Everything goes through the portal
Lehi's department page says it plainly: all permit applications must be submitted through the Building Permit Submittal Portal. The Residential Basement Finish checklist on that page lists what the upload has to contain. Complete plans, folded if printed. A floor plan with dimensions. Window locations and window sizes, because the bedroom egress question is answered from those numbers. Notes on the electrical, plumbing and mechanical work. Engineering if the plan calls for it, and a gas piping diagram if gas is involved. A complete application signed by the contractor, with the contractor's license number on it. That last line is worth pausing on: the packet is written for a licensed contractor to file, and the license number is a required field, not a courtesy.
How Lehi arrives at the fee
Lehi does not publish one basement-finish price. Its FY 2026 fee schedule makes the permit valuation-based: the city takes 90 percent of the ICC Building Valuation Data from August 2024 and applies a finished-basement figure of $74.74 per square foot. A 900 square foot finish is therefore valued at roughly $67,300 for fee purposes, and the permit fee is read from the schedule's table against that number. Residential plan review adds 40 percent of the permit fee, the state adds a 1 percent charge on top, and a failed inspection that has to be repeated costs $100. Ask the department for the total for your square footage before signing anything; a written scope from us lists the permit at the city's cost, not marked up.
Inspections are booked by phone, with a day's notice
This is the Lehi rule that catches homeowners and out-of-town crews. To schedule an inspection you call the Building Inspection Office at 385-201-1035. The city's page states that inspections will not be scheduled by voicemail, email or online, and asks for 24 hours' notice for any inspection. Status can be checked afterwards in the iWorQ portal the city links from the same page. In practice that means the crew calls the morning the stage is ready and the inspector comes the next working day. A basement finish stalls in Lehi when nobody owns that phone call; on our jobs the site lead makes it.
What Lehi says about code editions right now
On the department page as of September 2026, Lehi states that its current codes and design criteria have changed and will be posted, and asks callers to phone Inspections with questions. Older copies of the city's code list still circulate on other websites; do not build a plan around them. We design to the International Residential Code as Utah adopts it and confirm the edition with the inspector at the first visit, then write it on the scope so there is no argument at the four-way inspection.
A Lehi production basement, in practice
A lot of Lehi's housing went up after 2000 around Traverse Mountain and the Thanksgiving Point corridor, and a lot of it was delivered with the lower level roughed in by the builder: framing stubbed, a bath drain in the slab, a furnace room already set. Finishing that space is drywall, paint, interior doors, trim and a bath at the existing rough-in, which keeps it non-structural and inside a Utah R101 license. The permit applies all the same, because the space is going from unfinished to living space. Two things decide whether a room can be called a bedroom on the plan: a finished ceiling height of 7 feet and an egress window of the size the inspector measures. We check both on the first visit and say so if the plan cannot meet them.
Who files it when we do the work
When Wasatch Finish finishes a Lehi basement we file the portal application under our R101 license, make the inspection calls, and write both on the quote. Electrical and plumbing rough-ins go to licensed electricians and plumbers, who pull their own permits where Lehi requires them; the split is written on the scope.
Bottom line
In Lehi the application goes through the portal, the fee comes off a $74.74 per square foot valuation, and inspections are booked by phone with a day's notice. Get the window sizes and the ceiling height on the plan before you upload it.
Questions
Can I apply for a Lehi basement permit by email or in person?
No. Lehi's department page states that all permit applications must be submitted through the Building Permit Submittal Portal. The office at 153 North 100 East can answer questions at 385-201-1035, but the application itself goes through the portal.
How much is a basement finish permit in Lehi?
It is set from a valuation, not a flat fee: Lehi values a finished basement at $74.74 per square foot on its FY 2026 schedule, reads the permit fee from that, adds 40 percent for residential plan review and a 1 percent state charge. A reinspection is $100. Ask the department for the total for your square footage.
How do I schedule an inspection in Lehi?
By phone only, at 385-201-1035, with 24 hours' notice. The city says inspections are not scheduled by voicemail, email or online.
