Find permit requirements for any local project

Search 62 local permit offices across 18 states. Official sources, cited, with a last checked date on every page.

For example, try a county name, or "deck permit", "solar phoenix", or "hvac dallas".

Or answer three questions and see what your whole project needs.

Verified permit rules
668
Localities covered
62
States
18
Permit records
128,021

Latest from the rule tracker

All tracked changes

Statute-cited changes to permit rules and fees, caught in our verification passes.

Browse by state

Browse by permit type

Original research

Built from the permit and inspection records we ingest and normalise ourselves.

Do you need a permit?

The verdict landscape across every rule we have verified: what usually needs a permit, what usually does not, and where thresholds sit.

First-time inspection pass rates, measured

First-time residential inspection pass percent by trade, measured from real inspection event logs across the localities we cover, with administrative closure events excluded.

Guides

All guides

Where You Can Replace a Roof Without Pulling a Permit

Six of the 62 jurisdictions we have verified let you re-roof a house with no building permit at all, and most of the rest allow it only under conditions. Here is who exempts what, with the rule each one publishes.

Last checked 2026-08-01

The Seven Foot Fence Rule Is Not a Rule

The building code exempts fences under seven feet, so the internet repeats seven feet. Across 36 jurisdictions that publish a height, we found thresholds from one foot to eight, and four Phoenix-area cities that draw the line at three.

Last checked 2026-08-01

Your City Does Not Always Issue Your Permit

In eleven of the jurisdictions we cover, the electrical or plumbing permit is issued by a state agency, a health department, or the power utility, not the city or county building office. Applying to the wrong one costs you weeks.

Last checked 2026-08-01

Recently verified

The most recent re-check against an official source, one per jurisdiction.

A person checks every rule on PermitNotebook against an official government source before it publishes, and again on a schedule after that. See how we verify.

Residential floor plans with imperial dimensions spread on a table

How PermitNotebook works

1. Find your locality. Search or browse to your county or city.

2. Pick your project. See whether a permit is required and the typical thresholds.

3. Go to the official source. We link straight to the permit office, portal, and the pages we checked.