Permit and utility coordination staff oversee work within county and township road right-of-ways by utilities, property owners, and oversized/overweight vehicles. They ensure utility installations or relocations and property work, such as driveways, drainage, or ditch changes do not affect road safety or operation, with all such work requiring permit review.
Payment is for Delaware County Engineer’s Office ONLY. Explore Building Safety Permits
We accept cash, check or credit cards for payment of permit fees.
Make an online payment through Point & Pay.
Please Note: a convenience fee will be added to charges
Submit the permit application with accompanying forms and receipt from Point & Pay to: dceopermits@co.delaware.oh.us
Hauling Permits for vehicles over Legal Size and Weight Limits
Roads and bridges are built for specific size and weight limits, but oversized or overweight vehicles may occasionally need access for transporting large items. To ensure safety, these vehicles are regulated by state and local authorities under Ohio law, with routes reviewed for bridge capacity and clearance. Permits are issued by the appropriate agency: cities for municipal roads, the Ohio Department of Transportation for state and interstate highways, and the County Engineer for county and township roads outside city limits.
The legal load limit for a specific vehicle depends on the number and size of axles and tires that a vehicle has. The overall maximum weight limit for any vehicle can never exceed 80,000 pounds. For vehicles such as garbage trucks and delivery trucks, the legal load limit is usually much less than 80,000 pounds, because these vehicles have fewer axles and/or smaller tires.
View the Ohio Department of Transportation Special Hauling Permits website to go to for more information about Ohio laws on legal loads for vehicles on public highways and streets.
Listed below are documents that can be helpful in determining what the Ohio Legal Load is for a certain vehicle.
Permits for Oversized or Overweight Vehicles:
Round-Trip or Single Trip Permit:
This permit entitles a specific oversized or overweight vehicle to make one single-trip or round-trip in or through Delaware County on county or township roads. The cost for this permit is as follows:
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Basic permit is $10 and entitles the vehicle to ONE round-trip or round-trip movement
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$25 additional charge for an overweight vehicle.
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$25 additional charge for a vehicle that is over legal limits on height, width or length.
Annual Permit:
For vehicles over the Ohio legal limits for size or weight that frequently travel on county roads in Delaware County, owners or operators can purchase an “annual” permit. This authorizes the movement of a vehicle, or commercial tractor-trailer combination on a yearly basis, with reduced cost “coupons” used for each trip.
A fee of $100 is charged for the annual permit. The annual permit is good from January 1 to December 31 of the year purchased. Coupons are required if total gross weight is greater than 80,000 lbs but less than 120,000 lbs, vehicle is over 12′ wide, over 13′ 6″ high, or overweight by gross or axle weight. Each coupon entitles the vehicle to ONE round-trip or single-trip. Coupons can be purchased in books of 10 for $100.
“Freeze-Thaw” Posted Roads
Under Ohio law, counties can reduce road weight limits during thawing periods. In Delaware County (Feb 1–June 1), selected roads have limits reduced by 40%. Vehicles between 60% and 100% of the legal load can purchase a $150 Posted Road Permit, allowing limited access. Restrictions include no crossing weight-restricted bridges and no using posted roads as through routes—only for necessary local access.
Bridge Weight Limits
Bridge weight limits on township and county roads in Delaware County can be on the bridge info page.
Driveway, Utility, Right-of-Way, Road Closure and Storm Sewer Permits
The County Engineer administers permits for all public right-of-way work to ensure safety, requiring approval for projects involving ditches, driveways, storm sewers, utility poles, and underground utilities.
Right-of-way is the land that a public road or highway occupies. It generally extends a certain distance from the center of the road and usually includes the ditches, culverts and utility poles.
The Delaware County Engineer oversees permits and enforces standards for driveway work in most townships (with some exceptions) at the township’s request. The County also handles permits for all County Roads and all utility work within the right-of-way, whether in township or county areas.
The following Townships currently administer the following permits:
Berlin – Drive permits
Concord – R/W permits
Genoa – Drive permits and R/W permits
Harlem – Drive permits
Kingston – Drive permits
Liberty – R/W permits
Porter – Drive permits
Scioto – Drive permits
Trenton – Drive permits
Submit fillable permit application with accompanying forms and receipt from Point & Pay to: dceopermits@co.delaware.oh.us
| Title | Download |
|---|---|
| Driveway Construction
Call 740-833-2435 24 hours in advance to schedule an inspection |
Driveway construction permit process |
| Public Utility Construction
*Utility companies use this form |
Utility construction permit process |
| Right-of-Way Work Permits | Work in Right-of-Way Application |
| Road Closing | Road Closing Application |
| Storm Sewer Construction | Storm Sewer permit application |
The authority to regulate work that obstructs or interferes with the safety or usage of any portion of the county right-of-way is provided in Chapter 5547 of the Ohio Revised Code and includes all objects in the right-of-way that are owned by utilities or adjacent property owners. The authority to regulate the installation of driveway culverts, other excavation or construction/reconstruction of utility poles on township roads is provided in Section 5571.16 of the Ohio Revised Code.
Stormwater (DESC) Permits:
Permits issued for coverage under the Phase II NPDES Stormwater Program are administered by the Delaware County Engineer’s Stormwater Department. Visit the stormwater website.
Ditch modification or other work on township roads or streets:
Ditch Modifications due to new subdivisions are subject to Delaware County Engineer Subdivision Standards.
For ditch modifications or improvements unrelated to new Subdivisions, the Delaware County Engineer issues permits at the township’s request for the following townships:
Berkshire, Berlin, Concord, Delaware, Harlem, Liberty, Marlboro, Orange, Oxford, Radnor, Thompson, Troy, Village of Ostrander
For other townships, please contact them directly. The Township has a right to also review and/or inspect the ditch modifications for new subdivisions, however the County Engineer will issue final approval.
You may apply for any of the permits above at the following email address: dceopermits@co.delaware.oh.us. Please submit the permit application with accompanying forms and proof of payment for approval.