Make fixed fees/taps and approval workflow legible as major affordability drivers. Focus on time, rework, resubmittals, and predictability - not just fee totals.
Builds on: A1 (cost elements), A2 (land and entitlement) · Leads to: A9 (financing and risk), A10 (process reform) · Cross-series: P3 Loads on Buildings
P/A bridge: Submittal quality drives review speed - fewer unclear load assumptions means fewer review cycles and fewer field changes.
By the numbers
Per-unit development fees vary more than 6x across cities: $11,746 in Los Angeles to $75,158 in Fremont - proving fees are policy choices, not cost floors. [Terner Center 2018]
Each additional month of permitting delay adds ~$4,400 per unit (~1% of cost). [White House CEA 2024]
Oakland's impact fees tripled from $8,500 to $28,800 in just two years. Only 28% of California localities post their fee studies online. [Terner Center 2019]
Core Concepts
Fixed fees hit smaller/entry-level products hardest. Can identify which fixed charges break feasibility for small units.
Process cycles and rework add cost via delay. Can track cycles/resubmittals as financial variables.
Predictability is often the highest-leverage lever. Can prioritize reforms that reduce variance and cycle time.
Cost Elements
Permits & local fees (B03-Permits) - Permit, review, and impact fees hit entry-level products hardest. Multiple plan check cycles add review fees and consultant costs.
Risk: Fixed fees treated as "small" can kill the margin on lower-price products.
AF: B03 - CRO-PERMIT_FEES
Utility fees (B04-Utilities) - Water/sewer taps, raw water - large fixed charges that often don't scale with actual demand. Costs vary widely by jurisdiction.
Risk: Flat tap fees disproportionately increase cost of small or efficient homes.
AF: B04 - CRO-UTILITY_FEES
Submit - Review - Comments - Resubmit - (repeat) - Permit - Inspections. Each loop adds weeks of delay. Two resubmittals on a $400K project at 8% interest ~ $2-4K in carry alone.
Barriers & Levers
CRO-PERMIT_FEES
MULTIPLE_PLAN_CHECKS - Multiple plan check cycles add review fees and consultant costs. Building dept.
UNSCALED_FEES - Permit fees not scaled by unit size; small units pay the same as large. Municipality
VALUATION_BASED_FEES - Valuation-based fees penalize high-performance buildings. Building dept.
CRO-UTILITY_FEES
FLAT_TAP_FEES - Flat tap fees disproportionately increase cost of small/efficient homes. Utilities
DEMAND_MISMATCH - Tap fees not tied to actual demand; overcharges low-demand housing. Utilities
INDIVIDUAL_METERS - Per-unit meter requirement increases installation and tap costs. Utilities