map lists the inspector's name, area, and phone number. The best time to reach an inspector is between 7:30 am - 8:00 am.

Expired permits or permits about to expire

Apply for a permit extension or reactivation.

Electrical Master Permit (Industrial Plant) program

The Electrical Master Permit (Industrial Plant) program promotes electrical safety and is a more efficient way for handling repair, alteration or replacement of electrical products in qualified facilities.

When a facility registers with the Electrical Master Permit Program, no separate permit is required to do work allowed under the program. Employees holding the appropriate electrical licenses, or by State of Oregon licensed electrical contractors can do the Electrical work.

Small Business Empowerment Program

The Small Business Empowerment Program assists Black, Indigenous and people of color business owners and business owners with disabilities recognized by the ADA who have experienced barriers in the review process. Learn more about how we can help.