To look up building permits for a property, search the online permit portal run by the city or county building department with jurisdiction over the address. If the portal doesn’t cover the years you need, request the records directly from that department in person, by mail, or by email under your state’s public records law. Online searches take a few minutes; paper requests take days to a few weeks.
What You Need Before You Start
The property’s full street address, including city, state, and zip code, is enough for most permit portals. Having the Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN) or Parcel Identification Number (PIN) makes the search more precise and helps when several addresses share similar street names. The APN is a unique number assigned by the county tax assessor for property tax purposes. You can find it on a property tax bill, the deed, or the county assessor’s website.
Which Office Issues the Permits
Building permits are issued by city, county, or town building departments. A house inside city limits usually falls under the city’s building department. A house in an unincorporated area usually falls under the county. Each jurisdiction keeps its own records independently, so you have to search the right one.
If you’re not sure which applies, check the county assessor’s website. Most assessor sites let you search by address and will show the municipality or unincorporated area the property sits in. From there, look for that jurisdiction’s building department or permitting office.
Searching the Online Permit Portal
Most local building departments now run an online permit search on their official website. Look for links labeled “Permit Search,” “Permit Lookup,” or “Public Records.” These portals generally let you search by property address, and many also accept an APN, permit number, or contractor name.
A few things save time:
- Try different address formats. If “123 North Main St” returns nothing, try “123 N Main St” or drop the directional prefix. Permit databases are picky about formatting.
- Check the earliest date the digital records cover. Many jurisdictions only digitized permits from a certain year forward. Older work will need to be pulled from paper files.
- Compare the square footage listed on the permits to the square footage in the listing or the assessor’s record. A large gap usually points to an addition that was never permitted.
Online results typically show each permit’s number, the type of work, the issue date, the contractor’s name, inspection results, and current status.
Requesting Records in Person, by Mail, or by Email
When online records don’t exist, are incomplete, or don’t reach back far enough, contact the local building department directly. Many departments accept walk-ins at city hall, the county clerk’s office, or the department itself, and most also take requests by mail, email, or fax.
Your right to see these records comes from state law. Every state has a public records law, sometimes called a sunshine law or open records act, that guarantees public access to government records, including building permits. The federal Freedom of Information Act applies only to federal executive branch agencies, not to local governments, so state law is what applies here.
Provide the property address and the APN if you have it. Some departments use a specific request form; others accept a plain written letter. Copy fees are usually small, typically $0.10 to $0.50 per page depending on the jurisdiction. Call ahead to confirm the process, accepted payment methods, and any ID requirements. Timing varies. Walk-in requests are sometimes filled the same day; mailed requests can take several business days to a few weeks.
Reading a Permit Record
A permit record generally contains:
- Permit number, a unique tracking number useful for follow-up questions.
- Work type, such as electrical, plumbing, mechanical (HVAC), structural, roofing, or demolition.
- Work description, a short narrative like “install new 200-amp electrical panel” or “add 400 sq ft second-story addition.”
- Contractor information, the licensed professional or company authorized to perform the work.
- Dates, including the application date, issue date, and expiration date. Most permits expire if work isn’t completed within a set window, often six months to a year.
- Inspection history, with the dates and results of each inspection.
- Permit status, the field that matters most.
What the Status Field Tells You
A “closed” or “finaled” permit is what you want. It means the work was completed, passed all required inspections, and was officially closed by the building department. For major projects like new construction or large additions, a closed permit typically leads to a certificate of occupancy, which confirms the building is safe to inhabit and meets applicable codes.
An “open” permit means the work was started but never received a final inspection or sign-off. Sometimes the contractor simply forgot to schedule the final inspection, or the homeowner moved on without realizing the permit was still active. The work isn’t necessarily defective, but until the permit is closed, it’s officially unverified. Open permits routinely surface during real estate transactions, and title companies flag them.
An “expired” permit means the validity period lapsed before the work was completed and inspected. Reactivating an expired permit may require a new application and additional fees, and the work may need to comply with current building codes rather than the codes in effect when the original permit was issued. If codes changed in the meantime, portions of the work may need to be redone.
Comparing the Records to the Actual Property
A permit search is most useful when you compare what the records show against what actually exists on the property. Walk through with the permit history in hand and look for mismatches. A permitted addition should match the square footage and scope in the permit. A bathroom that appears on no permit record is worth investigating. If the assessor’s records show 1,200 square feet but the home clearly has more living space, an unpermitted addition is the likely explanation.
This kind of comparison is most valuable during the due diligence period of a home purchase, before you’re contractually locked in. A home inspector can catch physical deficiencies, but only a permit search shows whether the work was legally authorized and signed off.
If You Find Open or Missing Permits
An open permit doesn’t automatically mean trouble, but leaving it open can. Many jurisdictions won’t issue new permits on a property that already has older permits open, so a future renovation can be blocked until the old ones are closed. If you own the property, contact the building department to find out what’s needed to close the permit. Often it’s as simple as scheduling the final inspection. If you’re buying, ask that the purchase contract require an open permit search and that the seller close any open permits before the closing date.
If a permit search turns up no record for work that clearly happened — an added room, a converted garage, a new electrical panel — that’s unpermitted work, and the consequences follow the property rather than the person who did it. Most jurisdictions allow an application for an after-the-fact permit (sometimes called a retroactive permit) to bring the work into compliance. The work will be evaluated against current codes, not the codes in effect when it was originally done, and fees are often higher than for a standard permit. In most states, sellers are legally required to disclose known unpermitted work to buyers, and insurance coverage can be affected if unpermitted work is discovered later.