How Much Does a Building Permit Cost? Verified Fee Examples

Chicago Roofing (2026 Fee Table)

• Roof recover or repair: $185 per area up to 5,000 sq ft.
• Roof replacement: $475 per area up to 5,000 sq ft.

A new Chicago fee table takes effect January 1, 2027.

Austin Express Permits (FY2026)

• Express Residential Plan Review: $136.45.
• Residential Express Permit: $87.49.

Baltimore HVAC (Building Code §109)

• Air conditioning: $5 per ton, minimum $30, maximum $300 per unit.
• Fuel-burning equipment 0–200,000 BTU/h: $30.
• Gas or oil piping, one- and two-family homes: $25.
• Replacement units: same as new.

Baltimore also charges an application fee and a permit tax.

Finding Your Own Fee

For cities and projects where we have not verified a fee, each permit page says so and links the official department. Some cities also publish actual fees charged; where they do, our city pages show the median fee paid in the last 12 months. See Hiring a Licensed Contractor: Permit Rules That Depend on Licensing for who usually pays.

How Cities Calculate Permit Fees

Fee schedules use a few common methods, often combined:

• Flat fees for routine permits, such as Austin's Residential Express Permit.
• Unit-based fees tied to size or equipment, such as Chicago's roof fee per area or Baltimore's air-conditioning fee per ton.
• Valuation-based fees calculated from the declared cost of the work, common for remodels and additions.
• Add-ons: application or filing fees, plan review, technology or records surcharges, and taxes. Philadelphia, for example, charges a $100 filing fee with the application, and Baltimore adds a permit tax.

Fees Beyond the Permit Itself

The permit fee is rarely the whole cost of compliance:

• Plan review for projects that need drawings.
• Re-inspection fees when an inspection fails or the site is not ready (varies by jurisdiction).
• Extension or reinstatement fees if the permit expires; see How Long Is a Building Permit Good For? Permit Expiration Rules.
• Investigation or penalty fees for work started before a permit, allowed under IRC R108.6.
• Utility and impact charges for projects such as ADUs; Seattle notes a King County sewer capacity charge for new ADUs.
• Professional fees for drawings by an architect or engineer where required, such as Chicago's small solar program.

Why We Do Not Publish Averages

National "average permit cost" figures mix different projects, cities and fee methods, so they are rarely useful for a specific job. Our approach is to quote only official fee schedules and, where cities publish the fees actually charged, the median from their records. When a fee is not verified, our city pages say so rather than guess.

How to Estimate Your Own Fee

1. Find your city's current fee schedule on the building department website.
2. Identify the permit type your project uses (express, no-plans, standard).
3. Gather the inputs: area, number of units or tons, or declared valuation.
4. Add the extras: filing fee, plan review, taxes.
5. Ask the permit desk to confirm before you apply.

Is the Fee Worth It?

Compared with the risks of skipping a permit, usually yes. Work started without a permit can bring an extra fee under IRC R108.6 and, in cities like Seattle, fines of up to $500 per day. See What Happens If You Build Without a Permit?.

Who Pays the Permit Fee

In most residential jobs the contractor applies for the permit and passes the fee through in the quote. That is reasonable, but make sure it is visible. A quote that omits the permit fee may be cheaper only because the contractor does not intend to pull one. When comparing quotes, check that each includes the same permits: a re-roof quote that includes decking replacement should allow for any permit that triggers, and an HVAC quote should include the mechanical permit.

If you apply as an owner-builder, you pay the fee directly and are also responsible for scheduling inspections. Keep the receipt with your permit records; it is part of the evidence that the work was permitted.

Fee Examples We Have Verified

Building Departments in the Cities We Cover

Rules in this guide vary by jurisdiction. These are the official departments that issue residential permits in the 15 cities we track, with the city's open-data source for permit records. Each city page shows the rules for roofing, HVAC, solar, fence and deck work.

Before relying on any rule, read the department's current page or call its permit desk. Model-code sections cited here (such as IRC R105) are adopted locally, often with amendments.

Frequently Asked Questions