New Construction Utility Costs (2026): From Plat to Meter Set

On a new single-family home, official water and sewer charges alone usually run $5,000 to $15,000 and can pass $17,000. In Denver they total $17,576 on a 7,000-square-foot lot once the permit, tap, meter and inspection fees are counted (Denver Water, July 1, 2026). The money is not due in one bill. Capacity or impact fees are locked in at plat or collected at the building permit. Tap, meter and inspection charges come when the service goes in, and deposits come when the account opens. Electric and gas are priced separately by their own utilities. Who writes each check depends on whether a developer, a builder or the owner controls that stage.

This guide follows a lot from subdivision plat to the day the meter spins, with the fees each stage triggers and the traps that change the amount.

The timeline at a glance

Typical order for a detached home on public water and sewer. Your utility may combine or reorder steps.

Stage 1–2: plat and subdivision

In a new subdivision, the developer designs and pays for the water and sewer mains, and often installs a service stub to each lot. Those costs are baked into the lot price. What the developer usually does not pay is the per-house capacity fee, which is collected later from whoever pulls the building permit.

The plat can matter as much as the permit. Austin Water picks its Capital Recovery Fee table by plat recording date: a lot on a plat recorded on or after October 1, 2023 pays $4,800 water plus $2,900 wastewater per service unit, while a 2018–2023 plat pays $4,700 plus $2,500 (Austin Water rates and fees). SAWS applies its current impact fees to plats recorded on or after July 1, 2024 (SAWS meter size chart, July 2024). Under Texas Local Government Code Chapter 395, impact fees are generally assessed at plat and collected later.

Building during main construction can also save money. Charlotte Water takes 10% off its connection fee for a 5/8-inch water or 4-inch sewer service installed while the main is being built. On a lot the developer has already served, Charlotte charges no connection fee at all: the house pays the two system development fees and a $208 meter charge, or $6,727 in FY2027 (Charlotte Water FY2027).

Stage 3–4: application and building permit

This is where most of the money moves. Many utilities invoice capacity fees with the building permit or require proof of payment before the permit is released:

• Orange County, Florida collects its $2,790 water and $5,270 wastewater capital charges per ERU at building permit (Orange County Utilities).
• Tucson won’t release a building permit until the Pima County sewer connection fee is paid: $4,443 for FY2026-27 (Pima County Code 13.20.600).
• Sacramento adds its water and sewer development fees to the building permit invoice (City of Sacramento, FY2026-27).
• Nashville requires the water capacity charge before the service connection permit (Metro Code 15.20).
• Colorado Springs Utilities requires the building permit within 120 days of paying development charges, or you re-apply at the rates then in effect (CSU tariff).

Fix the meter size before this stage. A plumbing design that calls for a 1-inch meter, often because of a residential fire sprinkler system, can multiply capacity fees. In Fort Worth the FY2026 impact fees are $5,504 for a 5/8-inch meter and $13,760 for 1-inch (Fort Worth Water).

Stage 5: tap and service installation

Either the utility makes the tap for a fee or a licensed contractor does it under a permit. The two routes can differ by thousands of dollars on the utility invoice, but the contractor route moves that cost into your plumbing bid rather than eliminating it.

• Raleigh Water charges $5,756 for a 3/4-inch water tap and $5,155 for a 4-inch sewer tap when the city installs them, and won’t tap across divided roads or streets 45 feet or wider (FY2027 Development Fee Guide).
• McKinney’s 1-inch water tap is $1,450 as a tap only, $1,950 with pavement repair and $2,775 with bore and pavement (City of McKinney, Oct. 1, 2025).
• Fort Worth does not allow taps in pavement less than two years old, and its tap fees are charged on top of impact fees and plumbing permits (Fort Worth City Code).
• In San Antonio, private contractors normally install services under a SAWS water connection permit; SAWS estimates $1,400 for a 3/4-inch service on the same side of the street and $2,100 across it (SAWS Utility Service Regulations 2024).

Lead times matter to the build schedule. Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management requires meters to be paid in full before installation and cites roughly 15 weeks (DWM meter purchases). Order early. The private side, from the property line to the house, is priced in water service line cost and sewer lateral cost.

Stage 6–7: inspections and meter set

Inspections are small line items but they gate everything else: nothing gets backfilled, and no meter gets set, until they pass. Examples from 2026 schedules: Houston charges $100.71 for a water meter inspection, $34.50 for a sewer tap permit and $53.71 for the plumbing sewer connection (City of Houston fee schedule). Salt Lake City charges $120 for a new meter install inspection and $170 for a sewer lateral inspection (SLC FY2027).

Meter charges are typically a few hundred dollars: $265 for a 5/8-inch meter at Denver Water, $510 for a 3/4-inch meter set in McKinney, $290 for a 5/8-inch meter in Raleigh. Frisco sets meters under 2 inches, usually the next business day, but charges a $100 not-ready fee if the site isn’t ready when the crew arrives (City of Frisco meter sets). Our national estimate for a meter set is $200–$500. See water meter installation cost.

A full example: one house in Denver, stage by stage

Single-family home inside Denver, 7,000-square-foot lot, 5/8-inch meter, application paid after July 1, 2026. Official charges only.

Sources: Denver Water other fees ($185 tap, $41 stub-in, $265 meter, $155 inspection; no effective date printed) and the 2026 Denver sewer permit fees (effective January 1, 2026). On a lot in the Denver Water service area outside the city, the SDC base is $4,740 plus $1.42 per square foot. Denver Water offers a 20% SDC credit for projects that cut water use by at least 20%.

Who pays: developer, builder or buyer

• Tract or spec home. The developer pays for mains and stubs; the builder pays capacity, tap and meter charges at permit and includes them in the sale price. The buyer usually pays only the deposit and account fee.
• Custom home on your lot. The owner pays everything, directly or through the builder. Ask whether the contract lists utility fees as a fixed price or an allowance, and who absorbs a fee increase between contract and permit.
• Owner-builder. You pay every utility invoice yourself, so collect each schedule before you finalize the budget.

Unpaid fees can follow the property. Nashville’s code makes unpaid tap and capacity fees a lien, and its 36-month no-interest payment plan excludes single-family developments (Metro Code 15.20).

Electric and gas on the same timeline

Electric service runs in parallel. Apply early with the panel size and meter location. The utility will specify the meter base, conduit and trench. If a line extension or transformer is required, it needs design lead time. Gas service is usually requested once the house location is fixed; many gas utilities set the meter and a short service at no charge, and our national estimate for a gas meter set is $0–$900. Details: cost to run power to property and gas line connection cost.

Stage 8: move-in

The last charges are small: El Paso Water takes a $75 deposit for a single-family home, SAWS $100, and Charleston Water System $35 each to open water and sewer accounts. Keep the tap receipts, meter numbers and as-built drawings of your service lines; you will want them for warranty claims and future repairs.

Related guides

Utility connection cost calculator · tap fees by city · cost to bring utilities to land · tap fee vs impact fee · water tap fee · sewer tap fee · Denver tap fees · Fort Worth tap fees

Frequently asked questions