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Charlottesville, VA building permits

Data through November 2024 · updated 19 Oct 2026

3,317 building permits were issued in Charlottesville from December 2022 to November 2024, about 1,658 a year. Electrical permits lead with 924, then plumbing (715) and HVAC (472). 63% were for homes. The city's file doesn't name contractors, so we can't rank, compare or profile firms here: these pages show what was built and when.

3,317permits issued
1,658a year
63%for homes
62%finished (Dec 2022–Nov 2023 permits)
Nov 2024records through

What gets built here

Electrical

924permits
479last 12 mo on file

Plumbing

715permits
374last 12 mo on file

HVAC

472permits
258last 12 mo on file

Remodels & repairs

262permits
199last 12 mo on file

Solar

219permits
85last 12 mo on file

What this page can and can't show

  • ✓Permits the city issued, by kind of work and month.
  • ✓Which permits finished, are still open or expired.
  • Who did the work. The city's file doesn't name contractors, so we can't rank, compare or profile firms here.
  • How long a permit takes to final. The file has too few final dates.
  • What the job cost. The file carries no job value.
  • Where, by ZIP code. The file carries no usable ZIP code.
  • Street addresses or owners. We publish counts and permit rows without them.

Building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, gas and demolition permits the City of Charlottesville issued inside the city. Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, runs its own permit office and is not in this file. Zoning, planning, traffic, engineering and fire-marshal records are left out.

Hiring someone here?

The permit file can't tell you who does good work. Ask for the contractor's license number and look it up at the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, then ask the city whether they pulled the permit for your job.

How to check a contractor's license in Virginia →

Permits by kind of work

Permits issued December 2022 through November 2024, every kind of work with 100 or more. Last 12 months on file is Dec 2023–Nov 2024. Homes is the share issued as residential permits.

Kind of workPermitsShareLast 12 mo
Electrical92428%479
Plumbing71522%374
HVAC47214%258
Remodels & repairs2628%199
Solar2197%85
Additions1394%82
Other40912%171

Fewer than 100 permits, so no row: garages, sheds & shade structures (89), new homes (38), roofing (13), pools & spas (11), ADUs & casitas (11), demolition (9), fences & walls (6).

Download this table (CSV)

Charlottesville permit statistics →Charlottesville building permit search: the City Permit Portal, statuses and FOIA →

Before you start a project

All guides →

Guides for Charlottesville

Local permit rules and lookups, each with Charlottesville's own permit numbers.

How these numbers are made

Source: Charlottesville Open Data, Planning (Building Permits 2023) table (OpenData_2 MapServer/33), read 19 Oct 2026. We count permits issued December 2022 through November 2024; denied and withdrawn permits are left out.

Building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, gas and demolition permits the City of Charlottesville issued inside the city. Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, runs its own permit office and is not in this file. Zoning, planning, traffic, engineering and fire-marshal records are left out.

  • The city's file names no contractor, so there are no contractor lists, rankings or firm pages for Charlottesville.
  • The city's open file stops recording issue dates in December 2024: permits applied for since then are listed but carry no issue date, so these pages end with November 2024.
  • The city moved to a new permit system in May 2023; permits issued before then come from records converted from the old system, whose work types are coded differently, so the mix of kinds of work shifts a little at that point.
  • Finished means the city's status is Closed. The file has no final inspection date, so we show no time to final; a closed permit may in a few cases have been closed without a final inspection. Cancelled permits are not counted.
  • The file's valuation field is blank (zero) on every permit and it has no ZIP code, so we show no costs and no ZIP pages.
  • Homes are the permits the city files under its residential permit types, plus converted older records whose building use is a one- or two-family dwelling.

Counts are permits, not jobs: one job can need several permits. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can. Sources and definitions →

Cite this page

Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0). Please credit Contractor Records and link to this page. Suggested citation:

Contractor Records, "Charlottesville, VA building permits", https://contractorrecords.com/charlottesville/, data through November 2024, from City of Charlottesville Neighborhood Development Services building-permit records.

Link to a table: By kind of work · Browse the permits · Permits each month.

Download the tables (CSV): Permits by kind of work · Permits in the last 12 months on file.

Common questions

  • How many building permits does Charlottesville issue a year?About 1,658 a year in Charlottesville: 3,317 permits issued December 2022 through November 2024, 1,766 of them in the last 12 months on file (to November 2024). That counts the permits the city issued, homes and commercial, not denied or withdrawn applications.
  • Can I find a contractor's permits in Charlottesville?Not from this file: the city publishes its permits without the contractor's name, so we can't list or rank firms. Check a license at the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation and ask the contractor for the permit number of a past job.
  • What do people build most in Charlottesville?Electrical: 924 of the 3,317 permits (28%), then plumbing (715), HVAC (472), December 2022 through November 2024.
  • How do I look up a building permit in Charlottesville?Filter the permit list on this page by month, kind of work to see what was issued. For one property's permits, search the city's own records by address or permit number; we don't publish addresses. How to look up a permit in Charlottesville →
  • How many permits were issued in Charlottesville last month?157 in November 2024, the last full month on file; 1,766 over the last 12 months on file (to November 2024).

Browse the permits

Browse 3,317 permits

Every permit in the file issued December 2022 through November 2024, newest first. Pick a month, a kind of work or a status. Each row is one permit: no street address, no names.

The list loads as you reach it (3,317 permits).

IssuedKind of workCity permit typeStatus

Permits each month, the last 12 months on file

Permits issued each month and the kind of work with the most. A month opens its permits in the list above.

MonthPermitsTop kind of work
Nov 2024157Electrical (37)
Oct 2024185Electrical (53)
Sep 2024153Electrical (35)
Aug 2024175Electrical (44)
Jul 2024130HVAC (34)
Jun 2024123Plumbing (37)
May 2024147Electrical (48)
Apr 2024145Plumbing (41)
Mar 2024163Electrical (52)
Feb 2024125Electrical (35)
Jan 2024121Plumbing (35)
Dec 2023142Electrical (40)

Download this table (CSV)