The Charleston Lowcountry and York County on the South Carolina side of the Charlotte metro, across Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester, Lancaster and York counties. Each town below has its own permit authority and its own housing stock, and both change what the work involves.
The exterior envelope is the part of a Lowcountry house that takes the weather: salt-laden air, wind-driven rain, intense sun and the occasional named storm.
Charleston County · City of Charleston
Charleston County · Town of Mount Pleasant
Charleston County · City of North Charleston
Dorchester County · Town of Summerville
Berkeley County · City of Goose Creek
Charleston County · Charleston County
Charleston County · City of Charleston
Berkeley County · Town of Moncks Corner
Berkeley County · City of Hanahan
Berkeley County · Charleston / Berkeley / Dorchester
Berkeley County · City of Charleston
Charleston County · Charleston County
Charleston County · City of Folly Beach
York County · City of Rock Hill
York County · Town of Fort Mill
York County · Town of Clover
York County · City of York
Lancaster County · Lancaster County
Material choice is a twenty-year decision here. Fibre cement has become the regional default because it holds paint well, does not feed rot or insects, and handles wind-driven rain — which is a different test from ordinary rain, because it arrives horizontally and finds any gap in the flashing.
Within a few miles of the water the fasteners and flashings matter as much as the cladding. FEMA is direct about it: within 3,000 feet of the shoreline, standard G-90 galvanised hardware can corrode through its zinc protection in about seven years. Stainless where it counts is not an upgrade, it is the specification.
For windows, the questions are impact rating, correct flashing at the head and sill, and honest sequencing with the housewrap. Most window leaks we are called to are not failed windows — they are correctly-installed windows flashed in the wrong order.
This is the sharpest single difference between our two markets. The residential code defines the windborne debris region as the part of a hurricane-prone region within one mile of the coastal mean high-water line where the basic wind speed is 130 miles per hour or greater, plus anywhere the ultimate wind speed reaches 140 miles per hour or more. The City of Charleston publishes a design wind speed of 150 miles per hour for the current South Carolina building codes, and the City of Goose Creek's own permitting guidance states that the Building Codes Council's adopted wind maps place it at 140 to 145 miles per hour, requiring protection.
Where the requirement applies, glazed openings must be protected — by impact-rated glazing tested to ASTM E1886 and E1996, by an engineered shutter system, or by the code's prescriptive wood structural panel option. Goose Creek's guidance is explicit that the proposed means of compliance has to be submitted with the permit application and approved by the building official before installation. Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Clover, York and Indian Land are roughly two hundred miles inland and this does not reach them, which is why the same window schedule prices very differently at the two ends of this page.
A full re-side or a window replacement is generally permitted work, and the permit comes from the office with jurisdiction over the address.
Between them, the towns above fall under 15 separate permit authorities.
In the Lowcountry, permits come from the City of Charleston for Charleston, West Ashley and Daniel Island, the Town of Mount Pleasant for Mount Pleasant, the City of North Charleston for North Charleston, the Town of Summerville for Summerville, the City of Goose Creek for Goose Creek, Charleston County for James Island and Johns Island, the Town of Moncks Corner for Moncks Corner, the City of Hanahan for Hanahan, Ladson falling to Charleston, Berkeley or Dorchester County depending on the address and the City of Folly Beach for Folly Beach.
In York and Lancaster counties, from the City of Rock Hill for Rock Hill, the Town of Fort Mill for Fort Mill, the Town of Clover for Clover, the City of York for York and Lancaster County for Indian Land.
On this division it matters twice over: the same office administers the building permit and determines whether the address sits inside the windborne debris region.
In a historic district — most obviously on the Charleston peninsula — design review sits on top of the building permit and governs material, profile and sometimes glazing. That review is a schedule item rather than a formality, and it is confirmed before a start date is agreed.
It depends on whether the address falls inside the windborne debris region, which is a code determination rather than an opinion.
Inside it, some form of opening protection is required and the means of compliance is approved by the building official before installation. In the York County towns it does not arise.
Chiefly opening protection. A coastal address may require impact-rated glazing or an approved shutter system; an inland one does not.
A national quote generated from square footage is not a quote for a coastal house.
In a historic district, yes — design review governs material and profile and is separate from the building permit.
It is established before a start date is agreed, because it sets the programme.