Missoula, MT
Missoula plumbing permit cost
A Missoula plumbing permit is a $43.00 issuance fee plus a unit list.
Every row is a count times a price: fixtures, traps or stub-outs $16.00, water heaters $16.00, water piping $15.00, unprotected fixtures $16.00 each dropping to $8.00 from the fifth, medical gas $140.00 per system, gray water $100.00.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixture, trap or stub-out, installed/relocated/replaced — $16.00Permit fee | $16.00 per fixture | Fixtures over 0 | — |
| Gray water system installation — $100.00Permit fee | $100.00 flat fee | graywater system is true | — |
| Plumbing permit issuance — $43.00Other fee | $43.00 flat fee | Every permit of this type | — |
| Medical gas/vacuum system, 1–5 outlets — $140.00Permit fee | $140.00 per gas service line | medical gas systems over 0 | — |
| Water heater or replacement (storage tank type) — $16.00Permit fee | $16.00 per water heater | water heaters over 0 | — |
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 commercial tenant-finish plumbing scope: 12 fixtures, 1 water heater and 1 gray-water system.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Fixtures | 12 |
| Occupancy class | Commercial |
| Type of work | New construction |
| Number of water heaters | 1 |
| Graywater system | Yes |
Example total
$351.00
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 4Rules considered 10
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Fixture, trap or stub-out, installed/relocated/replaced — $16.00Permit fee§ C.2.a: For the installation, relocation or replacement of plumbing fixture, trap or stub-out — $16.Show the working
| $16.00 per fixture | $192.00 |
Gray water system installation — $100.00Permit fee§ C.2.k: For each gray water system installation — $100. 8970: $119.Show the working
| $100.00 flat fee | $100.00 |
Water heater or replacement (storage tank type) — $16.00Permit fee§ C.2.b: For each water heater or replacement (storage tank type) — $16.Show the working
| $16.00 per water heater | $16.00 |
Plumbing permit issuance — $43.00Other fee§ C.1.a: For issuing each permit — $43. (Resolution 8970 raises this to $51 effective 2026-10-01.)Show the working
| $43.00 flat fee | $43.00 |
| Total | $351.00 |
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.
- Fixture, trap or stub-out, installed/relocated/replaced — $19.00 — Not in effect on 2026-09-28 (starts 2026-10-01).
- Gray water system installation — $119.00 — Not in effect on 2026-09-28 (starts 2026-10-01).
- Medical gas/vacuum system, 1–5 outlets — $140.00 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Medical gas/vacuum system, 1–5 outlets — $166.00 — Not in effect on 2026-09-28 (starts 2026-10-01).
- Water heater or replacement (storage tank type) — $19.00 — Not in effect on 2026-09-28 (starts 2026-10-01).
- Plumbing permit issuance — $51.00 — Not in effect on 2026-09-28 (starts 2026-10-01).
Assumptions
- Calculated from 4 fee rules in effect on 2026-09-28.
- Amounts are rounded to the nearest cent, once, at the end of each component.
Four lines — $351.00.
Permit issuance: $43.00. Fixtures: 12 × $16.00 = $192.00. Water heater: 1 × $16.00 = $16.00. Gray water system: $100.00.
Total: $43 + $192 + $16 + $100 = $351.00.
What moves it: the fixture count drives the fee — the $16.00 row is a pure count; and from October 1, 2026 the same scope prices $51 + 12 × $19 + $19 + $119 = $417.00 under Resolution 8970.
What is different in Missoula
The issuance fee is the permit's floor and the unit rows stack on it: a bathroom rough-in with six fixtures prices 6 × $16.00 plus $43.00 — $139.00 — whether the house is modest or expensive. The fixture row is a pure count with no valuation input.
Two rows carry their own structure. The unprotected-fixture row steps down at five ($16.00 each for one to four, $8.00 each from the fifth — the schedule's own volume discount), and medical gas prices per system rather than per outlet: $140.00 covers one to five outlets, with $15.00 per additional outlet beyond.
Resolution 8970 raises issuance to $51.00 and most unit rows to $19.00 effective October 1, 2026 — the FY2026 amounts here apply through September 30.
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 fee under the FY2026 schedule. It excludes:
- The building permit and its 30% plan review — on the building page.
- Unmodelled unit rows — water piping $15.00, drainage/vent repairs $16.00, lawn sprinkler or fire protection systems $16.00 per meter, industrial pretreatment $21.00.
- The October 1, 2026 successor amounts — issuance $51, fixtures $19, medical gas $166, gray water $119 — modelled as rules that open October 1, 2026.
- Mechanical permits — the equipment rows on the same schedule, recorded without their own page.
What you need before applying
- Unprotected fixtures step down at fiveMay be required
§ C.2.f–g: unprotected fixtures, tanks, vats or backflow devices price $16 each for the first one to four, then $8 each from five — the per-unit schedule's own volume discount (a 12-fixture unprotected row prices 4 × $16 + 8 × $8 = $128).
Common questions
How much is a plumbing permit in Missoula?
$43.00 for issuance plus the unit rows: $16.00 per fixture, trap or stub-out; $16.00 per water heater; $15.00 water piping; $16.00 per meter for sprinkler or fire systems; $140.00 per medical-gas system; $100.00 per gray-water installation.
Do fixture fees drop at volume?
On the unprotected-fixture row: $16.00 each for the first one to four, then $8.00 each from five — a 12-fixture unprotected line prices 4 × $16 + 8 × $8 = $128.00.
What does a water heater replacement permit cost?
$16.00 for the water-heater row plus the $43.00 issuance — $59.00 on a stand-alone permit. From October 1, 2026 the same permit is $70.00 under Resolution 8970.
How is medical gas permitted?
Per system: $140.00 covers one medical-gas or vacuum piping system of one to five outlets, plus $15.00 for each additional outlet over five — a system charge, not an outlet count.
Is the plumbing fee valuation-based?
No — the plumbing rows are counts and flats. The only valuation ladder on the schedule is the building permit's, and stand-alone plumbing permits never read it.
When do Missoula plumbing fees change?
October 1, 2026: Resolution 8970 raises issuance to $51.00 and most rows about 19% (fixtures $19.00, gray water $119.00). The FY2026 amounts apply to applications through September 30 — 'based on application date', as the schedule's own line puts it.
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- Fee schedule (PDF)CityPrimary source
Read 2026-09-26 via reader proxy (5 pp.). Carries the building project-cost ladder (a $1,000-wide row grid from $1 to $100,000, then four wide marginal bands: $1,869 + $11.73 per $1,000 to $500,000; $6,563 + $7.82 to $1,000,000; $10,474 + $5.87 above), plan review at 30% of the building permit fee (§ 15.32.020(A), $62/hour for changes), the electrical residential flats and five-band commercial ladder, the plumbing issuance and unit rows, and the administrative/penalty apparatus (double fee for unpermitted work, stop work $255, reactivation $275, technology fee 5%). Adoption line: 'Passed and adopted Resolution 8887.'
- OrdinanceCityPrimary source
Read 2026-09-26 via reader proxy (10 pp.); every fee row re-read line by line from the exhibit text on 2026-09-27. The successor instrument, six days after this pass's date: the MEP trade rows rise roughly 18–19% (issuance $43→$51, fixtures and water heaters $16→$19, medical gas $140→$166, gray water $100→$119, commercial electrical bases $84/$167/$667/$1,229→$100/$198/$788/$1,452), the building ladder's grid prints numerically unchanged ($43 … $1,869 with the same three wide-band rates), solar goes $100→$250 and re-roof $281→$332, and the plan review splits — 'b. Residential Plan Review Fee: 30% of the building permit fee (round up to nearest dollar)' unchanged; 'c. Commercial Plan Review Fee: 65% of the building permit fee' raised from the existing 30%. Modelled as FY2027 rules on this source with effectiveFrom 2026-10-01; the FY2026 rules close their window the day before.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.