Chicago
Chicago Department of Buildings
In short
Chicago Department of Buildings issues 4 permits we publish for Chicago, last verified 2026-09-04. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Contractor Licenseonly if it applies to you | Chicago Department of Buildings | $300–$3,500 a year, by class — Class E (up to $500,000 in work) $300 up to Class A (unlimited project value) $3,500 | 1 year | 2026-09-04 |
| Sign Permitonly if it applies to you | Chicago Department of Buildings | A zoning review fee of $200 for an on-premise sign or $500 for an off-premise one, plus a separate building department review fee by sign size — $50 under 50 square feet, rising in bands to $1,000 for 500 square feet or more. | per sign | 2026-09-04 |
| Certificate of Occupancyonly if it applies to you | Chicago Department of Buildings | No fee | issued once per qualifying project — not a recurring license | 2026-09-04 |
| Commercial Building Permitonly if it applies to you | Chicago Department of Buildings | Floor area multiplied by a construction factor of $0.23 to $1.06 per square foot, set by occupancy group and construction type, multiplied again by a scope-of-review factor of 0.25 to 1.25 — subject to a minimum fee, typically $2,450 to $3,650 for an initial tenant build-out depending on occupancy group, with an overall floor of $602 on any commercial permit. | one-time, per project | 2026-09-04 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
General Contractor License
Unlike almost every other Chicago business license, which runs two years, this one renews annually. Liability insurance scales with the class — $5,000,000 per occurrence for Class A down to $1,000,000 for Class E — and the license automatically deactivates if that insurance policy lapses. Issued by the Department of Buildings rather than BACP, and administered through a third-party firm, Continental Testing Services.
Sign Permit
A sign over 100 square feet or taller than 24 feet above ground needs a City Council order on top of the standard permit.
Certificate of Occupancy
No fee — there is no standalone issuance charge, because the cost sits inside the building permit fee itself. Required for construction or substantial alteration of more than 10,000 square feet of non-residential space, any change of occupancy, or construction or rehabilitation of assembly, educational, institutional or hazardous occupancy space regardless of size — which reaches every child day care center other than a small home-based one.
Commercial Building Permit
This multi-factor formula genuinely resists reduction to one number — the city itself provides an official online calculator rather than a simple printed table, because the answer depends on occupancy classification, construction type, exact square footage and scope all at once.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Chicago
- Phone
- (312) 744-3449
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- Chicago DOB — building permit fee calculator and fee tableChicago Department of Buildings · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Chicago DOB — certificate of occupancy, when requiredChicago Department of Buildings · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Chicago DOB — general contractor license, calendar year 2026 fee tableChicago Department of Buildings · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Chicago DOB — sign permit zoning and building review feesChicago Department of Buildings · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
Other offices serving Chicago
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
Industry permit lists that include this agency
Illinois jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.