Do I need a permit for shed or accessory structure in Charlotte?

It depends. Whether shed or accessory structure needs a permit in Charlotte comes down to the details of your project.

North Carolina does not use a square-footage exemption, which is why the national "under 120 square feet and you are fine" advice does not apply here. Section R101.2.1 of the North Carolina Residential Code states that accessory buildings with any dimension greater than 12 feet shall meet the provisions of the code, so the test is dimensional, not area based. The code also allows an accessory building to be built without a masonry or concrete foundation, except in coastal high hazard or ocean hazard areas, provided it does not exceed 400 square feet or one story, sits on an approved wood mudsill of at least 2 inch by 6 inch or 3 inch by 4 inch under Section R317, and is anchored against overturning and sliding with at least one ground anchor at each corner, with total resisting force equal to 20 psf times the plan area. Local practice varies widely. Some jurisdictions exempt a small shed from the building permit but still require a zoning or land use permit for placement, and a few require a permit for accessory structures generally. Any electrical or plumbing run to the shed needs its own permit even if the structure is exempt, and under NCGS 160D-1110 work that adds or redesigns electrical, plumbing, HVAC or load-bearing structure falls outside the $40,000 exemption regardless of cost. Zoning setbacks, easements and lot coverage limits apply to an exempt shed just as they do to a permitted one. Mecklenburg County's own permitting office is the Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement (LUESA) office, reachable on 980-314-2633 at https://code.mecknc.gov/. Its online permit portal is https://code.mecknc.gov/customer-tools/aca. It issues permits for the unincorporated county. If your city does not run its own building department, this is the office that will handle the job, and that is more common in North Carolina than most states: the county is often the building authority even inside city limits, with the city handling only zoning. Ask specifically about the size that triggers a permit and about setbacks, since those are set locally and are the two things people most often get wrong on a shed. Residential accessory buildings in Charlotte are permitted through Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement, and small detached storage sheds may fall under the North Carolina building code and county $40,000 minor-work exemptions, so confirm your shed size and use with Code Enforcement at 980-314-2633 before assuming it is exempt. Even when no building permit is needed, City of Charlotte zoning still applies, and the Charlotte Unified Development Ordinance Article 17 sets accessory structure setbacks (generally a minimum of three feet from side and rear lot lines, with additional standards for taller structures), so verify placement with Charlotte zoning. Running power, water, or gas to a shed adds a separate electrical, plumbing, or mechanical permit, and structures on a permanent foundation or over the exemption size trigger a full building permit and plan review.