Oak Park, IL
Oak Park electrical permit cost
An Oak Park electrical permit is a permit separate from the general construction permit — the Village's own page says so
and gives the reason: "electrical work requires specialized skills and knowledge. Electrical work done improperly can have tragic results, particularly in older, more fire-prone housing stock such as found in Oak Park." The fee schedule prices the two rows a standalone electrical permit can carry: alterations — wiring, outlets, lighting, fixtures, low voltage, exit signs — at $100.00 per circuit, and system installations — a new or replacement service, feeder, panel, generator, transformer, solar array, EV charger or energy storage system — at $175.00 per system or unit.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical alterations: $100.00 per circuitPermit fee | $100.00 per circuit | electrical scope is alteration and circuits is provided | — |
| Electrical system installations: $175.00 per system or unitPermit fee | $175.00 flat fee | electrical scope is system installation | — |
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 kitchen and basement remodel whose electrical permit covers rewiring and new lighting on twelve existing circuits, plus a new sub-panel installed as its own system.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Active circuits | 12 |
| Electrical scope | alteration |
Example total
$1,200.00
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 2
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Electrical alterations: $100.00 per circuitPermit feeELECTRICAL — "Miscellaneous (standalone) electrical alterations - replacements and improvements (wiring, outlets, lighting, fixtures, low voltage, exit signs)" at **$100.00 per circuit**. The unit is the circuit, not the outlet or the fixture, so a job that replaces twenty devices on six circuits is six circuits. The Village requires this as a permit separate from a general construction permit: "A separate permit from a general construction permit is necessary because electrical work requires specialized skills and knowledge."Show the working
| $100.00 per circuit | $1,200.00 |
| Total | $1,200.00 |
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.
- Electrical system installations: $175.00 per system or unit — 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 alteration row is $100.00 per circuit, and twelve circuits are altered: $1,200.00. The new sub-panel is a system installation — $175.00 per system or unit — and the schedule lists sub-panels among its examples explicitly, so the whole job is $1,200.00 plus $175.00 = $1,375.00 across the two rows.
Two cautions belong with the number. The unit is the circuit the work touches: twenty new outlets on four circuits are four circuits, not twenty. And a single new system with no other alteration — a generator, an EV charger, a solar array — is one $175.00 row, which is what this page charges when only the system inputs are given.
What is different in Oak Park
The unit that matters is the circuit, not the outlet. A job that replaces twenty devices on six circuits is six circuits — $600.00 — because the schedule prices the wiring work per circuit altered. A new system is priced as one thing: a service upgrade or an EV charger circuit with its own panel work is a $175.00 system installation, not a stack of circuit charges. Where a project's electrical work is genuinely two kinds — an alteration on existing circuits plus a new system — the schedule prices each row on its own permit, and this page charges each when its inputs are given.
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 two electrical rows of the 2026 Construction Fees that can be computed from a count the applicant gives. It excludes:
- Fire alarm systems, which the schedule prices under Building Alterations ($200.00 each, new or altered) with the Fire Department's separate $200.00 plan review and the $25.00-per-unit final inspection — fire-protection process rather than the electrical trade row.
- The electrical work inside a general building permit — the building fee's own row says it does not include Electric Service, and a service upgrade needed by a new building is the $175.00 system row here, not part of the building fee.
- ComEd and utility-side work, meter equipment, and anything the utility charges for a service change.
- The permit application deposit — $100.00 residential or $200.00 commercial, applied to the permit fee rather than added to it.
- Re-inspection fees ($100.00 after the second inspection) and the penalty rows for working without a permit, which are enforcement charges rather than the fee for the work.
What you need before applying
- A separate permit, because the work requires specialised skillsRequired
The Village's own page: "A separate permit from a general construction permit is necessary because electrical work requires specialized skills and knowledge. Electrical work done improperly can have tragic results, particularly in older, more fire-prone housing stock such as found in Oak Park." The fee is $100.00 per circuit for alterations and $175.00 per system or unit for a new or replacement system — a service, a generator, a solar array, an EV charger.
Common questions
How much is an electrical permit in Oak Park?
Two published rows: $100.00 per circuit for alterations and replacements (wiring, outlets, lighting, fixtures, low voltage, exit signs), and $175.00 per system or unit for a new or replacement system — services, feeders, panels, sub-panels, generators, transformers, solar, EV chargers and energy storage.
Village of Oak Park 2026 Construction Fees, ELECTRICAL
Why does electrical work need its own permit in Oak Park?
The Village's own page: "A separate permit from a general construction permit is necessary because electrical work requires specialized skills and knowledge. Electrical work done improperly can have tragic results, particularly in older, more fire-prone housing stock such as found in Oak Park." It is a safety rule as much as a fee structure.
Village of Oak Park — Building Permits
Is an EV charger or solar installation $100 per circuit or $175?
$175.00. The schedule's system-installation row names EV chargers, solar panels and energy storage systems explicitly, and a new circuit serving a new system is one system installation rather than an alteration of the building's existing circuits. The $100.00 per-circuit row is for work on the existing wiring.
Village of Oak Park 2026 Construction Fees, ELECTRICAL
Do electrical permits stack with the building permit?
They are separate permits with separate fees — the building fee's own row excludes "Electric Service". A construction project that includes electrical work carries the building permit's fee and, on the electrical permit, the $100-per-circuit or $175-per-system row for the electrical scope. This page prices the electrical permit alone.
Village of Oak Park 2026 Construction Fees
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- Fee schedule (PDF)CityPrimary source
Village of Oak Park 2026 Construction Fees (Annual Fee Ordinance §7-8-1)
One document, updated 01/26/2026 on its face, carrying the ordinance's own heading 'Construction Fee(s) Effective on March 1st, 2026'. Read with pdftotext; the ICC chart was transcribed cell by cell and re-checked against the schedule's own arithmetic (an R-3 Type IIIA building at $195.98 × .0194 × area). The chart and its footnotes are credited to ICC Building Valuation Data, August 2025.
- City websiteCityPrimary source
Village of Oak Park — Building Permits
The Village's permit information page, and the authority for the stand-alone trade structure: 'A separate permit from a general construction permit is necessary because electrical work requires specialized skills and knowledge', with the same reasoning for plumbing. It also records that owners of single-family homes may pull their own plumbing permit by affidavit.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.