How many building permits does Chattanooga issue a year?

About 6,676 a year in Chattanooga: 13,353 permits over 24 months, October 2024 through September 2026. 6,931 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025-Sep 2026), 8% more than the 6,422 in the 12 months before.

Are building permits up or down in Chattanooga?

6,931 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025-Sep 2026), 8% more than the 6,422 in the 12 months before. HVAC permits grew most (1,108 to 1,375); demolition permits fell most (175 to 110).

What is the busiest month for permits in Chattanooga?

August, counting every kind of work (119 against an average month of 100). November is the quietest (78). Each kind of work has its own season; the charts above show them.

Chattanooga, TN Permit Statistics (2026): 13,353 Permits

By kind of work

Permits issued October 2024 through September 2026. Last 12 months is Oct 2025–Sep 2026; the 12 months before is Oct 2024–Sep 2025. Homes is the share issued as residential permits. Busiest month is the calendar month with the most permits on average.

Kind of work	Permits	Share	Last 12 mo	12 mo before	Change	Homes	Busiest month
Plumbing	4,073	31%	2,117	1,956	+8%	100%	August
Electrical	3,522	26%	1,834	1,688	+9%	100%	June
HVAC	2,483	19%	1,375	1,108	+24%	100%	September
New homes	1,316	10%	662	654	+1%	100%	June
Remodels & repairs	1,082	8%	521	561	−7%	100%	July
Demolition	285	2%	110	175	−37%	100%	March
Additions	280	2%	135	145	−7%	100%	September
Garages, sheds & shade structures	185	1%	80	105	−24%	100%	May

Fewer than 100 permits, so no row: fences & walls (68), pools & spas (44), solar (15).

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By year

Permits issued in each calendar year of the window. Per year scales a part year to 12 months.

Year	Months	Permits	Per year
2024 (from October)	3	1,609	6,436
2025	12	6,306	6,306
2026 (through September)	9	5,438	7,251

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By month

Permits issued each month, October 2024 through September 2026. The tallest bar is the busiest month on file.

The same numbers as a table

Month	Permits
Oct 2024	567
Nov 2024	479
Dec 2024	563
Jan 2025	449
Feb 2025	419
Mar 2025	497
Apr 2025	474
May 2025	508
Jun 2025	564
Jul 2025	622
Aug 2025	638
Sep 2025	642
Oct 2025	637
Nov 2025	388
Dec 2025	468
Jan 2026	580
Feb 2026	552
Mar 2026	599
Apr 2026	572
May 2026	503
Jun 2026	658
Jul 2026	635
Aug 2026	688
Sep 2026	651

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When each kind of work is filed

Permits by calendar month, 100 = an average month (the thin line), October 2024 through September 2026. Kinds of work do not all peak together. Each month is counted twice (once a year), so one unusual month still moves these numbers.

Plumbing

4,073 permits · busiest August, quietest November

Electrical

3,522 permits · busiest June, quietest November

HVAC

2,483 permits · busiest September, quietest February

New homes

1,316 permits · busiest June, quietest November

Remodels & repairs

1,082 permits · busiest July, quietest January

Demolition

285 permits · busiest March, quietest April

Additions

280 permits · busiest September, quietest December

Garages, sheds & shade structures

185 permits · busiest May, quietest March

The same numbers as a table

Kind of work	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Plumbing	87	91	108	99	94	103	107	121	110	118	79	81
Electrical	82	86	106	89	82	124	109	118	106	113	79	104
HVAC	109	76	88	86	83	89	120	127	132	106	80	102
New homes	110	78	80	90	117	130	109	119	129	80	57	98
Remodels & repairs	81	99	100	109	81	121	138	102	106	99	81	84
Demolition	126	109	131	67	97	67	67	105	109	114	126	80
Additions	99	90	64	111	99	116	120	116	137	107	86	56
Garages, sheds & shade structures	78	110	45	104	143	117	136	97	123	104	65	78

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Homes and everything else

How the city classed each permit. Other covers commercial buildings, signs, towers and similar work.

Permit class	Permits	Share	Last 12 mo
Homes (residential)	13,353	100%	6,931
Other	0	0%	0

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How many permits get finished

Permits issued Oct 2024–Sep 2025, so each has had at least 12 months to reach a final. Finished means the city recorded a final inspection or marked it complete. The file doesn't mark permits expired, so a lapsed permit still reads open.

Status	Permits	Share
Finished	3,213	50.0%
Still open	3,209	50.0%

How long each kind of permit takes →

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By ZIP code

The 10 ZIP codes with the most permits, counted at the property's ZIP code. A ZIP code can cross into a city that runs its own permit office; only the city's permits are counted.

ZIP code	Permits	Share	Top kind of work
37421	2,864	21%	Plumbing (950)
37405	1,628	12%	Plumbing (502)
37343	1,534	11%	Plumbing (502)
37404	1,140	9%	Plumbing (328)
37406	1,046	8%	Plumbing (274)
37411	810	6%	Electrical (223)
37419	799	6%	Plumbing (259)
37410	671	5%	Plumbing (203)
37415	606	5%	Electrical (168)
37416	602	5%	Plumbing (177)

All 14 ZIP codes with 250+ permits →

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How Chattanooga compares with other cities

From our cross-city data studies: the same measure, read the same way, for every city we cover.

58% finished of plumbing permits a year or more old here, against 81% across 30 cities (3rd lowest of 31). Permit completion rates by city →
42% still open of plumbing permits a year after issue here, against 19% across 30 cities (3rd most left open of 31). Permits still open after a year, by city →
Firms per city, how many are active and how many are new, across 53 cities. How many contractors each city has →
Busiest Aug, quietest Nov for permits here; see when each trade peaks in 50 cities. Busiest months for home projects, by city →

How these numbers are made

Source: City of Chattanooga Hub (ChattaData), All Permits (nightly CSV extract, ArcGIS item 9937e99e93de467eae5f592061c2672c), read 18 Oct 2026. We count permits issued October 2024 through September 2026; denied and withdrawn permits are left out.

Residential permits the City of Chattanooga Land Development Office issues inside the city: building, repair and replace, modification and demolition permits for homes, and electrical, plumbing, mechanical and gas permits the city marks residential. Commercial, industrial and institutional permits, street cuts, land disturbing, low voltage permits and certificates of occupancy in the same file are not counted. Unincorporated Hamilton County, East Ridge, Red Bank, Signal Mountain and the other towns run their own permit offices and are not in this file.

The file names a contractor company on about seven in ten of the permits counted here, and on none before 2020. The contractor table counts permits filed per firm among those; it does not rate, rank or compare their work.
The file has a declared cost on only a few commercial permits, so we show no costs.
The file's completion date is empty. A final date here is the date the city last changed the permit's status, on permits whose status is Complete. A permit with any other status (Active or Stopped) counts as open; the file has no expired status.
In mid-2025 the city renamed several permit types (for example 'Residential Building Permit Old' and 'Residential Modification Permit' became 'Residential Building Permit' and 'Residential Repair Replace'); both names are counted the same way.
A new house gets separate building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and gas permits, so one project can count several times, once under each kind of work.

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, "Chattanooga, TN building permit statistics", https://contractorrecords.com/chattanooga/permit-statistics, data through September 2026, from the City of Chattanooga Land Development Office building-permit records.

Link to a table: By kind of work · By year · By month · When each kind of work is filed · Homes and everything else · How many get finished · By ZIP code.

Download the tables (CSV): Permits by kind of work · Permits by year · Permits by month · Permits by calendar month (index) · Homes and other permits · Finished, open and expired · Permits by ZIP code.

Common questions

How many building permits does Chattanooga issue a year?About 6,676 a year in Chattanooga: 13,353 permits over 24 months, October 2024 through September 2026. 6,931 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), 8% more than the 6,422 in the 12 months before.
Are building permits up or down in Chattanooga?6,931 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), 8% more than the 6,422 in the 12 months before. HVAC permits grew most (1,108 to 1,375); demolition permits fell most (175 to 110).
What is the busiest month for permits in Chattanooga?August, counting every kind of work (119 against an average month of 100). November is the quietest (78). Each kind of work has its own season; the charts above show them.
What share of Chattanooga permits are for homes?100%: 13,353 of the 13,353 permits issued October 2024 through September 2026 were residential permits.

Chattanooga permit data →How long permits take in Chattanooga →Chattanooga plumbing permits →Chattanooga electrical permits →Chattanooga HVAC permits →Browse Chattanooga permits →