We built this page to help you plan — not to sell you a number. Below you’ll find independently published cost benchmarks for the Fort Myers market, the actual Lee County permit fees a bathroom remodel triggers, how the county’s permit process works, and the flood-zone code rules that matter on the coast. Every figure names its source inline, and our own planning ranges are labeled as modeled estimates, not quotes. Precision Bathrooms is a veteran-owned, family-operated remodeler working out of North Fort Myers.
The most widely cited independent benchmark for remodeling costs is an annual survey of real project costs and estimated resale values by metro market. For the Fort Myers, Florida market, a midrange bathroom remodel had a typical job cost of $26,113 and recouped 75.8% of that cost at resale, according to the Remodeling 2025 Cost vs. Value Report (www.costvsvalue.com). That recoup rate ran close to the South Atlantic regional average of 75.3% and a little under the national average of 80% for the same project.
Scope moves the number sharply. In the same Fort Myers data, an upscale bathroom remodel carried a typical job cost of $80,449 while recouping 42.5% — a reminder that higher-end finishes and larger scopes recover a smaller share at resale. Adding a bathroom rather than remodeling an existing one is a different project again: a midrange bathroom addition ran a typical job cost of $59,424 and recouped 54.9% in the Fort Myers market. Nationally, that same bathroom addition recouped 53.3%.
Read these as directional market context, not a quote for your home. They describe typical surveyed projects across the metro, not your specific bathroom, plumbing condition, or finish choices — which is what our own planning ranges further down the page, and ultimately a written in-home estimate, are for.
A bathroom remodel that touches plumbing, electrical, or structure needs a Lee County building permit. These are the current, in-force fee lines for a residential (one- and two-family) remodel, quoted directly from the county’s published fee manual. They cover the permit — not labor or materials — and most bathroom jobs fall in the “minor” (2,500 sq ft or under) inspection tier.
| Permit / review item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Building permit — Remodeling Only | |
| Plan Review (Initial) | $50 |
| Plan Review (Resubmission) | $25 |
| Regulatory Review (Initial / Resubmission) | $25 / $25 |
| Inspection, minor scope — Structural / Electrical / Mechanical / Plumbing (each, per required inspection) | $50 |
| Inspection, minor scope — Roofing (per required inspection) | $100 |
| Trade sub-permits (each covers up to 6 fixtures/units, up to 2 inspections) | |
| Plumbing (PLU) — Plan Review / Inspections | $25 / $75 |
| Electrical (ELE) — Plan Review / Inspections | $35 / $75 |
| Mechanical (MEC) — Plan Review / Inspections | $25 / $75 |
| Administrative (per application) | |
| Application Fee | $50 |
| Technology Fee | $35 |
| Operational Support Fee (% of review + inspection fees; capped 5%/yr) | 0% at launch |
Source: Lee County External Fees and Charges Manual (Building Permit Fees, Exhibit EX 2-3, revision effective 04-15-2026; cover dated May 2026), retrieved 2026-07-10. A Notice of Commencement is required on jobs of $5,000 or more (Lee County Residential Building Guide, updated 12/23/2025). Jurisdiction note: these figures are for unincorporated Lee County. Many “Fort Myers” mailing addresses sit in the unincorporated county, but properties inside the City of Fort Myers or City of Cape Coral limits are billed on those cities’ own schedules, which price bathroom remodels through their permit calculators rather than a flat published line — confirm your jurisdiction before assuming these fees apply.
A bathroom remodel that adds no square footage is an “alteration to the primary structure” under Lee County’s rules. Here is the county’s own documented path, from application to certificate — the part we handle for you under our contractor license.
Source: Lee County Residential Building — Application and Permitting Guide (last updated 12/23/2025), retrieved 2026-07-10.
Two code realities matter more in Southwest Florida than almost anywhere else, and both can change what a bathroom remodel involves before a single tile is set.
Florida is currently on the Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023), effective December 31, 2023. It remains the enforceable edition — the 9th Edition (2026) does not take effect until December 31, 2026, so permits applied for before that date follow the 8th Edition.
If your home is in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area (an A or V zone) and a remodel’s cost equals or exceeds 50% of the structure’s market value (before improvements), it counts as a “substantial improvement” and must be brought into full flood compliance.
In practice, tripping the 50% threshold can require elevation improvements — for example, mechanical equipment raised above the Base Flood Elevation plus Lee County’s local freeboard. Homeowners near the line can submit a contractor-signed detailed cost breakdown to formally determine whether a specific project crosses it. This is exactly the kind of thing we flag early, before scope and budget are locked in, so there are no surprises mid-project.
Sources: Florida Building Commission / ICC adoption calendar (8th Edition 2023 in force; 9th Edition effective 12-31-2026). Lee County “50% Rule: Substantial Improvement / Substantial Damage” floodplain page, retrieved 2026-07-10. Scoped to unincorporated Lee County; the City of Fort Myers and City of Cape Coral each administer their own floodplain programs under the same federal NFIP rule.
We’d rather show you a small honest number than a big vague one. So here is exactly what our own inquiry records say — and how much they say.
With a sample this size, we’re only comfortable publishing themes — not percentages, and not a breakdown by project type, because each of those sub-groups is too small to report responsibly. Here is what the calls consistently showed:
Ranges reflect common Southwest Florida scopes and finishes for planning only. Higher-end finishes, structural or layout changes, and extensive existing-condition repairs can move a project above these ranges. Every Precision estimate is written and itemized for your specific bathroom.
We hold this page to a simple rule: every number names where it came from, and we label what kind of data it is. Four kinds appear here — real public data (government fee and code sources), survey benchmarks (an independent third-party report), our own first-party records, and our own modeled planning estimates. Nothing here is a quote for your project.
Writers, agents, and homeowners are welcome to reference this page. Please cite it as:
Cost benchmarks on this page are quoted from the Remodeling 2025 Cost vs. Value Report (© 2025 Zonda Media, a Delaware Corporation; complete data downloadable free at www.costvsvalue.com) and should be attributed to that report, not to Precision Bathrooms. Permit and code figures should be attributed to their original Lee County and Florida Building Commission sources listed in the methodology above. Precision’s modeled planning ranges are estimates, not quotes.
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Next step
Use this page to prepare, then request a free, written, itemized estimate built around your actual bathroom, plumbing, access needs, and finishes — from one licensed local crew, start to finish.
