# How much are your building permits?



## airborne425 (Dec 16, 2015)

Hi Guys, I am a newbie here. I searched for the answer but couldn't really find a thread matching my question but here it goes.

I live in Northern California and recently have been spending quite some time at the building department in two counties Placer and El Dorado. After getting all the fees compiled for new construction the totals have come out to $58,000 for Placer county and $82,000 for El Dorado County. This is all just permit fees, before adding property, materials or even hammering a single nail. 

My question is what are the permit fees in your area, and how involved(intrusive) is the building department in your build?


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## griz (Nov 26, 2009)

Wow, some of my old stompin' grounds....

yup, it is spendy country...

You should try Tahoe....


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## airborne425 (Dec 16, 2015)

Forgot to add that this is for a 2000 sq ft 4/2 single family home. This also does not include septic or well of course, but it would include sewer and water hookup if this were applicable.


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## airborne425 (Dec 16, 2015)

griz said:


> Wow, some of my old stompin' grounds....
> 
> yup, it is spendy country...
> 
> You should try Tahoe....


No kidding, when I lived in Alaska the matsu valley had no building permits at all and property values were pretty good. In CA it is ridiculous, to me at least.


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## Rio (Oct 13, 2009)

We're doing the research to see if we can do a granny flat down by the border but still in San Diego city, in a planned community with everything done and just the impact fee was quoted at $35,972.00, which might sink the ship. The impact fee is for a single dwelling unit, doesn't matter the size or the fact that there's already a house on the lot that has paid the fee once. Add in sprinklers and the need to upsize the meter and the water line from the street main to it and the cost is reaching $50,000 before plans, permits and school fees which will add another 10-15k.

We had another one in the county and it's impact fees were less than $15,000 which still sucks but not nearly as much.

This is all a result of the government in California gouging its citizens every chance they get.


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## Jaws (Dec 20, 2010)

I


Rio said:


> We're doing the research to see if we can do a granny flat down by the border but still in San Diego city, in a planned community with everything done and just the impact fee was quoted at $35,972.00, which might sink the ship. The impact fee is for a single dwelling unit, doesn't matter the size or the fact that there's already a house on the lot that has paid the fee once. Add in sprinklers and the need to upsize the meter and the water line from the street main to it and the cost is reaching $50,000 before plans, permits and school fees which will add another 10-15k.
> 
> We had another one in the county and it's impact fees were less than $15,000 which still sucks but not nearly as much.
> 
> This is all a result of the government in California gouging its citizens every chance they get.


These numbers are incredible to me. In my home town they had the impact fees at over 4k, 53 GCs from the HBA went to the city when i was president and got them down to 1,225.00


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

It's 1200 bucks just to build a deck around here. 

Last full gut remodel I did was a fortune. Had to put in fire sprinklers and upgrade the water meter, and run a new service to the house. Not to mention the city made me put in all new sidewalks, curb and gutter. They charged me 600 bucks for permission to build them new sidewalks as well.


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## pappagor (Jan 29, 2008)

that is why we should give california to isis.
14000 sq ft home was less then 10000 here that was water sewer and road.:whistling


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

pappagor said:


> that is why we should give california to isis.
> 14000 sq ft home was less then 10000 here that was water sewer and road.:whistling


I could sell my home and buy your state.


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## Rio (Oct 13, 2009)

Jaws said:


> I
> 
> These numbers are incredible to me. In my home town they had the impact fees at over 4k, 53 GCs from the HBA went to the city when i was president and got them down to 1,225.00


I think that if the word ever gets out to the general populace in California on just how bad we're all getting screwed,there will be an uprising, at least I hope so. 
What's particularly galling is the government here is always going on how they care for the middle class when they are doing everything they can to destroy it. 

From these outrageous impact and development fees (in areas that are already developed), to the highest energy costs in the country, to paying as much for gas here as in Hawaii, to parking tickets that costs hundreds of dollars and escalate rapidly to thousands it's relentless all the while being done with a big smiley face from the state and city.


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## Jaws (Dec 20, 2010)

Californiadecks said:


> I could sell my home and buy your state.


:laughing:

SoCal aint the only place a 300k house is 750k-800k.


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

Sure it is....


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

Jaws said:


> :laughing:
> 
> SoCal aint the only place a 300k house is 750k-800k.


Home prices are indicative of the desire to live there. If it sells for 800k it's worth 800k. Must be or it wouldn't sell.


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## Jaws (Dec 20, 2010)

Californiadecks said:


> Home prices are indicative of the desire to live there. If it sells for 800k it's worth 800k. Must be or it wouldn't sell.


Absolutely. Be a 60k shack in downtown Austin literally sell for over half a mil.....


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

Jaws said:


> Absolutely. Be a 60k shack in downtown Austin literally sell for over half a mil.....


I thought what he said about isis was not cool especially after 14 people were murdered in San Bernadino. So I had no problem being a smart ass back to him.


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## DaVinciRemodel (Oct 7, 2009)

Got me thinking so I did some calculating. 

I’m currently doing an 1800 SF basement and the permit was about $700. That same basement in Greenwood Village would be about $1900. That same basement in Cherry Hills Village would be about $2800 and that same basement in Aspen would be about $5100. 

Most of the actual permit fees and plan review fees are about the same. It’s more a question of local taxes.

I’m only licensed in about 20 different jurisdictions in Colorado. 15 of them are within a 20 mile radius of my home. And the prospect wants to know why I can’t just provide an on the spot estimate :confused1:


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## tjbnwi (Feb 24, 2009)

The last new house I built--total cost of the permit was $75.00.....1994. Took less than an hour to get the plan approved and the permit issued.

Tom


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## cleveman (Dec 28, 2007)

I took out a permit in a small town for a home in 1999 and it was $15. I think the septic permit was maybe $50 from the county. Since then, the building permit price has increased to maybe $75. State-wide electrical inspections have been enacted since then.


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## Mark122 (Sep 27, 2014)

airborne425 said:


> the totals have come out to $58,000 for Placer county and $82,000 for El Dorado County. This is all just permit fees


WTF!!!::blink:

another reason to keep loving the rolling hills, colder winters and 4 seasons and cheap a s S permit fees...


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## Framer53 (Feb 23, 2008)

Tom, ours fees are similar to yours. my problem is the local city only issues permits m,w,f.
Then they wonder why everyone avoids buying them.
The funny part is we do not have state licensing of contractors and houses are not falling down. 
Imagine that.....


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## Builders Inc. (Feb 24, 2015)

Californiadecks said:


> It's 1200 bucks just to build a deck around here.
> 
> Last full gut remodel I did was a fortune. Had to put in fire sprinklers and upgrade the water meter, and run a new service to the house. Not to mention the city made me put in all new sidewalks, curb and gutter. They charged me 600 bucks for permission to build them new sidewalks as well.



You guys are getting stiffed there! Wow. Deck permit here is $44 to 68 bucks. Some up to a few hundred. Impact fees by the water are still under 3k. 
I can't believe you pay 1200 for a deck. How small can you go before you don't need a permit!? We are around 100 to 120 sq ft. Then we have to get a permit. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

Builders Inc. said:


> You guys are getting stiffed there! Wow. Deck permit here is $44 to 68 bucks. Some up to a few hundred. Impact fees by the water are still under 3k.
> I can't believe you pay 1200 for a deck. How small can you go before you don't need a permit!? We are around 100 to 120 sq ft. Then we have to get a permit.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


The deck business is great. That's the problem people aren't backing down. I do everything I can to not include the municipalities.
I've even raised the grade an inch or two.


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## pappagor (Jan 29, 2008)

smart people stand up dumb people bend over and take it. just say no:clap::clap:thumbup:


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## greg24k (May 19, 2007)

Depends on the area you working in.

New home construction anywhere from 6-10k could go up in a more desired areas

Additions anywhere from 2-4k

Street opening permit anywhere from 2-4k + rent-a-cop fee

Decks from 300-600

Finished basements 600-1200.

Anything over the counter and drive by inspections usually $100.


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## Golden view (Feb 16, 2012)

I'm in the middle of a long line for a new Field Issued Remodel permit program here in Portland, which I hear is awesome. Instead of wasting half a day at the permit desk and dealing with a possible mix of inspectors, you get assigned one inspector, they meet you at the job with your plans, and issue the permit right there. 

If you're confident there won't be any permitting issues, you can have already started work, and on the same visit they can issue the permits, and do your rough inspections.

Instead of based on fixtures and project value, you pay by the hour. For most of my projects, this would lower the cost for me, plus save a huge amount of time.


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## Builders Inc. (Feb 24, 2015)

How many of you have Building Dept Beach that you can scan and email without actually having to go there? Our county office just got the ability to scan plans for archives. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Builders Inc. (Feb 24, 2015)

In Jacksonville you could fill out the permit, scan drawings, e file the NOC and fax or e mail all of it to the building Dept. You could schedule inspections via e mail and check the status of a permit and inspections online. Where I am you have to actually go there to pull one. They can scan original drawings so you don't have to provide duplicate copies and you can check inspections online but there's still this pita of having to go there to submit one and pick it up once it's approved. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## ScipioAfricanus (Sep 13, 2008)

airborne425 said:


> Hi Guys, I am a newbie here. I searched for the answer but couldn't really find a thread matching my question but here it goes.
> 
> I live in Northern California and recently have been spending quite some time at the building department in two counties Placer and El Dorado. After getting all the fees compiled for new construction the totals have come out to $58,000 for Placer county and $82,000 for El Dorado County. This is all just permit fees, before adding property, materials or even hammering a single nail.
> 
> My question is what are the permit fees in your area, and how involved(intrusive) is the building department in your build?


I have a hard time believing that that is the "permit" cost.

I am sure that must be other fees and Planning Division costs like sewer hook up fee to use the system, school fees for a new construction building/residence etc.

The building department for Beverly Hills is at about $20K for the "permit" fees plus all kinds of fees for other **** of course.



> How many of you have Building Dept Beach that you can scan and email without actually having to go there? Our county office just got the ability to scan plans for archives.



Several cities here have programs to submit plans electronically with varying degrees of success. 

Andy.


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## Agility (Nov 29, 2013)

*How Much Are Your Building Permits?*

Portland, ME will only accept electronic documents when applying for a permit. Fifteen minutes north I can get a permit with a sketch on a napkin in 5 minutes as long as it's a Tuesday or Thursday.


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

.22 cents a sq. ft. single family,29 cents " " multi family.


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

Here is the whole enchilada.



http://www.chestertonin.org/DocumentCenter/View/88


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## Morning Wood (Jan 12, 2008)

$7 per $1000 of total building cost. Plumbing and electrical are their own permit and cost. They can get pretty ridiculous.


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## Miller257 (Jan 24, 2009)

0.24 per sq ft here total (plumbing, building, hvac and electrical) 

Some of those prices are nuts!


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## hrdwrkr (Aug 11, 2015)

the average cost for average remodeling (no escavating or such)..about 30 per 1000


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

Builders Inc. said:


> You guys are getting stiffed there! Wow. Deck permit here is $44 to 68 bucks. Some up to a few hundred. Impact fees by the water are still under 3k.
> I can't believe you pay 1200 for a deck. How small can you go before you don't need a permit!? We are around 100 to 120 sq ft. Then we have to get a permit.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


The 1200 is the most I've paid, it's usually around 4 to 600.


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## CarpenterSFO (Dec 12, 2012)

California's fees are high in part because Prop 13 limits property taxes. Your property taxes are basically a maximum of 1% of purchase price, increased by a maximum of 1% each year. Let's say you bought a house for $200K 10 years ago. Your annual property taxes today on that house, with a current market value of $1MM, might be $2200, much lower than for a $1MM home in many other parts of the country.

Not being able to reassess properties or raise the rates, cities make it up with fees. Some of the rural counties and towns have surprisingly high fees, as they have very little property turnover and are collecting property taxes on 50-year old transaction prices.


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

CarpenterSFO said:


> California's fees are high in part because Prop 13 limits property taxes. Your property taxes are basically a maximum of 1% of purchase price, increased by a maximum of 1% each year. Let's say you bought a house for $200K 10 years ago. Your annual property taxes today on that house, with a current market value of $1MM, might be $2200, much lower than for a $1MM home in many other parts of the country.
> 
> Not being able to reassess properties or raise the rates, cities make it up with fees. Some of the rural counties and towns have surprisingly high fees, as they have very little property turnover and are collecting property taxes on 50-year old transaction prices.


Yep, before prop 13 back in the 70's everytime the state needed anything they just raised property taxes. 

I'm paying 3500 a year in property taxes because I paid 210,000 for my home. if they were able to reassess I'd probably be paying more like 12,000 or 14,000 a year.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

CarpenterSFO said:


> California's fees are high in part because Prop 13 limits property taxes. Your property taxes are basically a maximum of 1% of purchase price, increased by a maximum of 1% each year. Let's say you bought a house for $200K 10 years ago. Your annual property taxes today on that house, with a current market value of $1MM, might be $2200, much lower than for a $1MM home in many other parts of the country.
> 
> Not being able to reassess properties or raise the rates, cities make it up with fees. Some of the rural counties and towns have surprisingly high fees, as they have very little property turnover and are collecting property taxes on 50-year old transaction prices.


Property taxes in Naperville run about $9k for a $350k home.


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

I've always thought if you're a contractor you should get a discount, I've had leaks that did a lot of damage. I have always just fixed it to keep from making a claim. In fact I've never made a claim. The average Joe doesn't fix Jack. My deductible is 2500. Maybe I should check into that.


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## airborne425 (Dec 16, 2015)

Glad to see it is not the norm, I am currently looking to relocate somewhere that is not so bad. Another reason for the move is I am not too fond of the state. 

As someone stated this is not all just for the building permit. The entire itemized list came in at $58k with building permit for Foresthill coming in at $17k of that total. 

I should have said what is the sum of your "fees" for new construction, like for me depending on the county is between $58-82k. I just consider them all lumped together in permit fees because I can't build the house without paying them.


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## pappagor (Jan 29, 2008)

prop 13 is like say we will not charge you sales tax but your income tax will be 25% they still get the money in the end.
i think property and income taxes are a better way to go


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

pappagor said:


> prop 13 is like say we will not charge you sales tax but your income tax will be 25% they still get the money in the end.
> i think property and income taxes are a better way to go


That isn't close to being true because state tax isn't that high. In fact it's not even half that. Sales tax is 8%.

We didn't even pay 10%


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## Rio (Oct 13, 2009)

Californiadecks said:


> That isn't close to being true because state tax isn't that high. In fact it's not even half that. Sales tax is 8%.
> 
> We didn't even pay 10%


But they get us everywhere else, in any and all manner that they can and are still heading off the fiscal cliff when all the unfunded liabilities will start coming due. We've already had the third largest city in California go BK and many more will follow.

If you drive in California pray you don't get a ticket, there was just an article on this and it said that something like 25% of drivers in Cali have bench warrants out for them as they didn't pay in time and the incredibly stiff penalties started kicking in.

If you walk your dog, keep it on a leash and obey the walking hours. A friend of mine was in the park with his two unleashed dogs after 0900 and the tickets came to over $600.00!

It goes on and on and on, with the building permits and impact fees only being part of a larger problem that will probably only be resolved when we go off the fiscal cliff.


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## griz (Nov 26, 2009)

California is a great state to be from....:thumbup:


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

Rio said:


> But they get us everywhere else, in any and all manner that they can and are still heading off the fiscal cliff when all the unfunded liabilities will start coming due. We've already had the third largest city in California go BK and many more will follow.
> 
> If you drive in California pray you don't get a ticket, there was just an article on this and it said that something like 25% of drivers in Cali have bench warrants out for them as they didn't pay in time and the incredibly stiff penalties started kicking in.
> 
> ...


I understand. But I'd rather have a speeding ticket cost 4 times what it should than taxes. I have control over that. Or my dog not on a leash. Those charges I can prevent. But my taxes really aren't much more than other places in the country. New York City comes to mind, or New Jersey. The 10,000 bucks a year I save in property taxes will pay for a lot of speeding tickets.

If the powers that be in this state had their way we would be paying a hell of a lot more. Problem with property in this state theirs a lot of dems that own houses. It's OK to raise taxes on the rich, but not them. :laughing:


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## Rio (Oct 13, 2009)

Californiadecks said:


> I understand. But I'd rather have a speeding ticket cost 4 times what it should than taxes. I have control over that. Or my dog not on a leash. Those charges I can prevent. But my taxes really aren't much more than other places in the country. New York City comes to mind, or New Jersey. The 10,000 bucks a year I save in property taxes will pay for a lot of speeding tickets.


Good point, notice that all the states with the giant costs associated with them all have something else associated with them?


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## Metro M & L (Jun 3, 2009)

Californiadecks said:


> I could sell my home and buy your state.


An appreciation for scientific method and the ability and desire to read books?







Rio said:


> Good point, notice that all the states with the giant costs associated with them all have something else associated with them?


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