South Bend, IN
South Bend plumbing permit cost
A South Bend plumbing permit is the longest price list in the schedule: twenty rows on one permit, under a $60.00 minimum. A fixture is $6.00
a backflow device $6.00, a building sewer or water service $12.00 under 100 feet and $25.00 at 100 feet or over, a water softener $7.00, a water heater and vent $7.00, a gas outlet $3.00, a gas reconnection $60.00, a drywell $12.00, and a fire protection sprinkler system $60.00 for its first 30 heads plus $8.00 for each additional 10.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plumbing permit — backflow protection, $6.00 eachPermit fee | $6.00 per backflow device | Each backflow device on the permit | — |
| Plumbing permit — building sewer under 100 feet, $12.00 eachPermit fee | $12.00 per connection | not (building sewer length feet over 100) | — |
| Plumbing permit — building sewer 100 feet or over, $25.00 eachPermit fee | $25.00 per connection | building sewer length feet over 100 | — |
| Plumbing permit — building water service under 100 feet, $12.00 eachPermit fee | $12.00 per water service connection | not (building water length feet over 100) | — |
| Plumbing permit — building water service 100 feet or over, $25.00 eachPermit fee | $25.00 per water service connection | building water length feet over 100 | — |
| Plumbing permit — repair or alteration of drainage or vent piping, $6.00Permit fee | $6.00 flat fee | drain vent repair is provided | — |
| Plumbing permit — drywells, $12.00 eachPermit fee | $12.00 per drywell | Each drywell on the permit | — |
| Plumbing permit — fire protection sprinkler system: $60.00 up to 30 heads, plus $8.00 for each additional 10 headsPermit fee | $60.00 for the first 30 sprinkler heads, plus $8.00 for each additional 10 sprinkler heads or part thereof | Each sprinkler head on the permit | — |
| Plumbing permit — each plumbing fixture, trap, or set of fixtures on one trap, $6.00Permit fee | $6.00 per fixture | Each fixture on the permit | — |
| Plumbing permit — each gas piping system, per outlet, $3.00Permit fee | $3.00 per outlet | Each outlet on the permit | — |
| Plumbing permit — gas reconnection, $60.00 eachPermit fee | $60.00 per reconnection | Each reconnection on the permit | — |
| Plumbing permit — gas tanks and pumps, $12.00Permit fee | $12.00 per gas tank or pump | Each gas tank or pump on the permit | — |
| Plumbing permit — back-up generator gas line, 10 kW or less, $60.00Permit fee | $60.00 flat fee | generator kilowatts is provided and generator kilowatts up to 10 | — |
| Plumbing permit — back-up generator gas line, over 10 kW, $70.00Permit fee | $70.00 flat fee | generator kilowatts over 10 | — |
| Plumbing permit — lawn sprinkler system on any one meter, $6.00 eachPermit fee | $6.00 per meter | Each meter on the permit | — |
| Plumbing permit — industrial waste pretreatment interception, $8.00 eachPermit fee | $8.00 per pretreatment interceptor | Each pretreatment interceptor on the permit | — |
| Plumbing permit — drain within a building for rainwater systems, $6.00 eachPermit fee | $6.00 per building drain | Each building drain on the permit | — |
| Plumbing permit — trailer park sewer, $10.00 eachPermit fee | $10.00 per trailer park sewer | Each trailer park sewer on the permit | — |
| Plumbing permit — water heater and/or vent, $7.00 eachPermit fee | $7.00 per heater | Each heater on the permit | — |
| Plumbing permit — installation, alteration or repair of water piping and/or water treating equipment, $6.00Permit fee | $6.00 flat fee | water piping work is provided | — |
| Plumbing permit — water softener, $7.00 eachPermit fee | $7.00 per water unit | Each water unit on the permit | — |
| Plumbing permit — $60.00 minimum permit feePermit fee | the shortfall up to the $60.00 minimum on calculated permit fee | Every permit of this type | — |
| Plumbing permit — reinspection, $60.00 eachInspection fee | $60.00 per inspection | reinspection requested is provided | — |
| Plumbing permit — additional final inspection, $75.00 eachInspection fee | $75.00 per additional final inspection | extra final inspection is 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 bathroom remodel: two fixtures and a water heater, the smallest ordinary plumbing permit.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Fixtures | 2 |
| Number of heaters | 1 |
Example total
$60.00
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 24
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Plumbing permit — each plumbing fixture, trap, or set of fixtures on one trap, $6.00Permit feeThe plumbing table's first row, in full: "Each plumbing fixture or trap or set of fixtures on one trap, including water and drainage piping therefor ... $ 6.00". The sheet's noun is the fixture *or trap*, and the count is the dataset's fixture count for the same reason Saint Paul's is: it is the plumbing trade's own unit, and every other row beneath it counts something else.Show the working
| $6.00 per fixture | $12.00 |
Plumbing permit — water heater and/or vent, $7.00 eachPermit fee"Water heater and/or vent, each ... $ 7.00" — one price covering the heater and its vent, counted as a heater. It sits beside the softener row at the same $7.00 and is a separate count: an appliance that heats is not an appliance that treats.Show the working
| $7.00 per heater | $7.00 |
Plumbing permit — $60.00 minimum permit feePermit feeThe plumbing page opens exactly as the electrical page does: "... the following fees shall be levied, with a minimum permit fee being $60.00." One fixture computes $6.00 and pays $60.00, and the minimum emits the $54.00 shortfall.Show the working
| $60.00 minimum on calculated permit fee, less the $19.00 calculated | $41.00 |
| Total | $60.00 |
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.
- Plumbing permit — backflow protection, $6.00 each — backflow device count was not provided, so this component could not be calculated.
- Plumbing permit — building sewer under 100 feet, $12.00 each — connection count was not provided, so this component could not be calculated.
- Plumbing permit — building sewer 100 feet or over, $25.00 each — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plumbing permit — building water service under 100 feet, $12.00 each — water service connection count was not provided, so this component could not be calculated.
- Plumbing permit — building water service 100 feet or over, $25.00 each — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plumbing permit — repair or alteration of drainage or vent piping, $6.00 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plumbing permit — drywells, $12.00 each — drywell count was not provided, so this component could not be calculated.
- Plumbing permit — fire protection sprinkler system: $60.00 up to 30 heads, plus $8.00 for each additional 10 heads — sprinkler head count was not provided, so this component could not be calculated.
- Plumbing permit — each gas piping system, per outlet, $3.00 — outlet count was not provided, so this component could not be calculated.
- Plumbing permit — gas reconnection, $60.00 each — reconnection count was not provided, so this component could not be calculated.
- Plumbing permit — gas tanks and pumps, $12.00 — gas tank or pump count was not provided, so this component could not be calculated.
- Plumbing permit — back-up generator gas line, 10 kW or less, $60.00 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plumbing permit — back-up generator gas line, over 10 kW, $70.00 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plumbing permit — lawn sprinkler system on any one meter, $6.00 each — meter count was not provided, so this component could not be calculated.
- Plumbing permit — industrial waste pretreatment interception, $8.00 each — pretreatment interceptor count was not provided, so this component could not be calculated.
- Plumbing permit — drain within a building for rainwater systems, $6.00 each — building drain count was not provided, so this component could not be calculated.
- Plumbing permit — trailer park sewer, $10.00 each — trailer park sewer count was not provided, so this component could not be calculated.
- Plumbing permit — installation, alteration or repair of water piping and/or water treating equipment, $6.00 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plumbing permit — water softener, $7.00 each — water unit count was not provided, so this component could not be calculated.
- Plumbing permit — reinspection, $60.00 each — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plumbing permit — additional final inspection, $75.00 each — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
Limits of this estimate
- backflow device count is required by at least one fee rule and was not provided (input "custom.backflow_devices").
- connection count is required by at least one fee rule and was not provided (input "custom.connections").
- water service connection count is required by at least one fee rule and was not provided (input "custom.water_service_connections").
- drywell count is required by at least one fee rule and was not provided (input "custom.drywells").
- sprinkler head count is required by at least one fee rule and was not provided (input "custom.sprinkler_heads").
- outlet count is required by at least one fee rule and was not provided (input "custom.outlets").
- reconnection count is required by at least one fee rule and was not provided (input "custom.reconnections").
- gas tank or pump count is required by at least one fee rule and was not provided (input "custom.gas_tanks").
- meter count is required by at least one fee rule and was not provided (input "custom.meters").
- pretreatment interceptor count is required by at least one fee rule and was not provided (input "custom.grease_interceptors").
- building drain count is required by at least one fee rule and was not provided (input "custom.building_drains").
- trailer park sewer count is required by at least one fee rule and was not provided (input "custom.trailer_park_sewers").
- water unit count is required by at least one fee rule and was not provided (input "custom.water_units").
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.
Read down the table: "Each plumbing fixture or trap or set of fixtures on one trap ... $ 6.00" twice, "Water heater and/or vent, each ... $ 7.00" once — $19.00. That is under the page's opening line, "with a minimum permit fee being $60.00", so the permit pays $60.00 and $41.00 of it is the shortfall.
A larger job crosses the floor quickly. Twenty fixtures, eight backflow devices, four water heaters and sixty gas outlets: $120.00 + $48.00 + $28.00 + $180.00 = $376.00, well above it.
Two rows sit beside counts and are worth pricing here. A building sewer and a building water service at 150 feet each are $25.00 apiece rather than $12.00, on their own length facts; and a fire protection sprinkler system at thirty-one heads is $68.00 — the $60.00 for the first thirty plus one whole ten-head block at $8.00 — while thirty heads exactly is still $60.00.
What is different in South Bend
Nothing here is a bracket or a valuation — every row is a count, and the sheet's opening line says what that means: "the following fees shall be levied, with a minimum permit fee being $60.00". A permit with two fixtures and a water softener computes $6.00 + $6.00 + $7.00 = $19.00 and pays $60.00; a commercial fit-out with twenty fixtures, eight backflow devices, four water heaters and sixty gas outlets computes $120.00 + $48.00 + $28.00 + $180.00 = $376.00 and pays it.
Two rows read something other than a count. A building sewer and a building water service are each priced by length — "Under 100' ... $12.00" and "100' or over ... $25.00" — so the calculator asks for each length and prices each row separately, and a sewer whose length is not entered is charged at the under-100-foot row rather than dropped. A back-up generator's gas line is priced by the generator's capacity, on exactly the two rows the electrical sheet prices the generator itself on: $60.00 at 10 kW or less, $70.00 over it.
The fire protection row is a block rate and the block is ten heads: "Up to 30 heads $60.00; Plus each additional 10 heads thereafter $8.00". Thirty heads is $60.00, thirty-one heads is one block and $68.00, forty-one heads is two blocks and $76.00 — a partial block buys the whole block, which is what "each additional 10 heads" says.
Two extraction notes belong to this page and no other. The schedule's plumbing table is the one place where `pdftotext -layout` mis-pairs labels with amounts, shifting the column by a row from "Backflow Protection" onward; both other modes agree on the pairing printed above, and both readings are recorded in the research file. And the sheet prices its two inspection trips differently here — "Reinspection $60.00" and "Additional final inspection, each $75.00" — where the electrical page prices both at $60.00.
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 is the plumbing permit the department prices on page 10 of its schedule. It excludes:
- The building, electrical and heating/air-conditioning permits — separate trades on the same document, each with its own minimum and its own rows; a plumbing permit does not carry them.
- The contractor registration rows — plumbing contractors, excavators and sewer cleaners register for $125.00 a year. A registration is not a permit.
- The sewer and water connection charges levied by other departments — the residential checklist requires "Septic and well permits from the St. Joseph County Health Department or sewer and/or water permit from the South Bend Engineering Department" and a driveway permit from the County Engineering Department, each issued and priced by its own office and none of them on this schedule.
- The lawn sprinkler row's included backflow devices — the row is "Lawn sprinkler system on any one meter, including backflow protection devices thereof, each ... $6.00", and the calculator charges the $6.00 per meter without adding the backflow row on top, because the sheet says those devices are inside the price.
- The plumbing work the schedule does not price — a trailer park sewer's own connection charges, grease interceptors that function as fixture traps (the sheet excepts them), and any work the department's inspector prices on site rather than in the table.
What you need before applying
- Contractors must be registered or licensed with the department before they may pull a permitRequired
The schedule's last page states it: "All contractors, including sub-contractors, must be registered or licensed with our Department in order to perform work in St. Joseph County and the City of South Bend; with the exception that an owner-occupant of the residential dwelling may perform their own work." The licensing rows themselves are not permit fees — a general contractor registration is $125.00 against a $5,000 bond, an electrical or HVAC contractor $125.00, a plumbing contractor, excavator or sewer cleaner $125.00, and a Class B industrial electrical licence $125.00 — and the calculator does not charge them, because a licence is not a permit.
Common questions
How much is a plumbing permit in South Bend?
It is a list of twenty rows with a $60.00 minimum: $6.00 a fixture or trap, $6.00 a backflow device, $12.00 or $25.00 a building sewer and the same for a building water service by length, $7.00 a water softener, $10.00 a trailer park sewer, $6.00 a rainwater drain, $7.00 a water heater and vent, $60.00 a gas reconnection, $3.00 a gas outlet, $8.00 an industrial waste pretreatment interceptor, $6.00 for water piping work and for drain or vent repair, $12.00 a drywell, $6.00 a lawn sprinkler system per meter, $60.00 plus $8.00 per additional 10 heads for fire protection sprinklers, $12.00 for gas tanks and pumps, $60.00 or $70.00 for a generator's gas line, $60.00 a reinspection and $75.00 an additional final inspection.
Why did the same schedule read differently in two tools?
Because one text-extraction mode mis-pairs the plumbing page's two columns and the other two do not. `pdftotext -layout` shifts the amount column by one row from "Backflow Protection" onward — reading the lawn sprinkler row as $60.00 and the building-water rows as $7.00 and $10.00 — while both `-raw` and `-simple` agree on the pairing the sheet prints: $6.00 for the sprinkler row and $12.00/$25.00 for building water. Both readings are recorded in the research file, and the page states the figures the sheet prints.
How is a fire protection sprinkler system charged?
"Up to 30 heads ... $60.00; Plus each additional 10 heads thereafter ... $ 8.00". The first thirty heads are inside the $60.00, and each whole or partial ten above them is $8.00 — charged as $0.80 a head inside a ten-head increment, so 30 heads is $60.00, 31 heads is $68.00 and 41 heads is $76.00.
Does a lawn sprinkler system include its backflow devices?
Yes, and the sheet says so on the row: "Lawn sprinkler system on any one meter, including backflow protection devices thereof, each ... $ 6.00". The $6.00 is per meter and the backflow devices the system uses are inside that price, so the calculator does not add the $6.00 backflow row on top of it.
Do contractors need a licence to pull a plumbing permit?
The schedule's last page says: "All contractors, including sub-contractors, must be registered or licensed with our Department in order to perform work in St. Joseph County and the City of South Bend; with the exception that an owner-occupant of the residential dwelling may perform their own work." Plumbing contractors, excavators and sewer cleaners register at $125.00. The registration is not a permit fee and the calculator does not charge it.
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- Fee schedule (PDF)CityPrimary source
St. Joseph County / City of South Bend Building Department Permit Fee Schedule 2026
Seventeen pages, read 2026-09-26 in two modes. The title page: "ST. JOSEPH COUNTY / CITY OF SOUTH BEND BUILDING DEPARTMENT PERMIT FEE SCHEDULE 2026". The jurisdiction page names the city, the unincorporated county and the five towns served. Page 3 opens the building section with the new-construction formula ("Cost per Square Foot (CSF) times the Total Square Footage (TSF) times the Local Variable Factor (LVF) of $.00098", with the ICC Building Valuation Table as CSF and "d Minimum Fee - $60.00") and begins the 100-row alteration ladder; pages 4 to 6 finish the ladder and print "100,000 and up ... $550.00*" with the two open rates ($0.90 per $1,000 to $1,000,000, then $0.60 per $1,000) and the two inspection rows; page 8 is the Northeast Neighborhood Development Area design review block; page 9 is electrical; page 10 is plumbing; pages 11 and 12 are heating and air conditioning; pages 13 to 15 are the miscellaneous, licensing and registration rows; and page 17 is the residential application checklist. The plumbing page is the reason two modes were used: `pdftotext -layout` shifts its amount column by one row from "Backflow Protection" onward (reading the lawn sprinkler row as $60.00 and the building-water rows as $7.00 and $10.00), while both `-raw` and `-simple` agree on the pairing the sheet prints ($6.00 for the sprinkler row, $12.00 and $25.00 for building water). Both readings are recorded in the research file and the disagreements are named on the page.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.