A rough planning range for building permit, plan check, and the add-on fees that catch people off guard — tuned to how Bay Area cities typically price by project valuation.
Every result is a planning estimate, not a quote or an engineering determination. Real pricing depends on soil conditions, access, existing structure, engineering requirements, and your jurisdiction’s current fee schedule. For structural questions we coordinate with a licensed engineer — we do not perform engineering ourselves. Get a site-specific estimate before committing to a budget.
Almost every jurisdiction starts from valuation — the city's estimate of what the work is worth, not what you paid. Cities usually derive it from a published cost-per-square-foot table, so a contractor's contract price and the city's valuation often disagree. Higher valuation means a higher permit fee, and the relationship is not linear: most cities use a stepped table where the marginal rate drops as valuation climbs.
On top of the base permit, expect some or all of these:
Depending on scope and address, you may also see a sewer or water capacity charge, a public works encroachment permit if work touches the sidewalk or the street, a grading permit when you move enough soil, a geotechnical peer-review deposit on hillside lots, and construction-and-demolition deposits that are refundable if you document your recycling. None of those are in the numbers above.
The single best move is a phone call or counter visit to the building department before you finalize a budget. Bring the scope, the square footage, and the address. Most cities will quote a fee estimate on the spot, and it will beat any calculator including this one. If you want help with the submittal itself, our ADU foundation and new home foundation work routinely includes coordinating the plan set with a licensed engineer and walking it through plan check.
Budget guidance we give clients: set aside a range rather than a number, and assume the upper end in the slower-moving cities. Permit and review costs on a typical Bay Area foundation scope commonly land somewhere between $1,500 and $4,500 all in, but a large ADU in an expensive jurisdiction can run well past that once planning review and school fees are counted.
No. It is a rough planning approximation built from typical Bay Area percentage bands. Every city publishes its own fee schedule, those schedules are revised annually, and the only authoritative figure comes from the city permit counter for your specific address and scope.
Cities generally set valuation from their own published cost-per-square-foot tables rather than your contract. It can land above or below what you are actually paying, and the permit fee follows the city number, not yours.
No, on purpose. School impact fees are charged per square foot of added conditioned living area, are set by the school district rather than the city, and change frequently. If your project adds living space, ask the district directly.
It depends on the city and on whether you are changing drainage, grade, or the approach to the street. Flatwork that stays in kind is sometimes exempt, but work touching the sidewalk or public right of way usually needs an encroachment permit. Confirm with your building department.
Yes, we routinely handle submittal and plan check coordination as part of our scope, and we coordinate with a licensed engineer when stamped plans are required. Permit fees themselves are paid to the city and are passed through at cost.
Tell us what you're building — a new home, an ADU, an addition — and we'll get back to you with next steps, usually within one business day.
(925) 592-7162
ProHomeFoundation