Multi Family Fees

At the November 29th Electrical and Elevator Board meeting, industry stakeholders appeared before the board and informed the board that jurisdictions may not be calculating permit fees for multi-family residences consistently.

The board was asked to clarify whether or not the installation of services feeding multi-family dwelling units should incur a separate fee in addition to the fee calculated under Oregon Administrative Rule (OAR) 918-309-0030(5)(b). After discussion, the board reaffirmed that under OAR 918-309-0030(4)(b) and (5)(b) the installation of services feeding multi-family residential units is included in the fee calculated under OAR 918-309-0030(5)(b) and jurisdictions should not be charging an additional or increased permit fee for the installation of services.

This clarification applies to all jurisdictions in Oregon pursuant to OAR 918-050-0120 Statewide Fee Methodologies for Electrical Permits. Permit fees are required to be calculated consistently by each jurisdiction following methodologies approved by the board and laid out in OAR 918-309-0020 to 918-309-0070.

The board’s clarification applies only to services installed on multi-family residential buildings that provide power to the residential units. It would not, for example, apply to services installed on the commercial portion of a mixed use building that contains both commercial and residential units or to services and circuits installed for general use applications.