What is the typical circuit ampacity for a 5 ton HVAC, 230 volt, outside compressor? I am submitting an electrical rule change for Washington to allow an 5 ton unit to be replaced an a lower cost type of permit.
My take from this is that you are trying to lower the cost of permit/inspection for the installation of this particular unit.
Does it cost more for your inspectors to inspect a 3 ton unit than it cost to inspect a 5 ton unit?
My point is if it cost more for a permit for each why is that? Inspectors are going to look for same things in either case - proper conductor ampacity, proper overcurrent protection, proper application of wiring methods and spend about the same amount of time if everything is otherwise the same. The fact that one unit only needed 10 AWG conductors and another needed 4 AWG or even 4/0 AWG did not make it any more labor intensive to inspect. In fact the one supplied with 4/0 may have been at grade level and the 10 AWG may have been on a rooftop and it took him more time to do the one on the roof just because of location and not size.
Not singling out you but just saying the basis of determining permit fees may not necessarily be fair in some cases. And that may be your agenda to straighten out some of the fees.
It is not easy to set these fees - there will always be cases where inspector is on a site longer than others and fees collected based on the time he spent there just don't seem right. This is especially true when the fee is based on the value of what is inspected. Those instances I feel are most unfair. I can connect a very expensive piece of equipment with a supply that just takes a few minutes for him to inspect and then take him to the new house for inspection and spend a lot more time looking at simple little things on a permit that was not nearly as costly to purchase.
Biggest difference between cost of permits here is number of branch circuits applied for. About the fairest way I have seen/heard of.