Fees & Payments

When your building plans are accepted at the counter, you must pay application fees as follows:

1. Zoning Plan Review:A graduated fee is charged for each project, according to size. This covers the time staff spend in checking your project against the applicable Zoning regulations, such as land use, setbacks, and height; and for referencing General Plan maps detailing environmental concerns, such as stream beds, flood plains, rare and endangered plants or animals, and potential hazards from earthquakes or wildfires
2. Erosion-Control Preliminary Site Inspection: This fee depends on the type of structure and whether the area is rural or urban. It covers a field visit to find out whether any geologic hazards or environmental constraints exist. For some minor projects, this inspection is not required
3. Building Plan Review:This fee covers the time spent in examining your plans in order to see that they comply with the Uniform Building, Plumbing, Electrical, and Mechanical Codes, and with energy-conservation requirements. The Building Counter staff person will estimate the square footage of each type of new residential construction, such as heated living areas, garages, storage rooms, and decks. This figure will be used to determine the Building Plan Check fee deposit
4. Building Permit Processing:This fee covers the time spent processing the building permit application, including routing the seven sets of plans to the review agencies, communicationg the results of the first routing to you, calculating fees, and consolidating the finished plans into two identical plan sets: the job copy and the office copy.
5. Stormwater Plan Review: A graduated fee is charged depending on the size of your project. This covers time staff spend in checking your plans for any drainage impacts and determining any mitigation measures that may be required. Staff also calculate the amount of new impervious areas created by the construction which will increase storm water runoff.
6. Road Engineering Plan Review: This fee will be charged on any new residential unit and for any new bedroom additions. Review of your project may result in the requirement that you dedicate a strip of land along your street to the County for future road widening improvements or future utility easements.
7. County Fire Plan Review: This fee varies depending upon whether your construction requires sprinklers to be installed. Sprinkler requirements are based on the type of construction and the occupancy of the building.
8. Other Fees: A General Plan Surcharge fee of 7% (General Plan and Implementing Ordinance Maintenance Fee of 4% and General Plan Update and Planning Fee of 3%) as well as a 6% Technology & Facilities Update and Maintenance Fee is applied to all building permits.

Your plans will be routed to all required reviewers concurrently. If you decide to withdraw your application at any point, you may be able to get a refund of any remaining part of the fee that has not been used. However, once the plan-checking and the site inspection have been done, no refund can be made.

When your building plans have been approved by all the agencies involved, the remaining fees will be calculated. The various types of remaining fees are described below. For specific current amounts, contact the Building Counter

• Building Permit Fee: This fee comes from a table in the Uniform Building Code and is based on the total evaluation of the structure described under "Building Plan Check".
• Building Training Fee: A small fee to pay for state mandated training.
• Strong Motion: The State of California charges a modest fee. These funds go toward research on how to build structures that will withstand earthquake tremors.
• Electrical, Plumbing and Mechanical Permits: Modest fees are charged.
• Environmental Health Fee: A clearance form from Environmental Health is required at the time you submit your plans for review. If, after submittal, it is found that your project requires further review, a clearance review fee will be applied.

• Sewage Connection: This fee depends on the sanitation district in which you are building and how many plumbing fixtures your structure will contain.
• Driveway Permit: A fee is charged for any new house with access from a County-maintained road, or for a new driveway to an existing house.

Impact fees (also known as capital improvement fees) vary depending upon the project site and project scope.

• ​Affordable Housing Impact Fee:This fee is calculated based on the number of new residential square feet. All fees collected will be deposited into the Measure J Trust Fund. These fees will be expended at the discretion of the Board of Supervisors for the purposes of developing or preserving affordable units in the County, or other activities which increase the affordable housing stock in the County, and for reasonable administrative costs.
• Child Care Impact Fee: This fee goes into a fund to provide for the maintenance and augmentation of a child care system to help satisfy the needs generated by growth from new development. This fee is charged based on new square footage.
• Flood Control Zones: These are designated in certain portions of the County: Live Oak/Soquel; Aptos; and San Lorenzo Valley. If you build in one of these zones, you will be charged a fee that goes toward construction and maintenance of storm drains. The fee is based on the impervious and semi-pervious areas created by the project.
• Park Impact Fee: For residential projects, this fee is charged based on the new habitable square footage. For non-residential projects, this fee is charged based on new gross building area. Additional information on park impact fees is available here. 
• Road & Transporation Improvements: Only in the Aptos, Live Oak, Soquel, and Pajaro Valley General Plan Areas and a portion of the Carbonera area

-Roadside Improvement: These fees go into a fund for improvements, such as curbs, gutters, sidewalks, or street trees, that are most urgently needed in the area.

-Transportation Improvement: These fees go into a fund for roadway and intersection improvements, traffic signals, and turning lanes.

-In the urban services portion of the Carbonera General Plan Area:

Roadside Improvement: This fee depends on whether curbs, gutters, or sidewalks already exist along the property frontage. The fund is used for roadside improvements that are most urgently needed in the area.

Roadway Improvement: This fee is based on the street designation: "local", "collector", or "arterial", and the width of existing pavement along the property frontage. The fund is used for future street paving and widening.

Schools: This fee depends on the school district in which you are building, and is based on the number of square feet of new residential "assessable space". The fund is used to purchase school buildings to relieve overcrowding.

Water Meter Connection: In the Urban Services Area, you will need to pay to obtain a "Proof of Water Service" form from your water district to present when you pick up your building permit.

Street Addressing: Fees are charged for assigning a new house number and for giving a new name to a private street.

Local Fire Protection Districts: This fee depends on the fire jurisdiction in which you are building. The fees are used to cover the cost of review and inspections. In some jurisdictions, fees are charged by square footage of new construction and the funds are used for the purchase of, or improvement to, facilities and equipment.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
If your have questions about Building permit fees, please email Planning.BuildingInfo@santacruzcountyca.gov. For Public Works fees, call (831) 454-2160.

Building Permit fee refunds depend on the stage of the project and fee type. Refunds are processed as follows.

For Applications

Plan Review fees: If no plan review has occurred, these fees may be refunded. Once staff have completed their plan review, the Plan Review fee cannot be refunded.

Permit Processing fee: 

• 60% of the Permit Processing Fee may be refunded if the application becomes void or is withdrawn prior to the denial letter (or approval letter if the application is approved after the first routing to all agencies) being sent.
• 30% of the Permit Processing Fee may be refunded if the application becomes void or is withdrawn prior to the completion of consolidation of the plans into a job copy and office copy. Consolidation occurs after all reviewers have approved the application and just before permit issuance.
• No amount of the Permit Processing Fee may be refunded if the application has been consolidated.

For Issued Permits

• If no work has commenced and no inspections have been conducted, 100% of the building, plumbing, electrical, and mechanical permit fees may be refunded.
• If the first inspection has been conducted, no amount of these fees may be refunded.