(Blacksburg Motor Company Building)

The Planning and Building Department serves the citizens of Blacksburg with planning and building needs, from the conception and planning stages of a project through construction and final inspections. The department provides long-range comprehensive planning policies, review of development plans, building construction permits and inspections, and enforces the Zoning Ordinance and the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code.

Through partnership with the community, the Planning and Building Department strives to manage growth and promote the highest quality of development by articulating the community vision; providing information and creative recommendations based on sound planning, building and engineering practices and explaining and enforcing regulations. For more information, please call 540-443-1300.

The Planning and Building Department is now accepting permits and applications online through the OpenGov platform.

If this is your first time using OpenGov for an application, you can use these Help Guides to learn how to:

• Create an account
• Apply for various permits and pay fees
• View your application’s status
• Receive approval documents/permits/licenses

You can use the same OpenGov account for all your community development applications with Town including building permits, zoning permits, and development applications.  

Building Safety

The Building Safety Division receives construction plans for review to ensure conformance with all State building codes and town ordinances, and processes and issues permits for construction. In addition, staff inspects all construction projects for compliance with building codes and approved plans; conducts all final inspections and issues certificates of occupancy. The Building and Safety Division responds to citizen complaints and concerns; provides liaison with local builders; and offers training on building code issues. For more information, please call 540-443-1325.

The Blacksburg building division enforces the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (VUSBC). The building division reviews construction plans for compliance with the VUSBC and issues building and trade permits. This division performs field inspections of projects regulated by the VUSBC. The building division issues certificates of occupancies for projects that have met the requirements of the VUSBC and applicable regulatory requirements of the Town of Blacksburg.

For permitting, plan review, and inspections, use our online application portal OpenGov. 

Building Permits and Inspection Services

Comprehensive Planning

Blacksburg 2046 is the town’s Comprehensive Plan that provides a 40-year vision for growth and development in the Town of Blacksburg. Blacksburg 2046 provides a perspective beyond current events and serves as a guide to evaluate current development proposals. Staff is continually researching and reviewing issues and population trends affecting current and future land use, as well as the quality of life and high standards set by town residents. Blacksburg 2046 articulates town policies, goals, objectives, and actions strategies to be implemented that will make Blacksburg a special place.

Development Administration

Development Administration staff reviews all subdivision and site plans for conformance with the Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Ordinance to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the general public. Site plans, subdivision plans, rezoning requests and conditional use permit requests are coordinated by staff for further evaluation and review by the Planning Commission and the Town Council. If proposed projects are located in the town’s Historic District, review by the Historical or Design Review Board is also coordinated by staff.

For public hearing requests, site plans, subdivision plats, and other development applications, use our online application portal OpenGov. 

Planning and Zoning Applications