Kitchen, Bathroom and Home Remodeling in Windham, NH

Permits

Remodeling permits in Windham

Building permits come from the Building Safety Division of Community Development at 3 N Lowell Rd, open Monday to Friday, 8 to 4. The town's online permitting portal takes applications for "all types of building and trade permits" once staff grant you an account; the Building Inspections page has the link and the sign-up steps.

Fees. The Resident Building Permit form, which carries no date, lists a $25.00 application fee plus $0.35 per square foot of heated area and $0.12 per square foot of unheated area, with lines for school and public-safety impact fees. Its unheated spaces include basements, decks, porches and sunrooms. Plumbing and electrical permits are separate: both list $40 for additions and remodels up to 800 square feet and $10 for each additional 100 square feet (plumbing form, undated; electrical form, dated June 2013). The electrical form requires a copy of the applicant's license when the applicant is not the homeowner. Oil and gas burners, water heaters and LP tanks go through the Fire Department at 3 Fellows Rd (Fire Department permits).

What the form asks for. The building form covers additions and alterations to existing structures and new accessory dwelling units. It asks for a scaled plot plan for any footprint expansion, two sets of plans with elevations, cross sections and framing, an energy compliance report, cut sheets for LVLs, glulams or steel beams, the "Window type and size for emergency egress," and septic approval for a bedroom expansion. A permit is void unless work starts within 180 days. The town site gives no project-by-project list for interior work, so ask the Building Safety Division before a kitchen or bath job starts.

Inspections and local amendments. Inspections are generally scheduled 10 am to 2 pm, weather permitting, with 24 hours' notice through the portal or by phone, and the inspector will not enter an occupied home unless someone is there; the required sequence is on the town's inspection schedule. A local building code amendment proposal posted on the town site lists a 4-foot frost line depth in its design table, which matters for an addition's footings; confirm current design loads with the Building Safety Division (local amendment proposal). (2012 amendments; 2014 amendments).

Building permits

Building Safety Division, Community Development, 3 N Lowell Rd

Building fee

$25.00 + $0.35/sq ft heated, $0.12/sq ft unheated (undated form)

Plumbing, electrical

$40 each for remodels up to 800 sq ft

Inspections

24 hours' notice, generally 10 am to 2 pm

Bedrooms

Septic approval required with the building permit

Start work

Within 180 days or the permit is void

State rules. New Hampshire does not license general remodelers; the Attorney General's office says "contractors do not need to be licensed," and advises a written contract with scope, materials, total price and payment schedule before any work or payment, warning against a deposit over half the price (NH Attorney General). Plumbing and gas fitting (RSA 153) and electrical work (RSA 319-C) are licensed trades, with narrow exemptions for owners of their own single-family homes that still require permits and inspections (RSA 153:36). On a residential contract over $5,000 the contractor must give you the RSA 359-G notice, and a homeowner must give written notice at least 60 days before suing over a defect (RSA 359-G). Permits and their fees are left to towns (RSA 155-A:2); the State Building Code moved to the 2024 codes on July 1, 2026, with either code set accepted through December 31, 2026; from January 1, 2027, permits follow the 2024 codes.

Last verified November 2026. Fees, restrictions and deadlines on this page are due for re-checking by April 2027. New England Remodeling Pros is a referral service. We don't do the remodeling ourselves; the contractor you hire, or you as the owner, files the permits.

Old houses

Old houses and historic review in Windham

Windham lists ten entries on its historic districts page, among them the Town Center, Windham Depot, Searles School and Chapel, Union Hall and Fessenden Mill. The Historic District/Heritage Commission reviews projects in those districts, weighing how a project relates to its surroundings, where structures sit and the exterior architectural features and finish. If your house is in or next to one, ask the Building Safety Division how your permit will be reviewed.

The commission's Historical Cultural Resource List, dated August 8, 2023, goes lot by lot through hundreds of historic houses, cellar holes and stone walls, from the 1798 town hall to farmhouses of about 1820 and Greek Revival houses of about 1840. The zoning ordinance also has a section 719, titled Historic Building/Structure Demolition/Substantial Modification Delay Ordinance; its terms weren't readable in the posted copy, so check with the town before demolishing or heavily altering a listed building.

Lead paint. For homes built before 1978, anyone paid to disturb painted surfaces must be EPA lead-safe certified, "even sole proprietorships"; window replacement and demolition of painted surfaces are always covered (EPA RRP; EPA contractor rules). EPA runs the program directly in New Hampshire.