Maryland
Baltimore, MD permit fees and requirements
Baltimore prices a new building on its volume
not its value: $10 per 1,000 cubic feet or fraction for a 1- or 2-family house — basement included — and $20 per 1,000 cubic feet or fraction for every other structure. Alterations and repairs are $0.30 or $0.35 per square foot of affected area, with $50 and $150 minimums. Electrical permits are priced by the service's amperage ($25-$200) plus $6 per branch circuit, and plumbing fixtures at $5 each. A nonrefundable application fee of $25 to $150 is due before the application is processed, and the default minimum fee is $25.
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 Baltimore permit fee with our Building Permit Fee Calculator.
| Permit | Category | Last reviewed |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore building permit fees | structural | 2026-09-26 |
| Baltimore electrical permit fees | electrical | 2026-09-26 |
| Baltimore plumbing permit fees | plumbing | 2026-09-26 |
Local context
What is specific to Baltimore
Baltimore's whole fee schedule for construction and trade work lives in one codified section: Building Code §109, maintained by the City's own Law Library. The building side is unusual in this dataset in charging new construction by cubic feet rather than by contract value, which means two houses with the same footprint can pay different fees if their ceiling heights differ, and a valuation number alone cannot price a permit.
The schedule's small print does real work. §109.3 sets a $25 default minimum 'unless otherwise specified' and rounds every fee to the nearest dollar; the volumetric rows and the alteration rows each specify their own minimums, which override the default. The alteration rows carry exception clauses that push exterior-only work, interior-door-only work, new-tenant demising walls and shell space onto per-$1,000 pricing instead of per-square-foot pricing.
The enforcement side is unusually explicit. §109.5.9 charges the greater of $1,000 or 50% of the permit fee as a surcharge on work begun without a permit, and unpermitted demolition is surcharged at $0.50 per cubic foot of the structure — measurable, and large. §109.4 limits refunds to 50% and only on charges of $1,000 or more. None of those amounts ride the calculator, but all of them shape when an application is worth filing and when a permit is worth amending.
Valuation
How valuation is determined here
Three bases, none of them contract value for new work. A new building or addition is charged on gross volume in cubic feet — $10 per 1,000 cubic feet or fraction for a dwelling, $20 for everything else, the volume including basements and cellars and, above two stories, adjusted downward for space more than 20 feet above a floor. Alterations and repairs are charged on affected gross floor area at $0.30 or $0.35 per square foot or fraction, with their exception rows switching to estimated cost at $10 or $12 per $1,000. Trade work is charged on counts: service amperage, branch circuits, fixtures and devices. Nothing here derives a price from a declared project valuation.
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 Baltimore's building, electrical and plumbing permit fees and the application fee. They are not a total project cost, and they exclude:
- Mechanical work (§109.6.3(a)-(i)): fuel-burning equipment from $30 to $300 per unit, air conditioning at $5 per ton with a $30 minimum and $300 maximum per unit, hydronic and steam heating rows, distribution systems at $5 per 1,000 CFM, exhaust systems, pressure vessels, tanks, pumps and fire extinguishing systems — sprinklers at $35 for 1 to 25 heads and $50 per 100 heads above that.
- The other building rows (§109.6.1(b)-(p)): accessory structures at $25 and $50, chimneys and towers $35-$75, retaining walls $10 per 100 square feet, fences $10 per 100 linear feet, grading $35-$75, paving $25-$85, signs $25-$250 and $1 per square foot for consolidated signage, demolition at $0.03 or $0.075 per cubic foot with $300 and $600 minimums, temporary structures $20 per year per 500 square feet, swimming pools $50 residential and $250 all others, occupancy permits $45.
- Service charges (§109.5): partial permits at $10 per $1,000 of work, permit extensions, amendments at $25-$500 by scope, overtime inspections at $50 per hour with a $200 minimum, reinspections at $50, $100 and then $125, violation reports at $30.
- The electrical rows the calculator names but does not charge: conduit and duct banks at $25-$100, sub feeders for additional meters $30-$200, photovoltaic systems at $25 for 1 to 25 panels plus $5 per additional 10, temporary wiring for events, and the $100 add for services over 600 volts.
- The plumbing rows around the fixture count: fixture removal only at $20, electric water heaters at $20 each, grease interceptors at $25, on-site utilities at $50 per utility, private disposal systems at $100 plus $5 per fixture, lawn irrigation at $25, and the $30 annual backflow testing inspection.
- Water and sewer charges set by the Department of Public Works, and DPW/DoT plan review at $100 per review, which are separate bills from the permit.
- Anything charged by another authority — Maryland state licences and Baltimore County's separate jurisdiction.
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.
- Municipal codeCityPrimary source
Read 2026-09-26 from the City's own Law Library codification (American Legal Publishing platform, City-controlled host), HTTP 200. §109.6.1 prices construction work — volumetric new-construction rows, per-square-foot alteration rows with their exception clauses, and the accessory-structure, chimney, retaining-wall, fence, grading, paving, sign, demolition, temporary-structure, moving, pool and occupancy-permit rows. §109.6.2 prices electrical work by service amperage, circuit count and fixture blocks. §109.6.3 prices mechanical work and, in subsection (j), plumbing and on-site utilities fixture by fixture. §109.3 fixes the default $25 minimum and rounds every fee to the nearest dollar; §109.5.7 fixes the nonrefundable application fee; §109.5.9 fixes the no-permit surcharge at the greater of $1,000 or 50% of the permit fee.
- Permit portalCityPrimary source
Baltimore City Department of Housing & Community Development — Permits (One-Stop Permit Center)
Read 2026-09-26. The City's permit page identifies the One-Stop Permit Center as the intake point for building and trade permit applications and links the ePermits portal. Used to name the issuing department and the application route; no fee amount is sourced here that §109 does not itself state.