New York City, NY
New York City building permit cost
A New York City building permit is priced on the cost of the work:
a minimum filing fee that covers the first $5,000 of cost in a one-, two- or three-family dwelling — or the first $3,000 in any other building — plus $2.60, $10.30 or $17.75 for each further $1,000 or fraction of it. The base is the Alteration Type the applicant files, from $130.00 to $290.00, and the rate is set by the building's size. A new building that keeps no existing element is priced on floor area instead, at $0.06 to $0.45 a square foot.
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 — alteration, one two three family, at the $130.00 base plus $2.60 per $1,000 above $5,000Permit fee | $130.00 + $2.60 per $1,000 of project valuation above $5,000, or fraction thereof | alteration is true and building category is one two three family and alteration type is none of ALT1 | — |
| Building permit — alteration, one two three family, at the $170.00 base plus $2.60 per $1,000 above $5,000Permit fee | $170.00 + $2.60 per $1,000 of project valuation above $5,000, or fraction thereof | alteration is true and building category is one two three family and alteration type is ALT1 | — |
| Building permit — alteration, large, at the $195.00 base plus $10.30 per $1,000 above $3,000Permit fee | $195.00 + $10.30 per $1,000 of project valuation above $3,000, or fraction thereof | alteration is true and building category is large and alteration type is none of ALT1, ALT2 and not (affordable r2 is true) | — |
| Building permit — alteration, large, at the $195.00 base plus $10.30 per $1,000 above $3,000Permit fee | $195.00 + $10.30 per $1,000 of project valuation above $3,000, or fraction thereof | alteration is true and building category is large and alteration type is none of ALT1, ALT2 and affordable r2 is true | — |
| Building permit — alteration, large, at the $280.00 base plus $10.30 per $1,000 above $3,000Permit fee | $280.00 + $10.30 per $1,000 of project valuation above $3,000, or fraction thereof | alteration is true and building category is large and alteration type is one of ALT1, ALT2 and affordable r2 is true | — |
| Building permit — alteration, large, at the $290.00 base plus $17.75 per $1,000 above $3,000Permit fee | $290.00 + $17.75 per $1,000 of project valuation above $3,000, or fraction thereof | alteration is true and building category is large and alteration type is ALT1 and not (affordable r2 is true) | — |
| Building permit — alteration, large, at the $225.00 base plus $10.30 per $1,000 above $3,000Permit fee | $225.00 + $10.30 per $1,000 of project valuation above $3,000, or fraction thereof | alteration is true and building category is large and alteration type is ALT2 and not (affordable r2 is true) | — |
| Building permit — alteration, other, at the $195.00 base plus $10.30 per $1,000 above $3,000Permit fee | $195.00 + $10.30 per $1,000 of project valuation above $3,000, or fraction thereof | alteration is true and building category is other and alteration type is none of ALT1, ALT2 | — |
| Building permit — alteration, other, at the $280.00 base plus $10.30 per $1,000 above $3,000Permit fee | $280.00 + $10.30 per $1,000 of project valuation above $3,000, or fraction thereof | alteration is true and building category is other and alteration type is ALT1 | — |
| Building permit — alteration, other, at the $225.00 base plus $10.30 per $1,000 above $3,000Permit fee | $225.00 + $10.30 per $1,000 of project valuation above $3,000, or fraction thereof | alteration is true and building category is other and alteration type is ALT2 | — |
| Building permit — new building, large, 45.00 per square foot (minimum $290)Permit fee | $0.45 per sq ft | not (alteration is true) and building category is large and not (existing elements retained is true) | min $290.00 |
| Building permit — new building, one two three family, 6.00 per square foot (minimum $130)Permit fee | $0.06 per sq ft | not (alteration is true) and building category is one two three family and not (existing elements retained is true) | min $130.00 |
| Building permit — new building, other, 26.00 per square foot (minimum $280)Permit fee | $0.26 per sq ft | not (alteration is true) and building category is other and not (existing elements retained is true) | min $280.00 |
| Building permit — new building keeping existing elements, large, $290.00 plus $17.75 per $1,000 above $3,000Permit fee | $290.00 + $17.75 per $1,000 of project valuation above $3,000, or fraction thereof | not (alteration is true) and building category is large and existing elements retained is true | — |
| Building permit — new building keeping existing elements, one two three family, $130.00 plus $2.60 per $1,000 above $5,000Permit fee | $130.00 + $2.60 per $1,000 of project valuation above $5,000, or fraction thereof | not (alteration is true) and building category is one two three family and existing elements retained is true | — |
| Building permit — new building keeping existing elements, other, $280.00 plus $10.30 per $1,000 above $3,000Permit fee | $280.00 + $10.30 per $1,000 of project valuation above $3,000, or fraction thereof | not (alteration is true) and building category is other and existing elements retained is true | — |
| Building permit — records management fee, one-, two- or three-family dwelling, $45.00Other fee | $45.00 flat fee | building category is one two three family and alteration is provided | — |
| Building permit — records management fee, all other buildings, $165.00Other fee | $165.00 flat fee | building category is provided and building category is none of one two three family and alteration is provided | — |
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 $40,000 interior alteration in a one-, two- or three-family dwelling, filed as an ALT2, with no other work types on the application.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Project valuation | $40,000 |
| Alteration | Yes |
| Alteration type | ALT2 |
| Building category | one_two_three_family |
Example total
$266.00
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 18
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Building permit — alteration, one two three family, at the $130.00 base plus $2.60 per $1,000 above $5,000Permit feeTable 28-112.2, row 11: "Minimum filing fee for the first $5,000, or fraction thereof, of the cost of alteration; plus $2.60 for each $1,000, or fraction thereof, of cost of alterations in excess of $5,000". Charged with the $130.00 minimum filing fee of this row's ALT2 / ALT3 / LAA as the base for the first $5,000 of cost, so an application costs $130.00 on its own and rises in whole $1,000 steps after that threshold.Show the working
| $130.00 + $2.60 per $1,000 of project valuation above $5,000, or fraction thereof, in $1,000 steps | $221.00 |
Building permit — records management fee, one-, two- or three-family dwelling, $45.00Other fee1 RCNY §101-03: "Records management fee for applications for new buildings and alterations and associated documentation — $45 for one-, two- or three-family dwellings". Charged once for the application rather than per trade or per row, and applied here to every alteration and new-building application, including a Limited Alteration Application, which is an application for alterations. The rule states that the Department is authorized to charge it; no DOB chart read for this pass prints it as a line. The exemptions in §28-112.1 — religious, charitable and educational owners, and emergency work for a City agency — are not modelled as a fact.Show the working
| $45.00 flat fee | $45.00 |
| Total | $266.00 |
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 — alteration, one two three family, at the $170.00 base plus $2.60 per $1,000 above $5,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — alteration, large, at the $195.00 base plus $10.30 per $1,000 above $3,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided. (2 rules with the same outcome)
- Building permit — alteration, large, at the $280.00 base plus $10.30 per $1,000 above $3,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — alteration, large, at the $290.00 base plus $17.75 per $1,000 above $3,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — alteration, large, at the $225.00 base plus $10.30 per $1,000 above $3,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — alteration, other, at the $195.00 base plus $10.30 per $1,000 above $3,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — alteration, other, at the $280.00 base plus $10.30 per $1,000 above $3,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — alteration, other, at the $225.00 base plus $10.30 per $1,000 above $3,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — new building, large, 45.00 per square foot (minimum $290) — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — new building, one two three family, 6.00 per square foot (minimum $130) — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — new building, other, 26.00 per square foot (minimum $280) — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — new building keeping existing elements, large, $290.00 plus $17.75 per $1,000 above $3,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — new building keeping existing elements, one two three family, $130.00 plus $2.60 per $1,000 above $5,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — new building keeping existing elements, other, $280.00 plus $10.30 per $1,000 above $3,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — records management fee, all other buildings, $165.00 — 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 row is Table 28-112.2's row 11: the $130.00 minimum filing fee covers the first $5,000 of cost, and the $35,000 above it is charged in whole $1,000 steps at $2.60 — thirty-five of them, or $91.00. The alteration fee is therefore $221.00.
The records management fee is the second line: $45.00 for a one-, two- or three-family dwelling under 1 RCNY §101-03, charged once for the application rather than per trade. The total is $266.00.
What moves it: filing the same job as an ALT1 raises the base to $170.00 and the total to $306.00; filing it in a building of seven stories or more moves it to row 15 — $225.00 plus thirty-seven steps of $10.30 — where the fee is $606.10 and the records fee $165.00. A job of $5,000 or less in this house is the $130.00 base plus the records fee, because the steps only start above the threshold.
What is different in New York City
Three facts decide the fee — the size of the building, which Alteration Type is filed, and whether the work is an alteration at all — and a cost on its own does not finish the question. A $40,000 alteration in a one-, two- or three-family dwelling filed as an ALT2 is $130.00 for the first $5,000 and thirty-five whole steps of $2.60 above it: $221.00, plus the $45.00 records management fee, for $266.00 in all. The same job filed as an ALT1 starts from $170.00 and comes to $306.00 with that fee.
The row is where the money moves. That $40,000 job in a building of seven stories or more filed as an ALT2 sits on row 15 — $225.00 plus thirty-seven steps of $10.30, or $606.10 — and its records fee is $165.00 there; filed as an ALT1 in the same building it passes to row 14, where each step costs $17.75. A new building that keeps existing elements is priced on cost by rows 2, 5 and 10; one that keeps nothing pays $0.06, $0.26 or $0.45 a square foot, floored at $130.00, $280.00 or $290.00 per structure.
Two charges readers expect elsewhere are absent here, and their absence is documented rather than assumed: no plan review percentage, no technology fee, and no state or county surcharge appears anywhere in the City's permit fee text.
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 building permit fee under Table 28-112.2 plus the records management fee. It excludes:
- The other rows of Table 28-112.2. Renewal at $130 per work type, amendments at the greater of $130 or the added scope, reinstatement, the accessory garage at $130, foundation and earthwork at $10 for each 2,000 square feet (minimum $130), demolition at frontage x stories x $2.60 (minimum $260), curb cuts at $3 or $6 a linear foot, the sign rows, sidewalk sheds, scaffolds, construction fences and temporary structures.
- Plan review, energy code review and inspection fees. The table charges none of them, and no DOB rule or local law read for this pass adds a percentage to the permit.
- The exemptions in §28-112.1. The $45.00 and $165.00 records fees themselves are included above, but the City waives the permit fee for a religious, charitable or educational owner using the property exclusively for that purpose, and for emergency work for a City agency — neither is modelled as an input, so a permitted fee for such a project would be shown here even though the City does not collect it.
- Every other agency's fees. FDNY permits sprinklers, standpipes and alarm systems; DEP, DOT and Finance charge for their own approvals. §28-112.5 says in terms that paying DOB's fee "shall not relieve the applicant or holder of the permit from the payment of other fees that are prescribed by law".
- Electrical and plumbing work on the same filing. One application carries every work type and pays one filing fee, so this page prices a building application alone; the trade pages price their own permits separately.
What you need before applying
- An estimate of the cost of construction, and the Department sets the valuationRequired
§28-112.3: an estimate of the cost of construction is provided with the application, and it "shall include the total value of work proposed, including but not limited to materials, equipment and labor, with reasonable allowances for profit and overhead". If DOB thinks the cost is understated the application is denied unless detailed estimates are shown; a final statement of the total actual cost is filed before sign-off, and "the initial, amended and final building permit valuation shall be set by the department". The cost of the work is the basis every alteration fee on this site is computed from.
- The Alteration Type is chosen at filing and it sets the base feeRequired
Table 28-112.2 publishes one minimum filing fee per Alteration Type on every alteration row — $170 and $130 in a one-, two- or three-family dwelling; $280, $225 and $195 in other buildings under seven stories; $290 and $225/$195 at seven stories or 100,000 square feet — and the type also decides how much review the filing needs. The type is a fact on this site (`alteration_type`), because two applications with the same cost and different types are two different fees.
- Half the fee with the application, or all of itRequired
§28-112.2.1, as added by Local Law 128 of 2024: where the work results in a new certificate of occupancy or a change to one, 50 percent of the total fee — but not less than $130, or the whole fee if the fee is under $130 — accompanies the first application for construction documents, and the remainder is paid before the work permit issues. Where the work does not change the certificate of occupancy, 100 percent of the fee is paid at filing. This is when the money moves, not an extra charge, so no rule is written for it.
- A records management fee rides on every alteration and new-building applicationRequired
1 RCNY §101-03 charges a "Records management fee for applications for new buildings and alterations and associated documentation" of $45 for one-, two- or three-family dwellings and $165 for all other types of buildings, with an exception for applications exempt under §28-112.1 — work for religious, charitable and educational owners using the property exclusively for that purpose, and emergency work for a City agency. It is charged once for the application rather than per trade, and this site adds it to the building and plumbing totals.
Common questions
How much is a building permit in New York City?
For an alteration, the cost of the work decides it: a minimum filing fee covers the first $5,000 in a one-, two- or three-family dwelling or the first $3,000 in any other building, and $2.60, $10.30 or $17.75 is charged for each further $1,000 or fraction of it. The minimum runs from $130.00 to $290.00 by Alteration Type and building size. A new building that keeps no existing element is priced on floor area at $0.06, $0.26 or $0.45 a square foot instead, with a per-structure minimum.
What decides which rate applies — the Alteration Type or the building?
Both. The building's size picks the row: under seven stories and 100,000 square feet or not, and whether it is an R-2 building where at least half the units are publicly affordable. The Alteration Type picks the minimum filing fee inside that row — $170.00 and $130.00 in a house, $280.00, $225.00 and $195.00 in other buildings under seven stories, and $290.00 with $225.00 or $195.00 at seven stories or more.
Is there a plan review fee or a technology fee?
Not in New York City's permit fee text. Table 28-112.2 charges no plan review percentage, no technology fee and no state or county surcharge, and searches for those phrases across the City's code and rules come back empty. What the table does charge — the minimum filing fee, the per-$1,000 steps and the records management fee — is what this page totals.
What is the records management fee?
1 RCNY §101-03 authorises $45 for one-, two- or three-family dwellings and $165 for all other types of buildings for applications for new buildings and alterations and associated documentation. It is charged once for the application rather than per trade, and this site applies it to the building and plumbing pages — an LAA is an alteration application — but not to the electrical page.
When is the fee paid?
§28-112.2.1, as added by Local Law 128 of 2024: where the work results in a new certificate of occupancy or a change to one, 50 percent of the total fee — but not less than $130, or the whole fee if the fee is under $130 — accompanies the first application for construction documents, and the remainder is paid before the work permit issues. Where the work does not change the certificate of occupancy, 100 percent of the fee is paid at filing.
What does a new building cost if it keeps part of the old one?
Rows 2, 5 and 10 price a new building that retains existing elements on the cost of the work again, because any portion of an existing building kept in place — party walls, foundations, footings, piles and slabs on grade — makes it a cost-priced filing: $130.00 above $5,000 at $2.60 in a house, and $280.00 or $290.00 bases elsewhere. A new building that keeps nothing is the only one priced on floor area.
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 consolidated rule text. §28-112.2.2 of the Administrative Code sends electrical permit fees here, and this section prints them: $40 for the initial application, $0 for the first ten units and $.25 over, service switches at $8 to $375 by ampere band, service entrance cables at $15 to $75, panels at $15 to $75, signs at $40 to $115, elevators at $125 and $83, boiler controls at $12, minor work at $15 — and the records management fee of $45 or $165 for applications for new buildings and alterations. The section's promulgation details, downloaded from nyc.gov, show the electrical and records figures only in the original rule effective 1 July 2008; the section was last amended effective 13 August 2026 for sidewalk-shed provisions, and a pending DOB-219 rulemaking would amend the electrical rows.
- OrdinanceCityPrimary source
Read 2026-09-25 as the City Clerk's PDF: passed 21 November 2024, returned unsigned 23 December 2024, and by §29 effective one year after it became law — the codifier records that as 21 December 2025, so it is in force on this pass's verification date. It rewrote §28-112.2's payment paragraph, added §28-112.2.1 (non-electrical work: 50% and not less than $130 where a certificate of occupancy changes, 100% otherwise) and §28-112.2.2 (electrical work: fees "in accordance with department rules", 50% and not less than $130 at filing), and added row 15.1 to the table. It moved no amount in the table, and it repealed the chapter of Title 27 that carried the electrical fee cap the rule still prints.
- Municipal codeCityPrimary source
Read 2026-09-25 as the codifier's consolidated text of the section and its 39-row table, with the amendment history it prints at the foot: "Am. L.L. 2016/056, 5/10/2016, eff. 6/9/2016; Am. L.L. 2021/126, 11/7/2021, eff. 11/7/2022; Am. L.L. 2023/077, 6/11/2023, eff. 6/11/2023; Am. L.L. 2024/128, 12/21/2024, eff. 12/21/2025". §28-112.2 sends permits for "new buildings, structures, mechanical, and plumbing, and electrical systems or alterations" to this table and to §§28-112.2.1 and 28-112.2.2; the table's alteration rows 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 are where every building and plumbing figure on this site comes from, and row 15.1 sends electrical work to department rules.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.