Detroit, MI
Detroit plumbing permit cost
Detroit prices a plumbing permit as an application fee plus a short list.
The "Application Fee (Non-Refundable)" is $73 and is credited nowhere in the schedule, so it is its own line rather than a floor paid toward the permit. After that everything is a count: $44 for each item on the schedule's own catch-all row — stack, sump, interceptor, pump, fixture, appliance, "plus any other … not specifically listed" — and $146 for each building drain or sewer, sanitary, storm or combined. A re-inspection is $176 when the work is not ready or there is no access. Five items and one drain connection is $439.00 in total.
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 application fee, $73 (non-refundable)Permit fee | $73.00 flat fee | Every permit of this type | — |
| Plumbing — each listed item, $44Permit fee | $44.00 per fixture | Each fixture on the permit | — |
| Plumbing — building drain or sewer, $146 eachPermit fee | $146.00 per connection | Each connection on the permit | — |
| Plumbing — re-inspection, $176Inspection fee | $176.00 flat fee | re inspection 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 kitchen and bath remodel: five items on the catch-all row and one building drain connection, with no re-inspection.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Fixtures | 5 |
| Number of connections | 1 |
Example total
$439.00
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 4
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Plumbing permit application fee, $73 (non-refundable)Permit feeS1 page 28, "PLUMBING / INSTALLATION PERMITS — Application Fee (Non-Refundable) — Flat — $73". Charged as its own line rather than as a floor, because the schedule credits it nowhere — the opposite of Philadelphia's filing fee, whose page says the fee is "applied toward the final permit fee". Non-refundable means the amount is at risk if the application is abandoned; it does not change what the permit costs. Unconditional: every plumbing installation permit pays it.Show the working
| $73.00 flat fee | $73.00 |
Plumbing — each listed item, $44Permit feeS1 page 28: "Each: Stack, Stack Alteration (soil, waste, vent, conductor), Sump, Interceptor, Pump, Device, Plumbing Fixtures, Plumbing Appliance, Plumbing Appurtenance, Plus Any Other Fixture, Drain, Water Connected Appliance or Appurtenance Not specifically Listed — Each — $44". The row is the schedule's own catch-all — eight things named and then everything else of the kind — so one fixtures count prices all of them, which is exactly what the row means. No condition: a reader with no item count is told the input is missing rather than quoted $0.Show the working
| $44.00 per fixture | $220.00 |
Plumbing — building drain or sewer, $146 eachPermit feeS1 page 28: "Building Drain, Building Sewer (sanitary, storm, manhole, catch basin, combined) each one — Each — $146", read from custom.connections so a drain count and a fixture count can never charge each other. The very next line prices "Manhole, Catch Basin, each one" at $53 under this row, and the schedule never states whether that is a separate scope or a partial list (research §6) — so only the unambiguous $146 row is modelled.Show the working
| $146.00 per connection | $146.00 |
| Total | $439.00 |
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 — re-inspection, $176 — 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.
The schedule read top to bottom: the $73 non-refundable application fee, five items at $44 ($220.00), and one building drain or sewer at $146 — $439.00 in total. The application fee is charged as its own line because the schedule credits it nowhere: "Non-Refundable" is printed on it and no paragraph in the document applies it toward the permit fee.
Count a re-inspection and the same permit is $615.00 — the $176 is the schedule's "Work not ready, no access" charge for the failed visit, not a price of the permit. The $53 "Manhole, Catch Basin" row is deliberately not added: it sits directly beneath the $146 row that already lists manhole and catch basin, and the schedule never says whether it is a separate scope or a restatement of the same work.
What is different in Detroit
Two counts, two namespaces: the $44 catch-all row reads fixtures and the $146 drain-and-sewer row reads connections, so five fixtures and one drain is billed as five and one rather than six of either. The schedule's very next line prices "Manhole, Catch Basin" at $53 beneath the $146 row that already lists manhole and catch basin, and never states whether that is a separate scope or a restatement — so only the unambiguous $146 row is modelled, and the $53 question is recorded rather than guessed.
The application fee is the other thing worth saying out loud: "Non-Refundable" is printed on it, and nothing in the 51-page document credits it toward the permit fee, so a filer who abandons an application loses all of it. The re-inspection fee is $176 and appears only when one is actually being counted, and the published turnaround for plumbing trade permits is 1 day.
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 schedule's PLUMBING INSTALLATION PERMITS block — application fee, the $44 catch-all row, the $146 drain/sewer row and the re-inspection. It excludes:
- The $53 "Manhole, Catch Basin" row, which sits directly beneath a $146 row that already lists manhole and catch basin; the schedule never states whether it is a separate scope or a partial restatement, so it is not added to a total this site publishes.
- Medical gas systems ($176 for the first hour, $88 per half-hour after), water distribution systems ($66 each) and water service from the curb stop ($88 each).
- The hourly inspection and survey rows — unlisted inspection services and the plumbing survey/cross-connection control inspection at $176 the first hour and $88 per half-hour after — and the special-inspection failure charge ($176).
- Plan review — plumbing plan review is 7% "of Bldg. Permit Fee", prepaid when a review is required, and is not part of any total here; the building/structural/zoning deposit (35%, called 30% two sentences later) is a building-permit charge.
- The whole mechanical block — unfired pressure vessels, power and process piping, hazardous gases, boilers, gas-fired equipment, fire suppression and refrigeration.
- Water and sewer permits (Water & Sewerage Department) and right-of-way permits (Department of Public Works): other authorities' charges.
What you need before applying
- A City of Detroit licensed Plumbing ContractorRequired
The trade permits page requires a "City of Detroit licensed Plumbing Contractor" for the permit; an owner filing for their own property brings the deed and a photo ID instead. The published turnaround for plumbing trade permits is 1 day, and the plumbing desk is 313-224-3118.
- Inspections scheduled in Accela, and a re-inspection costs $176 when the visit failsRequired
Inspections are scheduled through the portal or at the Construction Division office, and the division's page describes the Certificate of Occupancy / Certificate of Acceptance procedure with a 72-hour turnaround. The schedule prices the failed visit itself: "Re-inspection Fee (Work not ready, no access, etc.) — Per re-inspection — $176", which this site charges only when custom.re_inspection says one is being counted.
Common questions
How much is a plumbing permit in Detroit?
$73 to apply, then the work itemised: $44 per listed item — stack, sump, interceptor, pump, fixture, appliance and the schedule's own catch-all "any other … not specifically listed" — and $146 per building drain or sewer. Five items and one drain connection is $439.00, and a re-inspection, if one is needed, is $176.
BSEED Fee Schedule, PLUMBING / INSTALLATION PERMITS, effective 1/1/2024 as modified 7/18/2025.
Is the $73 application fee refundable or credited toward the permit?
Neither. The schedule prints it as "Application Fee (Non-Refundable)" and credits it nowhere in 51 pages, so it is charged as its own line and stays at risk if the application is abandoned. Refunds elsewhere in the document deduct 35% of the building permit fee or 25% of other permits (capped at $100), and must be requested within a year of issuance — none of which turns the application fee into a payment toward the permit.
BSEED Fee Schedule, plumbing application fee row and the REFUNDS block.
What counts as one $44 item?
The row's own list: "Stack, Stack Alteration (soil, waste, vent, conductor), Sump, Interceptor, Pump, Device, Plumbing Fixtures, Plumbing Appliance, Plumbing Appurtenance, Plus Any Other Fixture, Drain, Water Connected Appliance or Appurtenance Not specifically Listed" — eight things named and then everything else of the kind, each at $44. Building drains and sewers are priced separately at $146 each.
BSEED Fee Schedule, plumbing catch-all item row.
How much is a re-inspection?
$176 per re-inspection — the schedule's "Re-inspection Fee (Work not ready, no access, etc.)" — charged when the inspector has to return because the work was not ready or there was no access. It is a fee for the failed visit rather than a price of the permit, so this site charges it only when a re-inspection is actually being counted.
BSEED Fee Schedule, SPECIAL INSPECTION FEES, plumbing section.
Do I need a licensed plumbing contractor to get one?
A trade permit requires a "City of Detroit licensed Plumbing Contractor", in the trade permits page's own words — and an owner filing for their own property brings the deed and a photo ID instead. The published turnaround for plumbing trade permits is 1 day, and the plumbing desk is 313-224-3118.
City of Detroit Trade Permits page, read 2026-09-25.
Are the water and sewer permits in this total?
No. Water and sewer work is permitted by the City's Water & Sewerage Department and right-of-way work by the Department of Public Works — separate authorities with their own charges, which the City's building permits page points readers to. This page prices only the BSEED plumbing installation permit.
City of Detroit Building Permits page, read 2026-09-25.
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- Fee schedule (PDF)CityPrimary source
BSEED Fee Schedule, effective January 1, 2024, modified July 18, 2025 (51 pages)
Read 2026-09-25 in three pdftotext modes: -layout pushes the fee-amount column into its own stream of numbers with no row to belong to, plain mode separates every label from every amount, and -table pairs them correctly — every figure this site charges is the -table pairing. Parts A–C (licences, certificates, service fees), the building/residential block with the nine-band ladder and the REFUNDS deduction, F: PLAN REVIEW, then the ELECTRICAL, PLUMBING and mechanical trade sections, then property maintenance and the administrative tail. The document page (S2) links this file as the current download; a 2009 "GENERAL FEE SCHEDULE" still on the domain was read only to confirm it is not the linked document — its refund sentence still says 30% where the current one says 35%.
- City websiteCityPrimary source
Construction Inspection — BSEED
Read 2026-09-25 (HTTP 200). The six trade teams with their supervisors and phone numbers, the Certificate of Occupancy / Certificate of Acceptance procedure (72-hour turnaround), inspection scheduling, and the fire-alarm permitting update quoted on this site's electrical page: "No separate building permit is required solely for fire alarm systems when a Fire Marshal permit has been issued … Trade permits (electrical, mechanical, etc.) are still required for applicable installation work."
- City websiteCityPrimary source
Trade Permits — City of Detroit
Read 2026-09-25 (HTTP 200). The permit-type matrix for mechanical, electrical, plumbing, elevator, fire alarm, generators and boilers: when a trade permit is needed, the licence each one requires ("City of Detroit licensed Electrician/Plumbing Contractor/Mechanical Contractor"), what an owner must bring to file (deed plus photo ID), and the published turnarounds — 1 day mechanical, 2 days electrical, 1 day plumbing.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.