Minneapolis Development Review (Community Planning & Economic Development)
- Phone
- (612) 673-3000
- Hours
- Service center: Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN permit fees and requirements
Minneapolis is the city whose schedule prints its own formula:
Building Permit Fee + Plan Review Fee (65% of the permit fee) + MN State Surcharge (Value of Work × 0.0005) = Total Permit Fee. The permit fee is a nine-band ladder — $36.70 at the bottom, each band "first $X plus $Y each additional $1,000 and fraction thereof" — so $25,001 of work rounds to a whole step at $578.00. Plumbing is $41.40 a row with an $85.20 minimum that already includes the $1.00 surcharge. And the electrical permit is not Minneapolis's at all: it is the State of Minnesota's, priced from the statute's own worksheets.
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 Minneapolis permit fee with our Building Permit Fee Calculator.
| Permit | Category | Last reviewed |
|---|---|---|
| Minneapolis building permit cost | structural | 2026-09-25 |
| Minneapolis electrical permit cost | electrical | 2026-09-25 |
| Minneapolis plumbing permit cost | plumbing | 2026-09-25 |
Local context
What is specific to Minneapolis
The building schedule's first row is the formula, and the rest of the sheet is one of its terms. The nine-band ladder is marginal — every band after the first reads "first $X plus $Y each additional $1,000 and fraction thereof", so the fraction buys a whole step, and the schedule's own anchor proves it: $2,001 of value is $104.20, the printed base plus one full $20.60 step for the single dollar. Band 2 is the odd one out, denominated in $100 steps at $4.50. The bands' printed bases are the schedule's own numbers, not derivable arithmetic — at the $25,000 seam the sheet prints $578.00 where the previous band's formula computes $578.20, a two-cent rounding the schedule itself contains and this calculator charges as printed.
The plan review is 65% of the permit fee because the formula says so — no separate plan-review table exists, the relationship is the table — and the state surcharge is 0.0005 of the work, five cents per $1,000. The two components are charged on different bases, which is the formula's own design: one scales with the fee, the other with the job.
The plumbing sheet is a price list of $41.40 rows — full fixture, fixture set, waste and vent, and three block rates (per 10 stories, per 100 lineal feet, per $500 of alterations, each "or fraction thereof") — with the minimum "$85.20 (Includes $1.00 State Surcharge)". The parenthetical matters: the building minimum *excludes* its surcharge and the plumbing minimum *includes* its $1.00, and both sheets say so in their own words. The plumbing sheet also carries the gas trade's rows and the pointer to Chapter 91 — transcribed, not charged.
The electrical permit is where Minnesota repeats North Dakota's boundary: the State issues where the AHJ directory says "State", and its fee worksheets — REV 6.2025, "Fees are determined by Minnesota Statute 326B.37" — are the price list. Inspection trips at $55, services by amperage, dwelling units at $165 with $200/$400 minimums, the $25 permit fee and the $1.00 surcharge, and a trueing rule the worksheets print on every page: discrepancies are reviewed by the inspector and the difference billed.
The schedules themselves are Smartsheet documents the City embeds on its fee pages — served as static HTML, readable cell by cell — stamped "Last updated on February 27, 2026", with fees moving "upon City Council directive (or action)". No technology fee appears anywhere on the sheets; the state surcharge is the only levy above the City's own, and it is printed in the formula.
Valuation
How valuation is determined here
The basis for building work is the construction value as the code defines it — the sheet's footnote cites 1300.0160 Subp 3, bulletin 058 and §91.220 for what must be included — and the ladder reads it in nine bands. Every band after the first is "plus $Y each additional $1,000 and fraction thereof", so the chargeable value is rounded up to whole $1,000s inside the band: $25,001 buys a whole step, which is why the sheet's own $104.20 anchor at $2,001 is the printed base plus a full $20.60. The band bases are printed numbers, not derivable arithmetic — the $578.00 at the $25,000 seam is two cents below the prior band's formula, and the schedule wins.
The formula's other two terms read different bases: the plan review is 65% of the permit fee (a share of the ladder's output), and the state surcharge is 0.0005 of the work's value (five cents per $1,000 of the job). Neither is a percentage of the same number, which is why the sheet prints all three as one formula.
Plumbing reads no valuation except the alterations row: $41.40 per $500 of value or fraction, beside the per-fixture, per-10-stories and per-100-feet rows. Electrical reads counts and amperages, not cost — trips, sources, dwelling units, circuits — because that is how the statute's worksheet is built. Nothing on any sheet derives a valuation from square footage.
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 Minneapolis's own building and plumbing permit fees and the State of Minnesota's electrical permit fees. They are not a project cost, and they exclude:
- The detached-garage schedule — the building sheet's own pointer, "See Minneapolis detached garage fee schedule": a separate instrument, named rather than read.
- The gas trade's rows on the plumbing sheet — non-heating gas burners ($73.30 up to 399,999 Btu, $291.00 at 400,000 and over, $85.20 minimum, the combined-burner footnote) and "Gas Piping Only — 1.99% of the value or the minimum fee, whichever is greater": gas permits, transcribed in the research record, not charged here.
- The DLI worksheet rows outside the page's reach — over-600-volt services ($70/$120/$200), non-dwelling circuits ($12/$15/$24/$30), reconnected circuits ($2), transformers ($15/$30), manufactured-home pedestals, RV circuits, sign power supplies, technology devices at 75¢, lighting retrofit at 25¢, and center-pivot irrigation: transcribed in the research record.
- The inspector's trueing rule — "Any fee discrepancies will be reviewed by the inspector, and you will be billed for the difference": a correction on the estimate, stated on the page rather than modelled.
- Parkland dedication, signs, code compliance and refunds — separate City fee pages in the same fee index, other instruments entirely.
- Technology fees — none exist on any sheet; the state surcharge is the only levy above the City's own, and it is printed in the building formula and on the plumbing sheet.
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.
- State agencyStatePrimary source
DLI — Electrical permits and the statutory fee worksheets (Minnesota Statute 326B.37)
Read 2026-09-25: the contractors page and its printable page, plus four fee worksheets (ele-fee-new, ele-fee-exist, ele-fee-non, ele-fee-multi-new — REV 6.2025, "Fees are determined by Minnesota Statute 326B.37"). Every worksheet: $55 per inspection trip minimum, services by amperage ($35/$60/$100, over 600 V $70/$120/$200), new dwelling units $165 up to 30 circuits ($12 each beyond), the "largest of line 13 or line 14" rule with the $200/$400 dwelling minimums, then the $25.00 required permit fee and $1.00 surcharge. The worksheets also true themselves: "Any fee discrepancies will be reviewed by the inspector, and you will be billed for the difference." The AHJ directory decides whether the State or a contract inspector issues — "If the AHJ column lists 'State,', file the permit with us."
- Fee schedule (PDF)CityPrimary source
Minneapolis Building Permit Fee Schedule (published Smartsheet)
Read 2026-09-25 as static HTML from the City's own "View full screen" link on the Building permit fees page — the sheet renders server-side, so every cell is readable without a browser. The first row is the formula the whole schedule implements: "Building Permit Fee + Plan Review Fee (65% x building permit fee) + MN State Surcharge (Value of Work x 0.0005) = Total Permit Fee". Nine value bands follow, each "first $X plus $Y each additional $1,000 and fraction thereof" (band 2 in $100 steps), with the $84.20 minimum marked "(does not include State Surcharge)" and a footnote citing 1300.0160 Subp 3, bulletin 058 and §91.220. Also on the sheet: "Detached garages — See Minneapolis detached garage fee schedule".
- Fee schedule (PDF)CityPrimary source
Minneapolis Plumbing Fee Schedule (published Smartsheet)
Read 2026-09-25 as static HTML from the plumbing fee page's own link. The plumbing rows are $41.40 each — full fixture, fixture set, waste and vent, rainwater leader per 10 stories or fraction, water distribution per 100 lineal feet or fraction, alterations per $500 or fraction — with the minimum "$85.20 (Includes $1.00 State Surcharge)" and "$1.00 per permit application". The sheet also carries the gas rows (non-heating gas burners $73.30/$291.00, gas piping only at 1.99% of value) and the pointer "See Chapter 91 for Complete Fee Schedule" — gas is a trade this site's plumbing page does not price, and the rows are transcribed in the research record.
- City websiteCityPrimary source
Permit fee pages — building and plumbing (the pages that embed the schedules)
Read 2026-09-25. Both pages stamp "Last updated on February 27, 2026" — the date carried as the schedules' effectiveFrom, because the sheets say "Fees are updated upon City Council directive (or action)" and print no date of their own. Both carry the Development Review contact block (612-673-3000, Public Service Building, 505 Fourth Ave. S., Room 220; Monday-Thursday 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Friday 9 a.m.-4 p.m.) and embed the schedules with a "View full screen" link.