Cedar Rapids, IA
Cedar Rapids building permit cost
A Cedar Rapids building permit is priced by which side of Exhibit A answers the job.
New single-family, duplex and townhouse projects of four units or less pay a flat fee by habitable above-grade area — $1,000.00 to 1,200 sq ft, $1,400.00 to 2,000, $2,400.00 above — with the trades bundled in and no administration fee. Everything else reads fair market value of materials and labor through Table B (to $100,000) and Table A above it, with every band's excess rounded up to the whole $1,000 ('or fraction thereof'), plus the $20.00 administration fee and the plan check at 40% of the computed permit fee for any building other than an R-3 dwelling valued over $1,000.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administration fee — $20.00 per permit (non-refundable)Other fee | $20.00 flat fee | res new bundled is not provided | — |
| Commercial valuation above $100,000, band 1 (Table A)Permit fee | $987.00 + $5.36 per $1,000 of project valuation above $100,000, or fraction thereof | Occupancy is not residential and Project valuation over $100,000 and Project valuation up to $500,000 | — |
| Commercial valuation above $100,000, band 2 (Table A)Permit fee | $3,147.90 + $4.62 per $1,000 of project valuation above $500,000, or fraction thereof | Occupancy is not residential and Project valuation over $500,000 and Project valuation up to $1,000,000 | — |
| Commercial valuation above $100,000, band 3 (Table A)Permit fee | $5,507.25 + $3.05 per $1,000 of project valuation above $1,000,000, or fraction thereof | Occupancy is not residential and Project valuation over $1,000,000 | — |
| New single-family / duplex — $1,000 to 1,200 sq ft, $1,400 to 2,000, $2,400 above (habitable area above grade, garage excluded)Permit fee | Project area — $1,000.00 up to $12; $1,400.00 from $12 to $20; $2,400.00 above $20 | Occupancy is residential and Work type is new construction and dwelling type is one of single family, duplex | — |
| Residential valuation above $100,000, band 1 (Table A)Permit fee | $671.48 + $3.68 per $1,000 of project valuation above $100,000, or fraction thereof | Occupancy is residential and Project valuation over $100,000 and Project valuation up to $500,000 | — |
| Residential valuation above $100,000, band 2 (Table A)Permit fee | $2,141.48 + $3.15 per $1,000 of project valuation above $500,000, or fraction thereof | Occupancy is residential and Project valuation over $500,000 and Project valuation up to $1,000,000 | — |
| Residential valuation above $100,000, band 3 (Table A)Permit fee | $3,716.48 + $2.10 per $1,000 of project valuation above $1,000,000, or fraction thereof | Occupancy is residential and Project valuation over $1,000,000 | — |
| 3-unit townhouse (as defined in the IRC) — $2,000.00Permit fee | $2,000.00 flat fee | Occupancy is residential and Work type is new construction and dwelling type is townhouse 3 | — |
| 4-unit townhouse (as defined in the IRC) — $2,500.00Permit fee | $2,500.00 flat fee | Occupancy is residential and Work type is new construction and dwelling type is townhouse 4 | — |
| Plan checking — 40% of the computed building permit fee (other than R-3)Plan review | 40% of calculated permit fee | Project valuation over $1,000 and not r3 dwelling 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 new multi-family apartment building with a declared valuation of $150,000, not an R-3 dwelling — administration fee applies.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Project valuation | $150,000 |
| Occupancy class | Residential |
| Not r3 dwelling | Yes |
Example total
$1,217.67
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 11
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Residential valuation above $100,000, band 1 (Table A)Permit fee"$100,001 to $500,000: $671.48 for the first $100,000 plus $3.68 for each additional $1,000 or fraction thereof, to and including $500,000."Show the working
| $671.48 + $3.68 per $1,000 of project valuation above $100,000, or fraction thereof, in $1,000 steps | $855.48 |
Administration fee — $20.00 per permit (non-refundable)Other fee"Administration Fee — $20.00 per permit (non-refundable). In addition to the permit fee, except where noted." The noted exceptions are the residential new-construction table ("No Administration Fee") and the ADA-ramp row; the bundled-new-dwelling fact carries the first.Show the working
| $20.00 flat fee | $20.00 |
Plan checking — 40% of the computed building permit fee (other than R-3)Plan review"When the evaluation of the proposed construction exceeds $1,000, a plan-checking fee shall be paid. Plan checking fees for all commercial and residential buildings, other than R-3, are 40% of the computed building permit fee." The R-3 exemption is the schedule's own class carve-out, so the rule answers only when the project is declared not an R-3 dwelling (custom.not_r3_dwelling). Additional checking for incomplete or changed plans is $30 per hour with a 30-minute minimum, named rather than charged.Show the working
| 40% of calculated permit fee | $342.19 |
| Total | $1,217.67 |
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.
- Commercial valuation above $100,000, band 1 (Table A) — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Commercial valuation above $100,000, band 2 (Table A) — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Commercial valuation above $100,000, band 3 (Table A) — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- New single-family / duplex — $1,000 to 1,200 sq ft, $1,400 to 2,000, $2,400 above (habitable area above grade, garage excluded) — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Residential valuation above $100,000, band 2 (Table A) — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Residential valuation above $100,000, band 3 (Table A) — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- 3-unit townhouse (as defined in the IRC) — $2,000.00 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- 4-unit townhouse (as defined in the IRC) — $2,500.00 — 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.
Three lines — $1,217.67.
Table A, residential band 1: $150,000 is above the $100,000 seam and at or below $500,000, so $671.48 for the first $100,000 plus $3.68 for each additional $1,000 or fraction. The excess is $50,000 — fifty whole steps at $3.68 = $184.00. Band total: $671.48 + $184.00 = $855.48.
Administration fee: $20.00 — the schedule's 'in addition to the permit fee, except where noted', and no exception reaches an apartment building.
Plan check: 40% of the computed building permit fee, for a non-R-3 building valued over $1,000 — 0.40 × $855.48 = $342.192, which rounds to $342.19.
Total: $855.48 + $20.00 + $342.19 = $1,217.67. The same valuation inside the flat-table world would be impossible — a dwelling of four units or less never reads valuation at all.
What is different in Cedar Rapids
The flat rows are the schedule's own carve-out, and they do three things at once: they skip the $20 administration fee, they bundle building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing and erosion control into one permit, and they measure the dwelling by habitable area above grade with the garage excluded — so finishing a basement in an existing structure is its own $100 row, not an area band.
The valuation side is where the round-up lives. Table A's bands print 'or fraction thereof': $150,000 of residential valuation is $671.48 plus fifty whole $1,000 steps at $3.68 — $185.00 — totaling $856.48; $150,001 pays one full step more. The residential and commercial columns diverge above the same $100,000 seam and never cross.
The plan check's own sentence both charges and exempts: 40% of the computed permit fee 'for all commercial and residential buildings, other than R-3' — so a dwelling pays none of it and an apartment building or a store pays 40%. This site models the R-3 exemption as the explicit fact the schedule's class carve-out makes it.
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 Exhibit A's building permit fee. It excludes:
- Table B amounts. Valuations of $1–$100,000 are priced by the printed 100-row table, which this site records but does not model (the extraction note is in the research file); such a project needs a quote from Building Services.
- Trade permits for projects outside the bundled new-dwelling table — priced on the electrical and plumbing pages.
- Mechanical permits as a separate page — recorded in the research file.
- Miscellaneous flats (basement finish, accessory buildings, re-roof, re-side, demolition, building moving, pools) and event fees (re-inspection $100, after-hours $150/hr, renewals, work-before-permit doubling) — recorded, not modelled.
- Fire Department fees, published separately by the City.
What you need before applying
- Valuation is fair market value of materials and laborRequired
The Exhibit defines valuation as 'fair market value of materials and labor', determined by the building official, excluding the lot and lot improvements (grading, landscaping, walks, drives). The Municipal Code's § 109.3 exception excludes the cost of electrical, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning systems in R-2/R-3 occupancies from valuation.
- New dwellings of four units or less bundle the tradesRequired
The flat area table's own note: 'Fee includes Building, Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing, Erosion Control' — and the trade section repeats it: 'New one/two-family and townhouse structures not greater than 4 units shall be included in the building permit fee.' Those projects also skip the $20 administration fee. The rules key on custom.res_new_bundled so neither side is charged twice.
Common questions
How much is a building permit for a new house in Cedar Rapids?
A flat fee by habitable above-grade area (garage excluded): $1,000.00 up to 1,200 sq ft, $1,400.00 from 1,201 to 2,000, and $2,400.00 above 2,000. The fee includes building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing and erosion control, and no $20 administration fee applies.
What is the $20 administration fee?
A $20.00 non-refundable administration fee charged 'in addition to the permit fee, except where noted'. The noted exceptions are the residential new-construction table and the ADA-ramp row.
How is a building permit over $100,000 of valuation calculated?
By Table A: residential pays $671.48 for the first $100,000 plus $3.68 for each additional $1,000 or fraction (to $500,000), then $2,141.48 + $3.15 (to $1,000,000), then $3,716.48 + $2.10. Commercial pays $987.00 + $5.36, $3,147.90 + $4.62, and $5,507.25 + $3.05 over the same seams.
Who pays the 40% plan check fee?
Every building other than an R-3 dwelling whose proposed construction is valued over $1,000: 'Plan checking fees for all commercial and residential buildings, other than R-3, are 40% of the computed building permit fee.' Incomplete or changed plans add $30 per hour with a 30-minute minimum.
What does Exhibit A say about townhouses?
Three-unit townhouses pay $2,000.00 flat and four-unit townhouses $2,500.00 — both with the trades bundled and no administration fee. Townhouse projects greater than four units leave the flat table entirely and price on valuation like any other building.
Is the permit fee based on the value of the land or the construction?
The construction only: valuation is the fair market value of materials and labor for the permitted work, excluding the lot and lot improvements such as grading, landscaping, walks and drives. In R-2 and R-3 occupancies the code's own exception also excludes the cost of the electrical, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning systems.
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- OrdinanceCityPrimary source
Read 2026-09-26. The PDF (9 pp., HTTP 200 application/pdf from the City's CMS host; the City's HTML pages 403 scripted requests) embeds its text in a Type 3 font with no usable ToUnicode map — pdftotext and PyMuPDF return glyph codes — so the pages were rendered to PNG at 150 dpi and OCR-read (RapidOCR). Carries: the $20 administration fee with its stated exceptions; the residential new-construction flat area table ($1,000/$1,400/$2,400, trades bundled, no admin fee); Table A valuation bands above $100,000 (residential $671.48 + $3.68, $2,141.48 + $3.15, $3,716.48 + $2.10; commercial $987.00 + $5.36, $3,147.90 + $4.62, $5,507.25 + $3.05 — every band 'or fraction thereof'); the 40% plan check for non-R-3 buildings over $1,000 of valuation; trade Section A flats at $75; and the shared Section B trade ladder ($25 flat to $1,000, then 1%/0.9%/0.8%/0.7%/0.6%/0.5%/0.4%/0.3%/0.2%/0.2% marginal bands whose bases chain exactly). Table B (valuations $1–$100,000, 100 rows) is recorded in the research file and not modelled — OCR interleaves its two fee columns.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.