Saint Paul, MN
Saint Paul plumbing permit cost
A Saint Paul plumbing permit is the shortest table in this dataset: one base and four counts. The initial permit fee is $92
then $36 per plumbing unit, $6 per water unit, $34 per gas unit, and $15 for each 100,000 BTU a unit is rated above the first 100,000 — plus a flat $1.00 state surcharge. No brackets, no valuation, no minimum row: the counts are the price.
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 — initial permit fee, $92.00Permit fee | $92.00 flat fee | Every permit of this type | — |
| Plumbing permit — $15.00 for each 100,000 BTU above the first, per unitPermit fee | the first 100,000 BTU block is included in the permit fee, then $15.00 for each additional 100,000 BTU block | Each 100,000 BTU block on the permit | — |
| Plumbing permit — $34.00 per gas unitPermit fee | $34.00 per gas unit | Each gas unit on the permit | — |
| Plumbing permit — $36.00 per plumbing unitPermit fee | $36.00 per fixture | Each fixture on the permit | — |
| Plumbing permit — $6.00 per water unitPermit fee | $6.00 per water unit | Each water unit on the permit | — |
| Minnesota state surcharge — $1.00 per plumbing permitState surcharge | $1.00 flat fee | Every permit of this type | — |
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 water heater replacement in a house — one water unit on a plumbing permit, the smallest ordinary job the table prices.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Number of water units | 1 |
Example total
$99.00
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 6
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Plumbing permit — initial permit fee, $92.00Permit feeThe plumbing fee table's first row: "Initial permit fee | $92". It is a base rather than a minimum — the table prints no minimum row of its own, and the four count rows below it are additions to this figure, so a plumbing permit pricing at the base alone is $92.00 plus the $1.00 state surcharge. Saint Paul's plumbing table is the shortest permit price in the dataset: one base and four counts.Show the working
| $92.00 flat fee | $92.00 |
Plumbing permit — $6.00 per water unitPermit feeThe table's third row: "Per unit - Water | $6". The schedule divides a plumbing job three ways — plumbing, water, gas — and prices each count separately, so the water units are their own fact: a permit's water heaters and water-distribution appliances are not fixtures on this table, and sharing the count would bill the plumbing row twice.Show the working
| $6.00 per water unit | $6.00 |
Minnesota state surcharge — $1.00 per plumbing permitState surchargeThe table's last row: "State Surcharge | $1". The City prints it as a flat dollar rather than the "minimum" the electrical pages print, so it is charged as printed — a flat $1.00 on every plumbing permit, above the $92 base and every count row.Show the working
| $1.00 flat fee | $1.00 |
| Total | $99.00 |
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 permit — $15.00 for each 100,000 BTU above the first, per unit — 100,000 BTU block count was not provided, so this component could not be calculated.
- Plumbing permit — $34.00 per gas unit — gas unit count was not provided, so this component could not be calculated.
- Plumbing permit — $36.00 per plumbing unit — fixture count was not provided, so this component could not be calculated.
Limits of this estimate
- 100,000 BTU block count is required by at least one fee rule and was not provided (input "custom.btu_blocks").
- gas unit count is required by at least one fee rule and was not provided (input "custom.gas_units").
- fixture count is required by at least one fee rule and was not provided (input "fixtures").
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 table read straight down: "Initial permit fee $92", then "Per unit - Water $6" for the one water unit, then the flat "State Surcharge $1". Total $99.00 — and, because the table prints no minimum, no floor has to be consulted: $92.00 is the base a permit starts from.
Two fixtures and a gas range would add the other two counts: $92.00 + 2 × $36.00 + $34.00 = $198.00 + $1.00. And a 250,000 BTU boiler adds the capacity row: three blocks of 100,000 BTU with the first included, two chargeable, $30.00 — the only row on the table that prices what a unit *is* rather than how many there are.
The plan review question is separate from all of it. Replacing a water heater in an owner-occupied single-family home is the guidelines' Section A — no review for a minor remodel of five or fewer fixture-types; commercial plumbing is Section B, which requires one, and the fee is still the table's.
What is different in Saint Paul
A gas water heater and two fixtures is $92.00 + $36.00 + $36.00 + $34.00 = $198.00, plus $1.00 of surcharge. The schedule divides a plumbing job three ways because the City inspects it three ways — plumbing work, water work and gas work each have their own count — and the BTU row is the only one that looks past the count to what the unit is: "If unit BTU's greater than 100,000, additional fee for each 100,000 BTU's or fraction thereof | $15". A 250,000 BTU boiler is three blocks with the first included, so two chargeable blocks, $30.00.
The table prints no minimum, which is worth naming because Saint Paul's other trades have one: the $92 base *is* the floor, and a permit with no counts beyond it is $92.00 + $1.00. The flat $1.00 is also a different animal from the electrical pages' "$1.00 minimum" state surcharge — same statute, printed a different way on a different table, each read as it prints.
And the plumbing plan review is a requirement, not a fee: the guidelines PDF splits the work into owner/occupant and "minor remodel" projects of five or fewer fixture-types, which need no review, and commercial work, which does — with no separate fee row on the table for either.
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 plumbing permit DSI prices on its plumbing application page. It excludes:
- The plan review requirement — the plumbing plan review guidelines say when a review is required (commercial projects and anything beyond a five-fixture-type minor remodel) and how to file it; no fee of its own appears on the plumbing table.
- The other permit categories on the same trade page — Sewer (storm or sanitary), Gas Fitting and Radon Mitigation Systems are their own applications in PAULIE, priced by their own rows where the City publishes them; the plumbing table's "Per unit - Gas" row is what it charges for gas units on a plumbing permit.
- The right-of-way and water-service side — Saint Paul Regional Water Services receives plans and fees for the water service, water meter and water distribution on new buildings, as the plumbing plan review guidelines state; nothing in those fees is on the plumbing table.
- Technology fees — none exist; the $1.00 state surcharge is the only levy above the City's own.
What you need before applying
- A plumbing plan review is required for commercial work, and it is not a fee rowMay be required
The plumbing plan review guidelines split the work in two: SECTION A, single-family owner/occupant projects and "minor remodel" work — "Plumbing Plan Review is not required for single family dwelling owner/occupant or contractor plumbing permits for a 'minor remodel'", defined as work "limited to standard plumbing installations consisting of five or fewer fixture-types in non-licensed facilities" — and SECTION B, "Commercial projects and all other projects not covered under SECTION A". The guidelines say when a review is required and how to file it; the fee is the plumbing table's, whichever section applies.
Common questions
How much is a plumbing permit in Saint Paul?
$92.00 initial permit fee, plus $36.00 for each plumbing unit, $6.00 for each water unit, $34.00 for each gas unit, and $15.00 for each 100,000 BTU a unit is rated above the first 100,000 — plus the flat $1.00 state surcharge. There is no minimum row and no valuation: a one-water-unit permit is $99.00.
What is a "water unit" and how is it different from a plumbing unit?
The City's table counts a plumbing job three ways — "Per unit - Plumbing $36", "Per unit - Water $6", "Per unit - Gas $34" — because plumbing, water and gas work are each inspected and each carry their own count. They are separate facts in the calculator for the same reason: a water heater is a water unit and not a fixture, and charging its count on the plumbing row would bill it twice and the water row not at all.
How does the BTU row work?
The table's own words: "If unit BTU's greater than 100,000, additional fee for each 100,000 BTU's or fraction thereof | $15". The first 100,000 BTU is included, and every 100,000 above it — or part of one — is $15.00, counted per unit. A 250,000 BTU boiler is three blocks, two of them chargeable, $30.00; a 100,000 BTU unit adds nothing.
Do I need a plumbing plan review?
It depends on the work. The City's plumbing plan review guidelines put single-family owner/occupant projects and "minor remodel" work — standard installations of five or fewer fixture-types in non-licensed facilities — in Section A, which needs no review, and commercial projects and everything else in Section B, which does. The review is a requirement; the plumbing fee table prices the permit either way.
Is the state surcharge the same $1.00 as on the electrical permits?
The dollar is the same and the wording is not. The electrical tables print "Minimum State Surcharge | $1.00"; the plumbing table prints a flat "State Surcharge | $1". Both come from Minnesota Statutes § 326B.148 — one-half mill of the fee or $1, whichever is greater — and each is charged as its own table states it: the electrical surcharge floats with the fee above $2,000, the plumbing one stays a dollar.
Does a plumbing permit cover gas work?
Gas units are a row of the plumbing table — "Per unit - Gas $34" — while gas fitting is also its own permit category in PAULIE, beside plumbing, sewer and radon mitigation. The plumbing table prices the gas units on a plumbing permit; a separate gas fitting permit is its own application.
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- City websiteCityPrimary source
Plumbing application and inspection fees — the plumbing fee table
Read 2026-09-25 as HTML. The page is a single six-row table: "Initial permit fee $92", "Per unit - Plumbing $36", "Per unit - Water $6", "Per unit - Gas $34", "If unit BTU's greater than 100,000, additional fee for each 100,000 BTU's or fraction thereof $15", "State Surcharge $1". Beside it the plumbing trade's requirement pages: "When a Plumbing Plan Review is Required", the plumbing plan review guidelines PDF (which states when review is required — five or fewer fixture-types for a minor remodel — and no fee of its own), the Homeowner Affidavit, the inspectors' area map, and the categories the permit covers (Plumbing, Sewer, Gas Fitting, Radon Mitigation Systems).
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.