Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix plumbing permit cost
Phoenix prices plumbing work the way it prices everything else:
from the valuation of the work, through Table A — $195 for the first $1,000, then $12 per additional $1,000 up to $10,000, then $10, $9 and $5 as the valuation rises. There is no per-fixture rate anywhere in the fifty-page schedule. The plumbing fees the City does publish on their own are added to that: each gas or water meter after the first is $98, a backflow prevention device is $195 for the first and $98 for each one after it, and a residential water heater carries a published $98 minimum.
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 | — |
| Each additional gas or water meterPermit fee | the first meter is included in the permit fee, then $98.00 for each additional meter | Each meter on the permit | — |
| Backflow prevention devicesInspection fee | $195.00 for the first backflow device, plus $98.00 for each additional backflow device | Each backflow device on the permit | — |
| Re-inspectionInspection fee | $195.00 flat fee | reinspection is true | — |
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
A commercial plumbing permit carrying a project valuation of $40,000, with three water meters and three backflow prevention devices. The valuation drives the permit fee; the devices and meters are charged on top of it, which is how the schedule states each of them.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Project valuation | $40,000 |
| Occupancy class | Commercial |
| Type of work | New construction |
| Number of meters | 3 |
| Number of backflow devices | 3 |
Example total
$1,190.00
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 3Rules considered 4
| 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 | $603.00 |
Each additional gas or water meterPermit feeAppendix A.2, Building Safety permit fees item 3: "Each Additional Meter per Utility ..... $98 each". One gas meter and one water meter are each included in the permit fee; every meter after that is $98.Show the working
| the first meter is included in the permit fee, then $98.00 for each additional meter | $196.00 |
Backflow prevention devicesInspection feeAppendix A.2, Building Safety inspection fees item 6.c — "$195 for the 1st backflow device and $98 for each additional backflow device". A plumbing fee with no electrical or mechanical equivalent.Show the working
| $195.00 for the first backflow device, plus $98.00 for each additional backflow device | $391.00 |
| Total | $1,190.00 |
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.
- Re-inspection — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
Assumptions
- Calculated from 3 fee rules in effect on 2026-09-28.
- Amounts are rounded to the nearest cent, once, at the end of each component.
The permit fee is the published Table A figure: $303 on the first $10,000 of valuation plus $10 for each of the thirty additional thousands, which is $603. Three water meters are two chargeable meters at $98, because one meter of each type is included in that permit fee: $196. Three backflow prevention devices are $195 for the first and $98 for each of the other two: $391. The total is $1,190.
The assumption to be aware of is the one on the electrical page: Table A takes a valuation, the schedule defines valuation from the building's square footage and occupancy, and where plumbing work stands alone the department determines the valuation of the work. The device and meter fees do not depend on that at all.
What is different in Phoenix
Three plumbing figures in this schedule are worth more than the rest, because they are the only ones that are not simply Table A applied to a valuation.
The first is the meter allowance. One gas meter and one water meter are inside the permit fee — 'First Gas, Electric, or Water Meter: No additional fee (included with the permit fee for one meter of each type)' — and every meter after that is $98, charged per utility. A project with three water meters pays for two.
The second is backflow prevention, the one plumbing device the City prices by count rather than by valuation: $195 for the first device and $98 for each additional one. That is a real, published, per-device fee, and it sits in the schedule's miscellaneous inspection services rather than in Table A.
The third is the residential water heater, whose row in Table A reads '$98 Minimum for Residential Water Heaters and Fences' for a work valuation of $1,000 or less. That is the cheapest permit in the document for the most common plumbing job there is. It is deliberately not added to any total on this site: the row prints the word 'Minimum', under a table whose first row is a $195 base fee, and the schedule never says whether the $98 replaces that base or floors it. Charging both would double-count and charging either alone would be a guess, so the figure is named here and left out of the arithmetic — the same call made for the $234 swimming pool minimum.
Backflow devices and meters are different: both are stated as charges in addition to the permit fee, so both are computed. A commercial plumbing permit valued at $40,000 with three water meters and three backflow devices comes to $603 of permit fee plus $196 for the meters and $391 for the devices, which is $1,190.
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 City of Phoenix's building safety permit fee from Table A plus the plumbing fees the same schedule publishes on their own. It is not a total project cost, and it does not include:
- The $98 residential water heater minimum, published in Table A's first row and not added, because the schedule does not say whether it replaces the $195 base fee or floors it. A residential water heater permit is therefore not computed on this site, and the published figure is $98.
- The swimming pool minimum of $234 and the $30 aquatics program surcharge under Ordinance G-3114, left out for the same reason. Pool permits are not computed here.
- Plan review, for the reason given on the electrical page: published as a percentage of a building permit fee and scoped by the schedule to new construction, additions and remodels of a building. Plumbing work inside such a project carries that project's review, computed on the building permit page.
- The $195 re-inspection unless one is selected, and after-hours inspections at $195 an hour with $390 and $585 minimums.
- Investigation fees for work done without a permit — $250 or the permit fee, whichever is greater, capped at $2,500 a day — and the doubling of the permit fee the schedule applies to unpermitted work under Section 114.
- Solar water heaters, which the department prices on its own schedule rather than in this one.
- Fees on the department's other schedules: zoning, impact, fire permit and plan review, and water and sewer. The water and sewer connection charges a project actually pays are on the last of those, not here.
- Anything for property outside the Phoenix city limits.
What you need before applying
- Plumbing work is priced from the valuation of the workRequired
The schedule contains no plumbing permit fee, no per-fixture rate and no per-gas-outlet rate. Plumbing work is priced from the valuation of the building or addition through Table A, exactly as construction is, which is why a plumbing permit for a project of a given value costs what a construction permit of that value costs.
- Backflow prevention devices are the one plumbing fee charged per deviceRequired
Miscellaneous inspection services, paragraph c: $195 for the first backflow prevention device and $98 for each additional device. It is a charge in addition to the permit fee, not a replacement for it, and it is the only plumbing item in the schedule whose price moves with a count rather than with a valuation.
- The water heater minimum is published, and is not added to any total hereRequired
Table A's first row prints '$98 Minimum for Residential Water Heaters and Fences' for permits with a work valuation between $1 and $1,000, against a $195 base fee for everything else in the same bracket. It is published as a minimum, and the schedule does not say whether it replaces that $195 base or floors it. Charging both would double-count and charging either alone would be a guess, so the figure is stated on the page and left out of the calculation. The same applies to the $234 swimming pool minimum and its $30 aquatics program surcharge under Ordinance G-3114.
Common questions
How much does a plumbing permit cost in Phoenix?
Phoenix prices plumbing work from the valuation of the work through Table A: $195 for the first $1,000, $12 per additional $1,000 up to $10,000, then $10, $9 and $5. Each gas or water meter after the first is $98, and backflow prevention devices are $195 for the first and $98 each after that. A residential water heater carries a published $98 minimum for work valued at $1,000 or less.
Does Phoenix charge per plumbing fixture?
No. There is no per-fixture, per-water-heater or per-gas-outlet rate in the fee schedule. Houston prices a plumbing permit at $34.24 for the first three fixtures plus $11.41 for each additional one; Phoenix prices the valuation of the work, so fixtures do not change the fee at all.
What does a backflow prevention device cost?
$195 for the first device and $98 for each additional one. It is one of the few plumbing fees the City publishes by count rather than by valuation, and it is charged in addition to the permit fee rather than instead of it.
How much is a water heater permit?
Table A prints '$98 Minimum for Residential Water Heaters and Fences' for permits with a work valuation between $1 and $1,000. It is published as a minimum, and the schedule does not say whether it replaces the $195 base fee or floors it, so this site quotes it and does not compute a water heater permit from it. Solar water heaters are priced on the department's own schedule.
Do I pay extra for a second water meter?
The permit fee includes one meter of each type, so the first gas meter and the first water meter cost nothing extra. Each additional meter is $98 per utility: three water meters are two chargeable meters, $196.
Are water and sewer connection charges part of the permit fee?
No. They are on the department's water and sewer fee schedule, which the department's own fees page publishes separately from the development fee schedule used here.
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- 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.