Calculating for our electrical permit

All day yesterday and some of this evening, Len has been trying to figure the answers to the many detailed questions involved in getting an electrical permit.  How much wire?  How many outlets?  What is the draw from your stove (which we haven't bought yet) and hot water heater (with geothermal, is this more like a boiler?).  It seems the price of your permit is based on the amount of money you will spend putting in X amount of wire into X number of plugs and powering X lighting fixtures.  Yes, they want to know the price of the fixtures too!  A guessing game at best.  We do have some fixtures, but certainly not all of them.  Len has been drawing and adding and looking up prices (like for a panel, breakers, etc) until he is cross-eyed. And this is just one of the permits.  Luckily our engineer, Jeff, will be the one to sign off the plans and various bits of paper for the main building permit.  But there are always questions we DIDN'T ask the experts....such as, can we put up our pole for the meter BEFORE we get a permit (not laying any wire or having anything attached to it)?  We are making a list of questions so that when we phone we will have it all written down.  Hence the mantra.  Say it with me .... Write it down!