How to read a building permit

A permit record is a short story about money, timing, and people. Every city formats them a little differently, but the fields below show up almost everywhere, and a few of them are often misread.

The fields that matter

Filed / applied date

When the application went in. The earliest signal: the project is real enough that someone paid a filing fee. New permits land in BuildMapper every Monday.

Issued date

When the city approved it. Work can legally start, and crews usually show up soon after. The best time for each trade is counted from here. The gap between filed and issued tells you how fast this city (and this builder) moves.

In review

Filed but not yet issued. For big projects this is the design stage, the best possible moment for early trades and suppliers to get in, before the list of trades exists.

Declared / construction value

The applicant's own estimate of the construction cost, declared to work out the permit fee. Treat it as a floor, not a ceiling. It is usually on the low side because fees rise with it, and it leaves out land, soft costs, and often finishes.

Permit class / type

New construction, addition, alteration or tenant improvement, or demolition, plus a use class like single-family, multifamily, or commercial. The fastest way to tell whether a project fits your business.

Applicant vs. owner vs. contractor

Three names that may or may not match. If the contractor is the applicant, the team is already in place. If the owner is the applicant, the trades often have not been chosen yet. Better news for you.

Units and floors

Size signals. Twenty units of anything is a different sale than a laneway house, whatever the declared value. Bigger projects run longer, so the best time for each trade stretches out.

What to look for, by role

• Trades: the words in the description tell you fit. Re-roof, tenant improvement, and addition each mean a very different job. Then check the date against the best time for your trade.
• Suppliers: permit class plus units and floors tells you how much material the job needs; a 24-unit townhouse and a laneway house are different orders whatever the declared value says. The issued date starts the ordering clock, about two weeks before each trade shows up on site.
• Managers: the applicant is the account. If the applicant is a builder on your customer file, the permit shows up on your Territory page as one of yours; if it is a builder who is actively permitting and not on your file, it is on the gap list.
• Demolition permits are the earliest sign of a new build on a lot where an old house is coming down. The permit for the new build usually follows within months.