The Department of Public Works, by County Charter, is responsible for code enforcement of County ordinances that regulate building construction within the unincorporated areas of St. Louis County.

Located within St. Louis County are also 92 Municipalities. Since the mid-1950's, the Department of Public Works has offered code enforcement services by contract to these Municipalities. Each Municipality contracting with St. Louis County maintains Zoning Enforcement responsibility at their local level.

Public Works is interested in promoting uniformity of construction regulations throughout the entire area because we are convinced that uniformity and consistency in building code enforcement will result in better construction quality and attract more industry and businesses to the region.

Public Works currently provides quality code enforcement services in some capacity to almost all of the 92 municipalities. A matrix showing services currently being performed for the various municipalities can be viewed by visiting our Municipality Contract Matrix page.

The building construction codes adopted by St. Louis County provides minimum standards to insure the public safety, health, and welfare relative to building construction and to secure safety to life and property from all hazards incident to the occupancy of buildings. Before permit issuance, projects are reviewed for compliance with the applicable zoning, building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical codes. A permit issued by Public Works serves as formal and legal authorization to start the construction work.

For detailed information on residential building projects, see our series of brochures on residential building permits for a variety of projects.