Whether you’re building a new home, renovating, adding an ADU, or tackling a light commercial project like a tenant improvement, you want clear answers on where your permit stands. In this post, we’ll walk through practical ways to track your building permit status without spending hours on the phone.
Why Building Permit Updates Can Be So Hard to Get
Most cities process hundreds of permits at a time.
Your application moves through multiple steps—intake, plan check, revisions, approvals—before it’s issued. Without a reliable tracking method, it’s easy for owners, developers, and project managers to feel completely in the dark.
And while some jurisdictions have online portals, many are outdated, hard to navigate, or require you to know exactly what to search for.
Option 1: Use Your City’s Online Permit Portal
Some jurisdictions provide a public permit lookup tool on their website.
To use it, you’ll usually need:
- Your permit application number (sometimes called an “APN” or “plan check” number)
- The property address
Pros:
- Free and official source
- May include review comments, approval dates, or inspection results
Cons:
- Not all cities have this feature
- Information can be limited or hard to interpret
- You need to remember to check it regularly
Option 2: Get Updates From Your Architect or Contractor
Your architect or contractor is typically the main point of contact with the city.
They can confirm:
- When the permit was submitted
- Whether the city has issued review comments
- If revisions have been submitted
- When the permit has been approved and issued
The challenge? You’re dependent on them remembering to pass along updates—especially when they’re managing multiple active projects.
Option 3: Use a Permit Tracking Tool That Shares Updates Automatically
Instead of calling the city or chasing updates, you can see your permit status on a private, shareable dashboard that your architect maintains in real time.
Permitful is designed for high-performing architects who want to stay organized, streamline their permit workflow, and keep clients fully informed throughout the process. By centralizing all permit data in one place, architects reduce errors and delays while providing clients with clear, real-time visibility.
With a tool like Permitful, your architect can easily create a public project dashboard that: