Building Department

8 N. Elmhurst Road
Prospect Heights, Illinois 60070
(847) 398-6070
Fax (847) 392-4244

City Hall is open Monday through Thursday
8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Modern building codes and ordinances do not contain a death penalty. They do protect the public, reduce potential hazards, provide building standards and lower construction and insurance costs. Today, the City of Prospect Heights Building Department enforces current building codes that address structural, fire, electrical and mechanical safety as well as health, security and even energy conservation. Our job is to make sure that homes, schools, businesses and other structures are safe places to live, work and play. We inspect construction projects at several stages to ensure that happens.

For codes to be effective, building officials, property owners and the construction industry - developers, builders, architects, engineers and urban planners - must work together. The City of Prospect Heights Building Department provides a wide range of services from building plan review to inspection during all stages of construction.

Building codes provide local government with a way to guard the public's personal safety, much like traffic laws regulate driving. Construction codes also ensure the economic well being of our community and reduce the potential spread of fire and disease. They assure consumers that homes and commercial buildings in our community are built as safe as possible.

Before beginning any building project in Prospect Heights, contact your Building Department at 847/398-6070, ext. 211 tell us what you plan to do and we will explain the legal requirements. After contacting the Building Department, you may need to complete an application for a building permit. The permit application will require basic information about the project, such as your property tax number, who will perform the work, what work will be done and how the work will be done. For building projects, the application will ask you to submit two (2) copies of a recent Plat of survey showing any existing structures and contemplated location of proposed structure(s) including size of construction and distance from lot lines. Also, two (2) sets of plans signed, sealed and stamped by an architect or structural engineer, registered in the State of Illinois will be needed for new construction or additions. If the construction plans do not comply with code, zoning and other related ordinances, a code official will inform you what changes to your plan need to be made to meet the requirements for a permit. We have a Building Requirements Specification packet that explains in detail how to obtain permits and what codes apply to your project. To receive a permit you will have to pay a fee, which helps defray the cost of the Building Department's time spent on the application, review and inspection process.

Upon approval of your permit, you will receive a green Permit Card. Post the building permit at the construction site. Any proposed changes to the original plan should be brought to the attention of the Building Department. Some changes will require review and approval.

Once the work begins, the Building Department will inspect each major phase of construction. It is the responsibility of the person doing the work to schedule inspections. Normally, you want to give the Building Department 24-hour notice for an inspection. If the inspector finds that some work does not meet code, the inspector will tell you what needs to be done to bring the work up to acceptable safety standards.