Clackamas County building codes administrator explains permits, system development charges and staffing

Dylan Bleything, host of Clackamas County Public and Government Affairs’ Clackamas Works, interviewed Matt Resell, the county’s building codes administrator, about how building codes, permits and fees operate in Clackamas County.

Resell said building codes “are a set of standards that provide the minimum safety for buildings,” explaining they apply to new construction and remodels and were developed over centuries in response to fires and other catastrophes. “Modern-day building codes … have fire separation distances, certain materials buildings can be built out of,” he said, arguing the rules are intended to reduce risk and protect communities.

Resell outlined the typical permit workflow for a house: land-use approval, plan submission by designers or architects, review by a permit team and plans examiners for code compliance, and inspections during construction through issuance of a certificate of occupancy. He said commercial projects fall under the commercial code (covering apartments, high-rises and retail) while one- and two-family dwellings use a separate residential code; by application volume he estimated a roughly 60/40 split between residential and commercial, but closer to 50/50 for staff time because commercial reviews take more time.

On fees, Resell described system development charges (SDCs) as “a one-time fee used for capital projects to expand sewer lines, water lines … parks SDC, transportation SDCs” that are collected at permit issuance because new occupants will use those public services. He also said the county’s building-fee revenue is broken into parts: “the building permit fees that we charge to run our department … that’s about 10% of that pie,” while roughly 90% funds SDCs, the construction excise tax and other related charges.

Resell said model codes are written nationally (by groups such as the International Code Council and similar organizations) and the state adapts and adopts them as Oregon specialty codes; local governments enforce the state-adopted codes under a delegated program. He added that state statute makes it difficult for local governments to impose requirements beyond the adopted codes without a lengthy approval process.

Resell described how jurisdictional arrangements vary: some cities such as Lake Oswego, Happy Valley and Wilsonville run their own programs; Clackamas County serves unincorporated areas and provides building programs for cities including Canby, Molalla and Gladstone, and sometimes provides selected inspection services (for example, electrical work) for other cities.

Staffing and volumes: Resell said the building codes division has about 50 staff and reported issuing “about 13,000, a little over 13,000 permits” in 2025, including roughly 11,000 residential permits and about 500 commercial permits; he noted additional trade permits (electrical, plumbing, heating) are issued on top of those counts.

On code enforcement, Resell said the division aims for voluntary compliance when unpermitted work is discovered, working with owners and supervisors to find practical solutions, though some situations require intrusive corrective work to ensure safety. He emphasized the division’s customer-service role—saying staff make “about 400,000 customer interactions” a year—and closed by reiterating that codes exist to keep homes and communities safe.

The interview closed with host Dylan Bleything thanking Resell for appearing; the conversation did not record any formal votes or policy changes during the segment.