Permit and architectural fees when building a house

1. The fees you're likely to pay

Not every project pays every fee, but this is the full list to check against.

Government fees:

• Building permit, usually with a separate plan review fee.
• Trade permits for electrical, plumbing and mechanical work, where your jurisdiction issues them separately.
• Zoning or land-use review, and variance fees if your plans don't fit the zoning rules.
• Impact fees.
• Water and sewer connection, tap or capacity fees.
• Septic system and well permits on rural land.
• Driveway or right-of-way permit to connect to a public road.
• Clearing, grading or stormwater permits (see our guide to land clearing and site prep).
• Re-inspection fees if an inspection fails.
• Certificate of occupancy.

Design and professional fees:

• House plans, from an architect, a home designer or a stock plan company.
• Structural engineering.
• Site or civil plan, showing the house, driveway, drainage and utilities on the lot.
• Survey: boundary, and sometimes topographic.
• Energy code calculations or compliance forms.
• Soil or geotechnical report, where required.

Our guide to the hidden costs of building a house puts these alongside the other costs builders often leave out.

2. How building permit fees are calculated

Local governments use a few common methods, and your jurisdiction's fee schedule will say which one applies:

• By construction value. The fee is a set amount per thousand dollars of the project's estimated value, often using a value table the jurisdiction publishes.
• By square footage. A rate per square foot of floor area, sometimes with different rates for living space, garages and porches.
• Flat fees. A fixed fee for a new single-family house, more common in smaller jurisdictions.

Plan review is often charged as a separate fee, or as a percentage of the permit fee, and it's usually due when you submit the plans rather than when the permit is issued. Many places also add small state surcharges or technology fees.

Because a value-based fee depends on the estimated cost of the house, a larger or more expensive design raises the permit fee as well as the construction cost.

3. Impact fees

Impact fees surprise many first-time builders. HUD describes them as one-time charges on new development, used to pay for the additional public facilities that growth makes necessary, mainly water and sewer systems, schools, libraries, parks and recreation facilities and other infrastructure.[2] The money can't be used for operating or maintaining existing facilities.[2] They're also known as development impact fees or system development charges.[3]

Whether you pay them, and how much, depends entirely on where you build. Some communities charge none. Others charge separate fees for roads, schools, parks, fire and police, which together can be one of the larger fees on the permit. Some charge a flat amount per house, and others scale the fee by the home's size.

Ask the permit office for the full impact fee schedule before you buy a lot. Two lots a few miles apart, in different jurisdictions, can carry very different fees.

4. Utility connection and tap fees

Connecting a new house to public water and sewer usually involves two kinds of charge: a fee for the right to connect (often called a tap, capacity or system development fee), and the cost of the physical work to run the line and install the meter.

Utilities set these fees themselves, and they're sometimes collected separately from the building permit, so they're easy to miss in a budget. On rural land, the equivalent costs are the septic permit and design and the well permit, plus the cost of the systems themselves.

Call each utility with the lot's address and ask what they charge to connect a new single-family home, and whether the fee depends on meter size.

5. The codes that shape your plans

The fees are only part of the permit process. Your plans have to meet the building code your state or local government has adopted, and that code decides much of what the designer has to draw and the engineer has to calculate.

Energy codes are a good example of how much this varies. The U.S. Department of Energy tracks which residential energy code each state has adopted, and the picture is uneven: many states use a version of the International Energy Conservation Code, sometimes with amendments, while others leave adoption to local governments or have no statewide code.[4] Check your state's page on the Department of Energy's state portal before your designer starts, so the plans are drawn to the right standard from the beginning.[4]

Plans that don't meet the local code come back with comments, and each round of corrections costs design time and delays the permit.

6. Who draws your plans and what they cost

You have three main routes to a set of house plans.

A licensed architect. All states and the District of Columbia require architects to be licensed.[5] An architect can design a custom house around your lot and needs, and many will also help with permits, bids and construction visits. This is usually the most expensive route.

A home designer or drafter. Many houses are drawn by designers or drafters who aren't licensed architects. Whether that's allowed for a single-family house depends on your state's rules, so check before you hire.

A stock plan. Buying an existing plan and having it adapted to your lot and local code is usually the cheapest route. Our guide to the cheapest ways to build a house covers what to check before you buy one.

Whichever route you take, you may still need a structural engineer to design or approve the foundation, beams and framing, especially in areas with high wind, snow or earthquake loads. Some engineers hold a professional engineering (PE) license,[6] and your permit office will tell you when a PE stamp is required.

Design professionals usually charge in one of three ways: a percentage of the construction cost, an hourly rate, or a fixed fee for a defined scope. A fixed fee is easiest to budget, but read the scope carefully: site visits, revisions and permit corrections are often extra.

7. What design professionals earn

Federal wage data gives a sense of the professional time behind your plans. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median hourly wage in May 2025 was $48.48 for civil engineers,[7] $47.73 for architects,[5] $38.40 for landscape architects,[8] $36.27 for surveyors[9] and $32.74 for drafters.[10]

These are wages, not billing rates. A firm's hourly rate also has to cover licensing, insurance, software, office costs and profit, so the rate on your invoice will be well above the wage. The figures are still useful for judging a quote: if a fixed fee implies only a handful of hours for a custom house design and engineering, ask what's included.

8. How to find your local fees

You can usually get close to your real total with a few hours of research:

1. Find your jurisdiction's permit fee schedule. Most counties and cities publish it online, often under "building permits" or "fee schedule".
2. Call or email the permit office with the lot address and the approximate house size, and ask for an estimate of all permit, plan review, inspection and impact fees.
3. Call each utility for connection and tap fees.
4. If the lot needs septic or a well, call the county health department for permit and design requirements.
5. Ask two or three designers or architects for fixed-fee proposals with a written scope.
6. Ask your builder which fees are in their price and which you'll pay directly.

Then add every figure to your budget. In the QuickBuildCost calculator, these fees sit under the site work stage, where you can enter your own amounts in place of the national averages.

9. Ways to keep fees down

• Compare fees before you buy land. Impact and tap fees vary between jurisdictions, and the lot price doesn't show them.
• Keep the design compact. Where permit fees depend on square footage or construction value, a smaller house costs less to permit as well as to build.
• Use a stock plan or a builder's existing plan, adapted to your lot, if a custom design isn't essential.
• Draw to the right code the first time. Rejected plans mean extra design hours and more plan review.
• Pass inspections the first time. Re-inspection fees add up, and failed inspections delay the build.
• Ask about fee reductions. Some communities reduce or waive certain fees for smaller homes, affordable housing or energy-efficient construction. It costs nothing to ask.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. U.S. Census Bureau, "Survey of Construction Definitions" (Building or Zoning Permit; Non-permit; Universe).
2. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD User, "Impact Fees and Housing Affordability: A Guide for Practitioners."
3. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, "Impact Fees and Housing Affordability: A Guide for Practitioners" (full guide, PDF).
4. U.S. Department of Energy, Building Energy Codes Program, "State Portal" and "Status of State Energy Code Adoption: Residential."
5. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, "Architects."
6. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, "Architectural and Engineering Managers" (licensing section).
7. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, "Civil Engineers."
8. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, "Landscape Architects."
9. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, "Surveyors."
10. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, "Drafters."

Fees, codes and licensing rules are set by state and local governments and change over time. Confirm current fees with your permit office and utilities, and wage figures are national medians from May 2025.

Figures last checked October 5, 2026. National averages are a planning guide, not a quote. See our editorial policy and data sources.