Are Building Permits Public Record? How to Look Them Up Free

By PermitGrab Research · Source coverage and publishing cadence vary by jurisdiction

154,583
Named contractor profiles
20,856
Profiles with a phone
271,357
Public violation records
16,617,515
Public owner records
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Building permits are commonly public records, but access and fields vary by jurisdiction. A city may publish searchable permit details online, release periodic files, redact some fields, or require a records request. In covered markets, PermitGrab identifies the source and displays only the fields currently available from that source or documented public enrichment.

This guide answers the questions homeowners, contractors, real-estate investors, and journalists actually ask when they try to look up a permit — and includes the fastest free path for the 30 biggest US cities.

Why are building permits public record?

Building permits are issued by a unit of local government — your city's building department, your county's land use department, or in some states a regional authority. Anything issued by a government in the US is presumptively a public record under state public-records laws (sometimes called sunshine laws, FOIA equivalents, or open-records acts). The reasoning: when someone alters a structure, neighbors, future buyers, code inspectors, and the public have a right to know what was permitted, who was responsible, and whether inspections passed.

That said, "public" doesn't always mean "easy to find." Some cities post every permit to a searchable map within hours. Others publish quarterly batches as PDF lists. A few hold out and require a walk-in records request. PermitGrab spends its engineering time bridging that gap: normalizing records from the public portals covered in its city directory into one searchable feed.

How do I look up a building permit for free?

Three working paths, ordered from fastest to slowest:

  1. Search the city or county permit portal directly. Most major cities run an open-data portal (Socrata, ArcGIS, CKAN, or Accela) where you can search by address, permit number, or date range. Examples: Chicago (data.cityofchicago.org), NYC (data.cityofnewyork.us), Miami-Dade (gis-mdc.opendata.arcgis.com), Phoenix (mapping.phoenix.gov/maps), Austin (data.austintexas.gov).
  2. Use a free third-party aggregator. Sites like PermitGrab, Shovels, and BuildZoom pull from the same public sources and let you search across cities in one place. PermitGrab is free to browse — full contractor phone numbers unlock with a paid plan, but addresses, permit types, dates, and contractor names are visible to all visitors.
  3. Visit the building department in person. For older permits (pre-2000s) or cities that haven't digitized, the records exist on paper or microfilm at the local building department. Most clerks will print you a record if you give them an address. Allow 1-3 business days.

You can browse PermitGrab's directly: Chicago permits, NYC permits, Phoenix permits, Miami permits, or browse all 1061 cities.

What information is in a building permit?

The typical permit record includes the property address, permit number, permit type (roofing, electrical, plumbing, addition, demolition, etc.), filing date, issue date, work description, project valuation (declared dollar amount of work), the property owner of record, and — most usefully for lead-gen — the licensed contractor of record. Some jurisdictions also include the inspector's name, the architect of record, and the final certificate of occupancy date.

Coverage varies by city. Chicago's open data feed includes contractor name + permit valuation. Boston's includes the licensed individual but not the business. Washington DC's includes the applicant but not the contractor of record. PermitGrab documents these per-city schema differences for 1061 cities so you don't have to learn each portal's quirks.

Are sealed permits a thing?

Yes, but rarely for residential construction. Permits for federal buildings, military installations, embassies, courthouses, jails, and some critical infrastructure (water treatment plants, power stations) may be sealed under exemptions to public-records acts. Domestic-violence shelter addresses are sometimes redacted. A small number of high-net-worth privacy buyers successfully petition courts to seal individual permits — usually celebrity homes — but this is uncommon and only affects a tiny fraction of permits filed.

How fresh are public permit records?

Most cities publish permits within 24-72 hours of issuance. A handful (Saint Petersburg FL, Tampa FL via Accela detail pages, some California counties) lag by a week or more. PermitGrab tracks the publish-cadence of every wired source and surfaces freshness metadata on each city page so you know when "newest" really is newest.

Recent freshness across our top cities (as of the latest collection cycle): Atlanta — today; San Bernardino County — today; Austin, Chicago, Miami, Nashville — within 1 day. The full freshness ranking is on every city detail page.

Why do people search for public permits?

What if my city doesn't post permits online?

Three options. (1) File a public-records request with the building department — every state has a statutory response window (5-15 business days typically). (2) Visit in person; most building departments have a public records counter. (3) Check if a state-level aggregator covers your city — California's CSLB and Florida's DBPR publish statewide licensee data that helps you cross-reference contractor names even when individual permits aren't online.

Can I look up permits by contractor name?

Yes — that's actually one of the most useful searches. If you find a contractor's name on one permit, you can usually pull every other permit they've filed in that city. PermitGrab makes this trivial: search by contractor name on any city page and see every project that contractor has filed in the city, with project values and addresses. Across our database, 154,583 contractor profiles have at least one permit on file.

How do I use this information legally?

Public-record availability does not eliminate legal, source-license, privacy, or marketing-compliance obligations. Review the relevant jurisdiction's rules and the source terms, honor applicable consent and do-not-contact requirements, and avoid implying that you represent a government agency. PermitGrab does not provide legal advice.

If you're a contractor, real-estate investor, insurance team, supplier, or other professional conducting permitted research, manual portal-by-portal lookup can be time-consuming. PermitGrab organizes plan-available public records, with city-level source dates and field disclosures so you can evaluate whether a specific market supports your workflow before a trial.

Frequently asked questions

Are building permits public record?

Many jurisdictions publish building-permit records or provide them through public-record processes, but access rules, redactions, available fields, and procedures vary. Consult the responsible city or county source for the particular address, record type, and jurisdiction.

How do I look up a building permit for free?

Start with the city or county building department, permit portal, open-data portal, or records-request process. Search options, historical coverage, and update schedules differ by jurisdiction. An aggregator can help with multi-market research, but the responsible government source remains the record of reference.

What information is in a building permit?

A source may publish an address, permit number, type, dates, status, work description, declared valuation, contractor, applicant, owner, license number, or inspection information. Any field may be absent, redacted, delayed, or describe a role other than the one a viewer assumes.

Are any building permits NOT public record?

Rarely. Federal buildings, military installations, embassies, courthouses, and some critical infrastructure may be sealed. Domestic violence shelter addresses are sometimes redacted. A handful of celebrity homes have successfully petitioned for individual permit sealing — but residential permits are essentially always public.

How fresh are public permit records?

There is no universal publication schedule. Review the named source, its newest visible record date, and the field date definitions for the city you are researching. Government systems can publish on different schedules and can have temporary gaps.

Why do people search for public permits?

Common uses include verifying source-published project history, researching construction activity, journalism, planning, and market analysis. A permit record does not establish property condition, seller motivation, insurance coverage, buyer intent, or consent to contact.

Can I use permit data for commercial outreach?

Public availability does not remove the need to follow source terms and applicable privacy, advertising, licensing, and outreach rules. Preserve the source and named-party role, do not imply government affiliation, and obtain appropriate legal or compliance guidance for your intended workflow.

Check market coverage before starting a trial

Source coverage and publishing cadence vary by jurisdiction. Explore available permit, contractor, owner, and violation fields by market. Review disclosed record dates, then choose your research settings before the optional checkout step.

Check markets and choose a workflow →  Browse all cities →

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