Madison, WI
Madison building permit cost
A Madison building permit is priced from the building's square footage in one of three use groups:
$.10 a square foot for Group I, which is new one- and two-family housing and R-2, R-3 or R-4 space; $.18 for Group II, the A, B, E, H, I, M and R-1 occupancies; and $.12 for Group III, factories, warehouses and everything the schedule does not classify — each subject to a $25.00 minimum. Work on an existing structure leaves the groups behind and pays $11.00 for each $1,000 of value or fraction of it, again with a $25.00 minimum. Plan review is a separate charge from its own table in MGO 29.09(3)(b), and the zoning review fee of $0.03 a square foot is collected when the permit is issued.
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 — alterations and repairs to existing structuresPermit fee | $11.00 per $1,000 of project valuation, or fraction thereof | Work type is one of alteration, remodel, repair, replacement and fee group is not provided | min $25.00 |
| Building permit — new construction or addition, by fee groupPermit fee | Fee group per sq ft | fee group is provided and not (shell only is true or interior build out is true), and where the schedule publishes a rate for Fee group | min $25.00 |
| Building permit — shell-only or interior build-out, half the group feePermit fee | Fee group × 0.5 per sq ft | fee group is provided and shell only is true or interior build out is true, and where the schedule publishes a rate for Fee group | min $25.00 |
| Plan review — commercial alteration or remodeling, $0.04 per square footPlan review | $0.04 per sq ft | not (single or two family is true) and Work type is one of alteration, remodel, repair, replacement | min $100.00 |
| Plan review — commercial building, new, $0.04 per square footPlan review | $0.04 per sq ft | not (single or two family is true) and Work type is one of new construction, addition | min $100.00 |
| Plan review — alteration or remodel of a single family or two family building, $25.00Plan review | $25.00 flat fee | single or two family is true and Work type is one of alteration, remodel, repair, replacement | — |
| Plan review — new single family or two family residential building, $100.00Plan review | $100.00 flat fee | single or two family is true and Work type is one of new construction, addition | — |
| Zoning review fee, $0.03 per square footOther fee | $0.03 per sq ft | Every permit of this type | min $25.00 |
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 of 2,400 square feet, built by a contractor on a lot the owner already owns.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Project area | 2,400 sq ft |
| Occupancy class | Residential |
| Type of work | New construction |
| Fee group | 1 |
| Single or two family | Yes |
Example total
$412.00
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 3Rules considered 8
| Component | How it is calculated | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Building permit — new construction or addition, by fee groupPermit feeMGO 29.09(3)(a), Inspection Fees, whose header says "Round up all fees to the next highest dollar": Group I "New Residential" $.10 per sq. ft., Group II "New Commercial Non Residential" $.18 per sq. ft., Group III "New Industrial" $.12 per sq. ft., each with a Minimum Fee of $25.00. The area is the building's total square footage — the City's page says "all floor levels, attached garages, porches, balconies and decks" and MGO 29.09(2)(b) says measurements are "taken from outside of building at each floor level, including basement". The group is a use group, not a building type: Group I is one- and two-family housing and R-2/R-3/R-4 space, Group II is A-1 to A-5, B, E, H-1 to H-5, I-1 to I-4, M and R-1, Group III is F-1, F-2, S-1, S-2, U and anything not in Groups I, II and IV. Supply fee_group as 1, 2 or 3.Show the working
| $0.1 per sq ft | $240.00 |
Plan review — new single family or two family residential building, $100.00Plan reviewMGO 29.09(3)(b), Plan Review Fees: "New single family or two family residential buildings — $100.00." A flat fee rather than a rate on area, and a separate charge from the permit fee: it is collected when the plans are examined, not when the permit is issued. It is a fee in its own row of the table, so it is not counted toward the $25.00 minimum on the permit.Show the working
| $100.00 flat fee | $100.00 |
Zoning review fee, $0.03 per square footOther feeThe City's Building Inspection fee page: "Madison General Ordinance 28.206 requires a review fee of $0.03 /sq. ft. be collected at the time the building permit is issued. Minimum fee of $25.00." Charged on every building permit, as a fee of its own rather than part of the permit — the page places it after the inspection fees and before the existing-building rows, and the Early Start permit's own note says it "Includes Zoning fee", which only reads as a separate charge if it is one. The page does not say which area the $0.03 is measured against; this site charges it against the building's square footage, the area every other per-square-foot row here uses.Show the working
| $0.03 per sq ft | $72.00 |
| Total | $412.00 |
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.
- Building permit — alterations and repairs to existing structures — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Building permit — shell-only or interior build-out, half the group fee — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plan review — commercial alteration or remodeling, $0.04 per square foot — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plan review — commercial building, new, $0.04 per square foot — This fee does not apply to the inputs provided.
- Plan review — alteration or remodel of a single family or two family building, $25.00 — 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 building fee is Group I at $.10 a square foot: 2,400 × $0.10 = $240.00, comfortably above the $25.00 minimum. Plan review is the flat row for a new single family or two family building, $100.00, rather than the $.04 a square foot a commercial building of the same size would pay — $96.00, so the flat row is the larger of the two here, which is exactly why the schedule states it as a flat fee. The zoning review fee is 2,400 × $0.03 = $72.00, collected when the permit is issued.
Two things to carry away. The same 2,400 square feet buys the electrical and plumbing permits too — at Group I they are $.09 a square foot each, $216.00 apiece — so the three permits together are most of what this project pays the City before plan review. And the group is doing the work: build the same footprint as a two-storey four-unit building and it is still Group I, but as a small office it becomes Group II, where $.18 a square foot is $432.00 on its own.
What is different in Madison
Three groups, three rates, one measurement — and the number that decides which is a use group rather than a building type. A new 2,400 square foot house is Group I and a $240.00 permit fee; the same house built as a 12-unit apartment building is still Group I, because Group I folds in R-2, R-3 and R-4 space; a clinic, hotel or office block of any size is Group II at $.18, and a self-storage building is Group III at $.12. Getting the group wrong moves the fee by half.
Two charges sit outside that table. Plan review is flat for one- and two-family work — $100.00 for a new house, $25.00 to alter one — and $.04 a square foot with a $100.00 minimum for everything else, so a first-time tenant fit-out of 3,000 square feet pays $120.00 to have its plans read. The zoning review fee is $.03 a square foot with a $25.00 minimum under MGO 28.206, collected at issuance rather than at review.
And the schedule is kinder to shell buildings than it looks: a permit for a property where only the shell is completed, or for the first interior fit-out in a shell already permitted, is charged at 50% of the group fee.
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 MGO 29.09's inspection fee, the plan review rows, the MGO 28.206 zoning review fee and the $25.00 minimum. It excludes:
- The State's money. The DSPS State Seal fee and the plan review fee set by SPS 302.31(1)(g), Table 302.31-3 are collected with every plan review and are not in any figure here — Wisconsin's code server answered no request from this environment on 2026-09-25, so no amount from those tables is published rather than guessed.
- The alteration cap. MGO 29.09(2)(c) holds an alteration fee to what the same building would pay as new construction; that comparison is not modelled, so a large alteration is overstated here.
- The round-up. Madison rounds every fee up to the next highest dollar; this site rounds to the cent, so a figure can be up to $0.99 below what the counter charges.
- The mechanical and HVAC plan review rows, priced at $.03 a square foot with a $100.00 minimum, and the rest of the plan review table: structural review at $50.00 an element, fire escapes at $100.00, stadium seating at $0.05 a seat, the $100.00 miscellaneous and revision rows, Priority Review at double, and Early Start at $50.00 plus $0.01 a square foot.
- The rest of Group IV on the same schedule: accessory buildings at $.06 a square foot, awnings $20.00, tents $50.00, pools $25.00, moving a structure between $250.00 and $450.00, the four razing rows, solar panels $21.00, certificates of occupancy, mobile homes and the erosion control fee.
- The penalty for unpermitted work — double the fee plus $100.00 a day — and the electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits, which are separate applications under separate chapters of the same code.
What you need before applying
- Plans, specifications and a lot plan, filed in duplicateRequired
MGO 29.07(3): "Plans and specifications and a lot plan showing the location of the proposed building thereon and of every existing building thereon, shall accompany every application for a permit, and shall be filed in duplicate with the Director of the Building Inspection Division" — though the Director may authorise a permit without plans "for small or unimportant work". Plans must be drawn to scale on substantial paper or prepared cloth, at not less than one-eighth of an inch to a foot, clear enough to show that the code will be complied with, and must bear the name of the architect, engineer or other person who prepared them. MGO 29.07(4) then lists what the plans must show: street, alley and lot-line locations, the owner's name, the intended use of every room, the floor area of every room, window sizes against the eight percent floor-area requirement, and any computations or stress diagrams the Director asks for.
- Every subcontractor who will need a supplemental permit, named at the first applicationRequired
MGO 29.07(5): at the initial application the applicant must "provide the names and addresses of all subcontractors who will require supplemental permits over the course of the project", and the Director mails each subcontractor a supplemental permit which must be returned completed within seven days of its postmark. Failing to return it before work starts is treated as working without a permit, which MGO 29.09(3) prices at double the fees plus $100.00 a day.
- Owner occupants may take building permits; mechanical work needs a licensed professionalRequired
The City's 1 & 2 Family Residential page: owner occupants working on an alteration or addition in a single-family home can get building and mechanical permits, an owner occupant building a new house can get a building permit, but "Only licensed professionals can apply for mechanical permits". An owner non-occupant of a one- or two-family rental needs licences to get a permit, and licensed professionals must apply for both building and mechanical permits on it. The page footnotes Wis. Stat. s. 101.654(1)(b), which exempts an owner who resides or will reside in the dwelling from the dwelling contractor financial responsibility certification, and warns under s. 101.65(1r) that an owner who hires someone not insured as s. 101.654(2)(a) requires is responsible for the work and any injury or damage.
Common questions
How much is a building permit for a new house in Madison?
Ten cents a square foot. MGO 29.09(3)(a) puts new one- and two-family residential buildings — and commercial space classed R-2, R-3 or R-4 — in Group I at $.10 per sq. ft. with a $25.00 minimum, so a 2,400 square foot house is a $240.00 permit fee before plan review and the zoning review fee.
MGO 29.09(3)(a), enacted by ORD-21-00024, effective 2021-03-27.
What are Madison's three permit fee groups?
Group I is new construction and additions to all single or two family residential buildings and to all commercial space classified R-2, R-3 or R-4. Group II is A-1 to A-5, B, E, H-1 to H-5, I-1 to I-4, M and R-1 — offices, hotels, clinics, banks, schools, retail. Group III is F-1, F-2, S-1, S-2, U and anything not classified elsewhere. The same three groups decide the building, electrical and plumbing rates.
Group definitions as printed in MGO 29.09(3)(a), 18.09 and 19.11.
How much is a permit to alter an existing building?
$11.00 for each $1,000 of value or fraction of it, with a $25.00 minimum. MGO 29.09(2)(c) says the value is the actual cost of the alterations and repairs including all labor and material, less the cost of real estate and less the installation of electrical, heating and plumbing equipment and services.
MGO 29.09(3)(a) Group IV with MGO 29.09(2)(c).
Does Madison cap what an alteration permit can cost?
Yes, in the ordinance — and no, not on this site. MGO 29.09(2)(c) says the alteration fee shall never exceed what the same building would pay as new construction under Groups I, II and III. That cap compares this fee against a fee this calculation has not run, so it is not modelled and a very large alteration is shown as higher than the City would charge.
MGO 29.09(2)(c); the modelling gap is stated on this page and in the research record.
How much is plan review in Madison?
$100.00 for a new single family or two family building, $25.00 to alter or remodel one, and $.04 per sq. ft. with a $100.00 minimum for commercial buildings new or altered — a figure the City rounds up to the next dollar. The division also collects the State's DSPS State Seal fee and the plan review fee set by SPS 302.31(1)(g), Table 302.31-3, neither of which is in any total here.
MGO 29.09(3)(b); the State charges are named as the section names them.
What happens if work starts before the permit is issued?
The fee is doubled, and $100.00 a day is assessed from the day a stop-work notification is delivered until a permit is obtained. MGO 29.09(3) prints that penalty at the head of the fee schedule, and MGO 18.09 and 19.11 print the identical sentence.
MGO 29.09(3).
Source and verification
The documents behind every figure on this page, with the dates that make them checkable.
- City websiteCityPrimary source
1 & 2 Family Residential — City of Madison
Read 2026-09-25. Defines the line the plan review table draws: "If a dwelling unit is in a building with more than two units, it is not a 1 & 2 family dwelling. Any building with three or more attached units follows the commercial building code." It also says who may apply — owner occupants of a one- or two-family home may take building permits for alterations, additions and new houses, while mechanical permits need a licensed professional — and footnotes Wis. Stat. s. 101.654(1)(b), which exempts an owner who resides or will reside in the dwelling from the dwelling contractor financial responsibility certification.
- City websiteCityPrimary source
Building Inspection Fees — City of Madison
Read 2026-09-25, and again through the Internet Archive's 2022-01-23 snapshot to date its edits. Collapses MGO 29.09, 18.09 and 19.11 into one four-column table (Building / Electricity / Plumbing / HVAC / Total) with a $25.00 minimum in every column, adds the MGO 28.206 zoning review fee, and carries the State charges the ordinances also name. Every cell matches its ordinance except Group II plumbing, where the page prints $.11 and MGO 18.09 enacts $.10. Its State citation is corrupted — "SPS 3031(1)(g) in Table 3031-3" against the ordinance's "SPS 302.31(1)(g) in Table 302.31-3" — which is why the ordinances are cited for rates and the page for context.
- OrdinanceCityPrimary source
Madison General Ordinances Ch. 29 "Building Code", §29.09 Fee Schedule (ORD-21-00024)
Read 2026-09-25 as a PDF in both pdftotext -layout and plain modes; the fee tables pair correctly only in -layout. File 63535, final action 2021-03-16, mayor approval 2021-03-22, published 2021-03-26, effective 2021-03-27. §29.09(1) sets who collects, §29.09(2)(b) how area is measured, §29.09(2)(c) what an alteration's value includes and the cap on it, §29.09(3) the penalty for unpermitted work, §29.09(3)(a) the inspection-fee table and §29.09(3)(b) the plan-review table. The fiscal note records that the 2021 increases were "intended to primarily impact large commercial type construction" and were the first in over a decade.
Verification
Last verified against the official source in Sep 2026.