Quincy By The Numbers
Inside Quincy city limits a one story detached storage shed is exempt from a building permit only if it is less than 120 square feet. Store a vehicle in it and the exemption is gone.
Outside the city limits, in unincorporated Grant County, that same detached shed is exempt up to 200 square feet. That is 80 square feet more than the city allows for the identical build.
Inside Quincy city limits a residential deck skips the permit only if it is not attached to a structure, less than 200 square feet, less than 30 inches above grade, and has no roof. Miss one of the four and it is permitted work.
Inside Quincy city limits, QMC 20.44.120 holds a fence to six feet in any residential zone and eight feet in commercial and industrial zones. The required front yard setback is the exception, capped at 48 inches, and that one is the same on both sides of the city line.
Grant County Development Services publishes a frost line depth of 18 inches and requires deck footings a minimum of 18 inches below grade for frost protection. That is a county number, so it governs addresses outside the city limits.
Grant County's published design criteria set the wind speed at 110 ultimate under the IRC, alongside a 30 psf ground snow load and a 20 psf roof live load. Framing outside the city limits gets built against those numbers.
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Permits In Quincy
Permits, inspections and code enforcement for any property inside the city line, with two full-time inspectors on staff. The threshold to memorize here is 120 square feet: a detached storage shed is permit free only under that, and only if it is not used to store a vehicle. A residential deck clears the permit only if it is detached, under 200 square feet, under 30 inches above grade and unroofed.
Anything outside Quincy city limits goes to Grant County Development Services, handled from Ephrata. The same detached shed is permit free up to 200 square feet out here, 80 square feet more than the city allows. A residential strip and recover reroof needs no building permit in the county so long as no structural work is involved, and a manufactured home goes to Washington L and I instead.
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Based in Quincy, serving nine towns across Grant, Douglas, and Chelan counties

What Breaks Around Quincy
- Wind works the loose pieces. Grant County sets the design wind speed at 110 mph ultimate, and on an older house that shows up first at trim, ridge caps and gate hardware.
- Shallow posts come back up. The county publishes an 18 inch frost line and wants deck footings at least that deep, so a post set shallower than that fights frost every winter.
- Old roofs get covered instead of stripped. In unincorporated Grant County a strip and recover needs no building permit, but two or more layers of roof covering is not allowed, so the next round is a tear off.
Questions
Quincy Questions
Most of these answers split at the Quincy city line, so start by knowing which side your address sits on.
Do I need a permit to reroof a house in Quincy?
Outside the city limits, usually no. In unincorporated Grant County, stripping and recovering an existing residential roof needs no building permit. Find structural work underneath, water soaked or deteriorated, and the permit is back. Two or more layers of roof covering is not allowed, so a recover only works over a single layer. Manufactured homes go to Washington L and I instead.
Inside the city limits, yes. A reroof inside Quincy city limits is permitted work through the City of Quincy Building Department. The shingles do not change, the desk does, so confirm which side of the city line the address sits on before you order material.
How tall can a fence be in Quincy?
Six feet in any residential zone. Inside Quincy city limits, QMC 20.44.120 holds a fence to six feet in residential zones and eight feet in commercial and industrial zones.
Four feet in the required front yard setback. No fence or hedge goes over four feet, or 48 inches, in that front setback. It is the one fence number that reads the same inside the city and out in unincorporated Grant County, so crossing the line does not change it.
How big can a shed be in Quincy before I need a permit?
Under 120 square feet inside the city. It has to be one story, detached, and not used to store a vehicle. Park a car in it and you are back to a permit.
Up to 200 square feet outside the city. In unincorporated Grant County the floor area can reach 200 square feet, one story and detached. That is 80 square feet more shed for the same build, so settle the jurisdiction before you set the footprint.
Do I need a permit to replace windows in Quincy?
In unincorporated Grant County, like for like needs no permit. County policy is not to require a building permit for like for like window replacements where no structural change is proposed in making the opening smaller or larger.
Change the opening and that answer changes. The exemption rests on no structural change to the opening, so making it smaller or larger is a different conversation with the county. For an address inside Quincy city limits, the City of Quincy Building Department is the desk that answers it.
Do I need a permit for a retaining wall in Quincy?
Four feet, and both sides agree on it. The City of Quincy exempts a retaining wall not over four feet in height measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, unless it supports a surcharge, and the county exemption reads the same.
Measure from the bottom of the footing, not from the dirt. The buried part counts toward the four feet, so a wall that looks short can still be over the exemption. Height is only one of the two tests. Any load above the wall, such as a driveway or a slope, removes the exemption at any height.
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