Fargo, ND
Fargo plumbing permit cost
A Fargo plumbing permit is a price list, not a valuation:
the inside-permit is $50.00 including up to five fixtures or traps with $10.00 each after, the four sewer-line rows run $125.00 for the original line into the building, $70.00 to disconnect, $30.00 for an additional line and $75.00 for a repair, water heating is $35.00 and a lawn sprinkler system $40.00. No row on the schedule reads a cost, and the schedule doubles every fee for work commenced without a 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plumbing permit — inside plumbing, $50.00 including 5 fixtures, $10.00 each afterPermit fee | $50.00 for the first 5 fixtures, plus $10.00 for each additional fixture | inside plumbing is true | — |
| Plumbing permit — lawn sprinkler system ($40.00)Permit fee | $40.00 flat fee | lawn sprinkler is true | — |
| Plumbing permit — additional sanitary or storm sewer line into each building or to a manhole or catch basin ($30.00)Permit fee | $30.00 flat fee | sewer additional is true | — |
| Plumbing permit — disconnect sanitary or storm sewer line ($70.00)Permit fee | $70.00 flat fee | sewer disconnect is true | — |
| Plumbing permit — original sanitary or storm sewer line into each building ($125.00)Permit fee | $125.00 flat fee | sewer original is true | — |
| Plumbing permit — repair or replacement of sanitary or storm sewer ($75.00)Permit fee | $75.00 flat fee | sewer repair is true | — |
| Plumbing permit — water heating permits ($35.00)Permit fee | $35.00 flat fee | water heating is true | — |
| Plumbing permit — work commenced without a permit, permit fee doubledSurcharge | 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 house plumbing rough-in: the inside-permit with eight fixtures or traps, plus the original sewer line into the building.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Fixtures | 8 |
| Sewer original | Yes |
| Inside plumbing | Yes |
Example total
$205.00
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 8
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Plumbing permit — inside plumbing, $50.00 including 5 fixtures, $10.00 each afterPermit feePlumbing schedule (Effective January 1, 2025): "Inside Plumbing Permits — Minimum Fee $50.00 (includes up to 5 fixtures or traps) (each fixture or trap over 5 is $10.00 each)". The $50 is a base that already carries the first five fixtures — so five fixtures cost $50.00, six cost $60.00, and the schedule's own word for the five is "includes", which is the allowance, not a waiver after the fact.Show the working
| $50.00 for the first 5 fixtures, plus $10.00 for each additional fixture | $80.00 |
Plumbing permit — original sanitary or storm sewer line into each building ($125.00)Permit feePlumbing schedule (Effective January 1, 2025): "Original Sanitary or Storm Sewer Line into each building — $125.00". An itemized price from a schedule that prices lines rather than valuations: the row answers its own fact, and the total is the sum of the rows the job triggers ("the Total Permit Fee is the sum of all applicable fees" is this page's shape in spirit — Fargo's schedule simply lists them).Show the working
| $125.00 flat fee | $125.00 |
| Total | $205.00 |
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 — lawn sprinkler system ($40.00) — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plumbing permit — additional sanitary or storm sewer line into each building or to a manhole or catch basin ($30.00) — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plumbing permit — disconnect sanitary or storm sewer line ($70.00) — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plumbing permit — repair or replacement of sanitary or storm sewer ($75.00) — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plumbing permit — water heating permits ($35.00) — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plumbing permit — work commenced without a permit, permit fee doubled — 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 inside-permit is a base with an allowance: "$50.00 (includes up to 5 fixtures or traps) (each fixture or trap over 5 is $10.00 each)".
Eight fixtures are three over the allowance: 3 × $10.00 = $30.00, and $50.00 + $30.00 = $80.00.
The original sanitary or storm sewer line into the building is its own row at $125.00.
Total: $80.00 + $125.00 = $205.00. What moves it: five fixtures or fewer pay the $50.00 base alone; a disconnect is $70.00, an additional line $30.00 and a repair $75.00 as their own rows; water heating adds $35.00 and a lawn sprinkler system $40.00; and the schedule doubles every permit fee for work commenced without a permit — the same job unpermitted would carry a $205.00 surcharge beside these fees, with the 48-hour emergency window quoted rather than charged.
What is different in Fargo
The schedule prices lines, not valuations — each row answers the thing being done, and the inside-permit states its allowance in the base itself: "Minimum Fee $50.00 (includes up to 5 fixtures or traps) (each fixture or trap over 5 is $10.00 each)". Five fixtures are therefore $50.00, six are $60.00, and eight are $80.00 — the five are inside the base, not discounted after it.
The sewer rows are separate permits on separate facts: an original sanitary or storm sewer line into each building is $125.00, a disconnect is $70.00, an additional line into each building or to a manhole or catch basin is $30.00, and a repair or replacement is $75.00 — added beside the inside-permit as separate rows, never merged into it.
The foot of the schedule carries its own penalty and its own deadline: "Double fees for all work commenced without a permit. In case of an emergency, a permit must be taken out within 48 hours after commencement of work." The doubling is charged as a share of the plumbing permit fee this page computed; the 48-hour window is a deadline rather than a charge and is quoted here. The page beside the schedule also keeps the trades apart — "Any building, electrical or mechanical work requires permits separate from plumbing permits" — and lists the inspections the work needs: underground tested before cover, final after fixtures are set.
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 permit fee as the schedule prints it. It excludes:
- The hourly other-inspection items. The same $75.00-per-hour list the building sheets print, with its minimums — hours this calculator does not collect.
- Water Permit to Connect and Tapping Fees. A separate utility connection schedule linked from the plumbing page; tap charges are utility charges rather than permit fees.
- Building, electrical and mechanical permits. The plumbing page's own sentence: "Any building, electrical or mechanical work requires permits separate from plumbing permits." Each has its own page here.
- Any valuation-based charge. No row on this schedule reads a cost, so a plumbing total here never changes because the job got more expensive.
- The repeat-offence increments. The schedule doubles fees for work commenced without a permit — a straight doubling — and carries no second-offence ladder of its own; the building sheets' violation-history lines belong to their tables, not this one.
- License fees and returned-check charges. Not permitting, and not charged.
What you need before applying
- A licensed contractor for the street-to-building sewer and water, under the ND State Plumbing CodeRequired
The plumbing page's checklist: the work follows the ND State Plumbing Code, a licensed contractor is required for the street-to-building sewer and water runs, all underground work is inspected and tested before it is covered, and a final inspection follows once fixtures are set. The page's closing sentence keeps the permits apart — "Any building, electrical or mechanical work requires permits separate from plumbing permits" — so a plumbing permit on this site never stands in for the building permit beside it.
- Underground inspected and tested before cover, final after fixtures are setRequired
Two inspections the plumbing page requires: the underground work is inspected and tested before it is covered, and a final inspection comes after fixtures are set. The schedule prices neither inspection — its hourly "other inspection" items ($75.00 per hour with their minimums) are named on the page rather than charged, because this calculator does not collect hours.
Common questions
How much is a plumbing permit in Fargo?
It is a price list: $50.00 for the inside-permit including up to five fixtures or traps with $10.00 each after; $125.00 for the original sewer line into the building; $70.00 to disconnect one; $30.00 for an additional line into a building or to a manhole or catch basin; $75.00 for a repair or replacement; $35.00 for water heating; and $40.00 for a lawn sprinkler system. The rows the job triggers are added together.
How are fixtures charged?
As an allowance inside the base, in the schedule's own words: "Minimum Fee $50.00 (includes up to 5 fixtures or traps) (each fixture or trap over 5 is $10.00 each)". Five fixtures are $50.00, six are $60.00, eight are $80.00 — the first five are part of the minimum, not subtracted from it afterwards.
Does the value of the plumbing work change the fee?
No. Every row on the schedule is a count or an action — fixtures over an allowance, sewer lines by what is being done, sprinklers and water heating flat — and no plumbing rule reads a cost, so a plumbing total never changes because the job got more expensive. The separate-permits sentence on the plumbing page keeps this permit in its own lane beside the building and electrical permits.
What happens if work started without a permit?
The schedule's foot: "Double fees for all work commenced without a permit. In case of an emergency, a permit must be taken out within 48 hours after commencement of work." The doubling is charged as 100% of the plumbing permit fee — the Las Cruces pattern of doubling the fee rather than replacing it. The 48-hour window is a deadline for emergency work, quoted on the page rather than priced.
Are the sewer line permits separate from the inside permit?
Yes — they are separate rows on separate facts. The original line into each building is $125.00, a disconnect is $70.00, an additional line into a building or to a manhole or catch basin is $30.00, and a repair or replacement is $75.00. A job that both runs fixtures and touches the sewer line carries the inside-permit and the sewer row together, because the schedule's total is the sum of all applicable fees.
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- City websiteCity
City of Fargo — Plumbing permits
Read 2026-09-25, undated. The process page behind the plumbing schedule: the ND State Plumbing Code, a licensed contractor for the street-to-building sewer and water, all underground work inspected and tested before cover, a final inspection after fixtures are set — and the sentence that keeps the trades apart, "Any building, electrical or mechanical work requires permits separate from plumbing permits."
- Fee schedule (PDF)CityPrimary source
City of Fargo — Schedule for Plumbing & Sanitary or Storm Sewer Permits
Read 2026-09-25 as the Department's own two-page PDF, printed "Effective January 1, 2025". Transcribed in full: Water Heating Permits $35.00; Inside Plumbing Permits "Minimum Fee $50.00 (includes up to 5 fixtures or traps) (each fixture or trap over 5 is $10.00 each)"; the four sewer rows ($125.00 original, $70.00 disconnect, $30.00 additional line, $75.00 repair); Lawn Sprinkler System $40.00; the hourly other-inspection list; and the closing pair — "Permit fees will be charged for all government projects" and "Double fees for all work commenced without a permit. In case of an emergency, a permit must be taken out within 48 hours after commencement of work."
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.