Chicago prices permits per location per day, and most of what drives the final cost comes from City services, especially police. The rules and rates below are from the Chicago Film Office's pages on chicago.gov, checked on September 14, 2026. The police rates carry a note that they increased on June 8, 2025. Confirm with the office at filmoffice@cityofchicago.org or 312.744.6415 before you budget.
When the City wants a permit
The Film Office's FAQ puts it simply: the City issues permits for filming on the public way, meaning city streets, sidewalks, and other city-owned property. If you'll occupy the public way with equipment or vehicles, or block pedestrian or vehicle traffic, you need one.
Small portable productions that don't impede the public, such as news crews, documentaries, and B-roll, often don't. The student page spells out the B-roll case. You won't need a permit if you use only a handheld camera or a tripod that doesn't block traffic, stand on a public way with no public impact, don't assert exclusive rights to the property, don't need parking for production vehicles, and don't interfere with any public function. Once your shoot includes special effects, prop weapons, or stunts, you need a permit regardless of size.
Private property is between you and the owner. Some places that feel public issue their own permits, and the Film Office names them: the Chicago Park District, Navy Pier, Millennium Park, and the Chicago Transit Authority. Their B-roll rules and rates differ from the City's.
Fees and lead times
Permits are $250 per day, per location. For student films and independent projects that contact the office, the fee drops to $25 per day, per location once the office verifies the project.
Review time depends on scope, with these minimums:
| Request | Minimum review |
|---|---|
| Any permit | 4 full business days |
| Traffic control or drone use | 5 full business days |
| Street closures, stunts, special effects, drones, other high-impact logistics | 10 full business days |
| Chicago Riverwalk | 10 days, with peak-season restrictions |
| Residential Parking Permit zones 201, 244, 738, 1126, and 1189 in the Central Business District | May require at least 5 full business days; call first |
The student page mentions "the minimum of 3 business days" for simple student permits while the main permits page says four. Plan on four.
Ward rules sit on top of that. Permits requiring street closures and more than three blocks of parking in Wards 3, 4, 25, 27, 28, and 42 need 96 hours to be entered into the CDOT system and 72 hours of community notification. All other wards need 72 hours in the CDOT system and 48 hours of notification. On the day I checked, the page also noted a temporary restriction on large-impact filming in Ward 3 because of oversaturation. The office links a map of sensitive areas for location planning; open it before you scout downtown.
The four submissions
The Film Office lists four steps, all required before approval.
- Online application and payment. Create an account on the City's permit portal (ipi.cityofchicago.org), then go to permits and follow the prompts. Enter traffic control times and affected streets on the "Filming Information" page. The "Location Information" page wants street addresses, and the "Additional Information" box is where you give posting times and side of street. You'll get an email when the permit is approved, and the system takes a credit card before it issues the permit.
- City Services Request form. This is how you ask for No Parking sign posting, tow trucks, barricades, police, fire personnel, and how you give notice of special effects or gunfire.
- Certificate of insurance.
- Community notification leaflet.
Steps 2 to 4 go by email to filmoffice@cityofchicago.org with a brief description of the project.
Insurance
The City's minimums:
- General liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $500,000 per person
- Workers' compensation, only when hiring police or fire personnel
- A current certificate submitted before each production
- The City of Chicago as an "additional named insured," listed as City of Chicago, 121 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60602
The office links a sample certificate. Students should request their school's certificate. For how to read what your broker sends back, see certificate of insurance.
The leaflet
The production is fully responsible for notifying and leafleting neighbors. Leaflets go on company letterhead with a business address and phone number and must include:
- "Filming Notice" in the heading
- Production company and project title
- Where No Parking signs will be posted
- Traffic restrictions and street closures
- Special effects or weapons on set, if any
- A production contact name, cell number, and email
Give as much notice as you can, 48 hours at minimum (72 in the wards above). Leaflets go to nearby businesses, homes, and the cars parked in the permitted area. One sequencing rule matters: send the leaflet to the Film Office for review and don't distribute it until the request has been submitted and approved by the Department of Transportation. Productions that leaflet early and then get their parking moved end up leafleting twice. The neighborhood notification entry has a format that covers these fields.
City services and what they cost
From the City Services and Rates page:
| Service | Rate | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Police sergeant | $75 per hour | 6 hours guaranteed, time and a half after 8 |
| Police officer | $65 per hour | 6 hours guaranteed, time and a half after 8 |
| Squad car | $150 per day | Traffic control only, not for picture; travel not in guaranteed hours |
| Fire safety officer | $75 per hour | One per assignment, 6 hours guaranteed, time and a half after 8 |
| Fire engineer or fireman | $65 per hour | 6 hours guaranteed, time and a half after 8 |
| No Parking sign posting | No additional charge | Included in the permit fee |
| Tow truck for relocation | $50 per hour | Arranged through the Film Office only |
| Blue barricades | $5 per day each | $65 each if not returned |
Police are needed for any traffic control on city streets and for special effects or firearms. CPD needs at least 72 hours' notice, not counting weekends and holidays, and for a Monday shoot the request is due by noon the Wednesday before. Late requests are denied. If you cancel a detail less than 24 hours before its start, you pay each assigned officer a 6-hour minimum. The production supplies timecards and pays officers directly; CPD invoices only for squad cars.
Fire supervision is mandatory for special effects, pyrotechnics, wet downs, stunts, and anything that raises a public safety concern.
A worked example
An independent feature shoots three days: Day 1 at a two-flat in Pilsen with an exterior on the block (two locations), Days 2 and 3 at a diner in another ward (one location each day). Day 1 has a driving shot that needs intermittent traffic control, so two officers and a squad car for a 10-hour detail.
| Line | Math | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Permits | 4 location-days x $250 | $1,000 |
| Officers | 8 hours x $65 = $520, plus 2 hours x $97.50 = $195, so $715 each x 2 | $1,430 |
| Squad car | 1 day | $150 |
| Posting | Included | $0 |
| City costs | $2,580 |
If the office verifies it as an independent project, the permit line becomes 4 x $25 = $100 and the total drops to $1,680. A driving shot with traffic control also moves the minimum review from four to five full business days, and the CPD request has to be in 72 weekday hours ahead, so the location manager should submit both at once.
Conduct rules that end up on the call sheet
The Film Office's code of conduct covers the things neighbors call about:
- Production vehicles don't arrive before the permitted time and shut engines off as soon as possible.
- Crew parking on set is prohibited and isn't covered by the permit. The production provides off-street crew parking.
- Only City tow operators, arranged by police or the Film Office, can move parked cars from permitted zones, and only after posting and public notice.
- No blocking hydrants, bus stops, crosswalks, or accessible parking spaces, and no loading zones without the building manager's consent.
- Vehicle traffic control is done only by Chicago police. Pedestrian holds must be brief and courteous, with access to buildings kept open.
- Loud effects such as pyrotechnics and simulated gunfire happen between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., only under police and fire supervision.
- Trash and signage come down at the end of each day. Crew should be ready to show permits and location agreements when asked.
Student permits add one more: they're issued only for filming between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.
Where Storiara fits
Storiara doesn't file permits. On the planning side, its Locations module keeps each location's address on a map, photos, an uploaded parking map, and comments, and the day's call sheet has fields for Crew Park, Basecamp, and Transport Notes where the conduct rules above belong. Illinois's tax credit is covered on the Illinois incentive page.