Green Bay, WI
Green Bay mechanical (HVAC) permit cost
A Green Bay mechanical permit is priced on the area the HVAC system serves, at a rate the property class sets:
$0.05 per square foot in a one- or two-family dwelling, $0.09 in multi-family, and for commercial work $0.05 for ductless unit-heater systems against $0.09 for ducted or hydronic ones — the §8-478 row the schedule splits by what the system is. Beside the area rate sit two flat rows: heating unit replacement at $75.00 or $100.00, and air conditioning additions at $75.00 or $100.00 per unit.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical permit — air conditioning addition/replacement, commercial, $100.00 per unitPermit fee | $100.00 per air conditioning unit | ac units is provided and property class is commercial | — |
| Mechanical permit — commercial HVAC, ducted or hydronic, $0.09 per square footPermit fee | $0.09 per sq ft | property class is commercial and hvac system is ducted | — |
| Mechanical permit — commercial HVAC, ductless unit-heater systems, $0.05 per square footPermit fee | $0.05 per sq ft | property class is commercial and hvac system is ductless | — |
| Mechanical permit — heating unit replacement, commercial, $100.00Permit fee | $100.00 flat fee | property class is commercial and heating units at least 1 | — |
| Mechanical permit — air conditioning addition/replacement, multi-family, $100.00 per unitPermit fee | $100.00 per air conditioning unit | ac units is provided and property class is multi family | — |
| Mechanical permit — heating unit replacement, multi-family, $100.00Permit fee | $100.00 flat fee | property class is multi family and heating units at least 1 | — |
| Mechanical permit — general HVAC system, multi-family, $0.09 per square footPermit fee | $0.09 per sq ft | property class is multi family | — |
| Mechanical permit — air conditioning addition, one- and two-family, $75.00 per unitPermit fee | $75.00 per air conditioning unit | ac units is provided and not (property class is provided and not (property class is one two family)) | — |
| Mechanical permit — heating unit replacement, one- and two-family, $75.00Permit fee | $75.00 flat fee | not (property class is provided and not (property class is one two family)) and heating units at least 1 | — |
| Mechanical permit — general HVAC system, one- and two-family, $0.05 per square footPermit fee | $0.05 per sq ft | not (property class is provided and not (property class is one two family)) | — |
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 1,500-square-foot single-family house with a forced-air furnace and one condensing unit — the general HVAC system row plus a single air conditioning addition, charged on one mechanical permit.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Project area | 1,500 sq ft |
| Number of air conditioning units | 1 |
| Property class | one_two_family |
Example total
$150.00
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 10
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Mechanical permit — air conditioning addition, one- and two-family, $75.00 per unitPermit feeThe schedule's "One- and two-family residential mechanical (HVAC) permits — Air conditioning addition (per unit) $75.00". The mechanical and electrical sections price an A/C addition identically, because the same job pulls both permits.Show the working
| $75.00 per air conditioning unit | $75.00 |
Mechanical permit — general HVAC system, one- and two-family, $0.05 per square footPermit feeThe schedule's "One- and two-family residential mechanical (HVAC) permits — General HVAC system (per sq. foot) $0.05", the same rate the residential electrical section prints: the wiring and the ductwork of an ordinary house price alike.Show the working
| $0.05 per sq ft | $75.00 |
| Total | $150.00 |
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.
- Mechanical permit — air conditioning addition/replacement, commercial, $100.00 per unit — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Mechanical permit — commercial HVAC, ducted or hydronic, $0.09 per square foot — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Mechanical permit — commercial HVAC, ductless unit-heater systems, $0.05 per square foot — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Mechanical permit — heating unit replacement, commercial, $100.00 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Mechanical permit — air conditioning addition/replacement, multi-family, $100.00 per unit — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Mechanical permit — heating unit replacement, multi-family, $100.00 — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Mechanical permit — general HVAC system, multi-family, $0.09 per square foot — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Mechanical permit — heating unit replacement, one- and two-family, $75.00 — 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.
Two rows charge: the general HVAC system at $0.05 per square foot — 1,500 × $0.05 is $75.00 — and the air conditioning addition at $75.00 per unit. The permit is $150.00.
The same 1,500 square feet priced as multi-family is $135.00 at $0.09, with its air conditioning unit at $100.00: $235.00 in all. Commercial work splits by system instead of by class — a ducted or hydronic system is $135.00 on the same area and a ductless unit-heater system $75.00, with the air conditioning unit at $100.00 either way.
A furnace replacement is not the area row. 'Heating unit replacement' is a flat $75.00 in a house and $100.00 above it, which is the row a homeowner replacing a furnace actually pays; the area rate belongs to a system being installed, not swapped. Enter a different square footage and the rate follows it exactly, because no mechanical row prints a minimum, a rounding rule or a band.
What is different in Green Bay
Ductwork prices like the wiring that runs beside it: 1,500 square feet of house is $75.00 at $0.05 — the exact figure the electrical section charges for the same area — and the same 1,500 square feet in a multi-family building is $135.00 at $0.09. The class is the property class the City's own application forms ask for, the same three boxes the building and electrical sections price against.
Commercial work is the one place the schedule splits an area rate by the kind of system rather than the kind of building: 'General HVAC: ductless unit-heater systems only (per sq. foot) $0.05' against ducted or hydronic at $0.09. That wording is the only definition the City publishes, so the calculator asks which system is being installed instead of guessing at it. Heating unit replacement is a flat row — $75.00 in a house, $100.00 in multi-family and commercial — and an air conditioning addition is '$75.00 per unit', a price per machine: a 3-ton and a 5-ton replacement are one unit each. Both rows appear in the electrical section at the same prices, because one job usually pulls both permits.
The licence behind the permit changed. The City's commercial page records that the municipal HVAC licence requirement 'is no longer in effect', leaving the State of Wisconsin licence only — the one trade Green Bay relaxed. The owner-occupant of an existing single-family dwelling where they live may still pull the permit and do the work themselves.
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 mechanical (HVAC) section of the City's 2026 fee schedule, §8-478. It excludes:
- The §8-47 mechanical systems plan — $125.00 for the multi-family and commercial mechanical systems plan, an application-stage charge on the same sheet rather than part of the permit fee. The one- and two-family row is printed at $0.00: energy (heat loss) calculations are filed, not priced.
- The electrical permit the same job pulls — an air conditioning addition is priced in the electrical section too, at the same $75.00/$100.00 per unit, and a generator or service change is that section's permit entirely.
- The gas line and its capacity calculations — the City's electrical application requires gas line capacity calculations and an HVAC permit for the gas line. That permit is this section's; the calculations are a submission requirement and print no fee.
- The building permit the work rides with — new construction prices the building on its own permit, by the same square footage at a different rate.
- Rows §8-478 does not print — the mechanical section carries three rows (general HVAC system, heating unit replacement, air conditioning addition). Boiler, refrigeration and process-cooling work has no row here, so nothing on this page is charged for it.
- Plan review percentages, technology fees and state surcharges — none exist on the schedule, and Wisconsin levies nothing of its own on a local permit.
Common questions
How much is a mechanical (HVAC) permit in Green Bay?
The general HVAC system is $0.05 per square foot in a one- or two-family dwelling and $0.09 in multi-family, charged on the exact area. Commercially the schedule splits the rate by system: $0.05 for ductless unit-heater systems and $0.09 for ducted or hydronic. Beside the area rate: heating unit replacement $75.00 to $100.00, and air conditioning additions $75.00 to $100.00 per unit.
What is the commercial ducted-versus-ductless split?
It is the schedule's own wording: 'General HVAC: ducted or hydronic (per sq. foot) $0.09' against 'General HVAC: ductless unit-heater systems only (per sq. foot) $0.05'. Commercial HVAC is the only area rate on the sheet split by what the system is rather than by what the building is, and that wording is the only definition the City publishes — so the calculator asks which system is going in.
Why is air conditioning priced per unit and not per ton?
Because the mechanical row reads 'Air conditioning addition (per unit)' — a flat amount per machine, $75.00 residentially and $100.00 in multi-family and commercial. Tonnage is never asked: a 3-ton and a 5-ton replacement are one unit each. The identical row appears in the electrical section at the same prices, because one job usually pulls both permits.
What licence do I need to pull a mechanical permit?
A State of Wisconsin HVAC licence. The City's own commercial page records that its municipal HVAC licence requirement 'is no longer in effect' — the one trade Green Bay relaxed — leaving state licensing only. The owner-occupant of an existing single-family dwelling where they reside may still pull the permit and do the work themselves; rental-property work is licensed-contractor-only.
Is there a plan review fee for mechanical work?
Not a percentage. The §8-47 mechanical systems plan is $125.00 for multi-family and commercial work — an application-stage charge on the same sheet rather than part of the permit fee — and the one- and two-family row is printed at $0.00, because energy (heat loss) calculations are filed rather than priced. No technology fee and no state surcharge applies.
Does the mechanical permit cover the gas line?
The City's electrical application requires gas line capacity calculations and an HVAC permit for the gas line, so the gas line's permit is a mechanical permit — this section's. The capacity calculations and the connection itself print no fee anywhere; they are submission requirements rather than chargeable rows.
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- Fee schedule (PDF)CityPrimary source
City of Green Bay Fee Schedule (PDF) — Chapter 8, Buildings and construction
Read 2026-09-25 as a 309,782-byte PDF with three columns — "Code Section", "Description", "2026 Fee" — and ordinance sections keyed in the margin (8-47 plan approval, 8-360 building and plumbing permits, 8-369 private wells, 8-449 electrical reinspections, 8-451 electrical permits, 8-478 mechanical permits). Extracted three ways: -layout mispairs columns exactly as Boston's sheet did (water heater handed the lawn sprinkler amount, the commercial section offset by a row), -raw scrambles the same tail, and -table pairs every row cleanly — that transcription is the one this site uses. The fee column is headed "2026 Fee"; the permit-guides page dates it to January 1, 2026.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.