Permit Fee Tools
Last updated: July 28, 2026
Two free tools, both running on the same verified fee data as the jurisdiction pages. Neither requires a login, and neither stores what you type.
Building Permit Fee Calculator
Enter a jurisdiction, a project type, and a construction value, and get an itemized fee estimate built from that jurisdiction's published formula rather than a national average. Covers 33 jurisdictions across Virginia, Maryland, Texas, and Washington DC. A $15,000 deck returns $688.50 in Fairfax County, $207 in Anne Arundel County, and $85 in Baltimore County - the spread is why per-jurisdiction formulas matter.
Open the calculator →Permit Cost Stack Visualizer
Breaks a single estimate into the lines that produce it, so you can see which component is driving the total. A Fairfax County, VA addition on $80,000 of construction value resolves to $2,400 base + $1,200 plan review + $72 state levy = $3,672. Useful when a quoted number looks wrong and you need to find out which line is responsible.
Open the visualizer →What these tools will not tell you
Both produce estimates, not quotations. The issuing building department sets the final fee at application, and a plan reviewer can add lines neither tool models - additional reviews, revision fees, or after-the-fact multipliers. Impact fees, utility connection charges, and zoning review are excluded by design: they come from separate adopted schedules, and folding them in would make the permit figure wrong. See our tools network for where those other charges live, and Methodology for how each formula is derived and verified.
Related: Coverage · Guides · Compare jurisdictions · Sources