Home › Guides › Grading and land disturbance permits in Knox County and Knoxville
Moving dirt in the Knoxville area can involve up to three layers of approval: the county or city where the land sits, the state's construction stormwater permit, and sometimes a floodplain or sinkhole review. Which ones apply depends on location, how much ground you disturb and how deep you cut or fill. This guide walks through each one. Always confirm with the office before work starts, because thresholds and forms change.
Land inside the City of Knoxville goes through city Engineering. Land in Knox County outside the city limits goes through Knox County. The Town of Farragut, the cities in Blount (Maryville, Alcoa), Anderson (Oak Ridge, Clinton) and Sevier (Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg), and the counties themselves each run their own permit desks. A property tax record or the county GIS will tell you which side of a city line a parcel is on.
Knox County Stormwater Management lists these triggers on its permits page:
| Situation | Requirement | Office |
|---|---|---|
| More than 1 acre disturbed, or part of a larger common plan of development | Land Disturbance / Grading Permit, plus TDEC Notice of Coverage | Stormwater Management, (865) 215-5540 |
| Under 1 acre with 5 feet or more of cut or fill | Land Disturbance / Grading Permit | Stormwater Management |
| Under 1 acre with more than 10,000 sq ft of planned impervious surface | Land Disturbance / Grading Permit | Stormwater Management |
| Under 1 acre with less than 5 feet of cut or fill | Small Lot Erosion Prevention and Sediment Control Plan form | Knox County Codes, (865) 215-5800 |
The 5-foot rule is the one that catches homeowners. A modest house pad on a hillside can easily need 5 feet of cut at the back corner. Measure it on the plan before deciding no permit is needed.
The city treats grading as part of its site development permits through Engineering Development Services in the City County Building, Suite 475, 400 Main Street. The city's 2024 fee schedule lists a residential rough grading permit for less than 10,000 sq ft of disturbance at $75, with fees rising with project valuation above that. Ask the city whether your job is handled with the building permit or needs its own grading permit.
Tennessee's General NPDES Permit for stormwater from construction (TNR100000) covers clearing, grading, filling and excavating, borrow pits included, that disturbs one acre or more, or less when the site is part of a larger common plan (TDEC public notice). The operator files a Notice of Intent and the state issues a Notice of Coverage. The 2021 edition asked for the NOI at least 30 days before disturbance, required a stormwater pollution prevention plan and twice-weekly site inspections, and required completed areas to be stabilized within 14 days. TDEC took the permit through reissuance in 2026 as the 2021 version expired on September 30 (TDEC rationale), so ask your contractor or engineer to work from the current version. TDEC's rationale explains the stakes simply: one millimeter of soil over an acre weighs about five tons.
On bigger jobs an engineer usually prepares the grading and erosion plan and the contractor works from it. On a single lot, the builder or excavation contractor often handles the permit. Agree on who's responsible before anything starts. A permit is separate from the Tennessee 811 locate, which is still required either way.
For less than an acre with under 5 feet of cut or fill and no large new hard surface, Knox County uses the Small Lot Erosion Prevention and Sediment Control form instead of a full grading permit. More cut or fill than that, or more than an acre, needs the grading permit.
When clearing, grading, filling or excavating disturbs an acre or more, or the project is part of a larger common plan of development. The state calls that coverage under the Construction General Permit.
No. Property inside city limits goes through the City of Knoxville's Engineering office. Unincorporated land goes through Knox County Stormwater and Codes.
This site doesn't own a single machine. We pass your request to an independent excavation contractor in the Knoxville area, and that contractor looks at the ground, quotes the work and does it.