Building permit fee calculator

What this calculator does

• It uses only valuation tables a city publishes, and only lines whose wording says how partial amounts count (for example “each additional $1,000 or fraction thereof”).
• It shows the schedule line it used, word for word, and the arithmetic.
• The result is that one fee line. Plan review, surcharges, technology fees and trade permits on the same schedule are separate and are not added in.
• Cities set valuation by their own method (often a table of cost per square foot); the city page states it where published.

How valuation tables work

Most large cities charge the main building permit fee by the value of the work. The table is split into value bands. Each band gives a base amount that covers the value up to the bottom of the band, plus an amount for each additional unit of value (often each $1,000) above it. “Or fraction thereof” means a partial unit counts as a whole one, so $1,001 over the band start counts as two units of $1,000.

The value itself is not always your contract price: many departments compute it from the floor area and a cost-per-square-foot table for the type of construction. The city page says how the city sets valuation where it publishes that.

Cities with a valuation table here

• Phoenix, AZ: Table A
• San Francisco, CA: Building permit Plan Review Fee; Building permit Permit Issuance Fee
• Detroit, MI: Building/Residential permit
• Albuquerque, NM: Building permit fee, Table 112-A
• Mesa, AZ: Residential Rate Table - Building Permit Fee (BPF)
• Colorado Springs, CO: Table A building permit fee; Table C trade permit fee not associated with a building permit

For other cities, the city page lists every fee line as the schedule states it. See also how much a building permit costs.