Hillsborough County does not exercise land-use or building permit authority; all permitting, zoning, and inspections are handled by the individual cities and towns. The county government primarily focuses on administrative and judicial functions, meaning developers must coordinate exclusively with municipal planning and building departments.
Many towns in Hillsborough County enforce strict local wetlands and shoreland protection ordinances that exceed state-level environmental requirements.
How this fits with the state
The state authority here is New Hampshire Office of Professional Licensure and Certification; local building departments. The county file does not replace that — it adds the permit office, local overlays, and the actual filing path.
Source · City-by-city; individual municipalities run independent permit portals and building departmentsLast verified · 05 / 2026