§ 1101-85. Fees for Permits, Certificates, Licenses, Approvals, and Related Services.

1101-85.1 Fees in General: The Council shall establish by ordinance a schedule of fees for permits, certificates, licenses, approvals, administrative appeals, and related services required under the Cincinnati Building Code, except for those fees described in Section 1101-85.3 and Section 1101-85.4. No permit, certificate, license, or approval shall be issued by the director of buildings and inspections, and no administrative appeal shall be heard, until the fees established under this Section 1101-85 have been paid.

1101-85.2 Assessment of Fees: The director of buildings and inspections is hereby authorized to assess and collect the fees for permits, certificates, licenses, approvals, administrative appeals, and related services required under Cincinnati Building Code. The director of buildings and inspections shall determine the fees that apply to permits, certificates, licenses, approvals and related services and that determination shall be conclusive. The director of buildings and inspections shall render a receipt to a person making payment and the receipt shall state the amount and purpose for which a fee has been paid.

1101-85.3 Ohio Board of Building Standards Surcharge: The director of buildings and inspections shall assess and collect an Ohio Board of Building Standards surcharge fee as required by state law. The director shall remit the surcharge fee as required by state law.

1101-85.4 Outside Inspection Agency Fees: Fees for permits, certificates, licenses, approvals, and related services assessed by outside inspection agencies shall be established and collected by the respective agencies as compensation in full for their services.

1101-85.5 Application Extension Fee: When plans are resubmitted prior to the expiration date under Section 1101-29.5.1, the applicant at the time of re-filing shall pay an application extension for plans reviewed.

1101-85.6 Revision Fee: Revised plans are required when code deficiencies have been identified or when plans are so inadequate that a review cannot occur. All revisions to plans, including revisions to engineering changes, will be assessed a fee.

1101-85.7 Investigation Fee for Work Performed Without a Permit: The director of buildings and inspections shall conduct a special investigation of work performed prior to obtaining one or more permits, certificates, licenses, or approvals required by the Cincinnati Building Code. In connection with the investigation, the director of buildings and inspections shall assess and collect an investigation fee equal to the required permit, certificate, license, or approval fees for the work performed but not to exceed the maximum investigation fee established under this Section 1101-85.1. The investigation fee shall be in addition to the payment of the required fees and any other fees that may later accrue, and no portion of the investigation fee shall be refunded. The payment of the investigation fee shall not relieve any person from fully complying with the requirements of the Cincinnati Building Code in the execution of the work, nor from any other penalty prescribed herein.

1101-85.8 Permit Fees for Wrecking: Permit fees for wrecking buildings shall be based on the total floor area of the building. In computing total floor area, the floor areas of each story (except basement) shall be added together, using outside dimensions. Where a building has a story exceeding 15 feet in height, for the purpose of computing the total floor area, each 15 feet or fraction thereof of such story height shall be considered as a separate floor. A separate permit shall be required for each separate building.

1101-85.9 Fractions: Valuation estimates and area estimates that result in a fraction of the increment used to calculate fees established under this Section 1101-85 shall be rounded up to the next valuation increment or area increment. The following examples demonstrate the application of this rule:

Example 1: If the building permit fee schedule utilizes $1,000.00 increments and the valuation estimate for the work to be performed under the building permit is $3,500.00, the building permit fee shall be calculated based upon a valuation estimate of $4,000.00.

Example 2: If the tent permit fee schedule utilizes 10,000 square foot increments and the area estimate for the tent to be erected under the tent permit is 15,000 square feet, the tent permit fee shall be calculated based upon an area estimate of 20,000 square feet.

(Ordained by Ord. No. 67-1996, eff. Apr. 5, 1996; a. Ord. No. 025-1999, eff. Feb. 22, 1999; a. Ord. No. 128-2000, eff. May 19, 2000; a. Ord. No. 121-2001, eff. May 25, 2001; a. Ord. No. 416-2001, eff. Jan. 18, 2002; a. Ord. No. 404-2004, eff. March 1, 2005; a. Ord. No. 386-2006, § 1, eff. Jan. 20, 2007; a. Ord. No. 0230-2007, § 1, eff. July 20, 2007; a. Ord. No. 445-2008, § 1, eff. Jan. 17, 2009; Emer. Ord. No. 0057-2009, § 1, eff. March 11, 2009; Emer. Ord. 114-2014, § 1, eff. June 4, 2014; Emer. Ord. No. 238-2015, § 33, eff. July 1, 2015)