How far back do building permit records go?
Updated October 6, 2026 · 3 min read
Online permit records usually go back to the year the city moved to an electronic permit system, which for most of the cities we cover is in the 2000s or 2010s. Older permits generally still exist on paper or microfilm and can be requested from the building department. The table below shows where each city's published records start.
Why online records start where they do
A city's portal shows what is in its current permit software. When a city bought that software, some loaded their old records into it and many did not. So the first year online is usually the year of the switch, not the year the city began issuing permits.
Where the published records start, city by city
These are the earliest records each city publishes as open data. Cities not listed have not had their starting year confirmed yet.
- Boston, MA building permitsRecords from 2009661,993 permits on file
- Buffalo, NY building permitsRecords from 2000276,868 permits on file
- Chicago, IL building permitsRecords from 2006846,510 permits on file
- Cincinnati, OH building permitsRecords from 2010179,887 permits on file
- College Station, TX building permitsRecords from 1989177,146 permits on file
- Denver, CO building permitsRecords from 2012122,389 permits on file
- Marin County, CA building permitsRecords from 200250,808 permits on file
- Mesa, AZ building permitsRecords from 2003156,075 permits on file
- Montgomery County, MD building permitsRecords from 2000228,260 permits on file
- New Orleans, LA building permitsRecords from 2012463,157 permits on file
- Norfolk, VA building permitsRecords from 2012126,225 permits on file
- Orlando, FL building permitsRecords from 19071,109,492 permits on file
- Philadelphia, PA building permitsRecords from 2007933,668 permits on file
- Pierce County, WA building permitsRecords from 1985682,054 permits on file
- Pittsburgh, PA building permitsRecords from June 201964,992 permits on file
- Prince George's County, MD building permitsRecords from 2013461,535 permits on file
- Washington, DC building permitsRecords from 2009788,545 permits on file
Getting the older records
- 1Ask the building department for the full permit file for the address. Departments call it the permit history, the building card or the property file.
- 2If asked, put the request in writing as a public records request.
- 3Allow time. Paper and microfilm files are pulled by hand, and some departments charge for copies.
What a short history means
Read the record against its starting year. A house built in 1955, in a city whose online records start in 2010, has more than fifty years that the portal cannot show. No permits online for that period is not evidence that no work was done, and not evidence that work was unpermitted.
Common questions
Are old permits ever thrown away?
Retention rules vary by state and city. Many departments keep permits for work on a building for as long as the building stands, but not all do, and files are sometimes lost.
Why does a house show no permits at all?
Three common reasons: the work predates the online records, the address is stored differently in the city's system, or no permit was ever filed.
Does PermitPeek have records the city does not publish?
No. PermitPeek shows the records each city publishes and states where they start. For anything earlier, ask the building department.
Read next
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Permit rules vary by city and state. Confirm anything that affects a purchase with the local building department or a real estate attorney.