Data Sources and Methodology
Every statistic on this site comes from an official city open data portal. This page explains which datasets we use and how we turn them into project counts.
Official Datasets
| City | Permit office | Dataset |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago, IL | Chicago Department of Buildings | Chicago Building Permits |
| New York, NY | NYC Department of Buildings | DOB NOW: Build – Approved Permits |
| Los Angeles, CA | Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) | LADBS Building Permits Issued 2020–Present |
| Austin, TX | City of Austin Development Services Department | Austin Issued Construction Permits |
| Seattle, WA | Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) | Seattle Building Permits |
| Orlando, FL | City of Orlando Permitting Services | Orlando Permit Applications |
| Philadelphia, PA | Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) | Philadelphia L&I Permits (Carto) |
| Baltimore, MD | Baltimore City Department of Housing & Community Development (DHCD) | Open Baltimore: DHCD Permits |
| Nashville, TN | Metro Nashville Department of Codes and Building Safety | Metro Nashville Building Permits Issued |
| Raleigh, NC | City of Raleigh Permit and Development Services | Raleigh Building Permits |
| San Francisco, CA | San Francisco Department of Building Inspection (DBI) | DataSF: Building Permits |
| New Orleans, LA | New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits | NOLA Permits |
| Pittsburgh, PA | Pittsburgh Department of Permits, Licenses, and Inspections (PLI) | WPRDC: PLI Permits |
| Cincinnati, OH | Cincinnati Department of Buildings & Inspections | Cincinnati Building Permits |
| Kansas City, MO | Kansas City, MO City Planning & Development Department | KCMO Permits (CPD) |
How Permits Are Matched to Projects
Most cities do not label permits as "roofing" or "deck". We match permits to the five projects using the permit type and work description, then exclude records that mention unrelated work such as new homes, additions or pools. Orlando publishes structured application and work types, which we use directly. Counts are therefore approximate.
Statistics We Compute
- Permits issued in the last 12 months and last 30 days, by issue date.
- Monthly volume for the last 12 months (the current month is partial).
- Median days from application to issue, where both dates are published.
- Median declared job value and fee paid, where published.
- Busiest areas by ZIP code or neighbourhood.
Publishing Threshold
A city project page is published only when the city issued at least 10 matching permits in 12 months and we have verified the rule on an official source.
Privacy
We show addresses and work descriptions only. Owner names and phone numbers are removed.
Refresh Schedule
Data is refetched weekly. Last build: 2026-10-30.