The poloidal field (PF) configuration has a major impact on the size and cost of tokamak machines. This report describes a procedure for developing a minimum cost PF system consistent with constraints imposed by plasma, magnet, and configurational design requirements. This methodology is considered adequate for developing the PF coil configurations. PF configuration studies are described for the International Tokamak Reactor (INTOR) as an illustration. The total cost of the PF system increases appreciably when an idealized PF configuration (with discrete coils) is replaced by a more practical coil configuration. The PF system with a poloidal divertor costs ∼50% more than a system utilizing limiter-type impurity control.