Building permits in Madison, Wisconsin
Of the 10 common home projects we have verified in Madison, 4 need a permit outright and 4 depend on size or scope. Click any project for the full rule, fee, and how to apply.
By Mario Bailey Last checked · 2 official sources
Verified against official sources- Project types verified
- 10
- in Madison
2 things Madison does not make you permit
Worth knowing before you call anyone. Most jurisdictions we cover require all of these.
- Fence Permit
Never for the fence itself. Madison's zoning height, placement, materials and vision-triangle rules still apply and are enforced without a permit, so Zoning review is the step to take instead.
- Patio Permit
Never for an at-grade patio itself. Zoning is still the contact of record for patio questions, and adjacent work such as a driveway, a parking slab or land disturbance is permitted separately.
City of Madison Building Inspection Division, Department of Planning and Community and Economic Development
- 215 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Suite 017, Madison, WI 53703
- Phone: 608-266-4551
- Email: binspection@cityofmadison.com
- Official permit page
- Permit portal
- Official fee schedule
Look up a permit in Madison
Madison permit records are public, and you can check a property's permit history by address or permit number online.
What needs a permit in Madison
Of the 10 common home projects we have verified in Madison, 4 need a permit outright and 4 depend on size or scope. Click any project for the full rule, fee, and how to apply.
| Project | Permit needed? | Threshold | Typical fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deck Permit | Permit required | Any size | The deck page states: "The permit fee for most decks under 250 square feet is $75." The... |
| Electrical Permit | It depends | Before starting any electrical installation, wiring, alteration or change other than... | ...And Special Fees (repealed and recreated by ORD-21-00026, 3-26-21): "$25.00 first... |
| Fence Permit | No permit needed | Exempt | No fence permit is issued, so there is no permit fee |
| HVAC Permit | It depends | Before installing, altering, repairing or replacing a furnace, boiler, central air... | ...by ORD-21-00016, 3-8-21): "Replacement Heating Equipment: Up to 100,000 BTU... |
| Patio Permit | No permit needed | Exempt | No patio permit is issued, so there is no permit fee |
| Plumbing Permit | It depends | Before starting any plumbing work, other than minor repairs to part of an existing... | amended by ORD-21-00041, 6-14-21): "$8.00 per fixture Minimum Fee $25.00", where water... |
| Pool Permit | Permit required | Any size | "Private in-the-ground swimming pools: $25.00 each permit" (MGO 29.09(3)(a), Group IV... |
| Roof Replacement Permit | Permit required | Any size | "Alterations and repairs to existing structures: $11.00 for each $1,000 value or... |
| Shed Permit | It depends | shed or accessory building floor area; heated sheds and sheds within ten feet of dwelling units on the property need a permit at any size | ...a single or two family residential building: $.06 per sq. ft., Minimum fee $25.00"... |
| Solar Permit | Permit required | Any size | "Solar panels or collector system: $21.00 each permit" (MGO 29.09(3)(a), Group IV |
Planning a project in Madison?
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Madison permit fees compared with nearby Wisconsin localities
| Wisconsin locality | Deck Permit | HVAC Permit | Electrical Permit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madison | ...fee for most decks under 250 square feet is $75." The... | ..."Replacement Heating Equipment: Up to 100,000 BTU... | ...and recreated by ORD-21-00026, 3-26-21): "$25.00... |
| Milwaukee | ...at 1.6% of the cost of construction", minimum $150... | ...units and wood-burning appliances are "$55 per unit... | ...and "Most permits have processing fees of $20 or $25... |
Each cell is the opening clause of that Wisconsin jurisdiction's own fee schedule; the full wording and source sit on each permit page.
Madison penalty for work started without a permit
Madison publishes what it charges when work begins before the permit, quoted here from the schedule or permit page we verified.
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Starting without a permit doubles the fee and adds a $100-per-day penalty from the date of the stop work notice.
Madison hvac permit page · last checked
The Wisconsin statute, the after-the-fact permit path and who may pull the permit: building without a permit in Wisconsin.
Madison permit questions, answered from the data
- Do you need a permit in Madison?
- For most projects, yes. Of the 10 permit types we have verified for Madison, 4 always require a permit (for example a deck permit), 4 depend on size or scope (an electrical permit, for instance), and 2 need no permit at all in Madison. Each Madison permit type's page states the exact rule and its source.
- How much does a permit cost in Madison?
- Madison publishes a fee for 10 of the 10 permit types we cover, each quoted on its page from the jurisdiction's own schedule (linked on every page that carries one). Fees are set by City of Madison Building Inspection Division, Department of Planning and Community and Economic Development; we do not estimate or mark them up.
- Where do you apply for a permit in Madison?
- City of Madison Building Inspection Division, Department of Planning and Community and Economic Development issues permits in Madison, with an online portal for applications, plan uploads and status checks, and takes questions at 608-266-4551. The Madison official page and portal are linked in the office section above.
- What is the penalty for building without a permit in Madison?
- Madison publishes its own charge for work started before the permit: Starting without a permit doubles the fee and adds a $100-per-day penalty from the date of the stop work notice. That is the local bill; the Wisconsin statute, the after-the-fact permit path and who may pull the permit are on the Wisconsin building-without-a-permit page.
How the Madison pages were verified. 10 permit types, 8 distinct official sources, most recently checked . Every rule is read from City of Madison Building Inspection Division, Department of Planning and Community and Economic Development or the applicable code and cited on its page; anything we could not confirm for Madison is marked rather than estimated. How we verify.