Houston, TX
Houston building permit cost
Houston charges a building permit fee from the valuation of the work
using nine brackets published in Bldg. Code Sec. 118.2.1. Below $7,000 of valuation the fee is a flat $47.00. Above that, each bracket pairs a Base Charge with a rate per additional $1,000 of valuation, rounded up to the next $1,000.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Structural building permit feePermit fee | $47.00 flat fee | Project valuation up to $7,000 | — |
| Structural building permit feePermit fee | $47.00 + $5.36 per $1,000 of project valuation above $7,000, or fraction thereof | Project valuation over $7,000 and up to $150,000 | — |
| Structural building permit feePermit fee | $815.07 + $5.03 per $1,000 of project valuation above $150,000, or fraction thereof | Project valuation over $150,000 and up to $200,000 | — |
| Structural building permit feePermit fee | $1,066.86 + $4.70 per $1,000 of project valuation above $200,000, or fraction thereof | Project valuation over $200,000 and up to $300,000 | — |
| Structural building permit feePermit fee | $1,536.83 + $4.36 per $1,000 of project valuation above $300,000, or fraction thereof | Project valuation over $300,000 and up to $500,000 | — |
| Structural building permit feePermit fee | $2,409.66 + $4.02 per $1,000 of project valuation above $500,000, or fraction thereof | Project valuation over $500,000 and up to $1,000,000 | — |
| Structural building permit feePermit fee | $4,423.87 + $3.68 per $1,000 of project valuation above $1,000,000, or fraction thereof | Project valuation over $1,000,000 and up to $5,000,000 | — |
| Structural building permit feePermit fee | $19,194.73 + $2.00 per $1,000 of project valuation above $5,000,000, or fraction thereof | Project valuation over $5,000,000 and up to $50,000,000 | — |
| Structural building permit feePermit fee | $109,834.09 + $1.34 per $1,000 of project valuation above $50,000,000, or fraction thereof | Project valuation over $50,000,000 | — |
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 single-family house, permitted on its construction valuation. Which bracket applies depends on that figure, and once it is picked the rate is charged for every whole $1,000 of valuation, including fractions of one.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Project valuation | $400,000 |
Example total
$1,972.83
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 1Rules considered 12
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Structural building permit feePermit feeBldg. Code Sec. 118.2.1 — base charge for the first $300,000 plus $4.36 per additional $1,000 (or fraction) above $300,000, for valuations of $300,001 to $500,000.Show the working
| $1,536.83 + $4.36 per $1,000 of project valuation above $300,000, or fraction thereof, in $1,000 steps | $1,972.83 |
| Total | $1,972.83 |
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.
- Structural building permit fee — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided. (8 rules with the same outcome)
- Minimum permit fee — Rule status is "draft".
- Minimum permit fee (plumbing) — Rule status is "draft".
- Permit or license administrative fee — Rule status is "draft".
Assumptions
- Calculated from 1 fee rule in effect on 2026-09-28.
- Amounts are rounded to the nearest cent, once, at the end of each component.
The valuation is the example's, not the City's — a round figure chosen so the arithmetic can be followed by hand. Enter a different figure and a different bracket row applies. Every rate behind this total was transcribed from the City-Wide Fee Schedule, As Of 01/01/2026.
What is different in Houston
The published bands run from a flat $47.00 up to $7,000 of valuation, then $47.00 plus $5.36 per additional $1,000 up to $150,000, and onward through nine bands ending at $109,834.09 plus $1.34 per additional $1,000 above $50,000,000.
Two details change the answer more than people expect. The rate applies to fractions of $1,000 as if they were whole: a valuation of $150,000.01 pays a full $5.03 increment, not a hundredth of one. And the Base Charge in each bracket is the city's published figure, not a value chained from the bracket below it.
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 structural building permit fee only. It excludes the City Engineer plan review ($134.28 administrative plus $96.67 per plan sheet), the Code Sec. 1-14 administrative fee, re-inspection fees, and fees charged by other City departments such as Flood Plain Management, Engineering Services, the Health Department, and Administration & Regulatory Affairs for commercial permits. Houston's own estimator lists sidewalk and alarm permits as excluded from the building permit fee.
What you need before applying
- Project valuationRequired
The permit fee is driven by valuation, which the City defines as the total cost of construction to the end user, excluding land purchase costs and the overhead attributed to land purchase. The value of donated goods and services is included.
- Property inside the Houston city limitsRequired
The City of Houston issues permits and charges these fees for property inside the city limits. A Houston mailing address does not by itself establish that. Unincorporated Harris County issues its own permits under its own fee order.
Common questions
Is the building permit fee a percentage of construction cost?
Not in Houston. The schedule is written as a Base Charge plus a dollar rate per additional $1,000 of valuation. Because $5.36 per $1,000 is 0.536%, a percentage calculation rounded to two decimal places would not reproduce the city's own figures, so the official unit is used as published.
Does Houston round the valuation up before charging the rate?
Yes. Each bracket charges per additional $1,000 of valuation, or fraction thereof. A valuation $1 above a bracket floor is charged a whole $1,000 increment.
Why does a valuation of $150,000 pay $813.48 when the next bracket starts at a base of $815.07?
Because Houston's published Base Charges do not chain arithmetically. The city adjusts fees periodically and rounds each bracket independently, so the brackets drift apart over time. The published figure for each bracket is what we use, because it is what the permit office charges.
Is the fee the same for a renovation as for new construction?
The structural fee depends on valuation, not on whether the work is new or a remodel. Other permits a renovation may require — electrical, plumbing, mechanical — are priced separately and listed in the schedule under their own code sections.
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- Official calculatorCityPrimary source
Building Permit Fee Estimator (Residential and Commercial)
Used for two published statements only: the city's own definition of 'valuation', and its list of which other departments may charge separate fees. The estimator's own outputs are not used as a source; we calculate from the schedule so the arithmetic is inspectable.
- City websiteCityPrimary source
Authoritative current fee schedule for all City departments. Each row carries a statutory authority (for example 'Bldg. Code Sec. 118.2.1'), the amount or a 'Calculation' note, and an 'As Of' date. The HPW department section was read in a browser; the page renders its tables client-side, so it cannot be fetched as plain HTML.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.