Know your building permit fee before you start your project.

Pick your city, enter your project, and get a plain-English estimate built from the city's actual published fee schedule. Free, no sign-up, no guesswork.

How it works

1

Pick your city

Choose from the cities below. Each one has its own estimator because every city writes its own fee schedule.

2

Enter your project

Tell us the project type and size. New home, addition, remodel, garage, shed, pool, each one prices differently.

3

Get your number

The calculator runs your city's exact published tables and hands you the number the table produces, in plain English.

Choose your city

Fort Worth, Texas

Residential permits priced on tiered square-footage brackets under the city's published fee schedule. The estimator runs the exact tables, from the $96.84 minimum up through large new homes, with remodel pricing by trade and plain-English guides on when you need a permit and how to apply.

Estimate Fort Worth fees

Dallas, Texas

Priced under the city's current fee schedule, effective July 2025. New single-family homes on a sliding per-foot scale, multi-family per dwelling unit, and refreshingly simple per-trade remodel pricing, plus step-by-step application guides.

Estimate Dallas fees

Houston, Texas

Residential building permit estimates based on the City of Houston's published fee schedule, with plain-English guides on which projects need a permit and how the application process works.

Estimate Houston fees

Austin, Texas

Residential building permit estimates based on the City of Austin's published fee schedule, with plain-English guides on which projects need a permit and how the application process works.

Estimate Austin fees

How building permit fees usually work

Every city writes its own fee schedule by ordinance, but most of them price residential permits in one of three ways. Square footage brackets are the most common: a tiered table where the per-foot rate steps down as the project gets bigger. Project valuation is the second: the fee is a percentage of the job's declared value, in tiers. Flat fees cover small, standard jobs like water heater swaps or electrical panel upgrades.

On top of the base permit fee, expect add-ons. Plan review fees pay for the city to check your drawings. Technology and application fees show up on nearly every permit. Trade permits for electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work are usually priced separately. And some areas tack on impact fees for the strain new construction puts on roads and utilities.

Our estimators encode each city's published tables directly, so the number you get is the number the table produces. We re-check the schedules regularly because cities update them, and we say so on each city page, right next to the date we last verified.

Frequently asked questions

Is this the city's official website?
No. PermitEstimator.com is an independent project. We are not a government agency and we do not issue permits. Always confirm your fees with your city's development or permitting office before you finalize a budget.
How accurate are the estimates?
The calculators run each city's published fee tables exactly, so the base number matches the table. Surcharges, impact fees, and plan review costs vary by project and location, so treat the result as a solid ballpark and confirm the final number with the city.
Do I need a permit for my project?
It depends on the city and the work. As a rule of thumb, structural changes and anything touching electrical, plumbing, or mechanical systems needs one, while purely cosmetic updates usually do not. Each city page has a plain-English guide to what triggers a permit there.
Why do fees vary so much from city to city?
Because every city council sets its own schedule. Some price by square footage, others by project valuation, and the add-on fees differ everywhere. That is exactly why we build one estimator per city instead of one generic calculator.
Is it really free?
Yes. No account, no sign-up, no paywall. Pick a city and run your numbers.