Westminster, CO
Westminster plumbing permit cost
A water heater replacement in Westminster is $40.00 — the schedule prices named single-family jobs at flat figures rather than by valuation.
A plumbing scope on a larger project works the other way: the schedule adds "an additional 15% of the permit fee" for plumbing work plus 15% of the plan review fee, so on a $60,000 project the plumbing permit is $90.93 plus $59.10 rather than a figure of its own.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction trailer with electricalPermit fee | $125.00 flat fee | schedule item is construction trailer | — |
| Demolition permitPermit fee | $25.00 flat fee | schedule item is demolition | — |
| Mobile home set-up with electricalPermit fee | $125.00 flat fee | schedule item is mobile home setup | — |
| Solar systemsPermit fee | $300.00 flat fee | schedule item is solar systems | — |
| Above-ground poolPermit fee | $50.00 flat fee | schedule item is above ground pool | — |
| Air conditionerPermit fee | $80.00 flat fee | schedule item is air conditioner | — |
| Evaporative coolerPermit fee | $60.00 flat fee | schedule item is evaporative cooler | — |
| FencePermit fee | $50.00 flat fee | schedule item is fence | — |
| Furnace replacementPermit fee | $60.00 flat fee | schedule item is furnace | — |
| Gas logPermit fee | $60.00 flat fee | schedule item is gas log | — |
| Lawn irrigation sprinklerPermit fee | $60.00 flat fee | schedule item is lawn sprinkler | — |
| Re-roofingPermit fee | $100.00 flat fee | schedule item is re roofing | — |
| Spa / hot tubPermit fee | $80.00 flat fee | schedule item is spa | — |
| Detached storage shedPermit fee | $80.00 flat fee | schedule item is detached storage shed | — |
| Water heater replacementPermit fee | $40.00 flat fee | schedule item is water heater | — |
| Building permit fee, valuation $1 to $500Permit fee | $19.50 flat fee | schedule item is not provided and Project valuation up to $500 | — |
| Building permit fee, valuation $1,000,001 and overPermit fee | $4,659.20 + $2.65 per $1,000 of project valuation above $1,000,000, or fraction thereof | schedule item is not provided and Project valuation over $1,000,000 | — |
| Building permit fee, valuation $100,001 to $500,000Permit fee | $844.20 + $4.60 per $1,000 of project valuation above $100,000, or fraction thereof | schedule item is not provided and Project valuation over $100,000 and Project valuation up to $500,000 | — |
| Building permit fee, valuation $2,001 to $25,000Permit fee | $59.25 + $11.90 per $1,000 of project valuation above $2,000, or fraction thereof | schedule item is not provided and Project valuation over $2,000 and Project valuation up to $25,000 | — |
| Building permit fee, valuation $25,001 to $50,000Permit fee | $332.95 + $8.55 per $1,000 of project valuation above $25,000, or fraction thereof | schedule item is not provided and Project valuation over $25,000 and Project valuation up to $50,000 | — |
| Building permit fee, valuation $500,001 to $1,000,000Permit fee | $2,684.20 + $3.95 per $1,000 of project valuation above $500,000, or fraction thereof | schedule item is not provided and Project valuation over $500,000 and Project valuation up to $1,000,000 | — |
| Building permit fee, valuation $50,001 to $100,000Permit fee | $546.70 + $5.95 per $1,000 of project valuation above $50,000, or fraction thereof | schedule item is not provided and Project valuation over $50,000 and Project valuation up to $100,000 | — |
| Building permit fee, valuation $501 to $2,000Permit fee | $19.50 + $26.50 per $1,000 of project valuation above $500, or fraction thereof | schedule item is not provided and Project valuation over $500 and Project valuation up to $2,000 | — |
| Estimated use tax, 4.25% of half the valuationSurcharge | 2.125% of project valuation | schedule item is not provided | — |
| Plan review fee, 65% of the building permit feePlan review | 65% of calculated permit fee | schedule item is not provided | — |
| Additional permit trade fee, plumbing — 15% of the permit feeOther fee | 15% of calculated permit fee | plumbing trade is true and schedule item is not provided | — |
| Plan review fee for the plumbing trade — 15% of the plan review feeOther fee | 9.75% of calculated permit fee | plumbing trade is true and schedule item is not provided | — |
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 like-for-like water heater replacement in a single-family home, with no other work on the permit.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Schedule item | water_heater |
Example total
$40.00
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 1Rules considered 27
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Water heater replacementPermit feeMiscellaneous SFD Residential Permit Fees: "Water Heater Replacement — $40.00". A flat permit fee for the job, not a valuation-based one.Show the working
| $40.00 flat fee | $40.00 |
| Total | $40.00 |
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.
- Construction trailer with electrical — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Demolition permit — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Mobile home set-up with electrical — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Solar systems — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Above-ground pool — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Air conditioner — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Evaporative cooler — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Fence — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Furnace replacement — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Gas log — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Lawn irrigation sprinkler — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Re-roofing — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Spa / hot tub — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Detached storage shed — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit fee, valuation $1 to $500 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit fee, valuation $1,000,001 and over — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit fee, valuation $100,001 to $500,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit fee, valuation $2,001 to $25,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit fee, valuation $25,001 to $50,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit fee, valuation $500,001 to $1,000,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit fee, valuation $50,001 to $100,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit fee, valuation $501 to $2,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Estimated use tax, 4.25% of half the valuation — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plan review fee, 65% of the building permit fee — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Additional permit trade fee, plumbing — 15% of the permit fee — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plan review fee for the plumbing trade — 15% of the plan review fee — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
Assumptions
- Calculated from 1 fee rule in effect on 2026-09-28.
- Amounts are rounded to the nearest cent, once, at the end of each component.
The schedule prices this job by name rather than by valuation: "Water Heater Replacement — $40.00" on the Miscellaneous SFD Residential Permit Fees list. Nothing is added to it on this site — no plan review, because the flat lists print one figure rather than a permit fee and a review fee, and no 15% trade fee, because that percentage is defined against a valuation-based permit fee and this job is not priced that way. A plumbing scope on a larger project is the other route: on a $60,000 valuation the plumbing trade fee is $90.93 and the plumbing share of plan review $59.10.
What is different in Westminster
Westminster's plumbing answer depends entirely on which of two published routes the job takes.
The first is a named flat job. "Miscellaneous SFD Residential Permit Fees" prices a water heater replacement at $40.00, a lawn irrigation sprinkler at $60.00 and a gas log at $60.00, and the mixed list beside it has an above-ground pool at $50.00, a spa or hot tub at $80.00 and a fence at $50.00. Those figures are the whole permit for that job — no plan review and no use tax are added to them, because the schedule prints each as one figure where the valuation route prints a permit fee and a review fee separately. That is a reading of a schedule that does not say so in words, and it is stated on the page rather than buried.
The second is a plumbing trade fee on a project: "An additional 15% of the permit fee for each of the following; mechanical, plumbing, electric", plus "an additional 15% of the plan review fee". Two percentages against two other figures, which is why this page needs the project's valuation. On a $60,000 project the valuation table gives $606.20, the plumbing trade fee is $90.93, the plan review fee is $394.03 and the plumbing share of it $59.10.
Comparing the two routes is what the price difference is. Denver has no water-heater row at all — a like-for-like replacement there is a quick permit priced from its valuation, which lands near the bottom of the table at $20.00 or $35.00 with no plan review. Westminster publishes $40.00 flat. Both are real prices for the same job in the same state, which is the clearest argument for checking the schedule of the city you are working in rather than assuming a neighbouring one applies.
Two things this page will not do: charge a water heater the 15% trade fee as well as its flat figure — the schedule's trade percentage applies to a project priced by valuation, and charging both would bill the same plumbing permit twice — and invent a stand-alone plumbing permit fee for a job with no published row.
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 either the schedule's flat figure for the single-family job named, or the plumbing trade fee for a project plus the plumbing share of its plan review fee. It excludes:
- The water and sewer connection charges, which are utility charges rather than permit fees and appear nowhere in this schedule.
- Backflow testing and certification, which the City requires separately and which has no fee row here.
- A stand-alone plumbing permit for work with no published flat row and no building permit — the schedule publishes no such rate, and none is invented here.
- The building permit fee, plan review fee and estimated use tax when a project valuation is given: those are the project's lines, shown separately because the plumbing permit is the 15% line rather than the total.
- The other trades' fees — mechanical and electrical are 15% each of the same permit fee, and each also carries 15% of the plan review fee.
- Gas fitting outside the plumbing scope and any utility-side work, which is not part of a building permit.
- The "Other Inspections and Fees" block, charged per hour or per event: after-hours inspection at $50.00 per hour with a two-hour minimum, re-inspection at $50.00, additional plan review at $50.00 per hour.
- Contractor registration, which the City requires of plumbing contractors separately from the permit itself.
What you need before applying
- Some jobs are priced flat instead of by valuationMay be required
"Miscellaneous SFD Residential Permit Fees" lists named single-family jobs at flat figures: a water heater replacement at $40.00, re-roofing at $100.00, a detached storage shed at $80.00, a fence at $50.00. The schedule prints these as one figure where the valuation route prints a permit fee and a review fee separately, and they are charged as printed.
Common questions
How much is a water heater permit in Westminster?
$40.00. The City's fee schedule lists "Water Heater Replacement — $40.00" on its Miscellaneous SFD Residential Permit Fees list, which prices named single-family jobs at flat figures instead of by valuation. Nothing else is added to that figure here.
Is a permit needed to replace a water heater?
Yes — the City publishes a fee for it, which is the clearest statement that one is required. The schedule sets the figure at $40.00 for a single-family home rather than pricing it from the value of the work, so there is no valuation to declare for a like-for-like swap.
What does a plumbing permit cost on a commercial project?
15% of the building permit fee plus 15% of the plan review fee — "an additional 15% of the permit fee for each of the following; mechanical, plumbing, electric". Plan review is 65% of the permit fee, so the plumbing share of review is 9.75% of it. On a $60,000 valuation that is $90.93 plus $59.10, on a project whose fees total $2,425.26.
Why is the water heater fee not charged the 15% trade fee as well?
Because the two are alternative routes through the schedule, not two charges. The 15% is defined as a percentage of a valuation-based permit fee; the flat single-family lists price the job in full instead, and they are printed as one figure where the valuation route prints a permit fee and a review fee separately. Charging both would bill the same permit twice.
Which other jobs have flat fees?
On the single-family list: re-roofing $100.00, detached storage shed $80.00, air conditioner $80.00, furnace replacement $60.00, evaporative cooler $60.00, lawn irrigation sprinkler $60.00, gas log $60.00, fence $50.00 and above-ground pool $50.00. On the miscellaneous list: solar systems $300.00, mobile home set-up with electrical $125.00, construction trailer with electrical $125.00 and a demolition permit $25.00.
Do I pay plan review on a plumbing permit?
On a project, yes: 15% of a plan review fee that is itself 65% of the permit fee. On the flat single-family jobs, no review fee is added here, because the schedule prints those rows as a single figure. The schedule does not say in words whether review attaches to them, so the reading is stated on the page rather than presented as certain.
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- Fee schedule (PDF)CityPrimary source
Building Division Fee Schedule (effective January 1, 2026)
One page, headed "BUILDING DIVISION FEE SCHEDULE" and "(Effective January 1, 2026)", sha256 beginning 8d77172fe6affc1d. Read 2026-09-24 in three pdftotext modes. `-raw` and `-table` disagree by one row throughout the two flat lists at the foot of the page — `-raw` puts each value on the line above its label — and both agree once that shift is accounted for, which is the check the project's two-mode rule exists for. The valuation table, the review percentage and the use tax rate are unaffected by the shift.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.