Where to search Arlington permits
| Tool | Search by | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Look Up Property Information | Address, parcel, owner, record, licensed professional | Records on the property, or every record tied to a licensed professional |
| Search for Building Records | Address | Building and trade permit records |
| Permits Applications (open data) | Any field | Permit number, permit holder, status, type, description and dates |
| Our Arlington firm list | Contractor name | Each firm's permits, share finaled and days to final |
How to look up permits on an Arlington address
- Open Look Up Property Information and choose Look Up by Address.
- Enter the street number and street name, pick the street type, and search.
- Open the property and its records: read each permit's type, status and the contractor listed.
- To see everything a firm has filed, switch the search type to Look Up by Licensed Professional.
- Check the firm's Virginia license: the steps are in the Arlington, VA contractor license lookup.
What the statuses mean
Our pages count Finaled and Closed as finished, timed to the closed date. Expired and Closed: No Inspection count as not finished, and permits that were never issued (in review, denied, awaiting payment) are left out. Arlington's feed repeats many permits, typically one copy "Issued Awaiting Inspection" and another "Finaled"; we keep one row per permit and treat it as finaled if any copy is. Owner-pulled permits are left out, and demolition records carry no usable completion date (Arlington about page; methodology).
| Trade | Permits | Firms | Finaled (a year or more old) | Usual days to final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical | 4,143 | 524 | 86.5% | 99 |
| Plumbing | 6,454 | 448 | 83.3% | 75 |
| HVAC | 2,807 | 274 | 86.9% | 148 |
| Remodel | 777 | 346 | 88.5% | 112 |
| Addition | 750 | 348 | 88.5% | 235 |
| Deck | 402 | 180 | 96.3% | 61 |
| New home | 512 | 119 | 94.4% | 291 |
Most Arlington permits do get finaled, so a year-old permit that hasn't is worth a call to the contractor.
When the record is not online
Arlington's FOIA Requests page takes requests by email at FOIAofficer@arlingtonva.us, by phone on 703-228-0720, or by mail or in person at 2100 Clarendon Boulevard, Suite 403, Arlington, VA 22201. "We will respond within five working days", with up to seven more working days if needed. Record retrieval administration is capped at $25.00 an hour, and estimates of $200 or more need a 50% deposit (read 23 October 2026).
What our Arlington data adds
Permit Arlington is organised by property and record. Ours groups the same permits by firm: the Arlington permit statistics, and the compare lists for electricians, plumbers, HVAC, remodelers and additions. Which jobs need a permit: Do I need a permit?
See every Arlington remodeler by share finaled →
How we know this
Search options are from Arlington County's Permit Arlington (Accela Citizen Access) lookup pages and request terms from the County's FOIA Requests page, read 23 October 2026. Our counts are Arlington County building and trade permits on homes, October 2023 to September 2026, one row per permit number.
Numbers come from Arlington County, VA building and trade permits, data through October 14, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
Questions
- How do I find out if a permit was pulled on my house in Arlington, VA?
In Permit Arlington's Accela Citizen Access, use Look Up Property Information by address, or Search for Building Records by address. Open each record to read its type and status.
- Are Arlington County building permits public record?
Yes. Permits are searchable in Permit Arlington and published as the Permits Applications dataset on Arlington's open data site. Anything else goes to the County FOIA officer under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
- Can I search Arlington permits by contractor?
Yes. Permit Arlington has a Look Up by Licensed Professional search, and the open data names the permit holder. Our Arlington pages list 17,059 permits from October 2023 to September 2026 under 2,425 firms.
- How do I request old Arlington permit records?
Email FOIAofficer@arlingtonva.us, call 703-228-0720, or write to 2100 Clarendon Boulevard, Suite 403. The County says it responds within five working days, can take seven more, and caps retrieval administration at $25 an hour.
- Why does my Arlington permit say Issued Awaiting Inspection?
Either the final inspection hasn't happened, or you are looking at a stale copy: Arlington's permit feed often repeats a permit, one copy Issued Awaiting Inspection and one Finaled. Check every record with that permit number.
Build your own list
Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.
Related guides
- Bend building permit search: the Online Permit Center and older records
- Colorado Springs building permit search: PPRBD permit search and archived permit cards
- Greensboro building permit search: look up permits and inspections by address
- Arlington, VA contractor license lookup: DPOR class and specialty, the County permit search, and what the permits show
- Baltimore building permit search: Accela Citizen Access and the open permit file
- Baltimore County building permit search: the county's Permit Search map and records requests
For one city
- Look Up Property Information — Permit Arlington (Accela Citizen Access) (2026-10-23)
- Search for Building Records — Permit Arlington (Accela Citizen Access) (2026-10-23)
- Permit Arlington — Arlington County (2026-10-23)
- Permits Applications — Arlington County Open Data (2026-10-23)
- Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests — Arlington County (2026-10-23)