Siding Permits and HOA Rules in Anniston & Oxford

Anniston

• Permit: the City's Building Department page lists repair work among the construction that needs a permit, and the City offers an online building permit application.¹
• Fee: the first $2,000 of contract value costs $25, and each thousand after that adds $7 (worked example on the cost page).²
• Codes: the City's fees page says it has adopted the 2021 editions of the International codes.²

Historic districts: a Certificate of Appropriateness

Anniston requires a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) for additions, alterations, rehabilitations, restorations and relocations in its four historic districts: Downtown Anniston, West 15th Street, Tyler Hill, and Buckner Circle at Fort McClellan.¹ Routine preventive maintenance may not need one; the Building & Safety Division (256-231-7720) can tell you whether your job qualifies.¹

For houses in Tyler Hill, the 2016 design guidelines say original wood siding should be kept and repaired where possible, replacement should match the original, and new vinyl or aluminum siding is prohibited unless already present; swapping existing non-historic siding for a similar or more appropriate material needs Commission approval.³ The Commission may ask for material samples along with a COA application.³

Oxford

• Permit: the City's website says a permit is required when changes cost more than $500 including labor and materials, and asks owners to contact the building department before doing work or buying materials.⁴
• Who to ask: Building Services at 256-831-9685, open weekdays from 7:00 until 3:30. Permit applications and the fee schedule are on its page.⁵
• Planned Development districts: §6.03 sets exterior-material guidelines in Table 6-5 (detached houses: at least 30% masonry on all walls, 40% on the front), counts fiber cement as masonry, discourages vinyl on dwellings, and recommends that each development have an architectural committee representing its property owners.⁶
• Manufactured Home district (§4.08): siding must be predominantly horizontal vinyl or aluminum, wood or hardboard similar to standard houses.⁶

HOAs and neighborhood covenants

We don't have a public source for any particular subdivision's covenants, so we won't guess. Before you sign a siding contract, look at your deed restrictions or HOA rules for approved materials and colors, and ask whether the association wants plans or samples before work starts. In an Oxford planned development the city's standards above may apply on top of the HOA's.⁶

Licensing

To check a contractor, use the Home Builders Licensure Board's online lookup, or call 1-800-304-0853 if a name doesn't appear.⁷