How PermitFees.org Gets Its Numbers
Every figure on this site is built to be checked. This page explains where the fees come from, what an estimate includes, the testing every jurisdiction passes before it is listed, and exactly what we assume when a schedule needs an input you haven't given us. The short version: official sources only, no guessing, and every assumption stated where the number appears.
Where every number comes from
Every fee comes from an official published fee schedule: the resolution, ordinance, or fee table the city or county itself adopted. Every jurisdiction page links its source document and shows the date we last verified it, and every individual fee rule records the exact page or section of the document it came from. A jurisdiction is not listed publicly until a human has checked every loaded figure against that official document, line by line. Currently live: 197 jurisdictions across 28 counties.
What an estimate includes
An estimate is the same math the fee schedule prints, applied to your inputs: the base permit fee from the documented rate structure (valuation tiers, per-unit rates, or flat fees), plus the documented surcharges and plan-review fees that apply to your trade and job type, with minimum permit fees applied the way the schedule applies them. Every line item is shown separately so you can trace each one back to the source document. Each figure covers that single permit only: a job that combines trades pays each applicable permit.
What we never do
We never estimate, interpolate, or extrapolate a fee. If a schedule documents fees only up to a certain job value, the calculator refuses and says so rather than projecting past the published table. If a printed fee is ambiguous, we leave it out or flag it with a footnote until the jurisdiction confirms it. A fee we cannot tie to an official document does not appear on this site at all.
Benchmark screening
Before a jurisdiction is listed, and continuously afterward, we compute a fixed set of standard benchmark scenarios against its schedule and compare the resulting effective rates across every jurisdiction we cover. A fee that lands far outside the pattern of its peers is hand-checked against the source document before it stands: sometimes a schedule really is that expensive or that cheap, and then it stays exactly as printed, but the screening catches transcription and interpretation errors before they reach you.
The same scenarios are the calculator's starting values. When you open a jurisdiction page, the first estimate you see is computed at a benchmark scenario, which means it is a number that has been screened against every other jurisdiction on the site, not an untested default.
Residential scenarios
| Scenario | Trade | Job Value | Where a Schedule Prices Per Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20k reroof | Roofing | $20,000.00 | assumes a 2,000 sq ft (20-square) roof where the fee is priced per square or per square foot |
| $10k HVAC change-out | Mechanical / HVAC | $10,000.00 | assumes a 3-ton system where the fee is per-ton, 1 county-assigned inspection where priced per inspection, or a 200 sq ft affected area where priced per square foot |
| $10k electrical panel/rewire | Electrical | $10,000.00 | assumes 200 A service, 10 circuits, 2 county-assigned inspections, or a 200 sq ft affected area where the fee is per-unit |
| $50k remodel | Building (remodel) | $50,000.00 | assumes a 200 sq ft remodel area where the fee is priced per square foot, or 3 county-assigned inspections where priced per inspection |
| $500k new SFH | Building (new construction) | $500,000.00 | assumes a 2,000 sq ft home where the fee is priced by floor area |
| $10k plumbing repipe | Plumbing | $10,000.00 | assumes a 15-fixture whole-house scope where the fee is per-fixture, 2 county-assigned inspections where priced per inspection, or a 200 sq ft affected area where priced per square foot |
Commercial scenarios
| Scenario | Trade | Job Value | Where a Schedule Prices Per Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| $200k commercial buildout | Building (remodel) | $200,000.00 | assumes a 2,500 sq ft buildout where the fee is priced per square foot, or 10 county-assigned inspections where priced per inspection |
| $1M commercial new construction | Building (new construction) | $1,000,000.00 | assumes a 10,000 sq ft building where the fee is priced by floor area, or 10 county-assigned inspections where priced per inspection |
| $50k commercial reroof | Roofing | $50,000.00 | assumes a 5,000 sq ft (50-square) roof where the fee is priced per square or per square foot |
| $25k commercial HVAC | Mechanical / HVAC | $25,000.00 | assumes a 10-ton system where the fee is per-ton, 2 county-assigned inspections where priced per inspection, or a 2,500 sq ft affected area where priced per square foot |
| $25k commercial electrical | Electrical | $25,000.00 | assumes 200 A service, 10 circuits, 3 county-assigned inspections, or a 2,500 sq ft affected area where the fee is per-unit |
| $25k commercial plumbing | Plumbing | $25,000.00 | assumes a 10-fixture scope where the fee is per-fixture, 3 county-assigned inspections where priced per inspection, or a 2,500 sq ft affected area where priced per square foot |
Pages quote only clearly single-permit scenarios, like the remodel and the re-roof. The whole-project scenarios (a new single-family home, commercial new construction) are used for screening and as calculator starting points but are never quoted as a headline figure, because the building permit alone understates what a whole project pays: new construction also pulls each trade's own permit.
Assumptions are stated, never hidden
Some schedules price by square footage, fixtures, tonnage, amperage, or inspection count instead of job value. Wherever a quoted figure was computed from one of those unit assumptions, the page says so next to the number: a tile that reads "200 sq ft remodel area" or "2,000 sq ft (20-square) roof" is telling you the exact job the figure prices. In the calculator itself the assumption is the input: the slider starts at the benchmark value and you adjust it to your actual job, and where a valuation-based surcharge needs a job value on a unit-priced estimate, the assumed value is captioned under the total.
Keeping it current
Fee schedules change, and Florida's are changing quickly under HB 803. Every jurisdiction page shows when its source was last verified, and we re-check sources weekly for superseded schedules and newly adopted resolutions. Jurisdictions whose data is still under review carry a visible draft notice and are excluded from listings and search engines until verification is complete.
Independence
PermitFees.org is an independent reference site, not affiliated with any government agency. Every total is an estimate built from sourced fees: your building department makes the final call on valuation and which fees apply. Always confirm with the local building department before you apply. If a number looks off, tell us; we'd rather fix it than guess.