Where to search Durham permits
One office issues building permits for the City of Durham and unincorporated Durham County. Chapel Hill, Raleigh and the other Triangle towns run their own permit offices.
| Tool | Search by | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| LDO Application/Permit Search | Permit number, project name, address | Each application or permit, its status and reviews |
| LDO Parcel Search | Building permit number, parcel ID, PIN, address, owner name | The parcel and the permits on it |
| LDO Inspection search (same menu) | Permit | Inspection results |
| All Building Permits (City-County GIS) | Any field | Building permits with status, cost and certificate date; our source |
The LDO portal handles electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits as well as building permits. The public GIS file we use has building permits only.
How to look up the permits on a Durham address
- Open the Application/Permit Search.
- Choose Address and type the street number and street name. The page says you can leave a field empty if you do not know it.
- Open each result. A new house or a large remodel usually has a building permit plus separate trade permits.
- Read the status (table below) and check the inspection results.
- If the address search misses something, try the Parcel Search with the parcel ID or PIN from the county tax record. For questions, call Durham City-County Building & Safety at (919) 560-4144.
What the statuses mean
These are the status values in the City-County building permit file:
| Status in the file | What it means | How we count it |
|---|---|---|
| CO Issued, Cond. CO Issued, Complete | Certificate of occupancy or completion issued | Finished |
| Issued, CO Pending, Received, On Hold | Issued or still in process | Open |
| Disapproved, Void | Did not go ahead | Left out |
The file has no expired status. Of the residential building permits issued October 2024 to September 2025, 87% had a certificate by our 19 October 2026 snapshot, and the usual one took 154 days from issue to that sign-off (middle half 109 to 207 days).
When the record is not online
The City of Durham says "All requests should be submitted through the City's online public records portal", which is cityofdurhamnc.nextrequest.com, and that "requests will not be taken by phone". Before you file, use the portal's search, since the record may already be posted. Questions go to the Communications Department at (919) 560-4123 (Make a Public Records Request, read 24 October 2026).
What our Durham pages add
Our Durham page counts the residential building permits issued October 2024 to September 2026:
| Kind of work | Permits (Oct 2024–Sep 2026) | Finished (Oct 2024–Sep 2025 permits) | Usual days to certificate |
|---|---|---|---|
| New homes | 4,838 | 93.1% | 173 |
| Remodels and repairs | 1,695 | 79.7% | 99 |
| Additions | 809 | 77.0% | 143 |
| Solar | 534 | 89.2% | 60 |
| Garages, sheds and shade structures | 233 | 65.6% | 86 |
| Demolition | 192 | not shown | not shown |
| Pools and spas | 104 | not shown | not shown |
New homes count units, not buildings: each townhouse unit gets its own permit, and townhouses are about half of them. The permit statistics page has year and month counts, how long permits take has the time to sign-off by kind of work, and browse permits lists the rows. To check a builder's license, see How to check a contractor's license in North Carolina.
What this does not tell you
The public GIS file names no contractor, so we have no firm lists for Durham. It does not say whether a permit is in the city or the county, and electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits are published only as a list of open permits, so they are not counted. The value is the building cost declared on the permit, not the final cost.
How we know this
Search fields and record coverage are quoted from the City of Durham LDO portal's home, Application/Permit Search and Parcel Search pages, and the records process from the City's Make a Public Records Request page, all read 24 October 2026. Our counts are the City and County of Durham GIS All Building Permits layer, read 19 October 2026: residential building permits issued October 2024 to September 2026.
Numbers come from public permit records in 57 cities, data through October 19, 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 Durham?
Open the Application/Permit Search in the City of Durham's LDO portal (ldo4.durhamnc.gov/DurhamWeb), choose Address and enter the street number and street name. No login is needed. The Parcel Search also finds a property by parcel ID, PIN, address or owner name and lists its permits.
- Does the Durham LDO portal cover the county too?
Yes. The portal describes itself as the Land Development Office for the City and County of Durham, with most permit records, review comments and inspection results for parcels in both since October 2007.
- What does CO Issued mean on a Durham permit?
The certificate of occupancy or completion was issued, which is the sign-off at the end of the job. We count CO Issued, Cond. CO Issued and Complete as finished; 87% of the residential building permits issued October 2024 to September 2025 had reached one by October 2026.
- How long does a Durham building permit take to close?
The usual residential building permit issued October 2024 to September 2025 took 154 days from issue to its certificate (middle half 109 to 207 days). New homes took 173 days, remodels and repairs 99.
- How do I get an old Durham permit record?
Search the LDO portal first: it holds most records since October 2007. For anything else, submit a request through the City's online public records portal at cityofdurhamnc.nextrequest.com. The City says requests are not taken by phone.
Build your own list
Pick your city and the kind of work. Every firm with a permit on record, sorted by what you value.
Related guides
- Adams County, CO building permit search: the e-Permit Center, statuses and CORA
- Alachua County building permit search: Citizenserve, statuses and old records
- Anaheim building permit search: Anaheim NEXT and the Building Permit Report
- Arlington, VA building permit search: Permit Arlington lookups and FOIA requests
- How to look up building permits by address: the official search for 168 US places
- Howard County, MD building permit search: Accela Citizen Access and open data
- City of Durham Land Development Office (LDO) portal (2026-10-24)
- Application/Permit Search — Durham LDO (2026-10-24)
- Parcel Search — Durham LDO (2026-10-24)
- Make a Public Records Request — City of Durham (2026-10-24)
- All Building Permits — City and County of Durham GIS (Inspections MapServer layer 12) (2026-10-19)