Chicago dumpster permit (CDOT Class A/B)
This is the deep clerk sheet for the permit itself. The Chicago rental page already covers the driveway-versus-alley decision in brief, plus sizes, market prices, and who hauls. This page stays on MCC 10-28-799: who holds the permit, when it is required, Class A versus Class B, what the city charges, how the box has to be marked, where it cannot sit, and how to tell a real permit from a shrug.
It will not get you a dumpster. It will not get you three bids. If you are the homeowner, you still do not apply.
Who the permit is on: the provider
MCC 10-28-799(B) makes it unlawful for a provider to place or maintain a dumpster on the public way without a dumpster permit. The code defines “provider” as the person who leases or otherwise provides the dumpster for temporary use at the location requested. That is the hauler. It is not the homeowner, the GC, or the person who called for a box.
The application is made to the commissioner of transportation by the provider. CDOT faxes a copy of the issued permit to the ward superintendent. A valid dumpster permit under this section also covers the Article V-A obstruction permit and the public-way-use permit in 10-28-010. You do not stack those.
Why the homeowner does not apply: no permit issues until the applicant posts both of these, and homeowners do not post them.
- Commercial general liability of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence for bodily injury, personal injury, and property damage, issued by an insurer authorized to insure in Illinois, naming the City of Chicago, its officers, employees, and agents as additional insured on a primary, noncontributory basis, with 30 days’ written notice to the commissioner before lapse, cancellation, or change. The policy stays in force the whole time the box is on the public way. MCC 10-28-799(D).
- A $5,000 letter of credit with CDOT to cover compliance, fees, fines, and restoration of the public way. CDOT gives at least 30 days’ written notice before drawing. MCC 10-28-799(E). The official application PDF requires an irrevocable standby letter of credit naming the City as beneficiary, issued by an insured depository institution, in the city’s form. For the 2026 licensing year the PDF requires expiration at 2:00 p.m. CST on December 31, 2029 (three years past the license year). Original certificate of insurance and LOC go to CDOT, Division of Infrastructure Management, City Hall Room 905, 121 N. LaSalle.
The commissioner may accept some other form of indemnity instead, on good cause. That is a CDOT discretion, not a homeowner workaround.
The application packet is in two parts. Part 1 is the provider’s license file (company, ownership, insurance, letter of credit). It is submitted once and kept on file. Part 2 is the individual drop (2A for ordinary fee permits; 2B for non-fee / city-contract work). You cannot file Part 2 if you are not a provider on file.
When required vs not
The official application PDF says it in the first paragraph: companies providing dumpsters occupying the public way need the permit under 10-28-799. This permit is not necessary if the dumpster is being placed on private property; however, other permits may apply.
Private property — no CDOT dumpster permit
Driveway, garage pad, fenced yard, private lot. Tell the dispatcher “private property” and watch that they do not roll it into the alley “to be closer.” The alley is public way.
Public way — permit required before the drop
Alley, curb lane, parkway, sidewalk. The provider must hold the permit before the box occupies the public way. You do not pull it.
Parkway and sidewalk are not a free alternative to a tight alley. MCC 10-28-799(I)(7): no dumpster on any parkway or sidewalk unless the provider demonstrates to CDOT that an alternative location is not feasible and that the placement would not create a safety hazard, disrupt pedestrian or vehicular traffic, or damage public or private property.
This sheet is the roll-off / construction-debris dumpster permit. It is not the commercial refuse container (CRC) program for the ordinary alley trash box, and it is not a grease-container or refuse-compactor permit. Those are different articles of the code.
Class A vs Class B — volume, not length
The class is cubic yards of capacity. A short 30-yard and a long 30-yard are the same class. A 40-yard is not.
| Class | Capacity | Usual boxes |
|---|---|---|
| Class A | 30 cubic yards or less | 10, 20, 30 yard (and the occasional 15) |
| Class B | Greater than 30 cubic yards | 40 yard |
The application has to state six things: provider name / address / phone; number of dumpsters at the spot; class; street address adjacent to the drop; intended use; intended period of occupancy. MCC 10-28-799(C).
- Larger class, or more time: amendment to the existing permit, plus the adjusted fee. Going from a 30-yard (A) to a 40-yard (B), or stretching a 3-day into a month, is an amendment. The code’s amendment language is “a larger class,” not a smaller one.
- Change of count, street address, or intended use: new permit. Those are items (2), (4), and (5) on the application.
- Exception — hydrant or other object blocking the original address: amendment of the address, no extra fee. The PDF repeats this: if a hydrant or other impediment kills the permitted site, the provider may amend the location at no additional charge. If the customer refuses delivery or the job is canceled before delivery, the provider returns the permit with a cancellation request.
The holder of a monthly permit may ask CDOT to cut it back to a three-day permit (and the three-day fee) by emailing cdotpermitsupport@cityofchicago.org if the permit has not been paid for. Same inbox for a cancellation credit.
Usage fees — statutory; same dollars on alley, curb, parkway, sidewalk
Usage is written into MCC 10-28-799(G). It is not CPI. The 2025 schedule and the 2026 schedule print the same dollars. There is no 2026 gap on usage.
| Class | 1–3 days | More than 3 days (monthly) | Inside the CBD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class A (≤30 cy) | $50 | $100 / month | Double: $100 / $200 |
| Class B (>30 cy) | $100 | $200 / month | Double: $200 / $400 |
Alley, curb lane, parkway, and sidewalk are the same dollar amounts. The surface does not change the usage fee. The class, the duration, and whether you are inside the CBD do.
A typical 7-day residential rental is monthly usage, not the 3-day rate, because 7 exceeds 3. A 20-yard in a South Side alley for a week is Class A monthly: $100 usage, plus the application fee. A 40-yard is Class B. The city’s 3-day clock is not the hauler’s 7-day rental clock.
If the box occupies a metered space, meter disable / removal charges under MCC 9-68-050 stack on top of dumpster usage. Those are a different line.
Application fee — 2025 official, 2026 city PDF, aggregator flag
Two charges stack. Usage is the code. The application fee is a one-time processing charge the Commissioner sets. MCC 10-28-799(G) (current text) automatically increases that application fee each January 1 in proportion to CPI (as defined in 10-29-040), up to 2.5 percent in any one year, or by an amount the Commissioner determines is supported by the cost of administering the permit. The Commissioner has to publish it.
The last two official CDOT Permit Fee Schedules BinClerk opened on chicago.gov:
| Location | 2025 official schedule | 2026 official schedule (eff. 1 Jan 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Residential street | $22.05 | $22.60 |
| Arterial street | $55.13 | $56.51 |
| Central Business District | $90.37 | $92.63 |
Full closure and partial closure print the same application fee on both schedules. The 2026 figures are a 2.5 percent bump from 2025, which is the code’s CPI cap.
Aggregator flag. Some 2026 third-party pages quote $22.60 / $56.51 / $92.63. Those blogs are not official. They happened to match the city PDF this year; that does not make the blog the schedule. Do not treat an aggregator as CDOT. Confirm the application fee the portal actually bills at ipi.cityofchicago.org (DOT Dumpster) before you budget to the penny.
The hauler pays application plus usage and usually folds both into the rental. Ask for the line item. A driveway drop should not include a CDOT dumpster permit charge at all.
Box ID: name, phone, unique ID, retroreflective corners
MCC 10-28-799(H). The provider must permanently paint or affix, on each dumpster:
- Name and telephone number of the provider — letters and numerals at least three inches high, clearly legible from 30 feet, on both long sides, 12 inches down from the top or lip and 12 inches from the corner.
- A unique identification number for that dumpster. The three-inch / 30-foot spec in the ordinance is written for the name and phone. The unique ID is still required; the PDF says city personnel have to be able to read the provider and the identification number from the public way.
MCC 10-28-799(J)(5) is the night-visibility rule: high-intensity retro-reflective sheeting (or other retro-reflective / prismatic material CDOT approves) on each of the four corners, at least three feet long and two inches wide along each side of the corner.
Also on the provider, at delivery and while the box sits:
- Place it immediately adjacent to the street address on the permit.
- Deliver it free of graffiti; remove graffiti within three business days of a CDOT fax notice.
- No gaps or holes that spill onto the public way.
- In transit, tarp or otherwise cover the load so nothing falls, sifts, blows, or drops.
Placement bans — MCC 10-28-799(I)
No dumpster on the public way:
- within 40 feet of a bus stop
- within 20 feet of a fire hydrant
- within 10 feet of an ADA parking space, a pedestrian crosswalk, or an intersection
- on a parkway or sidewalk except under (I)(7), above
Arterial streets, November 1–April 1: if CDOT declares a Phase 3 snow emergency, the dumpster comes off. The city gives the provider 12 hours from a fax notice. That is the hauler’s problem, which is another reason the hauler holds the permit and the letter of credit.
Fines, city removal, stop-work
No permit on the public way (violation of subsection (B)): fine $250–$1,500, or $500–$3,000 inside the CBD, per offense. Any other violation of 10-28-799: $50–$1,000, or $100–$2,000 in the CBD. Each day is a separate offense.
The city may remove a dumpster on the public way that (1) does not bear the identification 799(H) requires, (2) is not validly permitted, or (3) is not immediately adjacent to the street address on the permit. Removal cost is on the provider. If the owner of the box is someone else, owner and provider are jointly and severally liable.
Stop-work at a construction site. One or more citations on each of three or more separate days within a three-month period at the same construction site may produce a CDOT stop-work order: all activity ceases for ten days. Another citation at that site within six months of the first order may produce another ten-day order. CDOT lifts it only if it gets sufficient evidence of compliance. Knowingly violating a posted stop-work order is its own offense (jail, community service, and a $5,000 fine in the ordinance). Do not peel the sticker off.
How to tell a real permit
You should not need this unless you are the provider. It is here so you can tell a real permit from a salesperson who says “you’ll get the permit.”
A real CDOT dumpster permit names at least:
- the provider (the company that holds the insurance and the letter of credit)
- the class (A or B — volume, not a marketing size name)
- the street address the box sits adjacent to
Ask to see that. Ask who the permitted provider will be. If they cannot name one, do not book a street or alley drop.
Applications are accepted online only, through City of Chicago Inspections, Permitting & Licensing: ipi.cityofchicago.org, permit type DOT Dumpster. You create an account, file Part 1 (insurance + $5,000 LOC), then file Part 2 for the drop. You apply only if you are the provider. Homeowners do not open a DOT Dumpster application “for their remodel.”
- Code: MCC 10-28-799
- Official application PDF: DOT_DumpsterLicenseApplication.pdf (packet on the portal dated valid as of 10/24/25)
- Portal: ipi.cityofchicago.org
- CDOT permit desk: cdotpermitsupport@cityofchicago.org
CBD doubles usage — do not guess the boundary
Inside the Central Business District, usage fees double. Fines for an unpermitted box also double at the bottom and the top of the range. The application fee is the higher CBD line on the fee schedule, not the residential line.
BinClerk does not draw a street list from memory. The ordinance points at MCC 9-4-010. The official application PDF says the same: “The Central Business District is defined by section 9-4-010 of the City’s Municipal Code.” The City of Chicago publishes a CBD boundary layer on the Chicago Data Portal. If the drop is anywhere near downtown, the provider checks the code and the map — or the portal prices the address — rather than arguing about whether a particular block “feels like the Loop.”
Citations and fetch dates: SOURCES.md. Sizes, market prices, banned items, and who hauls: chicago-il.html.