Code Enforcement / Inspections Division
- Phone
- (207) 874-8703
- Hours
- Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Maine
Portland, ME permit fees and requirements
Portland prices permits from the cost of work:
$30.00 for the first $1,000 plus $10.00 per additional $1,000 — the formula printed on the City's own permit forms. The same cost-of-work arithmetic prices the electrical and plumbing permits the Code Enforcement division issues.
Permit costs we have worked out
Each page shows the fee components, the formula the jurisdiction uses, and a worked example you can follow by hand.
Estimate your potential Portland permit fee with our Building Permit Fee Calculator.
| Permit | Category | Last reviewed |
|---|---|---|
| Portland Maine building permit fees | structural | 2026-09-26 |
| Portland Maine electrical permit fees | electrical | 2026-09-26 |
| Portland Maine plumbing permit fees | plumbing | 2026-09-26 |
Local context
What is specific to Portland
Portland's permit fee is a formula, not a table: '$10 PER $1,000 + $30 FOR THE FIRST $1,000' of cost of work, printed on the City's Building or Use Permit form and repeated in clean type on the City's sign-permit application ('based on cost of work: $30 for the first $1,000 of cost of work; $10 per $1,000' above). The formula is linear and the reading is unambiguous — $11,000 of work prices $130.00, $51,000 prices $530.00.
The Code Enforcement division at 389 Congress Street issues building, electrical, plumbing and use permits. Maine administers the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code municipally, so Portland's inspectors enforce the state code and charge the city's formula. The city also publishes the housing-side programs (inclusionary zoning, housing safety office) that sit beside the permit process.
Two cautions a cost estimator should keep: the formula's base is the *first* thousand, not a minimum added on top of a pure rate, and the $10 rate applies to each additional thousand of cost of work — with partial thousands rounding up as the permit forms' own arithmetic implies.
Valuation
How valuation is determined here
The cost of work: $30.00 for the first $1,000 plus $10.00 for each additional $1,000 (or part), at every valuation — a single linear formula with no bands.
Who to contact
The office that issues the permit, with the details we have verified. Confirm current hours before travelling.
What these fees do not include
The list is not a disclaimer: on a new house the fees left out can outweigh the permit fee several times over. Every entry here is stated on the permit page as well.
Not included in our estimates
These figures are Portland, Maine's permit fees from the City's permit forms. They exclude:
- Sign-specific fees ($30 plus $2 per square foot per sign), which are their own rows.
- Certificates of occupancy and housing-safety program charges, which are separate processes.
- Plumbing and electrical fixture/device rows on the City's trade forms, which price specific installations flat.
- State of Maine charges, which the city does not collect with the permit.
Official sources for this jurisdiction
The documents these figures are transcribed from. Where a source contradicts itself we keep both readings and say so on the permit page.
- City websiteCityPrimary source
City of Portland, Maine — Building or Use Permit (permit-fee formula as printed)
The City's own permit form prints the fee formula: '$10 PER $1,000 + $30 FOR THE FIRST $1,000' of cost of work. The same formula in clean type on the City's 2013 sign-permit application ('$30 for the first $1,000 of cost of work; $10 per $1,000' above) confirms the reading. The City's website migrated platforms in 2025-2026 and legacy DocumentCenter fee pages 404 at read time; the permit documents in the archive carry the formula the City charges.