Chicago, IL
Chicago building permit cost
A Chicago building permit is priced from the area of the work and two published factor tables, with no valuation anywhere in the formula.
§14A-4-412.2.2.1 states it as `CF × RF × A`: a construction factor read from Table 14A-12-1204.3(1) by occupancy class and construction type, multiplied by a scope-of-review factor read from Table 14A-12-1204.3(3) for new construction or Table 14A-12-1204.3(4) for rehabilitation, multiplied by the gross floor area in square feet. The construction factor runs from $0.23 to $1.06 per square foot and the scope factor from 0.25 to 1.25, so the same area prices several times apart by classification and by what is being done. A Minimum Fee column floors every scope row, footnote c puts a city-wide $602 minimum under all of it, and demolition is taken out of the formula altogether by footnote d at a flat $600.00 ordinary or $2,450.00 complex.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| New construction: construction factor × scope of review factor × areaPermit fee | Construction factor × scope of review factor per sq ft; minimum fee from the schedule's own row | Where the schedule publishes a rate for Occupancy group, Construction type and Scope | — |
| Rehabilitation: construction factor × scope of review factor × areaPermit fee | Construction factor × scope of review factor per sq ft; minimum fee from the schedule's own row | Where the schedule publishes a rate for Occupancy group, Construction type and Scope | — |
| Complex demolitionPermit fee | $2,450.00 flat fee | scope is demolition complex | — |
| Ordinary demolitionPermit fee | $600.00 flat fee | scope is demolition ordinary | min $602.00 |
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
A new multi-storey Group B building of Type II construction, 10,000 square feet — the four facts the schedule prices from: occupancy group, construction type, description of work and area.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Project area | 10,000 sq ft |
| Scope | new_multi_story |
| Occupancy group | B |
| Construction type | II |
Example total
$7,800.00
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 4
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
New construction: construction factor × scope of review factor × areaPermit fee§14A-4-412.2.2.1: "permit fee = CF × RF × A", where CF is the construction factor of Table 14A-12-1204.3(1) (occupancy class × construction type), RF the scope-of-review factor of Table 14A-12-1204.3(3) for new construction, and A the gross floor area of all construction work in square feet. No valuation appears anywhere in the building permit: CF is a dollar rate per square foot, printed between $0.23 and $1.06, multiplied by the scope factor and the area. Both factors are shown in the working because neither is the formula on its own, and the row minimum is the one the schedule prints beside the scope factor, raised to the city-wide $602 floor where that is larger.Show the working
| $0.78 per sq ft | $7,800.00 |
| Total | $7,800.00 |
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.
- Rehabilitation: construction factor × scope of review factor × area — The schedule publishes no rate for Occupancy group, Construction type, Scope.
- Complex demolition — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Ordinary demolition — 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.
Table 14A-12-1204.3(1) prints Group B at Type II as $0.78 per square foot, and Table (3) prints 1.0 for the construction of a multi-storey building in Group B. The product is 0.78 × 1 × 10,000 square feet — $7,800.00 — comfortably above that row's $3,650.00 minimum and above the city-wide $602.00 floor. The working on the page shows both factors and the row they came from, because neither factor is the formula on its own.
Four variations show where the floor takes over. A residential project of one to three units, up to four storeys, in Group R-2 Type III, 2,400 square feet, is 0.78 × 0.75 × 2,400 = $1,404.00 and pays the row's $2,450.00 minimum. A 1,500-square-foot Level 1 alteration in Group B is 0.78 × 0.25 × 1,500 = $292.50 and pays the city-wide $602.00. A Group A Type I building of 42,000 square feet is 0.97 × 1 × 42,000 = $40,740.00. An ordinary demolition is outside the formula altogether — footnote d leaves it a flat $600.00, raised by the same city-wide floor to $602.00 — and complex demolition is $2,450.00.
Two cautions belong with the number. If more than one scope applies, footnote b charges the highest factor across all areas, so a project that is part Level 2 alteration and part addition pays the addition factor throughout. And the amount entered is the area of all the work, including basements excluded from building area, because that is what A is defined as.
What is different in Chicago
Three things decide whether the product or the floor is what you pay. The classification first: Group A at Type I is $0.97 a square foot and Group U at Type V is $0.23, so entering the wrong occupancy group moves a fee by a factor of four. The scope second: a Level 1 alteration carries 0.25 and a new multi-storey building 1.0, and where more than one scope applies footnote b says the highest multiplier applies to all areas rather than a blend. The floor third, and it usually decides small jobs: a 1,500-square-foot Level 1 alteration in Group B computes to $292.50, so the permit is the $602.00 minimum; a two-storey tenant buildout floors at $900 per storey; a residential project of one to three units floors at $2,450.00. Exterior wall rehabilitation is deliberately not priced here, because the construction factor it needs is printed `[Reserved]` in the code.
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 building permit fee calculated under §14A-4-412.2, with the row minimum or the city-wide $602 floor applied where it is larger. It excludes:
- Exterior wall rehabilitation (Table 14A-12-1204.3(5)), which cannot be computed from the published code: its construction factor comes from Table 14A-12-1204.3(2), printed `[Reserved]`. Its scope factors and amounts — 0.05 tuckpointing $350, 0.1 siding or window wall $350 to $600, 0.5 lintel $300, 1 concrete repair, parapet or cornice $300 to $600 — are named here instead.
- Phased permitting (Table 14A-12-1204.3(6)), whose first row prints no factor and whose 0.75 row takes its minimum from another table: $7,300 for caissons, slurry wall or grade beams only, $350 for interior demolition without structural work, $1,200 with it, and $3,650 for the other phases.
- The permit fee deposit, $600 or $300 for a temporary structure, which is paid at submission and credited against this fee rather than charged in addition; and the process fees around it — $25.00 stand-alone review, $150.00 plus $100.00 per hour of accessibility pre-review, $30.00 debt check, 25% per 180-day extension.
- Mixed-occupancy weighting by area (Table (1) footnote a). Where one class is 85% or more of the area the whole fee uses that classification, which is the rule to apply; the weighted average needs every class's area and is not computed.
- Revision permits and penalties (§14A-4-412.2.2.3 and .4), which are discretionary determinations by the building official.
- Inspection and enforcement fees (§14A-5-503), and the zoning, sprinkler and standpipe review, fire and regulated-equipment fees that other departments and articles charge.
What you need before applying
- The building permit is priced from area, not from the value of the workRequired
§14A-4-412.2.2.1 states the fee as `CF × RF × A` and nowhere mentions a valuation: CF is a construction factor in dollars per square foot, RF a scope-of-review factor, A the gross floor area of all construction work including basements excluded from building area. The Department's own calculator asks for construction type, occupancy type, floor area and project scope, and for nothing else. A reader coming from a valuation-priced city should not enter a contract value here; there is no field on the schedule for one.
- Two tables decide the fee, and the row's minimum is a floor on itRequired
The construction factor comes from Table 14A-12-1204.3(1) by occupancy class and construction type — fourteen rows of factors from $0.23 to $1.06 per square foot — and the scope-of-review factor from Table (3) for new construction or Table (4) for rehabilitation. Every scope row prints a Minimum Fee beside its factor: $3,650, $2,450, $1,800, $1,200, $900 per story, $600, $300, $250 per unit served, $300 per unit. Footnote c adds a city-wide floor on top: "A minimum fee of $602 applies to all permits" ($302 for a temporary structure). Both are minimums, so the larger applies and a small job pays the floor rather than the product.
- A mixed-scope project pays the highest scope factor, not a blendRequired
Footnote b of Tables (3), (4) and (6): where more than one scope of review factor applies, "the highest applicable multiplier applies to all areas". A project that is one part Level 2 alteration and one part addition is therefore charged the addition factor across the whole area rather than the two factors across their own areas, and the calculator asks for the scope that carries the highest factor.
Common questions
Is a Chicago building permit based on the value of the work?
No — and this is the single most useful thing to know about it. §14A-4-412.2.2.1 states the fee as `CF × RF × A`: a construction factor in dollars per square foot, a scope-of-review factor, and the gross floor area of the work. The Department's own calculator asks for construction type, occupancy type, floor area and project scope. There is no valuation field on the schedule at all.
Chicago Construction Codes §14A-4-412.2.2.1
What is the minimum building permit fee in Chicago?
Footnote c of the 2026 tables states that a minimum fee of $602 applies to all permits — $302 for a temporary structure, raised from the $302 of 2022 by Ordinance SO2025-0021719. Each scope row prints its own minimum as well ($3,650, $2,450, $1,800, $900 per story, $600, $300, $250 per unit served, $300 per unit), and both are minimums, so the larger one applies. A 1,500-square-foot Level 1 alteration in Group B is a good example: it computes to $292.50 and pays $602.00.
2026 Amended Building Permit Fee Tables, footnote c
How is the construction factor chosen?
By occupancy class and construction type, from the matrix in Table 14A-12-1204.3(1). It runs from $0.97 per square foot for a Group A building of Type I construction to $0.23 for a Group U building of Type V. R-1, R-2 and R-3 share one printed row, as do R-4 and R-5. Because the range is four to one, entering the wrong group or type moves the fee more than any other single input.
2026 Amended Building Permit Fee Tables, Table 14A-12-1204.3(1)
What if my project is more than one kind of work?
Footnote b of Tables (3), (4) and (6) settles it: where more than one scope of review factor applies, the highest applicable multiplier applies to all areas. A project that is part Level 2 alteration and part addition pays the addition factor across the whole area, not the two factors across their own areas. The calculator asks for the scope carrying the highest factor rather than blending.
2026 Amended Building Permit Fee Tables, footnote b
How is a demolition permit priced?
Outside the formula. Footnote d of Table (4) says demolition permits under §14A-4-407 "are not subject to the area- and construction-factor-based fee formula and are only subject to the minimum fees in this table": $600.00 for ordinary demolition and $2,450.00 for complex demolition. The ordinary amount is raised to $602.00 by the same city-wide minimum that applies to every permit.
2026 Amended Building Permit Fee Tables, footnote d
Why can't this page price exterior wall rehabilitation?
Because the code itself cannot. §14A-4-412.2.2.2 prices that work from the scope-of-review factors of Table 14A-12-1204.3(5) multiplied by a construction factor from Table 14A-12-1204.3(2) — and both the 2022 excerpts and the 2026 tables print that table as `[Reserved]`. The scope factors and their amounts are published ($350 to $600 depending on the work); the construction factor is not. Any figure would be invented, so the amounts are named and the fee is not computed.
2026 Amended Building Permit Fee Tables, Table 14A-12-1204.3(2)
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- Fee schedule (PDF)CityPrimary source
2026 Amended Building Permit Fee Tables (effective January 6, 2026)
Read 2026-09-25, sha256 beginning `2e5f2a52b5ccfd48`. Issued under §14A-12-1204.3.1 and updated for Ordinance SO2025-0021719. Carries Tables 14A-12-1204.3(1), (3), (4), (5) and (6) — the construction factor, the two scope-of-review factors, exterior wall rehabilitation and phased permitting — with the Minimum Fee column and footnotes a to d. Extracted with `pdftotext -table`; `-layout` mis-pairs the amount column in the stand-alone tables and was not used for rates.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.