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

It depends. Whether shed or accessory structure needs a permit in Garner 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. Wake County's own permitting office is Wake County Permits and Inspections. It issues permits for the unincorporated county, and in North Carolina the county is often the building authority even inside city limits, so confirm which applies to your address. Erosion control here depends on which town you are in. Wake County administers erosion control for all unincorporated areas plus six municipalities under interlocal agreements: Garner, Knightdale, Morrisville, Wendell, Rolesville and Zebulon. If you are in one of those six, or in the unincorporated county, your plan goes to Wake County. Raleigh, Cary, Apex and the other Wake towns run their own programs. A shed alone will not reach an acre, but it counts toward the total if you are clearing or regrading at the same time. The trigger is size, not cost: Wake County reviews construction plans for land development over one acre of disturbance. Ordinary single-family work is normally well under that, so this bites on large lots, big site regrading, or a project combined with substantial clearing.