To check an electrical permit in Montgomery County, Maryland, search the address in the Department of Permitting Services Data Search or enter the permit number in Check Permit Status. The county also publishes every electrical permit application in its Electrical Building Permits dataset, with the issue date, the final inspection date and a status of Issued or Finaled. A permit is required for all electrical work in the county, and the applicant has to hold a Maryland State master electrician license, except for low-voltage work at 50 volts or less (DPS electrical license fact sheet).
We pulled the 28,173 electrical permits issued for single-family homes and townhouses from 2022 through 2024, as recorded on October 23, 2026. 78.9% show a final inspection, at a median of 55 days after issue. The other 5,948 (21.1%) still read Issued, with no final date. Permits for EV chargers and solar panels were the most likely to be finaled; permits for low-voltage and security wiring were the least.
| Item | What we found |
|---|---|
| Where to check | DPS Data Search (address) or Check Permit Status (permit number); county open data, updated daily |
| Permits in our sample | 28,173 issued 2022–2024 for single-family homes and townhouses |
| Finaled | 78.9% (single-family 77.7%, townhouse 90.0%) |
| Time from issue to final | Median 55 days; 50.2% finaled within 90 days, 76.5% within a year; slowest 10% took 217 days or more |
| Still Issued with no final | 5,948 permits (21.1%) |
| Countywide volume | 12,413 to 13,599 electrical permits a year from 2022 to 2025; 10,813 in 2026 through October 23 |
How to look up a Montgomery County electrical permit by address
- Open the DPS Data Search and enter the street number and name. Electrical permits are listed with building and mechanical permits for the same address.
- Note each electrical permit’s number, issue date and status. Finaled means the final inspection was approved.
- For more detail, filter the Electrical Building Permits dataset by street number and street name. The description field holds the work the electrician described, such as a panel upgrade, a generator or an EV charger.
- If a permit still says Issued long after the work ended, ask the seller or the electrician for the final inspection, or schedule it yourself as described below.
- To check the electrician, look up the master license with the Maryland State Board of Master Electricians. Electrical licenses are now issued only by the state, not the county (DPS electrical permits page).
How long Montgomery County electrical permits take to final, by type of work
We sorted the 2022–2024 permits by the words in each description. The grouping is ours, so a permit that mentions two kinds of work counts once, in the first group it matches.
| Work in description | Permits | Finaled | Median days to final | Finaled within 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EV charger | 3,073 | 87.7% | 15 | 81.2% |
| Solar panels | 4,186 | 86.7% | 42 | 71.2% |
| Service upgrade or panel | 6,481 | 74.9% | 31 | 54.0% |
| Generator | 734 | 80.0% | 47 | 59.1% |
| HVAC or heat pump | 735 | 83.1% | 99 | 39.2% |
| Remodel or addition | 2,667 | 86.6% | 113 | 32.4% |
| New house | 1,610 | 97.5% | 134 | 13.6% |
| Pool or hot tub | 176 | 78.4% | 163 | 27.3% |
| Low voltage, alarm or security | 2,829 | 42.6% | 111 | 14.5% |
| Lights, outlets and other | 5,682 | 81.5% | 54 | 51.1% |
Small, single-trip jobs final fast: half of EV charger permits had a final inspection within 15 days. Work tied to a building permit, such as a new house or an addition, waits for the walls and the building inspections, so a median of 113 to 134 days is normal there. The low-voltage group stands apart: fewer than half of those permits ever recorded a final. DPS issues low-voltage permits without an electrical license, for alarm, cable, phone, audio-video and network wiring (fact sheet).
County pages for the two busiest residential categories: EV charging station permits and eSolar rooftop solar permits.
What to do when an electrical permit was never finaled
DPS has a written policy for residential permits that expired before the final inspection, as long as every other inspection had passed (policy RCFCCP 1-2025, April 17, 2025).
- Permit under the current or previous code edition: for an electrical permit that is not linked to a building permit, the applicant schedules the final electrical inspection and DPS inspects it. If it is linked to a building permit, the building permit for final inspection comes first.
- Permit under an older code edition: the applicant applies for a new final-only permit, and DPS enters the final based on a statement signed by a Maryland licensed master electrician that the work meets the code it was permitted under. The statement has to show the license holder, number and expiration date.
Before buying a house in the county, compare the electrical permits on the address with the work you can see: a newer panel, a generator, a car charger or a finished basement. Our guide to finding open permits on a house covers what to ask the seller.
Checklist for electrical work in Montgomery County, MD
- Permit number before work starts, issued to a Maryland State licensed master electrician (or a low-voltage permit for 50-volt work).
- Description on the permit that matches the job you are paying for.
- Rough-in inspection passed before insulation and drywall, where the job has one.
- Status Finaled with a final date in DPS Data Search when the job ends.
- For a house you are buying: each Issued permit explained, with a final inspection or a written plan to get one.
For older county records, see our guide to Montgomery County, MD old permit records. New houses in the county also need a registered builder, covered in our Montgomery County new home builder lookup, and our permit lookup by address guide compares other counties.
Before leasing a commercial space in the county, check its certificate with our Montgomery County use and occupancy certificate lookup.
Counts are our calculations from Montgomery County’s Electrical Building Permits data on data.montgomerycountymd.gov, downloaded October 25, 2026 (records through October 23, 2026). DPS pages checked October 25, 2026.