Short answer: on a $750,000 remodel that changes structure but adds no floor area, Bellevue’s fee estimator gives $14,919.50 for the building permit, as of 13 October 2026. That is an estimate, and the city says so: the actual fees, which may be more than the estimated amount, are set after you apply. The estimator shows no effective date or version, so I cannot tell you which fee schedule it applies. It leaves out electrical, mechanical and plumbing lines and any land use or tree review your lot needs, which I add below.

Piper Cole designs and administers construction; it does not build. I quote a fixed fee for design and permit, set by project budget and location, about $10,000 to $200,000 depending on scope. The city’s fees are a separate line, and so is construction. Bellevue’s fee tables sit in an ordinance I could not open, so I ran the city’s own estimator at many values and checked the arithmetic against itself. These are estimator outputs, not the adopted fee schedule. Every dollar figure below is a result from that tool or a city page, read on 13 October 2026. The city says fees are reviewed annually and updated on January 1, so confirm the current amounts with the city before you budget.

How Bellevue sets the building fee

Bellevue charges in two payments. The city’s fee page says submittal fees are paid at application and cover plan review and administration, and issuance fees are paid when the permit and approved plans issue and generally cover inspection and administration, and may include impact fees where applicable. Either kind can be a flat fee or a deposit. The page points to the city’s fee ordinance, Ordinance 6879, for the full 2026 fees. That code site refused my automated reader, and I did not work around it, so I have not read the ordinance text. What follows comes from the city’s estimator.

For a remodel with structural work the estimate runs in four steps.

1. You give the city a construction value.
2. The city turns it into a building inspection fee, an issuance charge.
3. The plan review fee, listed as the Building Review Estimate Fee, is 65 percent of the inspection fee, give or take a dollar, and is due at application.
4. Flat lines are added: a $304 land use review fee and a $53 operations fee at application, and the $6.50 state building code fee at issuance.

The inspection fee grows with value in two stages. Reading across the estimator’s results, it rises $10.77 for each added $1,000 between $100,000 and $1,000,000, and $6.39 for each added $1,000 between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000. These are the city’s figures at the values I tested:

Check the slope yourself: ($11,515 − $6,130) ÷ 500 thousands = $10.77, and ($17,905 − $11,515) ÷ 1,000 thousands = $6.39. Plan review was 65 percent of the inspection fee at every value I tried, within a dollar.

How Bellevue values a remodel

The estimator asks for the “prevailing fair market value of the materials, labor, and equipment needed to complete the work.” Its remodel result carries a note: the value the reviewer calculates may differ from yours. I could not find which valuation table a Bellevue reviewer uses, so I cannot say how the city tests a low number. Bring your builder’s bid and ask the city in writing whether overhead and profit count.

Do not confuse this with the nonconforming house test in the zoning code, which can compare the value of alterations over a three year window with the replacement value of the house. That is a zoning question, not a fee question. My comparison of Eastside remodel thresholds covers it, and the Bellevue zoning guide covers setbacks, height and floor area.

Worked example: a $750,000 remodel

Assumptions: one house, structural work inside it, no added floor area (permit type BU, “Single Family Remodel Plan Review”), a $750,000 value, no electrical, mechanical or plumbing counts yet. The city’s remodel page describes this permit as any structural change within an existing dwelling that does not increase the area. The arithmetic:

Check: at $749,000 the city returns $8,811 and at $751,000 $8,833, which is $11 per $1,000 once cents are dropped, matching $10.77. And $14,919.50 ÷ $750,000 = 0.0199, about 1.99 percent. The same at other values, from the city’s results:

If the same $750,000 adds floor area, it becomes an addition (BR) and the estimate rises. The land use review fee goes from $304 to $1,216 and a $367 utilities review fee appears, so the total is $14,919.50 + $912 + $367 = $16,198.50. Choosing clear and grade review for the addition adds a $145 review fee and a $149 inspection fee, for $16,492.50. For comparison only, my Seattle fee guide works $13,885.40 for Seattle’s building permit and plan review lines on the same value, including its technology fee and state surcharge. The two are not like for like: the cities value work differently, and Bellevue adds a land use review fee and an operations fee.

Electrical, mechanical and plumbing

The city’s remodel page says the BU permit also includes electrical work except temporary power, mechanical work except fire protection, and plumbing. The estimator charges them as separate lines, electrical by the value of the electrical work and mechanical and plumbing by count. Amounts I read from the estimator:

To see the combined effect I assumed $60,000 of electrical work, one furnace, one heat pump, four fans and 12 plumbing fixtures. These counts are mine, not the city’s, and your plans set the real ones. Electrical is $2,053.78. Mechanical is $59 + $59 + (4 × $34) = $254. Plumbing is $50 + (11 × $17.34) = $240.74. Together $2,548.52, so the building total moves from $14,919.50 to $17,468.02, which the estimator confirms.

The estimator warns your scope may need a stand-alone MEP permit. The city’s processing report shows the time: plan review of alterations took a median of 15 days for electrical, 48 for mechanical and 18 for plumbing in the year to 12 October 2026.

Land use, critical areas, shoreline and trees

None of the $14,919.50 covers these. They apply only if your lot or scope triggers them, and several are deposits, meaning the city charges its review hours against the amount and bills monthly if it runs out. Each figure is the estimator’s result for that permit type.

Trees carry a second charge. The city’s fee-in-lieu schedule lists a tree replacement fee of $1,381.69 per tree credit for 2026. That page does not say when it applies, so I cannot say whether your project would pay it. The review targets above come from the city’s review timelines page. The shoreline exemption guide covers that path on the water.

Impact fees and what I could not confirm

The transportation impact fee for a single family dwelling is $8,185 for 2026, under Ordinance 6888, according to the city’s rate sheet, and it rises 3 percent each January unless council decides otherwise. The city’s estimator asks about impact fees in its new house paths: one new single family unit at $750,000 returns $31,747.50, including an $8,185 impact fee. The remodel (BU) and addition (BR) estimators have no impact fee input and show no impact fee line. That shows what the tool does, not what the code requires, because I could not read the impact fee chapter. If your remodel creates a dwelling unit, such as an accessory dwelling unit, ask the city in writing.

What I could and could not confirm:

Review tracks and the city’s published times

Bellevue publishes first review targets on its timelines page and actual results in a processing report. The report below covers permits completed from 12 October 2025 to 12 October 2026, excluding over-the-counter types.

The report does not say how it counts days, and the city says actual times vary. The window rolls, so numbers shift. My Bellevue hire page quotes the same tracks from the city’s 5 October report, so its medians differ slightly. The BU median covers every structural remodel the city finished, from a moved header to a large scope, so a whole house scope should not assume 13 days. If your plan adds area I plan on the BR row.

Permit fees, my fee and construction cost

A remodel budget has three lines, and city fees are the smallest.

If your construction budget is $750,000 and the city accepts it, the building line is about 1.99 percent of it: $14,919.50 ÷ $750,000 = 0.0199. My fee is quoted separately, once the scope is agreed. Design to permit submission typically takes 2 to 4 months. The contract with your builder should say in writing whether permit fees sit inside the bid or outside it. The application steps are in my Bellevue building permit guide.

What to ask before you apply

• What value will the city use? Bring the bid or contract, and ask whether builder overhead and profit count.
• Is my scope a BU or a BR? Added floor area changes the permit, the fee and the review time.
• Does my scope need a stand-alone electrical, mechanical or plumbing permit? The estimator warns it may.
• Does my lot trigger land use, critical area, shoreline or tree review? Each adds lines.
• Does any impact fee apply? Get the answer in writing.
• Who pays the city? Put it in the builder’s contract.

Questions