Tulsa, OK
Tulsa building permit cost
A Tulsa building permit is § 302's four valuation bands, plus Chapter 1's stack.
Up to $5,000 the fee is $137.00; from $5,000.01 to $40,000 it is $219.00; from $40,000.01 to $150,000 it is $6.18 for each $1,000 of valuation rounded to the closest thousand; above $150,000 it is $927.00 plus $3.09 for each $1,000 above $150,000, again to the closest thousand. Then every permit adds the stack: $4.00 to the state's Uniform Building Code Commission, $0.50 retained by the City, $5.50 plus 8% of the permit fee, $5.00 processing — and an $80 floor under the whole bill. The application fee (§ 301) is paid first and credited against 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building permit, valuation up to $5,000 — $137.00Permit fee | $137.00 flat fee | Work type is one of new construction, addition, alteration, remodel, repair, replacement and not (storm shelter indoor is true or storm shelter outdoor is true) and not (carport is true) and Project valuation up to $5,000 | — |
| Building permit, valuation $5,000.01–$40,000 — $219.00Permit fee | $219.00 flat fee | Work type is one of new construction, addition, alteration, remodel, repair, replacement and not (storm shelter indoor is true or storm shelter outdoor is true) and not (carport is true) and Project valuation over $5,000 and up to $40,000 | — |
| Building permit, valuation $40,000.01–$150,000 — $6.18 per closest $1,000Permit fee | $6.18 per $1,000 of project valuation, calculated to the closest $1,000 | Work type is one of new construction, addition, alteration, remodel, repair, replacement and not (storm shelter indoor is true or storm shelter outdoor is true) and not (carport is true) and Project valuation over $40,000 and up to $150,000 | — |
| Building permit, valuation over $150,000 — $927.00 plus $3.09 per closest $1,000 above $150,000Permit fee | $927.00 + $3.09 per $1,000 of project valuation above $150,000, calculated to the closest $1,000 | Work type is one of new construction, addition, alteration, remodel, repair, replacement and not (storm shelter indoor is true or storm shelter outdoor is true) and not (carport is true) and Project valuation over $150,000 | — |
| Carport permit — $98.00Permit fee | $98.00 flat fee | carport is true and not (storm shelter indoor is true or storm shelter outdoor is true) | — |
| Storm shelter permit, indoor — $88.00Permit fee | $88.00 flat fee | storm shelter indoor is true | — |
| Storm shelter permit, outdoor — $132.00Permit fee | $132.00 flat fee | storm shelter outdoor is true | — |
| Demolition permit — $133.00Permit fee | $133.00 flat fee | Work type is demolition | — |
| State building permit fee (OUBCC) — $4.00 per permitState surcharge | $4.00 flat fee | Every permit of this type | — |
| Administrative fee retained by the City — $0.50 per permitOther fee | $0.50 flat fee | Every permit of this type | — |
| Permit processing surcharge — $5.00 per permitOther fee | $5.00 flat fee | not (storm shelter indoor is true or storm shelter outdoor is true) | — |
| Administrative fee — $5.50 plus 8% of the permit feeSurcharge | 8% of fees charged + $5.50 | not (storm shelter indoor is true or storm shelter outdoor is true) | — |
| Minimum fee — $80.00 on any permitOther fee | the shortfall up to the $80.00 minimum on fees charged | not (storm shelter indoor is true or storm shelter outdoor 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 building with a declared valuation of $250,000 — no expediting, no shelter, no application-fee credit yet applied.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Project valuation | $250,000 |
| Occupancy class | Commercial |
| Type of work | New construction |
Example total
$1,349.88
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 6Rules considered 13
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Building permit, valuation over $150,000 — $927.00 plus $3.09 per closest $1,000 above $150,000Permit fee"The additional fee shall be $3.09 per thousand of the estimated valuation above $150,000.00" (§ 302, fourth band), still "to the closest One Thousand Dollars". The reading charged here: subsection B is explicitly capped at $150,000, so the base this is additional to is B's own computation at its ceiling — $6.18 × 150 = $927.00 — plus $3.09 per closest thousand of the excess. The seam is continuous: exactly $150,000 pays $927.00 from the band above, one dollar more pays $927.00 and nothing else. The alternative reading — B's rate continuing on the full valuation with the excess layer stacked on it, a $9.27 marginal rate above the seam — requires applying B outside the scope its own cap states, and is recorded as the alternative with a needs_review verification. The drafter's pattern supports the charged reading: where § 301 means a replacement formula it prints one, and a schedule that prints fixed sums when it means fixed sums would have printed "$927.00 plus …" if that base were meant to be literal.Show the working
| $927.00 + $3.09 per $1,000 of project valuation above $150,000, calculated to the closest $1,000 | $1,236.00 |
Administrative fee — $5.50 plus 8% of the permit feeSurcharge"Five and 50/100 Dollars ($5.50) plus eight percent (8%) of the … permit fee", "in addition to any … fee, or minimum fee" (§ 117). One rule carrying both pieces: the $5.50 base and the 8% of the chapter's permit fee, evaluated directly after the base rows so the percentage reads the trade schedule's figure and nothing else — the state and maintenance lines have not charged yet when it runs.Show the working
| 8% of fees charged + $5.50 | $104.38 |
State building permit fee (OUBCC) — $4.00 per permitState surcharge"Administrative Collection Fee under the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission ... Building/construction permits (collected under 59 O.S. § 1000.25): Four and 00/100 Dollars ($4.00)" (§ 100.A) — collected and remitted monthly to the State. The one section a storm-shelter permit keeps, by § 306's own exception.Show the working
| $4.00 flat fee | $4.00 |
Administrative fee retained by the City — $0.50 per permitOther fee"Administrative fee retained by the City under 59 O.S. § 1000.25 ... $0.50" (§ 100.D) — the City's half of the same statute, alongside the State's $4.00 above.Show the working
| $0.50 flat fee | $0.50 |
Permit processing surcharge — $5.00 per permitOther fee"A surcharge of Five Dollars ($5.00) shall be imposed on each permit … processed" (§ 103) — charged after the state lines, before the floor reads the bill.Show the working
| $5.00 flat fee | $5.00 |
Minimum fee — $80.00 on any permitOther fee"A minimum fee of Eighty Dollars ($80.00) shall apply to any permit" (§ 107) — a floor on the whole bill rather than on any row, charged as the shortfall after every other line: a $35 water-heater permit computes $52.80 with the stack and pays $80.00. Priority 200 inside the other component, so nothing charges after it; § 306 stands it down for storm shelters, whose only exception is Section 100.Show the working
| $80.00 minimum on fees charged, less the $1,349.88 calculated | $0.00 |
| Total | $1,349.88 |
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, valuation up to $5,000 — $137.00 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit, valuation $5,000.01–$40,000 — $219.00 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit, valuation $40,000.01–$150,000 — $6.18 per closest $1,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Carport permit — $98.00 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Storm shelter permit, indoor — $88.00 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Storm shelter permit, outdoor — $132.00 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Demolition permit — $133.00 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
Assumptions
- Calculated from 6 fee rules in effect on 2026-09-28.
- Amounts are rounded to the nearest cent, once, at the end of each component.
The fourth band and the whole stack — $1,349.88.
§ 302's band: $250,000 is over $150,000, so the rule is B's ceiling plus the additional fee. The excess is $100,000; "to the closest One Thousand Dollars" makes it 100 steps of $3.09 — $309.00 — and the ceiling is $6.18 × 150 = $927.00. Permit fee: $1,236.00. (At exactly $150,000 the band above pays $6.18 × 150 = $927.00 — the same figure, which is the seam working.)
§ 117: $5.50 plus 8% of the permit fee — 8% of $1,236.00 is $98.88, so $104.38. The percentage reads the chapter's fee and nothing else: the state and maintenance lines have not been added yet when it runs, and the schedule's own words — "in addition to any … minimum fee" — keep it outside the floor's arithmetic.
§ 100: $4.00 to the state plus $0.50 retained by the City. § 103: $5.00 processing.
§ 107's floor: the bill so far is $1,236.00 + $104.38 + $4.50 + $5.00 = $1,349.88, far above $80.00, so the shortfall is nothing.
Total: $1,349.88. What moves it: the same job at $150,000 pays $927.00 + $74.16 + $9.50 = $1,010.66; at $40,000 it pays the $219.00 band with 8% still on top; at $40,499 the closest-thousand rounding keeps it at forty steps ($247.20) rather than forty-one; a $500 repair pays the $137.00 band floored at $80 — irrelevant, the band is already above it; and a $35 job of any other kind on the plumbing page is the one that lands on the floor.
What is different in Tulsa
The rounding is the reading people miss: every rate band is "calculated in One Thousand Dollar increments to the closest One Thousand Dollars", so $40,499 buys forty steps of $6.18 — $247.20 — not forty-one, and ties round half up. This is a real nearest rounding, not the "or fraction thereof" round-up every other schedule in this dataset prints, and Google's index of the City's own 2021 Title 49 PDF shows the same wording five years before the FY2027 adjustment.
The over-$150,000 band states only an *additional* fee, and § 302.B caps itself at $150,000 — so the base that addition must come off is B's own ceiling, $6.18 × 150 = $927.00. The seam is continuous: exactly $150,000 pays $927.00, one dollar more pays $927.00 and nothing else. The alternative reading (B's rate on the full valuation plus the excess layer, a $9.27 marginal rate above the seam) is published on this site under a needs_review note, because the City publishes no worked example that settles it.
Two exclusivity instructions are wired rather than described. § 301's application fee is credited — § 302 exceeds it at every valuation, so it never changes the total, and this site names it instead of summing it. And a storm-shelter permit is "a flat fee with no other administrative, zoning, or watershed fees applicable with the exception of Section 100": $88 indoor or $132 outdoor plus the state's $4.50, with the bands, the 8%, the $5 processing line and the $80 floor all standing down.
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 Tulsa's building permit fee — the § 302 band that answers the valuation, the Chapter 1 stack on top of it, and the flat rows the job's facts select. It excludes:
- § 301's application fee as an addition. It is paid first and credited against the permit fee; because § 302 exceeds it at every valuation, it never changes the total this page shows.
- Certificates and clearances. § 303's certificate-of-occupancy and zoning-clearance fees are separate certificates, not lines of a building permit — and § 306's carve-out says so outright for shelters.
- The fire regime, signs, tents and assembly. § 307–§ 313's sprinkler-head and alarm-device tables, § 315's tents, § 316's special assembly and § 317's sign table price their own permits.
- Expediting and event rows. § 305's $121/$500/$500 expedites, § 105's unpermitted-work penalty ($214 or 3× the fee, whichever is greater), resubmission, reinspection, recall and appeal fees attach to events.
- Building moves and registration. §§ 319–323 price house moves on their own tables; § 327's $178 is registration.
- The application-fee timing this page cannot show. The credit exists in dollars — this total is what remains after it, which at every valuation is the same figure as before.
What you need before applying
- The application fee is paid first and credited against the permit feeRequired
§ 301 prices the application by declared valuation ($66 up to $15,000, $101.50 to $100,000, $1.00 per $1,000 above), and § 302.A then says the permit fee "shall be decreased by the amount of any previously paid building permit application fee". Because § 302's figure exceeds § 301's at every valuation (checked band by band: $137 > $66, $219 > $101.50, $6.18/k > $1.00/k), the credit never changes the total — a prepayment, Pittsburgh's precedent, named on the page and summed nowhere. § 118's own words agree: application fee first, "upon approval … advised of what remaining fees are due".
- Every rate band rounds to the closest thousand dollarsRequired
"All fees calculated in One Thousand Dollar ($1,000.00) increments to the closest One Thousand Dollars" (§ 302) — the schedule's own rounding, and the reason this jurisdiction's rules carry `incrementRounding: "nearest"` rather than the round-up every other schedule in the dataset prints. $40,499 buys forty steps of $6.18, not forty-one; ties round half up. Google's index of the City's own 2021 Title 49 PDF shows the same phrase five years before the FY2027 adjustment, so it is not a 2026 typo.
- A storm-shelter permit is a flat fee plus Section 100, and nothing elseRequired
§ 306's own words: "Storm shelter permit fee shall be a flat fee with no other administrative, zoning, or watershed fees applicable with the exception of Section 100". So the shelter flat ($88 indoor, $132 outdoor) charges with the state's $4.50 — and the § 302 bands, § 117's 8%, § 103's $5.00 and the $80 floor all stand down while custom.storm_shelter_indoor or _outdoor is set.
- Chapter 1 stacks on top of every permit in the titleRequired
§ 102: the chapter's fees "are applied to each permit, license, certificate, and registration governed by this Title 49, unless specifically provided otherwise in any individual chapters", and Chapters 3, 4 and 8 each repeat the instruction. The five lines: $4.00 to the OUBCC and $0.50 retained by the City (both § 100), $5.50 plus 8% of the permit fee (§ 117, "in addition to any … minimum fee"), $5.00 processing (§ 103), and the $80 floor (§ 107, "shall apply to any permit"). § 116 waives fees for governmental entities on written request — a waiver with its own process, named rather than modelled.
Common questions
How much is a building permit in Tulsa?
Four bands on the estimated valuation: $137.00 up to $5,000; $219.00 from $5,000.01 to $40,000; $6.18 per $1,000 from $40,000.01 to $150,000 (rounded to the closest $1,000); and $927.00 plus $3.09 per $1,000 above $150,000 (also to the closest $1,000). Then the Chapter 1 stack: $4.00 state, $0.50 City, $5.50 + 8% of the permit fee, $5.00 processing, with an $80 minimum on the whole bill.
How does the "closest thousand" rounding work?
§ 302 says every rate band is "calculated in One Thousand Dollar increments to the closest One Thousand Dollars" — round to the nearest $1,000, ties up. $40,499 rounds to $40,000, so the fee is 40 × $6.18 = $247.20, not 41 × $6.18 = $253.38. It is the opposite of the "or fraction thereof" round-up most schedules print.
Why does the fee become $927 plus a rate above $150,000?
Because § 302.B stops at $150,000 — "Over $40,000.00 to $150,000.00" — and the fourth band states only an *additional* $3.09 per thousand of "the estimated valuation above $150,000.00". The base that addition comes off is therefore B's own ceiling: $6.18 × 150 = $927.00. Exactly $150,000 pays $927.00 from the third band; one dollar more pays $927.00 from the fourth. The alternative reading (a $9.27 marginal rate above the seam) is recorded as an open question on this site, because the City publishes no example that settles it.
Is the application fee extra?
No — it is a prepayment. § 301 prices the application ($66 up to $15,000, $101.50 to $100,000, $1.00 per $1,000 above), and § 302.A then says the permit fee "shall be decreased by the amount of any previously paid building permit application fee". § 302's figure exceeds § 301's at every valuation, so the credit never changes the total you owe.
What is the Chapter 1 stack?
Five lines every Tulsa permit carries, from Title 49 Chapter 1: $4.00 collected for the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission (§ 100.A), $0.50 retained by the City (§ 100.D), $5.50 plus 8% of the permit fee (§ 117), $5.00 permit processing (§ 103), and an $80 minimum on the whole bill (§ 107). A storm-shelter permit stands down everything but Section 100, by § 306's own words.
What does a demolition permit cost?
$133.00 flat (§ 314) — priced as its own row rather than as a valuation band, so a demolition does not read a declared cost. The Chapter 1 stack still applies on top, and the sewer plug permit the same section mentions is Chapter 13's.
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- Municipal codeCityPrimary source
Tulsa Revised Ordinances, Title 49, Chapter 1 — General Administrative Fees
Read 2026-09-26 through the codifier (an SPA; the City's own link to Title 49, nodeId=CD_ORD_TIT49ADPELIFE, 404s — the live ids are the COOR_TIT49… ones, recorded so the next pass does not spend the hour this one did). § 102 applies the chapter's fees to every permit in the title unless a chapter says otherwise, and each trade chapter repeats the instruction. § 100's two state lines ($4.00 to the OUBCC, $0.50 retained by the City), § 103's $5.00 processing surcharge, § 107's global $80 floor and § 117's "$5.50 plus eight percent of the … permit fee" were read in full, along with the event rows named on the pages: § 105's penalty for work started without a permit, § 106 resubmission, § 108 additional inspection (amended by Ord. 25794), § 109 reinspection, § 110 recall, § 111 records, § 114 appeal and § 116's governmental waiver.
- Municipal codeCityPrimary source
Tulsa Revised Ordinances, Title 49, Chapter 3 — Building Permit Fees
Read 2026-09-26 through the codifier, with §§ 301–302 double-checked word for word against the City Clerk's packet for Ordinance 25794 (adopted 5-13-26 with an emergency clause). § 302's four bands and its "calculated in One Thousand Dollar increments to the closest One Thousand Dollars" rounding; § 301's credited application fee; § 304's carport flat; § 306's storm-shelter carve-out with its own exclusivity sentence; § 314's demolition flat. The recorded-not-charged rows: § 303's certificate-of-occupancy and zoning-clearance table, § 305's expediting trio (the $121 professional-home-builder row from Ord. 25572), §§ 307–313's fire regime, § 315 tents, § 316 special assembly, § 317's sign table, § 318 temporary residential use, §§ 319–323 building moves, § 327 registration.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.