Do You Need a Permit to Replace a Garage Door in Myrtle Beach?

Updated 2026-10 · Myrtle Beach, SC

First, who is your permit office

This is the part that trips people up. A Myrtle Beach mailing address does not mean the City of Myrtle Beach is your building department.

Inside Myrtle Beach city limits

The city's Construction Services Department. The city's own guidance is that a building permit is generally required for construction work, with exceptions, and that the department will tell you whether your project needs one.

Carolina Forest, Socastee, Forestbrook and other unincorporated areas

Horry County Code Enforcement in Conway. Carolina Forest has tens of thousands of residents and a Myrtle Beach address, but it is not in the city.

North Myrtle Beach, Conway, Surfside Beach and the other towns

Each is its own municipality with its own building department.

Georgetown and Pawleys Island

The City of Georgetown inside its limits, Georgetown County outside them.

Repairs versus replacement

Replacing springs, cables, rollers, hinges, sensors or an opener on an existing door is maintenance, and permits rarely come up for it. A new opener can involve electrical work if an outlet has to be added, and electrical work has its own permit rules. Replacing the whole door is where the question becomes real, because on this coast a garage door is part of the house's wind resistance. Changing the size of the opening, such as widening two singles into one double, is structural framing work and needs a permit everywhere.

Why wind ratings drive the permit question

Myrtle Beach and the rest of the Grand Strand sit in the hurricane-prone region of the residential building code, and the code treats the garage door as a component that has to resist the wind pressure at the house. Where a permit is required for a replacement, the building department will generally want to see that the new door's rated design pressure meets what the house needs, typically from the manufacturer's label and installation instructions. The required number depends on location, exposure and height, so the office that covers your address is the one to ask.

Who pulls the permit

When a permit is needed, the installing company usually pulls it, and that should be stated on the quote. City of Myrtle Beach guidance says contractors working inside the city need a city business license and the appropriate state licensing for their trade, and Horry County requires a business license for anyone operating in the county. If a company asks you to pull the permit yourself as the homeowner, ask why.

HOAs are a separate approval

A building permit says the door is safe. An HOA approval says the door is allowed to look the way it does. Many planned communities here, from the Market Common to the Carolina Forest subdivisions and Grande Dunes, have architectural rules about exterior changes. Get the HOA's approval in writing before the door is ordered.

A caution about this page

We are not a contractor and this is not a permit determination. Rules change, and they differ by jurisdiction and by property. Treat this as a map of who to ask, and confirm with the building department that covers your address before relying on it.

Where to go next

• Garage door installation in Myrtle Beach
• Hurricane-rated garage doors
• Getting a door ready for hurricane season