Do I need a permit for swimming pool or spa in Unincorporated Paulding County?

Yes. In Georgia, swimming pool or spa generally requires a permit, and Unincorporated Paulding County is no exception.

In-ground and most permanent pools and spas require a building permit plus electrical inspection in Georgia, along with a code-compliant safety barrier before final approval. Setbacks are measured to the pool and decking, so confirm side and rear yard requirements before excavation. Paulding County's own permitting office is the Paulding County Building and Permitting Division, reachable on 770-443-7571 at https://www.paulding.gov/105/Building-Permitting-Division. 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. Paulding 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. A pool plus its decking adds a meaningful area of impervious surface, and the excavation itself is soil disturbance, so a large pool project is the residential job most likely to attract stormwater or erosion control conditions. 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. Paulding County requires a permit for in-ground pools and for pre-manufactured above-ground or on-ground pools, and above-ground pools must keep at least 10 feet from side and rear property lines behind the house. Permits are issued only after the Pool Location Plan is approved, which takes 3 to 5 business days. The plan must show contours, flood areas and stream buffers, setbacks, easements, septic and utilities, and the barrier. Elevation certificates are required for lots in special flood hazard areas. If the house forms part of the pool barrier, doors and windows leading to the pool need an alarm, and the pool heater's installation instructions must be on site at final. Reinspection fees are due before the final inspection: $25 for the first failure, $50 for the second, $100 for the third and $200 for each one after.