Do I need a permit for addition or structural alteration in Chamblee?

Yes. In Georgia, addition or structural alteration generally requires a permit, and Chamblee is no exception.

Additions and any change to load-bearing walls require a permit and reviewed plans in Georgia; removing or altering a bearing wall usually needs engineered details. Additions may trigger energy-code, zoning, and setback review, so confirm the full scope before starting. DeKalb County's own permitting office is the DeKalb County Planning and Sustainability, reachable on 404-371-2155 at https://dekalbcountyga.gov/departments/planning-and-sustainability/permits-plan-review-and-inspections. Its online permit portal is https://epermits.dekalbcountyga.gov/. It issues permits for the unincorporated county. If your city does not run its own building department, and many smaller Georgia municipalities do not, this is the office that will handle the job. DeKalb County sits inside the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, created by the Georgia General Assembly in 2001. Every local government in the District, cities included, has to adopt the District's model post-construction stormwater ordinance or an equivalent one at least as effective, so these rules follow you into any city in the county rather than stopping at the unincorporated line. An addition adds roof area, which counts as impervious surface, and a large one combined with new driveway or patio work can reach the local threshold. In practice the thresholds are aimed at larger development rather than ordinary homeowner work, so most single-family projects sit below them. Cobb County, for example, publishes its trigger as adding more than 5,000 square feet of impervious surface or disturbing more than an acre. Each local government sets its own figures, so check yours before assuming. Where it does apply, the current standard is to retain the first 1.0 inch of rainfall on the site to the maximum extent practicable, which usually means a detention or infiltration feature rather than just grading water to the street. Chamblee states that expansions of existing structures must be approved for land development in conjunction with the building permit. The city targets up to 5 business days for the first review of a residential project and up to 3 business days for each resubmittal. Inspection requests go through the iWorq portal: requests made by 4:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday are generally scheduled for the next business day, Friday requests before 11:30 a.m. go to Monday, and zoning final inspections take 1 to 3 business days. Chamblee allows approved third-party inspectors and plan reviewers under City Code Sec. 18-33.