Do I need a permit for pavers, driveway, or hardscape in Decatur?

Most likely yes. Pavers, driveway, or hardscape usually requires a permit in Georgia. Confirm the specifics with Decatur.

Georgia sets no statewide list of work exempt from a building permit. The Georgia amendments to the International Residential Code delete Chapter 1, Scope and Administration, without substitution, and keep it in the code only as a reference and guide for local governments developing their own administrative procedures. The permit threshold for a patio, walkway or driveway is therefore set by your city or county. New or widened driveways, work in the public right-of-way, and added impervious surface commonly trigger a permit or stormwater review even where simple at-grade paving does not. Retaining walls above a set height normally require a separate engineered permit. The 4 foot figure quoted nationally comes from the model residential code, which Georgia keeps only as guidance, so confirm the height and the engineering requirement with your local building department. 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. This is the project where District stormwater rules matter most, because a patio, driveway or pool deck is exactly what adds impervious surface. A large driveway or a wide expanse of paving is the usual way a residential job gets close to the 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. Decatur's How To Obtain A Permit page states any change that affects zoning, such as a change in lot coverage, and any land disturbing activity requires staff review, and the Residential Submittal Checklist lists patios and driveways as Type 2 submittals. The city publishes a Green Infrastructure for Single Family Residences guide for new or improved impervious covers such as driveways. Work in the city right-of-way, such as a driveway apron, needs a separate Right of Way Permit; the fee schedule lists residential ROW permits at $550 and up ($50 application fee plus a minimum $500 refundable deposit).