Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix building permit cost
Phoenix charges a building permit fee from the valuation of the work using one table
applied the same way to a house, a tenant improvement and a warehouse. Table A pairs a base amount with a dollar rate for each additional $1,000 of valuation — $12 up to $10,000, then $10 up to $50,000, then $9 up to $1,000,000, then $5 above it — and the valuation is rounded up to the next whole $1,000 before the rate is applied. Plan review is added on top as a percentage of that permit fee: 100% at or below $50,000 of valuation, 80% above it, with a published minimum of $195.
How this fee is calculated
These are the components the schedule defines for this permit, as they applied on 2026-09-28. A component only applies to your project if its conditions match — read that column before assuming a figure. Want a figure for your own project? Estimate this fee with the permit fee calculator.
| Component | Formula | Applies when | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building safety permit feePermit fee | $195.00 + no charge on the first $1,000, plus 1.2% above $1,000, plus 1% above $10,000, plus 0.9% above $50,000, plus 0.9% above $200,000, plus 0.5% above $1,000,000, plus 0.5% above $10,000,000 (basis rounded up to the next $1,000 or fraction thereof) | Every permit of this type | — |
| Plan reviewPlan review | 100% of calculated permit fee | Project valuation over $5,000 and up to $50,000 | min $195.00 |
| Plan reviewPlan review | 80% of calculated permit fee | Project valuation over $50,000 | min $195.00 |
A real permit fee is these components added together. The department’s final calculation is the one that applies — this is the schedule it will be based on.
A worked example
Follow the arithmetic by hand. Every line is produced by the engine from the rules above, so the total cannot drift away from the schedule behind it.
Worked example
The City's own worked example: a project with a total valuation of $250,500. It is used here unchanged, because the arithmetic is the City's and the permit fee it produces is published in the schedule.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Project valuation | $250,500 |
| Type of work | New construction |
Example total
$4,521.60
An estimate, not an official fee. It is calculated from the published fee schedule as it applied on 2026-09-28. The permit office’s own calculation is the one that applies, and your project may fall under rules this schedule does not describe.
Fee schedule as of 2026-09-28Rules applied 2Rules considered 3
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Building safety permit feePermit feeAppendix A.2, Table A — the valuation-based permit fee for new construction, additions and remodels. Bands are marginal and the valuation is rounded up to the next whole $1,000 before they are applied.Show the working
| $195.00 + no charge on the first $1,000, plus 1.2% above $1,000, plus 1% above $10,000, plus 0.9% above $50,000, plus 0.9% above $200,000, plus 0.5% above $1,000,000, plus 0.5% above $10,000,000 | $2,512.00 |
Plan reviewPlan reviewAppendix A.2, Building Safety Plan Review Fees 1.a.2 and 1.a.4 — 80% of the permit fee for valuations over $50,000, minimum $195.Show the working
| 80% of calculated permit fee | $2,009.60 |
| Total | $4,521.60 |
Fees that do not apply here
Listed so you can see what was considered and left out, rather than wondering whether something is missing. A rule can also be left out because it is not published for this permit at all, and that is stated where it matters.
- Plan review — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
Assumptions
- Calculated from 2 fee rules in effect on 2026-09-28.
- Amounts are rounded to the nearest cent, once, at the end of each component.
The City's document states the permit fee for this valuation as $2,512 — $2,053 plus 51 increments of $9 — and this site calculates the same figure. Plan review is not part of the City's statement of that total, and it is added above because the same document publishes it: at a valuation over $50,000 it is 80% of the permit fee, which is $2,009.60. The estimate therefore assumes a plan review is required, which the schedule does not decide; a project reviewed over the counter pays none. The valuation is the City's example figure, not a typical project.
What is different in Phoenix
The table's rows chain, which is unusual and worth following once. $303 is what the previous row produces at $10,000 ($195 plus nine $12 increments), $703 is what the row below produces at $50,000, $2,053 at $200,000, $9,253 at $1,000,000 and $54,253 at $10,000,000. One rule describes the whole table, and the City's own worked example — a $250,500 valuation, which it charges as $2,053 plus 51 increments of $9 — comes out at $2,512, the same figure this site calculates.
Plan review is the component that surprises people, in two ways. It is a percentage of the permit fee rather than of the valuation, so it grows with the fee automatically. And the percentage drops from 100% to 80% at $50,000 of valuation, which makes the total fall as the project gets bigger: $50,000 pays $703 plus $703, while $50,001 pays $712 plus $569.60.
Two published fees are deliberately not charged, because the table does not say how they interact with the base. Table A prints a $98 minimum for residential water heaters and fences, and swimming pools carry a $234 minimum plus a $30 aquatics surcharge under Ordinance G-3114. Both are named on the jurisdiction page and left out of the arithmetic rather than guessed at.
What this figure does not include
Impact fees, utility connections and other departments’ permits are the usual omissions, and in some jurisdictions they are larger than the permit fee itself.
Not included in these figures
This estimate is the Table A permit fee plus the plan review fee published in the same document. It excludes:
- The $98 water heater and fence minimum and the $234 pool minimum with its $30 aquatics surcharge — published, but the schedule does not say whether they replace or floor the $195 base charge.
- Every other plan review route: plot plan, single-family design, engineering components, fire life safety, phased and deferred submittals, permits by appointment or inspection, expedited review, plan corrections after the second, and self-certification, all priced at $195 an hour with their own minimums.
- Event fees: re-inspection $195, after-hours inspection $195 an hour ($390 or $585 minimum), temporary power $195, temporary or partial certificate of occupancy $780, and annual facilities, elevator and refrigeration permits.
- The zoning, impact, fire, and water and sewer fee schedules, which the department publishes separately.
- Solar permits, which have five flat over-the-counter options of their own, and investigation fees for work done without a permit ($250 or the permit fee, whichever is greater, capped at $2,500 a day).
What you need before applying
- Project valuationRequired
Table A is applied to the valuation of the work, and the schedule defines valuation as building square footage multiplied by the standard rate for the occupancy — the Building Valuation Table. The schedule adds that the valuation used is the higher of the minimum the department calculates and the figure the applicant provides, and that the minimum valuation of the work is set by the Building Official from nationally recognised standards including the value of materials, labour, overhead and profit.
- The valuation is rounded up before the table is appliedRequired
Every row of Table A charges its rate for each additional $1,000 of valuation, or fraction thereof. The schedule's own worked example shows the consequence: a $250,500 valuation is charged 51 whole $9 increments, not 50.5 of them.
- Whether the project needs a plan reviewRequired
Plan review is charged only where a plan review is required and the valuation exceeds $5,000. The schedule gives no fee at all for a valuation under $5,000 reviewed at the counter in 15 minutes or less, and it prices several other review routes separately — over-the-counter options for residential solar, for example, which carry their own flat fees. Whether your project needs a full review is the department's call, not the schedule's.
- Fees the City charges on other schedulesMay be required
The department's own fees page publishes the zoning, impact, fire permit and plan review, and water and sewer fee schedules separately from the development fee schedule. None of them is part of the figures calculated on this site.
Common questions
Is the Phoenix building permit fee a percentage of construction cost?
Not directly. Table A is written as a base amount plus a dollar rate for each additional $1,000 of valuation — $12, then $10, then $9, then $5 — so the percentage each band represents falls as the project grows. Only plan review is a percentage, and it is a percentage of the permit fee rather than of the valuation.
Why does the total fall when my project gets bigger?
Because plan review drops from 100% of the permit fee to 80% of it once the valuation passes $50,000. A $50,000 project pays a $703 permit fee and $703 of plan review, $1,406 in all; at $50,001 the permit fee rises to $712 but plan review falls to $569.60, so the total is $1,281.60. Both figures come from the published schedule.
Does a valuation just over a boundary really pay a whole extra $1,000 of fee?
It pays the next increment of the band's rate, not a whole $1,000. Every row charges its rate 'for each additional $1,000, or fraction thereof', so $10,001 is charged at the $10 rate for one additional thousand rather than at the $12 rate. The City's own example does the same thing with $250,500 and 51 increments of $9.
Is plan review always charged?
No. The schedule gives no plan review fee at all where the valuation is under $5,000 and the counter review takes 15 minutes or less, and it prices other review routes separately. The estimate on this page assumes a plan review is required, which is the department's decision rather than something the valuation alone determines.
Does Phoenix charge separately for electrical or plumbing permits?
The City issues them, but the published fee schedule does not price them: across its fifty pages there is no electrical, plumbing or mechanical permit fee, and no per-outlet, per-fixture or per-circuit rate. What the schedule prices is construction work, from valuation, in Table A. A trade permit should be expected to be priced the same way, but no Phoenix page for it is published here because the City does not publish a trade mechanism to compute from.
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- City websiteCityPrimary source
Fees, Valuations and Assurances
The department's own fee landing page. Used for four things: it publishes the fee schedule as the current one and dates it 20 January 2026; it names the other fee schedules that are NOT part of it (Zoning; Impact Fees; Fire Permit and Plan Review Fees; Water and Sewer Fees); it lists the counters that collect fees and their contact addresses; and it is the source for the Building Valuation Table being revised on the same date as the schedule.
- Fee schedule (PDF)CityPrimary source
PDD Fee Schedule (Chapter 9, Appendix A.2)
Approved 17 December 2025, effective 20 January 2026, adopted by Ordinance G-7465. Fifty pages, fetched live from phoenix.gov on 2026-09-24 (sha256 4193e742000369ae3b6814e56c7eb2563cf18075240aeb894f335d684ff9436d, 616,766 bytes) and read locally with pdftotext -layout and -raw. A later capture can be compared against that hash. Unlike Dallas, no archive copy was needed: the City's host answered from this environment.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.