For a property inside Tallahassee, begin with the City’s Customer Permit Portal. Keep the permit or case number if you have it. If the document you need was in an electronic plan-review workspace that you can no longer access, the City’s recovery route is a Growth Management records request. Starting a new application is not the way to recover an old approval.
Check City limits before searching City records
Tallahassee’s residential-permit instructions direct you to the Leon County Property Appraiser. Find the parcel by street address or owner name, open its Property Info Sheet and check the City Limits entry. The City explains that In means inside and Out means outside; for outside properties, it directs building-permit inquiries to Leon County Development Services at 850-606-1300.
Save the parcel identifier even when your immediate search uses an address. It gives staff a second way to identify the land if a street name or building number has changed. A Tallahassee mailing address alone should not decide which agency’s records you request.
Use the case search without confusing it with plan access
The portal landing page offers Guest Access. The City’s permitting guide, page 15, shows a search menu with permit/case number and permit-location options. Use the number route for a known file, or the location route when starting with an address. The portal may show a verification step before Guest Access opens.
When you retrieve a case, check its group, work description, address and status before treating it as the project you want. A number generated for an application does not establish that the permit was issued. Similarly, approval of a plan review does not prove construction passed final inspection. For that question, compare the relevant inspection and completion records using our final-inspection guide.
The City's inspection call plan sets a coverage line worth knowing: the portal can only be used for permits applied for on or after July 9, 2018. For an older permit, use the inspection phone line (850-891-1800) or a records request instead of assuming the portal is complete. The same plan lists the inspection codes you will see in results, such as 100 for footing, 107 for framing and 900 for the building final, so a passed 107 is not a final.
If a plan-review link has expired
The City’s electronic-review explanation says the applicant initially controls access to the review workspace and can invite others with different permissions. Approved plans, certificates and letters are available electronically there. Once the allotted access period expires, the same page directs readers to Records Management for copies. That is an access problem, not evidence that an approval was revoked or that the underlying file was destroyed.
For expired review access, frame the request around the documents, not reopening an applicant account. Sample wording: “Please provide the approved plan set and approval letter for [case number] at [address]. I cannot access the former review workspace; please identify the approved version and approval date.” This wording does not claim that those documents exist for every case. Receiving a plan set would not establish construction completion.
Outside City limits: Leon County's separate records
If the Property Info Sheet says Out, the file is with Leon County's Development Support and Environmental Management (DSEM), not the City. Its permits are on the County's own Accela portal, Leon County Permits Online, and Building Plans Review is at the Renaissance Center, 435 N. Macomb St., 2nd floor (850-606-1333).
The County's DSEM Records page gives two limits that matter for older homes: it has no residential plan records before 2002, and building documents exist only after the Florida Building Code was adopted in March 1973. Requests go to DSEM_Records@leoncountyfl.gov, and a County lien search is $90. A 1990s house outside City limits may therefore have a permit record but no plan set.
Request the file you need, rather than a broad clearance
The Growth Management office is at 435 North Macomb Street; the Building Inspection Division answers at 850-891-7001 (option 2, then option 1). The request form covers that department’s building-construction, land-use and environmental documents.
- Supply the address, parcel, case numbers and approximate work dates.
- Identify the missing plans, approval letter, permit, inspections or occupancy document.
- Staff provide digital records; review their advice on applicable fees or exemptions.
The current page describes a response within three business days; that is not a guarantee that every requested file will be delivered then.
The reviewed guidance does not establish a complete earliest year for online building history. For an older project, ask which retained records exist and whether another office holds them. Our older-permit guide can help turn a vague renovation date into a focused request.
The City expressly distinguishes a Growth Management request from a citywide search or an official lien search. Its separate lien route includes open or unresolved permits and other financial or enforcement matters. Choose it when that is the question; it does not replace the underlying construction file.
For a comparable Florida city that offers a free property-level permit report, see our Gainesville permit records guide.
Official City of Tallahassee and Leon County pages checked October 16 and October 20, 2026.