Albuquerque, NM
Albuquerque building permit cost
Albuquerque's building permit fee is one published ladder, priced twice.
Table 112-A of the City's Uniform Administrative Code runs $23.50 for the first $500 of valuation and $3.05 for each additional $100 or fraction to $2,000, then $69.25 plus $14.00 per $1,000 to $25,000, $391.75 plus $10.10 to $50,000, $643.75 plus $7.00 to $100,000, and above that $993.75 for the first $100,000 plus $5.60 for each additional $1,000 or fraction — and then §112.2.1 multiplies the result by the Albuquerque regional modifier: .67 for apartments, public and commercial construction, .50 for one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses including renovations, alterations and additions. A printed $23.50 minimum applies after the multiplication. When plans must be submitted, plan review is 65% of the permit fee and §112.3 charges it in addition to the permit.
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 and plan review — apartments, public and commercial (regional modifier .67)Permit fee | Project valuation — 10014 brackets: $23.50 up to $500, … $37,810.61 from $9,999,000 to $10,000,000 | one two family is false | — |
| Building permit and plan review — one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses (regional modifier .50)Permit fee | Project valuation — 10014 brackets: $23.50 up to $500, … $28,216.88 from $9,999,000 to $10,000,000 | one two family is true | — |
| Plan review fee, 65% of the building permit feePlan review | 65% of calculated permit fee | plan review is true | — |
| Re-inspection fee, $47.00 eachInspection fee | $47.00 flat fee | reinspection is true | — |
| Investigation fee for work without a permit, equal to the permit feeSurcharge | 100% of calculated permit fee | unpermitted work is true | — |
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 commercial office building valued at $250,000, with plans submitted for review, in a construction class other than a one- or two-family dwelling or townhouse.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Project valuation | $250,000 |
| Occupancy class | Commercial |
| Type of work | New construction |
| Plan review | Yes |
| One two family | No |
Example total
$2,027.21
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 5
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Building permit and plan review — apartments, public and commercial (regional modifier .67)Permit feeUAC §112.2 Table 112-A with the §112.2.1 regional modifier of .67 for apartments, public and commercial construction, minimum fee $23.50. The raw ladder is $23.50 for the first $500 and $3.05 per additional $100 or fraction to $2,000, $69.25 plus $14.00 per $1,000 to $25,000, $391.75 plus $10.10 to $50,000, $643.75 plus $7.00 to $100,000, and $993.75 for the first $100,000 plus $5.60 for each additional $1,000 or fraction thereof above that — each band multiplied by .67 and rounded, floored at the $23.50 minimum printed with the modifier. The same computation, row by row, is what the City's own 'Plan Review and Building Permit Fees' handout prints in its commercial columns.Show the working
| $1,228.61 for project valuation from $249,000 to $250,000 | $1,228.61 |
Plan review fee, 65% of the building permit feePlan reviewUAC §112.3: "a plan review fee shall be paid at the time of submitting plans and specifications for review. Said plan review fee for buildings, signs, or structures shall be 65 percent of the building or sign permit fee as set forth in Tables 112-A and 112-E." §112.3 adds that this fee "is a separate fee from the permit fee ... and in addition to the permit fee", so it is charged on top — gated behind the plan-review input because §112.3 charges it where §§110.2 and 110.3 require plans to be submitted. The Building Safety FAQ says the same from the counter: "Plan review fees are paid at the time of submittal. They are 65% of the permit fee, plus zoning and hydrology fees."Show the working
| 65% of calculated permit fee | $798.60 |
| Total | $2,027.21 |
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 and plan review — one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses (regional modifier .50) — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Re-inspection fee, $47.00 each — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Investigation fee for work without a permit, equal to the permit fee — 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 raw ladder prices $250,000 with its sixth band: $993.75 for the first $100,000, plus $5.60 for each of the 150 remaining thousands — $993.75 + $840.00 = $1,833.75. The commercial modifier takes .67 of that, rounded half up: $1,228.61, comfortably above the $23.50 floor. Plan review is 65 percent of $1,228.61, which is $798.60, and §112.3 puts it on top rather than inside the permit: the bill at submittal is $2,027.36.
The residential side of the same valuation is worth seeing next to it. The same $1,833.75 raw figure at .50 is $916.88 — and had this been a one- or two-family dwelling, plan review would have been $595.97 rather than $798.60, for a total of $1,512.85. The modifier changes the permit fee by more than $300 on this job alone.
Nothing in this example touches the $23.50 minimum, which would matter on a permit under an $801 commercial or $1,201 residential valuation: the handout's own columns show both sides sitting at exactly $23.50 below those points.
What is different in Albuquerque
The modifier is the first thing to settle, and it is about construction rather than about occupancy: a three-unit apartment building is on the .67 side even though the building is full of dwellings, because §112.2.1 writes "apartments, public and commercial construction" on one side and "one- and two-family dwelling and town-house construction" on the other. On the same $250,000 valuation the two sides are $1,228.61 and $916.88 — a difference of more than a third for a question that has nothing to do with how big the building is.
The $23.50 floor is the second. It is applied after the modifier, which the City's own handout shows by crossing the floor at different valuations on each side: the commercial column first exceeds $23.50 at an $801 valuation, the residential one at $1,201. Below those points the fee is $23.50 on either side.
Plan review is the third. §112.3 makes it "65 percent of the building or sign permit fee" and then says the fee is "separate ... and in addition to" the permit fee — so a $1,228.61 permit with plans carries $798.60 of plan review on top, paid when the plans go in, not credited back when the permit issues.
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 Table 112-A building fee with the regional modifier, the 65% plan review §112.3 charges, and the §112.4 investigation fee when work started without a permit. It excludes:
- Zoning and hydrology review, which the handout prints as "Zoning: $25 < 4000sqft or $45 > 4000sqft" and "Hydrology: $50" — charged on plan-reviewed permits, but the schedule never says what the square footage is measured on.
- Demolition: $47.00 up to and including 1,500 square feet of floor area plus $10.00 for each additional 500 square feet or fraction, published under Other Inspections and Fees in Table 112-A.
- Certificates: a temporary certificate of occupancy at $50.00 and a certificate of occupancy at $100.00, both issued at the end of the work.
- The hourly review charges: additional plan review for changes, additions and revisions to approved plans at $47.00 an hour with a two-hour minimum, rechecking lost or worn-out plans and duplicate plan sets at half the plan check fee, and preliminary and integrated plan review at $75.00 an hour.
- FasTrax, the optional expedited plan review at "three times the cost for the standard plan review", and third-party plan review where the Division allows it.
- The mechanical, sign, wall and re-roof schedules — Tables 112-C, 112-E, 112-F and 112-G of the same section, which a full permit often carries alongside this one.
- The rest of the bill that is not a City fee: plan review is charged here only when you say plans are being submitted, zoning and hydrology are not charged at all, and any utility or State charge sits outside Section 112.
What you need before applying
- The estimated permit value, and the Building Official's last word on itRequired
UAC §112.2.1: "The applicant for a permit shall provide an estimated permit value at time of application. Permit valuations shall include total value of work, including materials and labor, for which the permit is being issued, such as electrical, gas, mechanical, plumbing equipment and other building service equipment. If, in the opinion of the Building Official, the valuation is underestimated on the application, the permit shall be denied, unless the applicant can show detailed estimates to meet the approval of the Building Official. Final building permit valuation shall be set by the Building Official." The fee is charged on that figure, and the figure is the City's to settle.
- Plans whenever §§110.2 and 110.3 call for them — and the 65 percent paid with themRequired
UAC §112.3: "When a plan or other data is required to be submitted by Sections 110.2 and 110.3, a plan review fee shall be paid at the time of submitting plans and specifications for review. Said plan review fee for buildings, signs, or structures shall be 65 percent of the building or sign permit fee as shown in Tables 112-A and 112-E." The same subsection makes the plan review fee "separate fees from the permit fees specified in Section 112.2 and ... in addition to the permit fees", so the money is due at submittal and sits on top of the permit.
- Work started without a permit begins with an investigation, and an extra feeRequired
UAC §112.4.1: "Whenever any work for which a permit is required by this Code has been commenced without first obtaining a permit, a special investigation may be made before a permit may be issued for such work." §112.4.2 then collects "an investigation fee, in addition to the permit fee ... whether or not a permit is then or subsequently issued", equal to "the amount of the permit fee required by this Code" — a second permit fee, not a fine set by this site.
Common questions
How does Albuquerque calculate a building permit fee?
Table 112-A prices the valuation in six bands — $23.50 for the first $500 plus $3.05 per $100 or fraction to $2,000, $69.25 plus $14.00 per $1,000 to $25,000, $391.75 plus $10.10 to $50,000, $643.75 plus $7.00 to $100,000, and $993.75 plus $5.60 per $1,000 above $100,000 — and §112.2.1 then multiplies the result by the Albuquerque regional modifier: .67 for apartments, public and commercial construction, .50 for one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses. A $23.50 minimum applies after the multiplication.
What is the Albuquerque regional modifier?
A multiplier the legislative body sets on top of the published table, stated in §112.2.1: "The Albuquerque Regional Modifier for Table 112-A Building Permit Fees shall be (.67) for apartments, public and commercial construction" and "(.50) for one- and two-family dwelling and town-house construction, including renovations, alterations and additions." Every other table in Section 112 — electrical, mechanical, plumbing, sign, wall and re-roof — carries a modifier of 1.0.
What is the minimum building permit fee in Albuquerque?
$23.50, printed in §112.2.1 beside each Table 112-A modifier as "(Minimum fee shall be $23.50.)" — and the minimum is taken after the modifier, not before it. That is why the City's own fee handout shows the commercial column first rising above the floor at an $801 valuation and the residential column at $1,201: the same raw fee multiplied by different factors crosses the same floor at different places.
What valuation is the fee charged on?
The estimated permit value the applicant provides, in §112.2.1's words: "Permit valuations shall include total value of work, including materials and labor, for which the permit is being issued, such as electrical, gas, mechanical, plumbing equipment and other building service equipment." If the Building Official thinks it is underestimated the permit is denied unless detailed estimates support it, and "Final building permit valuation shall be set by the Building Official."
Is plan review an extra fee?
Yes, and the code is explicit about it. §112.3 sets the plan review fee at "65 percent of the building or sign permit fee" and adds that "The plan review fees specified in this subsection are separate fees from the permit fees specified in Section 112.2 and are in addition to the permit fees." The Building Safety Division puts it the same way from the counter: "Plan review fees are paid at the time of submittal. They are 65% of the permit fee, plus zoning and hydrology fees."
What happens if work was done without a permit?
§112.4.1 lets a special investigation be made before a permit may issue, and §112.4.2 collects "an investigation fee, in addition to the permit fee ... whether or not a permit is then or subsequently issued", equal to "the amount of the permit fee required by this Code" — the permit fee once more, on its own line, with the same $23.50 minimum the tables set.
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 City's own PDF of the 2024 UAC edition, whose Exhibit A states that the technical codes it amends carry an effective date of January 1, 2025. Section 112 read in full: §112.2's instruction that permit fees be set by Table 112-A and the other tables; §112.2.1's estimated-permit-value rule and the modifier schedule (.67 commercial and apartments, .50 one- and two-family and townhouse, 1.0 for Tables 112-B through 112-G, each with a $23.50 minimum on Table 112-A); §112.3's plan review fees (65 percent of the building or sign permit fee, 25 percent of the electrical, mechanical and plumbing permit fee, 'separate fees from the permit fees ... and are in addition to the permit fees'); §112.4's investigation fee for work without a permit; §112.5 on refunds; and Tables 112-A, 112-B and 112-D line by line. The fee tables themselves are printed inside this document — Section 112 collects no fees anywhere else.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.