Nashua, NH
Nashua building permit cost
Nashua charges a building permit by the square foot of area affected
not by the value of the work: $0.18 per square foot for new residential construction, $0.28 for commercial and multifamily, and a reduced $0.13 and $0.18 per square foot for alterations, repairs and fire damage. Every application also pays a $50.00 non-refundable application processing and review fee, and any permit issued after work has started is surcharged 100%, capped at $275.00 residential and $750.00 commercial.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building permit application fee, $50.00Other fee | $50.00 flat fee | Every permit of this type | — |
| Building permit — commercial alterations and repairs, $0.18 per sq ftPermit fee | $0.18 per sq ft | Occupancy is not residential and building alteration is true | — |
| Building permit — residential alterations and repairs, $0.13 per sq ftPermit fee | $0.13 per sq ft | Occupancy is residential and building alteration is true | — |
| Building permit — new commercial area, $0.28 per sq ftPermit fee | $0.28 per sq ft | Occupancy is not residential and not (building alteration is true) | — |
| Building permit — new residential area, $0.18 per sq ftPermit fee | $0.18 per sq ft | Occupancy is residential and not (building alteration is true) | — |
| Additional plan review for minor modifications, commercialPlan review | $0.15 per sq ft | Occupancy is not residential and additional plan review is true | — |
| Additional plan review for minor modifications, residentialPlan review | $0.1 per sq ft | Occupancy is residential and additional plan review is true | — |
| Re-inspection fee, $75.00Inspection fee | $75.00 flat fee | reinspection is true | — |
| Surcharge for work started without a permit, commercial (100%, capped at $750.00)Surcharge | 100% of fees charged | worked without permit is true and Occupancy is not residential | max $750.00 |
| Surcharge for work started without a permit, residential (100%, capped at $275.00)Surcharge | 100% of fees charged | worked without permit is true and Occupancy is residential | max $275.00 |
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 new one-family house of 3,000 square feet of area affected.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Project area | 3,000 sq ft |
| Occupancy class | Residential |
Example total
$590.00
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 2Rules considered 10
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Building permit application fee, $50.00Other fee§105-28A(1)(a) — a nonrefundable application processing and review fee shall be paid at the time of filing of any application: building permit, $50.00.Show the working
| $50.00 flat fee | $50.00 |
Building permit — new residential area, $0.18 per sq ftPermit fee§105-28A(2)(a) — residential, one- and two-family and townhouses, per square foot of area affected: $0.18. This is the rate for new work; alterations and repairs take the $0.13 rate in §105-28A(4)(a) instead.Show the working
| $0.18 per sq ft | $540.00 |
| Total | $590.00 |
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.
- Building permit — commercial alterations and repairs, $0.18 per sq ft — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — residential alterations and repairs, $0.13 per sq ft — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — new commercial area, $0.28 per sq ft — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Additional plan review for minor modifications, commercial — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Additional plan review for minor modifications, residential — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Re-inspection fee, $75.00 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Surcharge for work started without a permit, commercial (100%, capped at $750.00) — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Surcharge for work started without a permit, residential (100%, capped at $275.00) — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
Assumptions
- Calculated from 2 fee rules in effect on 2026-09-28.
- Amounts are rounded to the nearest cent, once, at the end of each component.
New residential work at $0.18 per square foot over 3,000 square feet is $540.00, and the $50.00 application processing and review fee is added, for $590.00.
Two comparisons worth making. If the same 3,000 square feet were commercial it would be $0.28 a foot, or $840.00 — the commercial rate is 56% higher for the same area. And if it were an alteration to an existing house instead of new construction, the rate would be $0.13 and the permit $390.00 before the application fee. Nothing in this figure depends on what the house will cost to build: Nashua does not read a valuation, and this site's calculator does not offer one for this city.
What is different in Nashua
Area affected is the phrase that decides the fee, and it is not the size of the building. §105-28A(2) lists what counts — new buildings, additions, alterations, mobile homes, in-ground swimming pools, basements, connecting structures, future expansion areas and "areas capable of being used as living or occupiable space" — so a 400 square foot addition to a 3,000 square foot house is charged on 400 square feet.
The second thing to know is that a commercial alteration is charged at $0.18 per square foot, which is the same rate as brand-new residential work, while a residential alteration is $0.13. Two facts decide the rate — occupancy and whether the work is an alteration — and the four combinations are all different prices except that one.
Plan review is not part of the building permit in Nashua. What the schedule prices is *additional* review at $0.10 or $0.15 per square foot for minor modifications to drawings that were already approved, such as a commercial tenant fit-up that changes after the fact.
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 §105-28A area rates plus the $50.00 application fee, the $75.00 re-inspection fee and the unpermitted-work surcharge. It excludes:
- The $35.00 filing fee and the $25.00 land use review fee the department's summary describes, which are not in the code's fee article.
- Demolition, priced at $40.00 up to 1,000 square feet plus $3.15 per additional 100 square feet or part thereof. The round-up is the fee, so a job one square foot over a boundary and a job ninety-nine feet over it pay the same $3.15 for that band, and no per-foot rate reproduces it.
- The LEED reductions — 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% off the permit fee for certified, silver, gold and platinum buildings — which are not applied here because the discount depends on a certification document rather than on anything a reader has entered.
- Retaining walls over four feet ($0.15 per linear foot residential and $0.30 commercial, against $25.00 and $50.00 minimums), moving a building ($200.00), certificates of occupancy ($50.00), work not related to floor area (cost × $0.65 per $100), phased construction (a 25% surcharge per upgrade phase) and the expedite service fee ($80.00 per hour per staff member).
- The discretionary minimums for miscellaneous equipment — $30.00 residential, $50.00 commercial — which apply where the Building Official judges them appropriate.
- Every trade permit. A building permit "only includes the structural portion", so electrical, plumbing and mechanical work each carry their own application and their own $50.00 fee.
- Fire protection permits and anything charged by another department or by the State.
What you need before applying
- The area affected by the work, in square feetRequired
§105-28A(2) defines what goes into the measurement: "New buildings, additions, alterations, mobile homes, in-ground swimming pools, basements, connecting structures, future expansion areas and areas capable of being used as living or occupiable space shall be included to calculate aggregate floor area." A permit is priced on that area rather than on the whole building, which is why a small addition to a large house is a small permit fee.
- Plan requirements, by project typeRequired
The department publishes separate plan-requirement checklists for commercial and multi-family dwellings and for residential work, and takes permit requests by email at permits@nashuanh.gov with the completed form attached. The City's fees summary also notes a $35.00 filing fee for each permit and a $25.00 fee for land use review, neither of which is in the code's fee article.
Common questions
How is a Nashua building permit fee calculated?
By area affected, in square feet. §105-28A(2) charges $0.18 per square foot for residential one- and two-family and townhouses and $0.28 for commercial, including multifamily, with reduced rates of $0.13 and $0.18 for alterations, repairs and fire damage.
Is the fee based on the whole building or just the work?
Just the work. The measurement is the "area affected", and the section lists what it includes — new buildings, additions, in-ground swimming pools, basements, connecting structures, future expansion areas and areas capable of being used as living or occupiable space.
What is the application fee?
$50.00, described as a nonrefundable application processing and review fee, paid at the time of filing any application. It is the same $50.00 in every one of the four schedules — building, mechanical, electrical and plumbing.
What happens if I build without a permit?
The permit is surcharged 100% of the applicable fee, capped at $275.00 for residential work and $750.00 for commercial. The Nashua surcharge is a real charge on the permit rather than a fine, and it does not excuse the permit itself.
Is plan review included?
The building permit's area rates are the permit fee. What the schedule prices separately is additional plan review for minor modifications of already-approved drawings — $0.10 per square foot residential and $0.15 commercial — which is what a commercial tenant fit-up pays when its drawings change.
Where can I see the fee schedule?
In the Revised Ordinances at Chapter 105, Article VIII, §105-28. The department's permits page points at Ordinance O-21-045, which is the amendment that set the current rates on 9 March 2021, and the code prints that ordinance's date against every subsection it amended.
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- Municipal codeCityPrimary source
Read 2026-09-25 from the codifier's consolidation (code date 2026-02-10). §105-28 carries four schedules — A building, B mechanical, C electrical, D plumbing — with the amending ordinance and date printed against each subsection, most recently 3-9-2021 by Ord. No. O-21-045. This is the operative source for every fee rule in the seed.
- City websiteCityPrimary source
Permits — Department of Building Safety, City of Nashua
Read 2026-09-25. Lists the trade applications this seed's rules were checked against — residential and commercial electrical, mechanical and plumbing — and states that "the new fees for the permits are listed under Ordinance 0-21-045". Also notes that internally and externally illuminated signs require an electrical permit.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.