Do You Need A Permit For A Dumpster?
On Your Driveway, No Permit.
If the container sits on your own driveway, or anywhere else on your own property, you do not need a permit. That covers most of the jobs we do.
Permits apply to public property: the street, the alley, the sidewalk, the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the road. If the container is going there, your city has a say.
In Practice The Question Usually Answers Itself
Our 10 and 15 yard containers are sized to fit a standard residential driveway, and the 10 yard is the shortest in the fleet at 12'L x 7.5'W x 4'H.
Drivers place the container so you keep access to your garage. On a tight lot we can usually find a spot on the property that works, and if we genuinely cannot we will tell you before delivery day rather than after.
When You Do Need One
A permit comes into it when the container occupies public property, or when a private body has its own rules. Any one of these applies:
Permit likely required
- The container will sit on a public street, alley or sidewalk
- The container will block a sidewalk, bike lane or fire hydrant access
- The property sits in a historic overlay district
- It is a commercial job in a downtown or high traffic area
- Your HOA has its own rules, which are separate from the city’s and enforced by the HOA
Which Office To Call In Your City
Street placement rules are set city by city. Below is what we have verified against a city’s own published information. We are working through the rest and will add each one as it is confirmed rather than estimating it.
| City | Street placement | Department | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murfreesboro | Permit required for work in the public right of way | Traffic Engineering, 111 W. Vine St | City of Murfreesboro |
Smyrna, La Vergne, Mount Juliet, Lebanon, Gallatin, Hendersonville, Shelbyville, Brentwood, Eagleville and Christiana. We have not published a department or a fee for these because we have not verified one directly with the city, and a figure copied from another company’s website is not a source. If your job is in one of them, call (615) 200-0865 and we will tell you what we know and point you at the right department.
Who Pulls The Permit
Permits are pulled by the property owner or the contractor, not by the hauler. We will tell you whether you need one and which department to call.
What Happens If You Skip It
Enforcement varies by city and we are not going to guess at it for you. What we can tell you is that the risk is entirely avoidable: put the container on your property and the question never comes up.
If street placement is genuinely your only option, the permit is usually inexpensive and quick to obtain. It is a smaller cost than a citation, and a much smaller one than having the container removed mid project.
Permit Rules By City
Driveway placement needs no permit anywhere we serve. Start at dumpster rental in Middle Tennessee or compare the sizes.
Questions We Get Every Week
Do I need a permit for a dumpster?
Not if it sits on your own property. A container on your driveway needs no permit anywhere in Middle Tennessee.
A permit applies when the container occupies public property such as the street, alley or sidewalk. That is a city decision and the rules differ from one city to the next.
Do I need a permit to put a dumpster in my driveway?
No. Your driveway is private property, so no municipal permit is required to place a container on it.
The one thing that can still apply is an HOA rule. Those are separate from city ordinances and are enforced by the HOA rather than the city.
Do I need a permit to put a dumpster on the street?
Usually yes. Street, alley and sidewalk placement means occupying the public right of way, which almost every city regulates.
In Murfreesboro that falls to Traffic Engineering at 111 W. Vine St. If your job is in another city we will point you at the right department, and the permit is pulled by the property owner or contractor rather than by us.
How long can I keep a dumpster in my driveway?
As long as you need it. The 10, 15 and 20 include 1 day and extra days are $5 each, so the container can stay while the job runs.
That is short compared with the 7 to 14 days most national guides describe as standard, so it is the extension rate worth comparing rather than the included day count. On public property the permit itself may carry its own time limit set by the city.
Tell Us Where It Goes
Describe the spot when you book and we will tell you whether a permit comes into it at all.