A patio can have a zoning permit without a building permit
The Town of Christiansburg's Before You Apply: Zoning Permit guide, updated July 10, 2025 and checked November 1, 2026, describes permits for projects not otherwise regulated by the building code. Its examples include accessory structures under 256 square feet and patios or decks not otherwise regulated by that code. The town's point is practical: a building-code answer does not settle the zoning application.
Before choosing the slab's location, ask the town whether your patio or other concrete project follows this zoning permit route. Tell staff whether the work is on grade, roofed, attached to another structure or intended to support a future building. The patio permit answer explains why the project's form and local definition matter.
This procedure belongs to the Town of Christiansburg. A Christiansburg mailing address outside the town is a Montgomery County question, and a Blacksburg parcel must be checked with the Town of Blacksburg. Establish the parcel's jurisdiction before using a town form.
Prepare the site plan and the property record together
The town guide asks for a site plan showing existing and proposed structures and the distances from proposed structures to nearby property lines. It also asks for a property plat, described as a surveyed legal drawing. If the owner does not have it, the guide directs the applicant to Montgomery County's Clerk's office for the land record.
Where the clerk confirms that no plat is recorded, the guide provides a statement for the applicant to submit explaining that result. That is a specific paperwork route, not permission to guess where a boundary sits. Ask town staff what will establish the lines for the proposed project before marking a slab beside a fence or a neighbor's drive.
Applications go through the town's permitting portal. Staff review the submission and may request more information; approval brings an email with the next steps. Use the current guide linked below for the application and payment instructions.
The setback check is followed by a final check
Christiansburg's guide lists a setback inspection and a final inspection for the zoning permit. For the setback visit it says, "Request this inspection when you have the location of your structure and property lines marked." The inspector checks the proposed location against the approved permit and the required setbacks.
The final inspection is requested when the structure is in place and construction is complete. It checks that the finished location matches the approved permit. Requests are made through the permit record in the portal. Confirm the appointment and ask how that sequence fits your project before the forms, excavation or concrete delivery are committed.
This is a location check described in the town's zoning guide. It is not a substitute for any building, footing, reinforcement or other inspection attached to a separate permit. Ask the relevant office to identify all inspections for the job.
Outside town limits, use the county's application route
Montgomery County's Planning and GIS Services page identifies its work as covering the unincorporated areas. It publishes separate zoning application instructions for dwellings and additions on septic systems, those on public sewer, and accessory structures. A detached garage slab should be discussed as part of the intended garage, with its use and dimensions, rather than as an unexplained rectangle of concrete.
For a new house in the unincorporated county, the county's home-construction guide puts the zoning verification letter ahead of the building permit application. It says, "Zoning and Erosion & Sediment Control Permits, if required, must be issued prior to issuance of the building permit." Keep that qualification when asking about your site: the guide does not say every small patio needs every permit.
County Planning and GIS is at 755 Roanoke Street, Suite 2A, Christiansburg, 540-394-2148. The building inspections contact is 540-382-5750. Both contacts were checked November 1, 2026. Ask Planning about the location and zoning paperwork and Building Inspections about structural plans and inspections.
Keep the permit decision separate from the concrete specification
A permit route does not choose the base preparation, concrete thickness or reinforcement for a job. Tell the concrete contractor what the slab will support, and pass along the approved plan and any inspector's requirements. A garage, a patio and a footing should not be priced from the same description.
The Christiansburg concrete services page and the Blacksburg concrete services page describe the concrete work. For an address outside those towns, ask about the job and location directly.
Use the Virginia concrete permits guide for the statewide framework, then obtain the parcel-specific answer from the responsible office. A road entrance, disturbed ground or a floodplain location can raise a separate question even when the planned concrete area is small.
Official sources
Checked November 1, 2026. Confirm current requirements with the office before applying.