The Department of Buildings has adopted new fee rules for electrical permits and electrician licensing. They remove the old $5,000 cap on electrical permit fees and raise license background-check fees by $50 to $100. The adoption ran in a city notice Oct. 22.
Commissioner Ahmed Tigani signed the rule Oct. 13. It was proposed Aug. 21 and had a public hearing Sept. 23.
Electrical permits: no more ceiling
Local Law 128 of 2024 repealed the old Electrical Code, including its $5,000 fee cap, and replaced it with a new code. DOB’s fee rules now match.
- The $40 permit fee and the per-part fees are now explicitly added together to set the minimum payment.
- Half the total fee, or at least $130, is due at filing. The rest must be paid before any DOB inspection. A job whose total fee is under $130 pays the full amount up front.
- Minor-work permits stay at $15.
- The $5 fee for a duplicate copy of an electrical violation notice is deleted, since the general copy fees already cover it.
Licensing: old vs. new
- Background investigation, class 1 (includes experience): $500 → $550
- Background investigation, class 2 (no experience): $330 → $430
- Background investigation for renewals, class 1 or 2: new, $130
- Written exam: $585 (listed as unchanged)
- Practical exam: $530 (listed as unchanged)
DOB says processing times have increased “significantly” as background investigations rose. It says the new fees will pay for more staff.
Surveyors get their first raise since 2008
Registered design professionals appointed to act on certain building surveys, or to settle disagreements between surveyors, will be paid $150 each, up from $100. That payment had not changed since the 2008 construction codes.
DOB cites higher gas, wear-and-tear and professional pay, and says it needs to keep these professionals on its vendor panel.
What the notice does not say
It does not give an effective date or summarize the testimony from the Sept. 23 hearing. It also doesn’t estimate how much more large electrical jobs will pay without the cap.
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Details as filed. Verify times and locations before attending.
