Paste one or more lines from a permit record (number, work, status) and this tool explains what it usually means, whether the work reached a final inspection, and what a buyer or owner should ask next. It reads the wording used by common US permit portals (Accela, Tyler EnerGov, city systems), so “Finaled”, “Expired”, “Issued”, “Void” and similar labels are sorted into the same few outcomes.
Building Permit History tool · for buyers and owners
Permit status decoder
Copy the permit rows from the city or county portal and paste them below, one permit per line. The decoder explains each status, flags the ones to ask about, and lists what to request before you rely on the record.
How to use it
- Open the permit record on the official city or county portal and copy each permit line with its status exactly as written, including words like “without final” or “pending”.
- Choose the jurisdiction if it is listed. Local presets add that office’s wording, record start dates, and where older records live.
- Read the result together with the inspection history. A status is the office’s label for the record; the inspection list shows what was actually checked.
Why the status matters: what the data shows
In our count of 10,558 Seattle building permits applied for in 2023 and 2024, about one in six issued home-remodel permits ended as Expired rather than Completed, and smaller jobs in the $10,000–$50,000 range expired most often. An expired permit usually means no final inspection, which is the record a buyer most needs to see. See the Seattle analysis.
Local guides with a preset version of this tool
- Montgomery County, MD Old Permit Records: Search, Then Request
- St. Louis Permit Data: Check the Building and Trade Files Separately
- Santa Barbara Old Building Permits: When ACA Has No Record
- Madison, WI Building Permit Records: Pick the Right Report
- Cleveland Building Permit Records: Search by Address or Parcel
- Richmond VA Building Permit History: From Address to Old Plans
- Miami-Dade Building Permit Search by Address
- Maricopa County Building Permit History Search
- Horry County Building Permit Search by Address
- Jacksonville Duval County Permit Search by Address
- Hillsborough County Building Permit Records Search
- Houston Building Permit Search by Address: Permits, Status & Inspections
- Seattle Building Permit Search: Address, Status & Older Records
- San Jose Building Permit Search: Address, Status & Inspections
- Los Angeles Building Permit Search by Address: LADBS Records
- NYC DOB Property Search by Address: BIS & DOB NOW
Compare outcomes by city
A status label tells you about one permit. This comparison shows how permits of the same kind usually turned out in five cities: how long they took to issue and what share never recorded a final inspection. We built it from each city’s open permit data, downloaded on October 23, 2026, and the figures are our own calculation. Use it to judge whether an expired or still-open permit on a house is unusual, then ask about that specific permit.
Pick a city, a type of work, and a year. See how long similar permits took to issue and how many never recorded a final inspection.
A status tells you about the permit, not the person who pulled it. To confirm the contractor on a permit was licensed, use our contractor license lookup guide.
No permit at all for a visible change? See our guide to unpermitted work on a house.
The tool explains labels; it does not look up a property or confirm that a permit exists. Status wording changes between portals and over time, so confirm anything important with the issuing office. For finding the records in the first place, start with permit lookup by address.
For typical waits by work type side by side, see our data on how long building permits take in six places.