Jersey City, NJ
Jersey City plumbing permit cost
A Jersey City plumbing permit is $10.00 a fixture
and the schedule's own list of what a fixture is runs from a water closet, a urinal and a bathtub to a dishwasher, a gas appliance, a roof drain, an ice maker and a yard drain — twenty-two named items, with a second list at the same price behind it. Above that row sits a menu of devices with their own charges, from a tankless heater at $25 to a fire sprinkler main at $60, and a $300 back flow cross connection, which includes three external and one internal inspection.
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 — back flow cross connection, $300.00Permit fee | $300.00 flat fee | backflow cross connection is true | — |
| Plumbing permit — fixtures and fittings, $10.00 eachPermit fee | $10.00 per fixture | Each fixture on the permit | — |
| New Jersey State permit surcharge, $1.90 per $1,000State surcharge | $1.90 per $1,000 of project valuation | any project valuation | min $1.00 |
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 fourteen-fixture plumbing permit in an existing building — a water closet, lavatories, sinks, a dishwasher, a gas appliance and the associated drains — with $7,500 of plumbing work and no cross-connection programme.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Project valuation | $7,500 |
| Fixtures | 14 |
Example total
$154.25
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 3
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Plumbing permit — fixtures and fittings, $10.00 eachPermit fee§160-1 M(2)(a): "Plumbing fixtures: $10.00. Included but not limited to: water closet, urinal, bidet, bathtub, lavatory, shower, floor drain, sink, dishwasher, drinking fountain, washing machine hose bib, closet bend, coffee maker, gas appliance, gas service connection, ice maker, rain leader, roof drain, sprinkler head, sump pump, trap prime, washing machine tray, yard drain." M(2)(c) prices a further list of fittings — closet bends, coffee makers, gas appliances, ice makers, rain leaders, roof drains, sprinkler heads, sump pumps, trap primers, washing machine trays and yard drains — at the same $10.00, so one rate covers the ordinary plumbing work and the devices with prices of their own are the menu in M(2)(b) and the second half of M(2)(c).Show the working
| $10.00 per fixture | $140.00 |
New Jersey State permit surcharge, $1.90 per $1,000State surchargeN.J.A.C. 5:23-4.19(b): $1.90 per $1,000 of the value of construction, minimum $1.00. Jersey City's §160-1 M(1)(g) prints the same State fee as "$0.00135 of cost of construction", the State's pre-1995 rate, and the code says State-set fees are incorporated by reference as they change.Show the working
| $1.90 per $1,000 of project valuation | $14.25 |
| Total | $154.25 |
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 — back flow cross connection, $300.00 — 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.
The fixture row is the whole plumbing fee: fourteen items at $10.00 each is $140.00, and the list they come from is printed in the schedule rather than left to a reader's judgement. A water heater added to the same permit would not be on this row — it is $30.00 on the device menu — and that is the main way the total moves.
The State permit surcharge is $1.90 per $1,000 of the $7,500 of work, or $14.25, on its own line. If the work is a new building rather than an alteration the State figure is charged per cubic foot instead, and the City's own schedule prints both halves of it as the older pair of $0.00265 a cubic foot and $0.00135 per $1,000.
One charge is not here and is easy to underestimate: a back flow cross connection is $300.00 on its own row, which is more than twice this permit, and it carries three external and one internal inspection with it.
What is different in Jersey City
Most plumbing work in Jersey City is the $10.00 row, and the list is long enough that this is usually the whole fee: a bathroom remodel of a water closet, a lavatory, a shower and a floor drain is $40.00, and a kitchen added to it with a sink and a dishwasher is $60.00. Gas appliances are on the same row rather than on a separate gas permit, so a new range is $10.00.
The devices with prices of their own are the part to look up rather than guess. A water heater is $30.00, and so are a steam or hot water boiler, a water service up to two inches and ventilating equipment. Most of the drainage side — a sewer pump, an interceptor, a separator, a grease trap, a sewer connection, a stack, a catch basin, a house sewer, a soil line connection, a sewage ejector, a storm sewer, a storm sewer connection, a vent line and a water riser line — is $40.00, with a fire sprinkler main at $60.00, a grease interceptor at $30.00 and a house drain at $20.00 or $30.00 by size. A back flow preventer is $10.00 for a domestic service and $75.00 for a fire service.
The back flow cross connection is the one charge that is not per item. It is $300.00 for the cross connection itself and includes three external and one internal inspection, so it is not a device count and it is not reduced by how many preventers are on the job.
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 subcode's $10.00 fixture row, the $300 back flow cross connection and the State permit surcharge. It excludes:
- The device menu in M(2)(b) and M(2)(c): water heaters, steam and hot water boilers, water service up to two inches and ventilating equipment at $30.00; an A.C. unit at $30.00; the sewer pump, interceptor, separator, grease trap, sewer connection, stack, catch basin, dental chair, cooling equipment, fire hydrant, house sewer, soil line connection, sewage ejector, storm sewer, storm sewer connection, vent line and water riser line at $40.00; a fire sprinkler main and a water service above two inches at $60.00; an active solar system at $35.00; a tankless heater at $25.00; a garbage disposal at $15.00; a grease interceptor at $30.00; a house drain at $20.00 up to ten inches or $30.00 above; and a back flow preventer at $10.00 for a domestic service or $75.00 for a fire service. Each of those is priced by the schedule on its own row: the model charges the $10.00 fixture row, and these amounts are named rather than folded into it or left out.
- Water and sewer charges made by the Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority, which are utility charges rather than permit fees.
- The fire subcode's suppression rows, including sprinkler heads, standpipes and the $75 minimum, which are issued under a different subcode even when the work is plumbing-adjacent.
- The State surcharge as the City prints it — M(1)(g) writes the State training fee for alterations at $0.00135 per $1,000; the amount charged here is N.J.A.C. 5:23-4.19(b)'s current $1.90 per $1,000 of the value of the work, minimum $1.00.
- Plan review at 25%, a prepayment under M(1)(o) and N.J.A.C. 5:23-4.18(a)1 rather than an addition to the permit.
- Certificates of occupancy at $100 and certificates of continued occupancy at $200, which are issued at the end of the work.
What you need before applying
- The list of what counts as a plumbing fixture is the schedule's ownRequired
§160-1 M(2)(a) names twenty-two things that are plumbing fixtures at $10.00 each — a water closet, urinal, bidet, bathtub, lavatory, shower, floor drain, sink, dishwasher, drinking fountain, washing machine hose bib, closet bend, coffee maker, gas appliance, gas service connection, ice maker, rain leader, roof drain, sprinkler head, sump pump, trap primer, washing machine tray and yard drain — and M(2)(c) adds another list at the same rate. Counting those items is what the plumbing fee is, so the list is the requirement rather than a description of one.
Common questions
How much is a plumbing permit in Jersey City?
$10.00 for each plumbing fixture. The schedule names twenty-two things that are fixtures at that price, including a water closet, urinal, bidet, bathtub, lavatory, shower, floor drain, sink, dishwasher, drinking fountain, washing machine hose bib, coffee maker, gas appliance, ice maker, rain leader, roof drain, sprinkler head, sump pump, trap primer, washing machine tray and yard drain, and prices a further list of fittings the same way.
Is a water heater charged as a fixture?
No. A water heater is on the device menu in M(2)(b) at $30.00, and so are a steam boiler, a hot water boiler, a water service up to two inches and ventilating equipment. The $10.00 fixture row is for the items M(2)(a) and the second half of M(2)(c) name.
What is the $300 back flow cross connection charge?
It is M(2)(d)'s charge for a back flow cross connection, and it "includes 3 external and 1 internal inspection". It is charged for the cross connection rather than per device, and the back flow preventer itself is charged separately on the device menu — $10.00 for a domestic service and $75.00 for a fire service.
Are there different rates for residential and commercial plumbing work?
No. M(2) charges $10.00 a fixture for the listed items whoever the applicant is, and the devices with their own prices are priced the same way for both. What differs between a house and a commercial building in this chapter is the building subcode's use-group rate, not the plumbing row.
Does a permit for a new building pay the plumbing fee per fixture or by value?
Per fixture. The plumbing subcode has no volumetric rate — a new building's plumbing work is charged as so many $10.00 fixtures, and the building's volume is charged on the building subcode's own row. M(1)(e) is explicit that a combined application is the sum of the fees computed separately.
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 through the City's codifier, whose consolidation is Supplement No. 52. §160-1 M carries the whole construction fee schedule: the building subcode in (1), plumbing in (2), electrical in (3), fire in (4), elevators in (5) and miscellaneous fees in (6), with the amendment history of the block — 4-13-2005 by Ord. 04-154 and 9-11-2013 by Ord. 13-081 — attached to the rows those ordinances changed. The row that decides most of the arithmetic, M(1)(a), is the one that prints A-2 twice.
- State agencyStatePrimary source
Read 2026-09-25 as the Department's consolidated PDF of Subchapter 4, current through New Jersey Register Volume 58 No. 16. §5:23-4.18(a)1 is the rule that makes Jersey City's 25% plan review a prepayment rather than a surcharge — the plan review fee "shall then be deducted from the amount of the fee due for a construction permit, when the permit is issued" — and §5:23-4.19(b) sets the State permit surcharge at $0.00371 a cubic foot of new construction and $1.90 per $1,000 of other construction, minimum $1.00. The code's own note that State-set fees "will be incorporated herein by reference" is what the City's older printed figures are measured against.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.