Child care businesses, preschools, or schools are allowed in residential zones only by going through an extensive land use review process called a conditional use review. The review includes neighborhood notification and a public hearing. Schools, including primary, elementary and secondary schools that provide state mandated education, always require a conditional use review in residential zones.

Daycare, include preschools, may be located in existing churches in residential zones without a land use review. Portland's commercial and employment zones allow school or child care use, but industrial zones do not. Call one of the planners at (503) 823-7526 to find out how the zoning code would apply to your proposed use.

The building code classifies child cares, preschools and schools for more than five children who are older than 2 ½ years of age as E (educational) occupancies. Facilities that care for more than five children younger than 2 ½ years of age are classified as I-4 (institutional) occupancies, which have more restrictive requirements and are not covered by this document. If you have any questions regarding which occupancy classification your facility would fall under, speak to a Life Safety Reviewer at (503) 823-1456.

Unless they are located in an area with a fire sprinkler system, classrooms used for children need to be on the ground floor (which could potentially be a daylight basement) and each room used by children needs to have at least one exit directly to the outside at ground level.

Several of the building code requirements for E occupancies are based on the number of children. The building code assumes one child for every 20 square feet in classrooms (kindergarten and older) and 35 square feet for younger children. That means that the Life Safety Reviewers will be assuming more children, in your facility, than you probably actually plan for.

E occupancies that would have more than 50 children (as calculated by the building code) are required to have a fire alarm system.

Two exits are required from child care or preschool classrooms when the code calculated number of children is more than ten. A second exit would be required from classrooms for older children when there are 50 or more students, as calculated by the code.

An educational occupancy must be separated from most other uses (such as adjacent retail or office tenants) by fire rated construction. That separation is most commonly provided by applying several layers of gypsum board to the common walls and/or ceiling. There is generally no fire separation required between a church or other assembly occupancy and an educational occupancy.

For more information on how the occupant load of your particular use might be calculated, and what types of life safety improvements might be required, visit the Development Services Center with a plan showing the layout, and meet with a Life Safety Reviewer.

The building code requires that new work meets current accessibility standards AND requires spending up to 25% of the value of a project on improving the access to and within an establishment. This "25% rule" applies to changes of occupancy as well as remodeling projects. The code lists the order of priority for improvements:

1. accessible parking,
2. an accessible entrance,
3. an accessible route within the building,
4. at least one accessible restroom for each sex or an additional single unisex restroom, etc.

For information on special accessibility guidelines applying to children, speak to a Life Safety Reviewer at (503) 823-1456.

A Type I grease hood is required wherever there is non residential stove-top cooking. BDS may allow a Type II hood where a, church, club or similar use doesn't have a full service commercial kitchen and grease producing foods aren't prepared. For more information see the BDS Code Guide or speak to a Life Safety Reviewer.

Hoods are not required for portable appliances of any kind, but if the Fire Inspector finds grease buildup when inspecting the business, the Fire Marshal's Office may require that a hood be installed.

Locating a child care, preschool or school in many existing buildings would require that the entire building be seismically upgraded.

The city's seismic ordinance classifies the various building code occupancies into five "relative hazard" levels. Educational occupancies fall into the highest hazard level. Most churches worship areas are assembly occupancies, which are classified at the same high hazard level. So using space in a church for an educational occupancy wouldn't ordinarily trigger the requirement for a seismic upgrade. Retail, office, warehouse or manufacturing buildings are all classified as lower hazard occupancies than an E.

When the change in use is to a higher relative hazard occupancy, you are generally required to upgrade the entire building if more than 1/3rd of the area of the building is changed to that higher use. The area trigger for seismic is cumulative over time, so if a portion of the building has already been changed without requiring an upgrade, your proposed project may cross over the allowed thresholds. It is very important to research the permit history of any building that you are considering as a location.

For more information on seismic triggers and educational occupancies, visit the Development Services Center or call a Life Safety Reviewer at (503) 823-1456.

System Development Charges (SDCs) are one-time fees charged to help pay for the facilities (such as street and sewer systems) required to meet growth-related needs for the city. Systems Development Charges are paid at the time that a development permit (also known as a building permit) is issued. Building owners, but not tenants, can finance the SDCs through the city. BDS has pulled together information on all the SDCs online. From there, you can also jump to more specific information on each bureau's individual website.

The Transportation SDC is charged on a per student basis, when the proposed educational use is seen as creating more transportation trips than the previous use of the space. Call the Bureau of Transportation at 505 823-7002 to find out whether an SDC would be charged for your project.

The Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) charges a Sanitary SDC for educational projects whenever a development permit includes the addition of one or more new plumbing fixtures. (A new "fixture" is a sink, toilet, dishwasher, floor drain, etc.). Different plumbing fixtures are charged at different rates. Call BES at (503) 823-7761 for more information.

For the Water Bureau, any SDC is based on the size of meter installed. If your new project will include the addition of plumbing fixtures, a larger meter size may be required and an SDC charged. Water lines required for sprinkler systems are exempt from SDC fees. Portland Water Bureau staff is available to answer your SDC questions at (503) 823-7368 or find information online.

The city will require that plans for any project with complex issues or structural work be prepared by a licensed professional. Plans need to be clear and complete, regardless of who prepares them.

Plans will generally include a site plan, a plan of each floor, a cross section, and often stair details. Plans should show how the proposed use and layout meet current code requirements. If there are areas that need to be improved to meet current code, the drawings should include construction details showing how these will be modified.

Depending on the age of the building, we may have plans of the existing building in our microfilm records that can help during the planning stage. See information on Resources/Records.

We encourage you to visit the Development Services Center (DSC) as soon as you have preliminary plans showing what you have in mind.

The DSC is on the ground floor of the building at 1900 SW 4th (4th and Hall). See DSC Hours and Service Availability.

In the DSC you will find technical staff from virtually all of the city bureaus that can discuss requirements applying to your project and that will be reviewing your project when it comes in for a permit.

DSC staff can also give you an idea of the permit fees for your project.

It is not uncommon, in the case of a change of occupancy, to have one or more building code appeals. Appeals can be preliminary - before the permit is applied for - or you can wait until you have applied for the permit and can be sure that all the issues that might need an appeal have been identified. The appeals process takes about a week. View more information on the appeal process.

There is a lot of information available about permits and the permit process on the BDS website. You may want to look at the Commercial Alterations or the New Users section. 

A change of occupancy permit is a building permit. To apply for the change of occupancy permit, you must provide the city with four sets of plans, pay part of the fees up front including an additional change of occupancy plan review fee and then turn the plans in for review. Plans will generally include a site plan, a plan of each floor, a cross section, and often stair details. Plans should show how the proposed use and layout meet current code requirements. If there are areas that need to be improved to meet current code, the drawings should include construction details showing how these will be modified.

The DSC is on the ground floor of the building at 1900 SW 4th (4th and Hall). We encourage you to get in to the DSC earlier in the day rather than later. The wait times get longer as the day goes by, and it also tends to be more of a challenge to find parking.

In the DSC you will find technical staff from virtually all of the city bureaus that can discuss requirements applying to your project and that will be reviewing your project when it comes in for a permit.

Staff representing the various groups with an interest in development (building, zoning, fire, transportation, sewer, etc.) will be assigned to your project. Any reviewer who looks at your plans and needs additional info/corrections before signing off will mail you a "checksheet" telling you what they need. The city's goal is to get all of those checksheets out (for a change of occupancy) within a couple of weeks.

To respond to a checksheet, you will go to Document Services, which is on the second floor (above the DSC). You will need to update all four sets of the originally submitted drawings, either by replacing the original sheets with new sheets or marking changes on the originally submitted sheets. Keep any replaced sheets with the new sheets, and mark them "Void".

When all the corrections are made, the reviewers will check the changes made. When all the reviews are completed, it takes several days to process the paperwork. Then, you pay the rest of the fees and the permit is issued. Licensed contractors will need to apply for separate permits to do the electrical and plumbing work.

When all the inspections (building, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing ) are approved, and the card you are given at permit issuance is all signed off, you will be issued a Certificate of Occupancy. The house can then be occupied as an educational use.