How to check if a house has open permits

Updated October 2, 2026 · 4 min read

Short answer

Search the address in the city or county building department's permit records and read the status of each permit. A permit that was issued but never marked final, closed or completed is open. Many cities publish these records online. Where they don't, the building department will look them up on request.

The steps

1Find out who issues permits for the address. Inside city limits it is usually the city building department. In an unincorporated area it is usually the county.
2Search that department's online permit portal by street address. Try the address without the unit number and with common abbreviations (St, Ave) if the first search returns nothing.
3Open every permit and note three things: the date it was issued, what work it covered, and its current status.
4Flag any permit with no final inspection or completion date. That is an open permit. Also flag any marked expired.
5If the department has no online search, call or email and ask for the permit history for the address. Permit records are public, and some departments ask for a written records request.
6Compare the list with the house. A new kitchen, finished basement or added bathroom with no matching permit is worth asking the seller about.

What counts as open

Cities use different words. Issued, active, in progress and under inspection generally mean open. Finaled, completed, closed and certificate of occupancy issued generally mean closed. Expired means the permit ran out of time before the work was signed off, which leaves the same question unanswered: did anyone confirm the work was done properly?

Some cities do not publish a status at all, or publish one that never changes after the permit is issued. In those places the record tells you what was permitted and when, but not whether it was finished.

A faster way for covered cities

PermitPeek runs this search against the city's own published records and sorts the results into open, expired, closed and no status. Searching addresses is free and unlimited, and shows whether records exist. The full report costs $18.99.

What a permit search cannot tell you

Work done without a permit never appears in permit records.
Older permits may not be digitized. Many portals only go back to the year the city moved to an electronic system.
A closed permit confirms the work passed inspection at the time. It says nothing about its condition today.

Common questions

Are building permits public record?

Yes, in general. Building permits are government records and are open to the public across the United States. How you get them varies: many cities offer an online search, and others require a phone call, a visit or a written records request.

Can I look up permits by address for free?

Often, yes. Most city portals are free to search. PermitPeek's address search is also free and shows whether permit records exist. The full report with every permit and its status costs $18.99.

How far back do permit records go?

It depends on the city. Some publish records going back decades. Others only publish what was filed after they adopted an electronic permitting system, which can be as recent as the last ten years.