Pool removal permit

For taking out and filling in a pool, the permit charge often falls between $50 and $250. Angi puts the permit plus inspection at roughly $200.

A few towns list one set price. Evesham Township, New Jersey, charges $168 for its construction permit to demolish an in-ground pool, due before work begins.

The permit's name is not the same everywhere. Local offices publish their own rules for tearing out a pool.

Grading permits apply when soil is moved or brought onto your property. Los Angeles treats every pool fill-in as that type of job.

Sometimes, yes. Evesham Township requires a zoning permit on top of a construction permit. San Jose also wants a demolition job number from its local air-quality agency, even when there's no asbestos on the site.

Montgomery County also requires a sediment control permit once 5,000 square feet or more of ground is dug up. That permit is about stopping loose dirt from washing off your land while the job is going on.

Phoenix does not allow any work until the permit is in hand. That permit runs out when the work and the hauling away of rubble take longer than 60 days, so plan the full job before you apply.

Fairfax County often wants a house location plat, which is a drawing of where things sit on your lot. If the project is only a pool and the disturbed ground is under 2,500 square feet, an aerial photo can take its place.

If part of the pool stays in the ground and gets filled, separate rules apply. Most exist to make sure rainwater can escape through the old shell instead of pooling up.

• Orange County, California: crews punch two or more 12-inch openings in the floor and add a 12-inch layer of rock. The upper 18 inches can be planting soil when no structure is planned for the spot.
• Elk Grove, California: the shell has to be broken up to a depth of at least 18 inches, with two 3-by-3-foot holes in the floor. No building is allowed on top of the filled pool or within 5 feet of it later on.
• Town of Greece, New York: the pool bottom must be broken up so water can pass through before any fill goes in.
• Bernards Township, New Jersey: a construction permit is needed before filling in any pool, concrete or vinyl. Any concrete left as fill has to be broken down into 3 to 4 inch pieces, with the steel and liner taken out.
• Los Angeles, California: fill that will support a future structure has to reach 90 percent compaction or better, checked by a test. The shell has to be hauled off the site.