Small repair and exterior jobs end with an expired building permit far more often than new homes. Of Austin’s 2022 residential repair permits, 28% now read “Expired,” against 7% of new-home permits. In Seattle, 23% of the single-family addition and alteration permits issued in 2022 have expired, led by window and door work (36%) and fences and retaining walls (35%).
We used permits issued in 2022 because they have had almost four years to reach a final inspection, longer than either city’s standard permit life. Statuses are as of October 24, 2026, from each city’s open permit data.
Austin: repair permits expire four times as often as new-home permits
Austin issued 10,165 residential building permits in 2022. Today 8,352 (82%) read Final and 1,451 (14%) read Expired. The city’s work class field splits them sharply:
| Work class | Permits issued in 2022 | Share now Expired |
|---|---|---|
| New | 4,675 | 7% |
| Addition and remodel | 1,558 | 11% |
| Demolition | 983 | 14% |
| Repair | 2,872 | 28% |
Nearly all repair permits (2,850 of 2,872) went through Austin’s Express path, and their descriptions read like a contractor’s job list: “Replace 10 windows,” “Foundation repair,” “Replace siding.” We grouped them by the first project keyword in the description. Groups with at least 100 permits:
| Repair type | Permits | Share now Expired |
|---|---|---|
| Deck, patio or porch | 136 | 41% |
| Roof | 115 | 35% |
| Siding or exterior wall | 140 | 30% |
| Kitchen or bath | 153 | 29% |
| Foundation | 531 | 28% |
| Windows or doors | 1,538 | 26% |
Foundation repair matters most for buyers here, because it is common (531 permits) and 147 of those permits expired. Our Austin permit search guide shows how to pull up a permit and its inspections by address.
Seattle: window, fence and roof jobs lead addition and alteration expirations
Seattle issued 4,248 residential building permits in 2022. Today 3,250 (77%) read Completed, 795 (19%) read Expired, and 148 still read Issued. Single-family additions and alterations expired most often: 577 of 2,495 (23%). New middle-housing projects expired at 8% (68 of 815).
Within addition and alteration permits, grouped by the first project keyword in the description (groups with at least 50 permits):
| Project type | Permits | Share now Expired |
|---|---|---|
| Windows or doors | 127 | 36% |
| Fence or retaining wall | 51 | 35% |
| Roof | 87 | 28% |
| Deck, patio or porch | 309 | 28% |
| Foundation | 101 | 27% |
| Kitchen or bath | 221 | 26% |
| Backyard cottage or ADU | 355 | 21% |
| Garage | 119 | 20% |
Our Seattle permit analysis looks at the same question for permits applied for in 2023 and 2024, including how plan review rounds affect timing. For Los Angeles and Chicago, see our 2022 renovation permit breakdown by project type.
Does project cost predict an expired permit in Seattle?
Only weakly. Among Seattle’s 2022 single-family addition and alteration permits, the expired share stayed between 19% and 26% at every estimated cost level: 24% at $5,000 to $20,000, 26% at $20,000 to $50,000, 23% at $50,000 to $150,000, and 20% above $150,000. The type of job told us more than its size. Austin’s valuation field is too thin for the same test, since 3,994 of its 4,507 non-new, non-demolition residential permits list a value under $5,000.
What “Expired” means in Austin and Seattle permit records
Seattle construction permits typically expire 18 months after issue. The holder can renew in the 30 days before expiration or reestablish a permit that has been expired for less than one year, and SDCI aims to issue renewals within 48 hours (SDCI building permit renewals).
In Austin, the Development Services extension, withdrawal or reactivation request form lets the holder ask for a one-time extension of up to 180 days before the expiration date, or ask to reactivate a permit that has already expired.
In both cities, “Expired” in the record means the permit’s time ran out before a final inspection was logged. The work may be finished, half done or never started, and the status alone can’t tell you which.
What to ask about an expired permit before you buy
- What work did the permit cover, and does the house show it was done?
- Which inspections passed before the permit expired? The permit page lists them.
- Can the permit still be renewed, reestablished or reactivated, and by whom? In Seattle, the window closes one year after expiration.
- If it can’t, does the work need a new permit? Our guide to records of unpermitted work covers that path.
- Who will close it out, and by when? Put the answer in writing before closing.
To sort a long permit list quickly, paste the rows into our permit status decoder, and see how to find open permits on a house for the inspection side.
Counts are our calculations from Austin’s issued construction permits and Seattle’s building permits open data, pulled October 24, 2026. Keyword groups use the first match in each description, so a few permits land in a neighboring group. More analyses are on our permit data page.