The Fort Worth city council, at its Tuesday meeting, adopted an ordinance to amend the Fort Worth Building Administrative Code, and to update the building permit fees for residential remodel work in all council districts.
The Texas Legislature recently passed House Bill 852, which prohibits a municipality from determining the amount of a building permit or inspection fee required in connection with the construction or improvement of a residential dwelling, based upon (a) the value of the dwelling, or (b) the cost of constructing or improving the dwelling. It also states that a city may not require the disclosure of information related to the value of or cost of constructing or improving a residential dwelling as a condition of obtaining a building permit, except as required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program.
The city of Fort Worth had been assessing building permit fees for residential remodels based upon the value of the remodel. The amendment to the building code will change the way residential remodel building permit fees are determined to a flat fee based upon the number of trades involved in the project. Each trade involved will incur a $100 flat fee, which will pay for the plans exam and inspections for that project.
For example, a simple project with one trade (such as plumbing) will incur a flat fee of $100. A more complicated project with building, mechanical, electrical and plumbing work will be assessed a flat fee of $400.
