How much does a building permit cost?

It depends entirely on the jurisdiction. Some cities charge a flat fee by project type, some price off the job valuation in brackets, and some charge per square foot. On top of the base permit most add plan review (commonly 62 to 65 percent of the permit fee), issuance fees, and technology or records surcharges. This calculator reads each city’s own published schedule rather than applying a national average.

How is permit valuation determined?

Most jurisdictions set valuation from the total cost of the work including labor and materials, or from a published per-square-foot construction cost table when the stated cost looks low. The building department has final say on the valuation used.

Why does this calculator sometimes show text instead of a dollar amount?

Because some fee rules cannot be computed honestly from the published wording — compound rules, fees quoted only as examples, or amounts the building official sets case by case. Rather than guess, the published text is shown so you can read the actual rule and call the department.

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Building Permit Fee Calculator

Estimates permit cost from the jurisdiction’s own published fee schedule — not a national average. Every figure below is computed from a rule quoted verbatim from that city’s document, and rules that cannot be computed honestly are shown as the published text instead of a number.

Jurisdiction

217 jurisdictions with fee schedules on file — 184 with a linked source document and verification date

Job Valuation ($)

Total cost of work, labor and materials

Square Feet

Used by cities that price per square foot

Linear Feet

Fences and retaining walls

Service Amperes

Electrical permits priced by the ampere

Estimate only.Fee schedules change, and building departments set the final valuation and decide which fees apply to your scope. Confirm with the jurisdiction before budgeting. Lines marked “see rule” could not be computed from the published wording and are shown verbatim rather than guessed.