Montgomery County MD Construction Permits: DPS, ePlans, MCDOT, WSSC, and M-NCPPC

Maryland / Montgomery County · Field reference for developers, architects, and contractors

Montgomery County is the largest jurisdiction in Maryland by population, the largest permit issuer in the state by dollar value of construction, and one of the most structurally complex places to permit anywhere in the Mid-Atlantic. Building permits flow through the county Department of Permitting Services (DPS). Discretionary land-use decisions flow through the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) Montgomery County Planning Department. Water and sewer flow through WSSC Water. Rights-of-way flow through MCDOT and SHA depending on the road. No single agency issues the whole permit — understanding the handoffs is the permit strategy.

Department of Permitting Services (DPS)

DPS is the building-permit authority. DPS reviews and issues:

• Building permits — under the Maryland Building Performance Standards (MBPS), as amended by Montgomery County (Montgomery County Code Chapter 8).
• Electrical, plumbing, mechanical, gas, fire protection — issued to licensed trade masters.
• Land Disturbance / Sediment Control — triggered at 5,000 sf disturbance or 100 cubic yards earth movement.
• Stormwater Management — permits under the MD Stormwater Act and the ESD-to-MEP standard.
• Well and Septic — for properties outside the WSSC service area.
• Right-of-way — a narrow set of ROW permits overlap with MCDOT and SHA authority (see below).

Permits submit through the ePlans online portal — Montgomery's electronic plan review system, which has largely replaced paper submittal for commercial projects. ePlans reviewers operate in parallel across discipline (Building, Structural, Fire, Health, Zoning, Accessibility, Stormwater) with consolidated comment batches.

M-NCPPC Montgomery County Planning Department

Discretionary land-use review — site plans, preliminary plans of subdivision, mandatory referrals, forest conservation plans — sits with M-NCPPC. M-NCPPC is a bi-county regional commission covering Montgomery and Prince George's; in Montgomery it operates as the Montgomery County Planning Department and reports to the Montgomery County Planning Board.

Key M-NCPPC reviews:

• Preliminary Plan of Subdivision — required for the creation of lots under Chapter 50 of the County Code.
• Site Plan — required for most commercial, mixed-use, and multifamily development above threshold size; reviewed for layout, access, open space, environmental features, buffers, and design.
• Forest Conservation Plan (FCP) — under the Maryland Forest Conservation Act, administered locally by M-NCPPC; see our Forest Conservation essay.
• Sectional Map Amendment / Local Map Amendment — rezoning actions coordinated with the County Council.
• Historic Preservation — the Montgomery County Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) regulates designated historic sites and districts; HPC approval is a prerequisite for building permits on designated properties.

The Planning Board's role is consequential. Site plan approval typically precedes building permit submittal — DPS will not issue a building permit for work requiring an approved site plan until the Board's approval is in place and the conditions of approval have been satisfied.

WSSC Water

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC Water) is the regional water and sewer utility for Montgomery and Prince George's counties — it is not a county agency. WSSC issues:

• Hydraulic Planning Analysis (HPA) — for commercial and mixed-use projects, to confirm adequate water and sewer capacity.
• Plumbing and Mechanical Permits — trade permits for work affecting the WSSC system; separate from DPS trade permits.
• Site Utilities / Connection — service connections, tap fees, meter sizing.
• Fire Service Connections — for sprinklered buildings.

WSSC's review runs parallel to DPS. A project cannot be occupied without a WSSC Acceptance of Service confirming the taps and meters are set and billing can begin.

MCDOT, SHA, and rights-of-way

Right-of-way authority depends on the road classification:

• MCDOT — county roads; driveway access, curb cuts, sidewalks, utility cuts, traffic control plans.
• SHA (Maryland State Highway Administration) — state roads including most named highways and routes; access permits, traffic signals, and interchange modifications.
• Municipal DPWs — the cities of Rockville, Gaithersburg, Takoma Park, Brookeville, and several others maintain their own streets and issue their own ROW permits.

Large-site frontage often involves two or three of the above at once — county road for one boundary, state road for another, and a municipal street for a third. Each is a separate permit and inspection.

Municipal layer

Rockville and Gaithersburg — the county's two charter cities — exercise their own zoning authority and, in Rockville's case, their own building permit issuance through the Rockville Building Department. Gaithersburg uses DPS for building permits but runs its own planning, zoning, and ROW. Projects in these cities follow the city process in addition to (or instead of) the county process. Takoma Park, Poolesville, Barnesville, Brookeville, Chevy Chase (several Village subdivisions), and Kensington also have municipal layers of varying depth.

For unincorporated Montgomery, DPS and M-NCPPC are the governing agencies. For the incorporated cities, verify agency jurisdiction up front — a Rockville project uses Rockville's permit track, not DPS.

Environmental overlays

• Special Protection Areas (SPAs) — designated watersheds (Piney Branch, Upper Paint Branch, Clarksburg) with stricter stormwater and impervious cover limits under Chapter 19 of the County Code.
• Environmental Setting / Stream Valley Buffers — M-NCPPC-administered stream and wetland buffers.
• Agricultural Reserve — the Rural Density Transfer Zone preserving ~93,000 acres of agricultural land in upper Montgomery; development rights transferred via TDR.
• Rustic Roads — designated roads with character-preservation requirements affecting driveway spacing, clear-width, and edge improvements.

Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit (MPDU) program

Montgomery's MPDU ordinance (adopted 1974, one of the first in the U.S.) requires residential developments of 20 or more units to produce 12.5% to 15% of units as moderately-priced dwellings, with income and price controls administered by the Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA). The ratio, AMI targets, and alternative compliance mechanisms (off-site, payment-in-lieu in limited cases, land dedication) are set in Chapter 25A.

MPDU compliance is documented at site plan approval, enforced through covenants recorded on title, and verified by DHCA at unit sale or rental initiation.

Permit lifecycle (typical commercial new construction)

1. Pre-application: zoning analysis, Planning Department pre-submittal, WSSC HPA.
2. Preliminary Plan of Subdivision (if subdivision required) to Planning Board.
3. Site Plan to Planning Board.
4. Forest Conservation Plan (often concurrent with Site Plan).
5. Record plat (if subdivision).
6. DPS ePlans submittal — building permit, trade permits, stormwater management, sediment control.
7. WSSC hydraulic review and permit.
8. MCDOT / SHA access permit.
9. DPS review corrections and resubmittals.
10. Permit issuance.
11. Inspections and as-built certifications.
12. WSSC Acceptance of Service.
13. Certificate of Occupancy.

What this means on site

Montgomery County is a four-agency permit on most commercial projects: DPS for the building, M-NCPPC for the land use, WSSC for the water and sewer, and MCDOT/SHA for the right-of-way. Add HPC for historic, DHCA for MPDU, and a municipal agency if the property is inside a city. No single permit portal exists for the full stack.

Out-of-county developers frequently budget for DPS alone and discover the M-NCPPC site plan process late. That sequence — Planning Board before DPS — is the most common schedule surprise. Front-load the Planning Department engagement.

Primary sources for this essay: Montgomery County Code Chapter 8 (Buildings), Chapter 19 (Erosion, Sediment Control and Stormwater), Chapter 22A (Forest Conservation), Chapter 25A (MPDU), Chapter 50 (Subdivision), Chapter 59 (Zoning); Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission; WSSC Water; Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services ePlans; MCDOT; MD State Highway Administration; Montgomery County Historic Preservation Commission.