Multnomah County, OR
Multnomah County building permit cost
A building permit for unincorporated Multnomah County is issued by Portland Permitting & Development and priced on the permit valuation by a five-band table starting at a $167.00 minimum and reaching $1,137.78 plus $5.63 per $1,000 above $100,000. Plan review adds 65% of the permit fee and Oregon's 12% state surcharge follows. A $250,000 commercial project comes to $3,508.63 — the same project inside the City of Portland is $4,159.54, and the entire $650.91 difference is a City fee the county does not charge.
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 fee, $1 to $2,000Permit fee | $167.00 + $35.90 per $1,000 of project valuation above $500, or fraction thereof | Project valuation up to $2,000 | — |
| Building permit fee, $2,000 to $25,000Permit fee | $220.85 + $13.91 per $1,000 of project valuation above $2,000, or fraction thereof | Project valuation over $2,000 and up to $25,000 | — |
| Building permit fee, $25,000 to $50,000Permit fee | $540.78 + $10.26 per $1,000 of project valuation above $25,000, or fraction thereof | Project valuation over $25,000 and up to $50,000 | — |
| Building permit fee, $50,000 to $100,000Permit fee | $797.28 + $6.81 per $1,000 of project valuation above $50,000, or fraction thereof | Project valuation over $50,000 and up to $100,000 | — |
| Building permit fee, $100,001 and upPermit fee | $1,137.78 + $5.63 per $1,000 of project valuation above $100,000, or fraction thereof | Project valuation over $100,000 | — |
| Plan review fee, 65% of the permit feePlan review | 65% of calculated permit fee | Every permit of this type | — |
| State of Oregon surcharge, 12% of the permit feeState surcharge | 12% of calculated permit fee | Every permit of this type | — |
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 commercial tenant improvement on unincorporated Multnomah County land with a construction valuation of $250,000, permitted with plans.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Project valuation | $250,000 |
| Building class | commercial |
Example total
$3,508.63
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 3Rules considered 7
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Building permit fee, $100,001 and upPermit fee"Building Permit Fee", band 5 of 5: "Fee for the first $100,000 — $1,137.78, plus $5.63 for each additional $1,000 or fraction thereof". The fee the band below produces at its top is exactly this band's opening figure.Show the working
| $1,137.78 + $5.63 per $1,000 of project valuation above $100,000, or fraction thereof, in $1,000 steps | $1,982.28 |
Plan review fee, 65% of the permit feePlan reviewThe schedules print one line for it: "Plan Review 65% of the permit fee". Read on the `permit_fee` basis, so it is computed from the permit fee this run produced rather than from the valuation. The schedules also print a "For value-added revisions: 65% of the additional building permit fee (based on the additional valuation)", which is the same percentage applied to a change order rather than to the project.Show the working
| 65% of calculated permit fee | $1,288.48 |
State of Oregon surcharge, 12% of the permit feeState surchargeThe Building Codes Division's own backgrounder: "A state surcharge fee of 12% is applied to all building permit types issued in the State of Oregon" and "Surcharge fees are calculated by using the total permit fee: Total permit fee × 0.12 (12%)", for building, mechanical, plumbing (including fixtures), electrical (including services) and structural permits. It implements ORS 455.210(4), which imposes four surcharges on "the total permit fees": 4% for state administrative costs, 2% for state inspection costs, up to 1% for administering and enforcing the state building code, and 4% for the electronic building codes information system. Read on `permit_fee` — the figure the permit fee table produces — and not on plan review, which is itself a percentage of that figure; the alternative reading is stated on the pages with its size.Show the working
| 12% of calculated permit fee | $237.87 |
| Total | $3,508.63 |
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 fee, $1 to $2,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit fee, $2,000 to $25,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit fee, $25,000 to $50,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit fee, $50,000 to $100,000 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
Assumptions
- Calculated from 3 fee rules in effect on 2026-09-28.
- Amounts are rounded to the nearest cent, once, at the end of each component.
The valuation falls in the top band: $1,137.78 for the first $100,000 plus $5.63 for each additional $1,000 or fraction thereof, and 150 further thousands is $844.50, so the permit fee is $1,982.28. Plan review is 65% of that, $1,288.48. The state surcharge is 12% of the permit fee, $237.87. Total: $3,508.63.
The identical project inside the City of Portland is $4,159.54, because the city charges a Development Services Fee on the same valuation — $650.91 under its Commercial table — and the county charges none. Nothing else differs: the building permit fee, the plan review percentage and the surcharge are the same three figures on both pages, which is the point of publishing the two together.
The surcharge is computed on the permit fee and not on the finished total, for the reason the city's page gives: the plan review fee is itself a percentage of the permit fee, so a percentage of the two together would be a percentage of a percentage. On the total it would be $392.49 rather than $237.87. And the demolition fees, the one place the two documents genuinely part company on an amount, are $1,038.00 here against the city's $1,372.00.
What is different in Multnomah County
The building permit fee table is the City of Portland's, because the same department publishes both schedules and the table is identical in the two documents. Five bands on the permit valuation, and every seam closes: $167.00 is the minimum and also the figure for the first $500, $220.85 at $2,000 is exactly what the band above opens with, and so are $540.78 at $25,000, $797.28 at $50,000 and $1,137.78 at $100,000. The first band counts in hundreds — $3.59 for each additional $100, which is $35.90 per $1,000 — and that is what makes it land exactly on the second band's opening figure.
What the county does not have is the City's Development Services Fee, a second table charged on the same valuation under both a Commercial and a Residential version, "applies to all Building Permits, Site Development Permits (except where work involves only clearing) and Zoning Permits". It is not in the county's document at all, which is why the same valuation produces a smaller total here: $650.91 smaller on a $250,000 commercial project.
Plan review is 65% of the permit fee, printed as one line — "Plan Review 65% of the permit fee" — and it reads the permit fee rather than the total, so it is the same $1,288.48 on a $250,000 project here as in the city even though the county charges less overall. A trade plan review is a different percentage in the same jurisdiction: 25% of the electrical or plumbing permit fee.
Then the 12% state surcharge, which is not the county's decision and not the city's either: ORS 455.210(4) imposes four surcharges totalling 12% on the total permit fees — 4% for state administrative costs, 2% for state inspection costs, up to 1% for administering the state building code, and 4% for the electronic building codes information system — and the Building Codes Division states that it "is applied to all building permit types issued in the State of Oregon". On a $250,000 project it is $237.87, charged here on the permit fee the table produces; read on the finished total instead it would be $392.49, which is $154.62 more, and the page states both.
The two rows where the county's document differs from the city's are the demolition fees, and they are worth knowing because they are the only figures in four pages that are not the city's: $1,038.00 to demolish a commercial building with or without a basement and $1,018.00 for a residential one, against $1,372.00 and $1,352.00 inside the city. Everything else — the valuation method mandated by OAR 918-050-0100, the "greater of" tie-break for commercial work, the $167.00 re-inspection, the deferred submittal percentage and the plan review line — is the same 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 estimate is the Building Permit Fee table, plan review at 65% of the permit fee and the 12% state surcharge. It excludes:
- The Development Services Fee, deliberately: unincorporated Multnomah County has none, and the city's pages of this site price it for sites inside the city limits.
- Construction excise taxes: Metro's and the City's Affordable Housing Construction Excise Tax, which are taxes on permit valuation rather than permit fees.
- The Fire and Life Safety Review Fee at 40% of the building permit fee, which is charged by the Fire Marshal.
- Every hourly charge: additional plan review, inspections outside normal business hours, investigation where work began without a permit, and the miscellaneous hourly rates on the schedule's later pages.
- Program fees: the master, facility and field-issuance programme registrations, and the re-roof permit packets, which the city's schedule lists in detail and the county's four pages carry as its own shorter list.
- The deferred submittal fee at 10% of the building permit fee on the deferred portion, with a $570.00 minimum for one- and two-family projects and $912.00 for commercial, halved for submittals exempt under ORS 455.628.
- The $167.00 re-inspection for each inspection beyond a band's allowance, and the demolition rows the county publishes at $1,038.00 and $1,018.00, which this release states rather than models.
- Electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits on the same project, which are separate permits: this site prices the first two on their own pages, and they cost exactly what they cost inside the city.
- What the county's own government charges — land use, road and right-of-way permits, and any system development charge — which are not fees of this schedule.
- The cost of the work itself, and any tax on it.
What you need before applying
- The city's permitting department issues the county's permitsRequired
Portland Permitting & Development — a City bureau — publishes this schedule and issues these permits for unincorporated Multnomah County, and the same department issues the City of Portland's on a separate schedule. The practical consequence is that the two jurisdictions' building permits differ by exactly one table: the county has no Development Services Fee, and its demolition fees are lower by $334.00 commercial and $334.00 residential.
- The valuation is set by a state rule, not by the countyRequired
The permit valuation method is mandated by the State of Oregon in OAR 918-050-0100: a structural permit fee for new construction and additions "shall be calculated using the ICC Building Valuation Data Table current as of April 1 of each year, using the occupancy and construction type as determined by the building official, multiplied by the square footage of the structure", and "the valuation used will be the greater of either the above calculated value or the value as stated by the applicant".
For an alteration or repair the schedule prints its own definition of the basis: the "Fair Market Value... shall be the total value of all construction work for which the permit is issued, as well as all finish work, painting, roofing, electrical, plumbing, heating, air conditioning, elevators, fire extinguishing systems and other permanent work or equipment, and contractor's profit".
- Plan review is 65% of the permit feeRequired
The schedule prints one line for it: "Plan Review 65% of the permit fee", and the fuller wording on the city's own page — "Plan Review/Process Fee — For the original submittal - 65% of the building permit fee, maximum of 2 allowable checksheets" — is the same percentage with its checksheet limit stated. The county charges no Development Services Fee, so a plan review here is 65% of a smaller number than in the city: on a $250,000 project the review is $1,288.48 either way, because the review reads the building permit fee and not the total.
- A 12% state surcharge is added to every permitRequired
The Building Codes Division: "A state surcharge fee of 12% is applied to all building permit types issued in the State of Oregon", covering building, mechanical, plumbing (including fixtures), electrical (including services) and structural permits. It implements ORS 455.210(4) — 4% for state administrative costs, 2% for state inspection costs, up to 1% for administering the state building code and 4% for the electronic building codes information system — and it is the same in the county as in the city, because it is the state's. The pages charge it on the permit fee rather than on the finished total and state the other reading's size.
Common questions
Who issues a building permit in unincorporated Multnomah County?
Portland Permitting & Development — the City of Portland's permitting department. It publishes a separate fee schedule under the county's name for building, electrical and plumbing permits in unincorporated Multnomah County, and that schedule is the same building permit fee table as the City's, with the same $167.00 minimum and the same bands up to $1,137.78 plus $5.63 per $1,000.
Why is a Multnomah County permit cheaper than a Portland one?
Because the City charges a second table on the same valuation that the county's schedule does not contain: the Development Services Fee, in Commercial and Residential versions, charged "on all Building Permits, Site Development Permits (except where work involves only clearing) and Zoning Permits". On a $250,000 commercial project it is $650.91, which is exactly the difference between the county's $3,508.63 and the city's $4,159.54.
How much is a building permit on a $250,000 commercial project?
$3,508.63. The permit fee is $1,982.28 — $1,137.78 for the first $100,000 plus $5.63 for each additional $1,000 — plan review is 65% of that, $1,288.48, and the state surcharge is 12% of the permit fee, $237.87. The same project inside the city limits is $4,159.54 because of the city's Development Services Fee.
What are the demolition fees?
$1,038.00 for a commercial demolition with or without a basement and $1,018.00 for a residential one, for plan review, processing and inspections. The city's schedule charges $1,372.00 and $1,352.00 for the same two rows, so this is one of the few amounts in the county's four pages that is not identical to the city's. Sewer cap, erosion control and site review fees are added separately.
Is plan review included?
No: it is 65% of the permit fee — "Plan Review 65% of the permit fee" — which on a $250,000 project is $1,288.48. The county has no additional fee table, so the review here is 65% of the same permit fee the city charges, and it comes to the same figure on both pages.
Does the 12% state surcharge apply in the county?
Yes, and it is identical to the city's because it is the state's: "A state surcharge fee of 12% is applied to all building permit types issued in the State of Oregon", raised by ORS 455.210(4) as four surcharges — 4% for state administrative costs, 2% for state inspection costs, up to 1% for administering the state building code and 4% for the electronic building codes information system. On a $250,000 project it is $237.87.
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- Fee schedule (PDF)CountyPrimary source
Building and Other Permits Fee Schedule, Unincorporated Multnomah County, effective July 10, 2026
Four pages, sha256 beginning 4211463f0eac9f3e, read 2026-09-24 in three pdftotext modes. Its Building Permit Fee table is identical to the City of Portland's, row for row and figure for figure, which was established by comparing the two documents' full text rather than by reading both. Its two proprietary rows are the demolition fees: $1,038.00 for a commercial demolition with or without a basement and $1,018.00 for a residential one, against the City's $1,372.00 and $1,352.00. It contains no Development Services Fee at all, which is the whole of the difference in ordinary work.
- State agencyState
OAR 918-050-0100 — Statewide Fee Methodologies for Residential and Commercial Permits
Read 2026-09-24 from the Secretary of State's current-rules database, and the reason two rows of the county's schedule read the way they do: a structural permit fee for new construction is calculated from the ICC Building Valuation Data Table current as of April 1 multiplied by the square footage, a commercial one takes "the greater of" that figure or the applicant's stated value, a residential plumbing permit is "based on the number of bathrooms, from one to three, on a graduated scale" with no additional fee for the first 100 feet of water and sewer lines, and a plan review fee "shall be based on a predetermined percentage of the permit fee set by the municipality".
- State agencyStatePrimary source
State of Oregon Permit Surcharge Fee — BCD backgrounder
The same 12% the city's pages carry, because it is the state's and not either jurisdiction's: "A state surcharge fee of 12% is applied to all building permit types issued in the State of Oregon", applied as "Total permit fee × 0.12", and it implements the four surcharges of ORS 455.210(4) — 4% for state administrative costs, 2% for state inspection costs, up to 1% for administering the state building code and 4% for the electronic building codes information system. It covers building, mechanical, plumbing including fixtures, electrical including services and structural permits, so it is on all three permits this page prices.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.