Planning and Development Fees

This webpage includes a comprehensive list of fees charged by the City of Berkeley’s Planning Department, which includes the divisions of Building and Safety, Land Use Planning, Toxics Management, and the Office of Energy and Sustainable Development. This fee schedule also includes certain fees charged by other City departments when associated with building projects, such as Public Works Engineering and Transportation, and Fire Department plan check fees. 

View Planning and Development Fee Schedule

You can also use our interactive calculator to estimate building permit fees based on the valuation of the project. 

The schedule includes fees for: 

• Contractors and developers pay fees for development-related applications, permits, and reviews. Includes Building Permits, Zoning Permits, Signage and Design Review, Project Appeals, and Building and Zoning Code Enforcement, among others.
• Rental property owners pay fees to the Rental Housing Safety Program, which ensures rental properties meet the Berkeley Housing Code standards. 
• Owners of multi-unit buildings with exterior elements such as balconies pay fees to the Exterior Elevated Elements (E3) inspection program, which mandates regular safety inspections. 
• Owners planning to sell their property pay fees to the Building Emissions Savings Ordinance, which requires property owners to report energy assessments and make resilience upgrades. They also pay fees to the Private Sewer Lateral program, which requires property owners verify their private sewer lines meet City standards before selling the property or performing major renovations. 
• Owners of large buildings > 25,000 sq. ft. pay fees to the Building Emissions Savings Ordinance, which requires an energy assessment every 5 years and annual benchmarking.

The fee schedule does not include development impact, mitigation, or in-lieu fees, which are separately enacted by the City Council to require that certain types of development projects to help pay to mitigate the impacts their projects have on public services. Learn more about impact fees.

The fee schedule became effective July 1, 2025. Fees are adopted and periodically updated by the City Council.