Nashua, NH
Nashua plumbing permit cost
Nashua prices a plumbing permit per fixture:
$9.50 for each fixture or fixture connection in a residential one- or two-family dwelling or townhouse, and $12.00 for each one in commercial work, including multifamily. Separate rows charge electric water heaters at $18.00 residential and $25.00 commercial, a sanitary sewer connection at $35.00 residential, grease interceptors at $30.00, irrigation systems at $20.00 and backflow preventers at $16.00 each. The $50.00 application fee is charged on top of all of it.
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, $50.00Other fee | $50.00 flat fee | Every permit of this type | — |
| Plumbing permit — backflow preventer, $16.00 eachPermit fee | $16.00 per backflow device | Occupancy is not residential and backflow devices is provided | — |
| Plumbing permit — commercial fixtures, $12.00 eachPermit fee | $12.00 per fixture | Occupancy is not residential and Fixtures is provided | — |
| Plumbing permit — grease interceptor, $30.00Permit fee | $30.00 flat fee | Occupancy is not residential and grease interceptor is true | — |
| Plumbing permit — irrigation system, $20.00Permit fee | $20.00 flat fee | Occupancy is not residential and irrigation system is true | — |
| Plumbing permit — commercial electric water heaters, $25.00 eachPermit fee | $25.00 per heater | Occupancy is not residential and heaters is provided | — |
| Plumbing permit — residential fixtures, $9.50 eachPermit fee | $9.50 per fixture | Occupancy is residential and Fixtures is provided | — |
| Plumbing permit — sanitary sewer connection or repair, $35.00Permit fee | $35.00 flat fee | Occupancy is residential and sewer connection is true | — |
| Plumbing permit — electric water heaters, $18.00 eachPermit fee | $18.00 per heater | Occupancy is residential and heaters is provided | — |
| 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 residential bathroom and kitchen renovation: four fixtures — a tub, a water closet, a lavatory and a kitchen sink — plus one electric water heater.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Fixtures | 4 |
| Occupancy class | Residential |
| Number of heaters | 1 |
Example total
$106.00
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 12
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Plumbing permit application fee, $50.00Other fee§105-28D(1)(a) and §105-28D(2)(a) — a nonrefundable application processing and review fee, $50.00, in both the residential and the commercial table. Every trade form in Nashua prints it as the first line.Show the working
| $50.00 flat fee | $50.00 |
Plumbing permit — residential fixtures, $9.50 eachPermit fee§105-28D(1)(b) — per fixture or fixture connection (tub, shower, sink, water closet, lavatory, dishwasher, outside faucet, clothes-washing machine, backflow preventer, etc.): $9.50. Charged per fixture, which is what makes this schedule's plumbing permit grow with the number of fixtures rather than with the cost of the work.Show the working
| $9.50 per fixture | $38.00 |
Plumbing permit — electric water heaters, $18.00 eachPermit fee§105-28D(1)(d) — electric water heaters, each: $18.00. The form says "Electric Only" against the row.Show the working
| $18.00 per heater | $18.00 |
| Total | $106.00 |
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 — backflow preventer, $16.00 each — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plumbing permit — commercial fixtures, $12.00 each — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plumbing permit — grease interceptor, $30.00 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plumbing permit — irrigation system, $20.00 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plumbing permit — commercial electric water heaters, $25.00 each — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plumbing permit — sanitary sewer connection or repair, $35.00 — 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 3 fee rules in effect on 2026-09-28.
- Amounts are rounded to the nearest cent, once, at the end of each component.
Four fixtures at $9.50 is $38.00, and one electric water heater at $18.00 is $18.00, for $56.00 of plumbing fee. The $50.00 application processing and review fee is added, making $106.00.
The count is the example's and not the City's, and it is worth checking against the application before filing: the fixture row covers "tub, shower, sink, water closet, lavatory, dishwasher, outside faucet, clothes-washing machine, backflow preventer, etc." on the residential table, and a dishwasher or an outside faucet that is replaced counts like any other fixture. If the same four fixtures were in a commercial building the plumbing fee would be $48.00 rather than $38.00, and the water heater would be $25.00 rather than $18.00 — and it would also carry a $15.00 electrical permit for the same appliance.
What is different in Nashua
The fixture count is the fee, and the City's application is a tick-box table for exactly that reason. A bathroom remodel with a tub, a toilet, a lavatory and a shower connection is four fixtures and $38.00; a whole-house repipe with twelve fixtures is $114.00; and a commercial restroom fit-out with the same four fixtures is $48.00, because the commercial row is $12.00 rather than $9.50.
Two things the schedule does that a reader may not expect. The first is that pipe runs are priced, not just fixtures: water pipes, drain/waste/vent pipes and storm drainage are $18.00 for each 100 feet or part thereof, which means a 101-foot run costs the same as a 200-foot one. The second is that an electric water heater carries two permits — the plumbing schedule charges $18.00 or $25.00 for it, and the electrical schedule charges $15.00 for it as well, because it is both a water connection and an electrical installation.
The per-100-foot pipe rows are documented here and not priced, because this site has no linear-measure unit to price them with. Everything that is priced on this page is a published rate applied to a count you supply.
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 §105-28D per-fixture and per-item rows plus the $50.00 application fee, the $75.00 re-inspection fee and the unpermitted-work surcharge. It excludes:
- The per-100-foot pipe rows: water pipes $18.00, drain/waste/vent pipes $18.00 and storm drainage $18.00 for each 100 feet or part thereof, residential and commercial alike, plus roof drain and storm drainage piping at $18.00 and roof drain inlets at $20.00 each on the commercial table. They are published and named, and this site prices no pipe runs for any city because the fee engine has no linear-measure basis.
- Pumps and ejectors — $18.00 each residential, $35.00 each commercial — which are counted in a unit this site does not have.
- The discretionary minimum for miscellaneous equipment, $40.00, which applies where the Building Official judges it appropriate.
- 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.
- Water and sewer connection charges made by the City's Engineering Department or by the utility, which are not Building Safety permit fees.
- The electrical and mechanical permits the same job usually carries, and fire protection permits, which are the Fire Marshal's.
- Anything charged by the State of New Hampshire, including plumber and gas fitter licensing.
What you need before applying
- A licensed plumber's number on the applicationRequired
The plumbing permit forms carry a Plumbing Lic. # field beside the contractor's signature, and an itemised fixture table that has to be filled in: the fee is charged per fixture, so the count on the form is the fee.
- Separate permits for each tradeRequired
"A building permit only includes the structural portion. Separate permits are required for plumbing, electrical or mechanical work." An electric water heater is the clearest case: it is priced on the plumbing schedule at $18.00 residential and $25.00 commercial and again on the electrical schedule at $15.00 commercial, because it is both a plumbing and an electrical installation.
Common questions
How much is a plumbing permit per fixture in Nashua?
$9.50 for each fixture or fixture connection in a residential one- or two-family dwelling or townhouse, and $12.00 for each one in commercial work including multifamily. The fixtures the schedule names are tubs, showers, sinks, water closets, lavatories, floor drains, drinking fountains, urinals, dishwashers, garbage grinders, outside faucets, washing machines and washdown stations.
How much is a plumbing permit for a water heater?
$18.00 for an electric water heater in a residential building and $25.00 in a commercial one, on the plumbing schedule. An electric water heater also carries an electrical permit — $15.00 each on the commercial electrical table — because it is both a water and an electrical installation.
Are pipe runs charged?
Yes — water pipes, drain/waste/vent pipes and storm drainage are $18.00 for each 100 feet or part thereof, in both the residential and commercial tables. This site names that row and does not price it, because the calculator has no linear-measure unit for pipe lengths.
What is the application fee for a plumbing permit?
$50.00, the same nonrefundable application processing and review fee the building, electrical and mechanical schedules charge. It is paid at the time of filing and does not depend on the size of the job.
How much is a backflow preventer?
$16.00 each on the commercial table, for all four kinds the schedule names — atmospheric vacuum breakers, pressure vacuum breakers, dual check valves and reduced-pressure principle assemblies. An irrigation system is priced as a whole at $20.00, which includes its backflow preventer rather than charging for it again.
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 Required & Cost — City of Nashua
Read 2026-09-25. The department's own summary in plain language: fees "are normally determined by the square footage of the project", "there is an additional $35 filing fee for each permit" and "an additional $25 fee for Land Use review", and "a building permit only includes the structural portion. Separate permits are required for plumbing, electrical or mechanical work". The $35 filing fee is described in this source and is not in the code's fee article, so the site names it rather than charging it.
- Official documentCityPrimary source
Residential Plumbing Permit application, City of Nashua
Read 2026-09-25 as a scanned PDF. Its fixture table is the list the code's "per fixture or fixture connection" row names — sink, lavatory, outside faucet, backflow preventer, shower, water closet, floor drain, garbage disposal, tub, dishwasher, washing machine, other — plus the electric water heater, water pipe, drain/waste/vent, sewer connection and pump rows, with the $50.00 application fee and the $275.00 surcharge footnote.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.