Building permit lookup
See the building permits filed on a property. Type a street address and PropRaven opens the parcel record with its permit history, newest first: permit number, type, status, description, issued and completed dates, estimated cost, and the contractor name and license as the jurisdiction published them.
Free: 1,000 lookups a month, no card. Need permits for many parcels, or from code? Use the building permit data API.
What a permit record shows
On the parcel record, each permit shows:
- Permit number
- Type
- Status
- Description
- Issued date
- Completed date
- Estimated cost
- Contractor name, as the jurisdiction published it
- Contractor license, as the jurisdiction published it
Where permit coverage is deep and where it is thin
Permits come only from cities and counties that publish them, so many addresses will show no permits. No permits on file does not mean no work was done. See coverage.
Most U.S. jurisdictions do not publish building permits in a form anyone can collect. Measured on 2026-10-02, about 2.8% of served parcel records nationally had at least one matched building permit, and 123 of 3,278 county codes had one on 5% or more of their parcels. Within a state, permits usually come from its largest cities and counties, so check the county before you rely on it. An empty permit list means no permit was matched, not that no work was done.
States where 5% or more of parcel records have a building permit
| State | Parcel records with a building permit | Counties at 5% or more |
|---|---|---|
| DC | 56.0% | 1 of 1 |
| IL | 12.6% | 2 of 91 |
| DE | 12.1% | 3 of 25 |
| WA | 9.34% | 13 of 50 |
| KY | 8.55% | 1 of 127 |
| MD | 8.29% | 3 of 44 |
| CA | 7.98% | 10 of 103 |
| NY | 7.03% | 6 of 74 |
| LA | 6.91% | 2 of 55 |
| NC | 6.73% | 6 of 101 |
| HI | 6.28% | 1 of 5 |
1% to 5%
| State | Parcel records with a building permit | Counties at 5% or more |
|---|---|---|
| OH | 4.63% | 6 of 123 |
| NJ | 4.62% | 8 of 46 |
| FL | 4.49% | 8 of 69 |
| MO | 4.37% | 4 of 108 |
| AZ | 4.24% | 1 of 17 |
| CO | 3.18% | 22 of 70 |
| NV | 2.51% | 1 of 19 |
| PA | 2.38% | 1 of 68 |
| TX | 2.15% | 7 of 258 |
| ID | 2.04% | 2 of 44 |
| NM | 1.82% | 3 of 33 |
| VA | 1.65% | 3 of 134 |
| MI | 1.63% | 1 of 64 |
| AR | 1.57% | 1 of 75 |
| MN | 1.00% | 1 of 88 |
Under 1%
| State | Parcel records with a building permit | Counties at 5% or more |
|---|---|---|
| MA | 0.69% | 0 of 14 |
| AL | 0.63% | 1 of 67 |
| TN | 0.61% | 1 of 93 |
| GA | 0.60% | 1 of 159 |
| UT | 0.47% | 1 of 58 |
| RI | 0.38% | 0 of 8 |
| WV | 0.29% | 1 of 82 |
| VT | 0.22% | 0 of 19 |
| IN | 0.15% | 1 of 92 |
| ND | 0.11% | 0 of 53 |
| CT | 0.05% | 0 of 33 |
| SC | 0.05% | 0 of 47 |
| MT | 0.02% | 0 of 58 |
| AK | 0.01% | 0 of 30 |
| MS | 0.01% | 0 of 82 |
| OR | 0.01% | 0 of 29 |
Effectively none (under 0.01%): IA, KS, ME, NE, NH, OK, SD, WI, WY.
Share of served parcel records with at least one building permit matched to them, measured 2026-10-02 against the parcel build served then. A parcel record is one county-source row, so these are shares, not counts of permits.
Common questions
- Is this permit lookup free?
- Yes, with a free account: 1,000 lookups a month and no card.
- Why does my address show no permits?
- Many jurisdictions do not publish permits, and some publish only recent years. See the coverage section.
- Does PropRaven show contractor licenses?
- It shows the contractor name and license number as written on the permit. State licensee data in PropRaven covers real estate, insurance, CPA and CAM boards, not contractor or inspector licensing.
- Can I get permits by API?
- Yes, GET /api/v1/parcels/{id}/permits or the permits_history MCP tool.