Yes, You Need a Permit
Cutting a new opening in your foundation wall is structural work, and Fairfax County treats it that way. An egress window install typically requires a building permit — and when the window serves a basement bedroom, it is part of a finished-basement permit. Skipping the permit is a gamble: if the county finds out, you can be ordered to expose the work for inspection or tear it out, and unpermitted work shows up at resale when the buyer's inspector asks for the permit records.
What the County Checks
The permit application shows the plan: where the opening goes, the window size and type, and the well details. The inspector then verifies the finished work against the code — the clear opening meets the 5.7/5.0 square foot minimum, the width and height clear 20 and 24 inches, the sill sits within 44 inches of the floor, and the well has the required area, projection, and ladder. These are the same minimums in our code guide. An install built to those numbers passes; one built to "close enough" does not.
How the Process Usually Goes
1. Application. The permit application goes in with a simple plan showing the opening location and window specs. As your contractor, we prepare this — it is part of the job.
2. Cutting and setting. We do the work: cut the opening, set the window, build the well, connect drainage.
3. Inspection. The county inspector visits and checks the opening sizes, the well, and the ladder. Because we build to the code minimums with margin, our installs pass.
Fairfax County's exact forms, fees, and timelines change — check the county's land development site or ask us during the free visit and we will walk you through the current process.
What About Replacing an Existing Egress Window?
A straight swap — same opening, new window — is simpler than a new cut and may fall under a simpler permit path. But if the old window never met code (wrong size, sill too high), a swap does not fix the compliance problem. During the free visit we will tell you whether your existing window passes or the opening needs to change.
Call (301) 679-9193 or send the form for a free written estimate — permits handled.