- Order of trades. Comparing each trade's usual figure across cities: roofing 41 days, solar 70 days, electrical 71 days, plumbing 75 days, HVAC 76 days, remodel 168 days, new home 238 days.
- Electrical permits: closed within 30 days in 4 cities and after more than 120 days in 10 cities, out of 37.
- Across all 216 city-and-trade figures, 27 are 30 days or less and 4 are over a year: new home in Miami, FL (648 days); HVAC in New York City, NY (417 days); new home in Minneapolis, MN (396 days); remodel in Cleveland, OH (391 days).
The figures below are the usual number of days between the day a permit was issued and the day the permit office recorded it as finished (final inspection, closeout or letter of completion), for permits on houses and small residential buildings. "Usual" is the median: half of the permits took less time, half took more.
The short version: each trade across cities
"Usual across cities" is the middle of the city figures, so a big city counts the same as a small one. The fastest and slowest city link to that city's own timing page.
| Trade | Cities | Usual across cities (days) | Fastest city (days) | Slowest city (days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical | 37 | 71 | Medford, OR (15) | Bismarck, ND (233) |
| Plumbing | 35 | 75 | Sacramento County, CA (8) | Naperville, IL (360) |
| HVAC | 34 | 76 | Ames, IA (7) | New York City, NY (417) |
| Roofing | 20 | 41 | Elk Grove, CA (15) | St. Louis, MO (294) |
| Remodel | 36 | 168 | Orlando, FL (59) | Cleveland, OH (391) |
| New home | 24 | 238 | Greensboro, NC (156) | Miami, FL (648) |
| Solar | 30 | 70 | Bellingham, WA (22) | San Francisco, CA (349) |
Every city, every trade
A dash means the city has no such trade in its file, or the cell did not meet the rules in the method box (fewer than 200 permits, or most permits a year old never closed). City names link to that city's "how long permits take" page, which shows every trade it has.
| City | Electrical | Plumbing | HVAC | Roofing | Remodel | New home | Solar | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ames, IA | 93 | 94 | 7 | — | 97 | — | — | |
| Anaheim, CA | 35 | 20 | 64 | 16 | 180 | — | 103 | |
| Arlington, VA | 99 | 75 | 148 | — | 112 | 291 | 47 | county permits |
| Austin, TX | 76 | 75 | 118 | — | 67 | 356 | — | |
| Bellevue, WA | 45 | 190 | 76 | 41 | 216 | — | — | |
| Bellingham, WA | 89 | — | 24 | — | — | 326 | 22 | |
| Bend, OR | 31 | 67 | 28 | — | 88 | 220 | 56 | |
| Bismarck, ND | 233 | 277 | 142 | — | 272 | 351 | — | remodel includes additions |
| Boulder, CO | 55 | — | 76 | 41 | 141 | — | 72 | |
| Burlington, VT | 84 | — | — | 159 | 315 | — | — | file ends Mar 2026; roofing includes siding |
| Cape Coral, FL | 25 | 71 | 41 | 39 | 99 | 232 | 49 | 21 months of data |
| Cary, NC | 41 | 10 | 29 | — | 84 | 176 | 45 | |
| Cincinnati, OH | — | 90 | 278 | — | 340 | — | — | |
| Citrus Heights, CA | 54 | 14 | 62 | 21 | 101 | — | 55 | remodel includes additions |
| Cleveland, OH | 146 | 234 | 142 | 91 | 391 | 344 | — | |
| Columbus, OH | 73 | 111 | 115 | — | 155 | 252 | — | |
| Elk Grove, CA | 49 | 23 | 50 | 15 | 79 | 175 | 109 | remodel includes additions |
| Greensboro, NC | 52 | 121 | 48 | — | 126 | 156 | 103 | |
| Henderson, NV | 29 | 14 | 22 | — | 91 | 181 | 25 | |
| Honolulu, HI | 155 | — | — | — | 265 | 295 | 102 | file ends Jun 2025 |
| Marin County, CA | 124 | 53 | 96 | 58 | 272 | — | — | unincorporated county |
| Medford, OR | 15 | 12 | 31 | — | — | 176 | 34 | remodel includes additions |
| Mesa, AZ | 23 | 33 | — | — | — | 201 | 30 | |
| Miami, FL | 184 | 127 | 73 | 38 | 182 | 648 | 52 | |
| Minneapolis, MN | — | 113 | 85 | 85 | 161 | 396 | 76 | |
| Naperville, IL | 144 | 360 | — | — | 175 | — | 107 | timed only in the permit system used from 2024 |
| New York City, NY | 162 | 350 | 417 | — | — | — | 144 | HVAC includes boilers |
| Orlando, FL | 127 | 123 | 91 | 27 | 59 | 203 | 42 | |
| Palo Alto, CA | 70 | 20 | 69 | 48 | 187 | — | 109 | |
| Provo, UT | — | — | — | — | 227 | 254 | — | |
| Raleigh, NC | 91 | 133 | 121 | — | — | — | — | |
| Sacramento County, CA | 56 | 8 | 56 | 19 | 85 | 171 | 50 | unincorporated county; remodel includes additions |
| Saint Paul, MN | 54 | 77 | 150 | 128 | 206 | — | 69 | file ends Jun 2025 |
| San Diego, CA | 71 | 41 | 103 | — | 162 | 358 | 72 | |
| San Diego County, CA | 63 | 62 | 163 | 41 | 74 | 225 | 81 | unincorporated county |
| San Francisco, CA | — | — | — | 36 | 180 | — | 349 | |
| Seattle, WA | 44 | — | 66 | 67 | — | — | 43 | HVAC = furnaces; heat pumps filed separately |
| Somerville, MA | 112 | 196 | 365 | — | 286 | — | 91 | |
| St. Louis, MO | — | — | — | 294 | 361 | — | — | |
| Sugar Land, TX | — | 23 | — | — | — | — | 66 | |
| Waco, TX | 121 | 127 | 112 | 41 | 300 | 174 | 136 | file ends May 2026 |
| Wheaton, IL | 159 | 34 | — | — | 132 | — | — | finish = last passed inspection |
| Wilmington, NC | 54 | 78 | 27 | — | 231 | 244 | 71 |
What makes a city slow or fast here
The clock stops when the office records a final, not when the contractor packs up. Two things stretch it that have nothing to do with how fast the work went:
- Who books the final. Where the homeowner or contractor must call for the final inspection, permits sit open after the job is done. Where the office closes small trade permits on a single visit, the clock is short.
- Bundled jobs. A new-home or remodel permit stays open until the whole house passes, so it runs for months by design.
So a long figure is a reason to ask your contractor how and when the final will be booked, not proof that contractors in that city are slow. Our guide to why a permit is still open covers what to do when yours is.
How we know this
What is counted. Permits on houses and small residential buildings (as each city's data allows) that name a contractor, issued in the city's data window (three years to the end of September 2026 in most cities; see the Notes column). The usual days figure is a Kaplan-Meier median from issue to the recorded finish date, so permits still open count as "not finished yet" instead of being dropped.
What is left out. Cities that do not record the date a permit was finished (Albuquerque, Cambridge, Chicago, Colorado Springs, Denton, Pittsburgh, Scottsdale and Tyler, where any timing is an estimate from permit age) and Nashville, which has no completion dates. A city-and-trade cell is shown only when the trade has 200 or more permits and, where the city records it, at least half of its permits a year or more old were finished. Denver's open data no longer carries final dates for new homes and remodels.
Caveats. Trade names differ by city: the column is the closest match, and the Notes column says where it covers more (remodel with additions) or less (Seattle's HVAC is furnaces; heat pumps are a separate permit). Saint Paul and Honolulu files end in June 2025, Scottsdale's in December 2025, Burlington's in March 2026 and Waco's in May 2026. San Diego County, Marin County and Sacramento County are unincorporated-county permits only. Wheaton's finish date is its last passed inspection.
Regenerating. The tables are built by seo/tools/studies.py from the same files as every city page; rerun it after a data refresh.
Numbers come from public permit records in 53 cities, data through October 20, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
Pick your city and see every contractor's finished share and speed →
Questions
- How long does a building permit take to close?
On homes, the usual figure across the cities we measure runs from about six weeks for roofing to most of a year for a new home; the summary table at the top of this page has the exact figure for each trade. In Seattle the usual electrical permit closes 44 days after it is issued; in Austin the usual remodel permit takes 67 days.
- Is this the time it takes to get a permit approved?
No. Every figure here starts on the day the permit was issued and ends on the day the permit office recorded the final inspection or closeout. Plan review before the permit is issued is not counted, and neither is any wait between signing a contract and filing.
- Why does the same kind of permit take so much longer in one city than another?
The clock stops when the office records a final, so it measures the whole job plus the time to book and record the final inspection. Offices that issue simple trade permits and final them on one visit show short times (Medford's usual electrical permit: 15 days); offices where finals are often left for later show long ones (New York City's HVAC and boiler permits: 417 days).
- Why are some cities missing?
Some cities record only whether a permit is finished today, not the date it was finished, so their timing would be an estimate; we leave those out of this study. Nashville's file has no completion dates at all. The others are left out trade by trade when they have fewer than 200 permits or when most permits a year old were never closed.
- Can I use these figures in an article?
Yes. Link to this page as the source and give the data window. Each city row links to that city's own timing page with more trades and the method in full.
Build your own list
Pick your city and the kind of work. Every firm with a permit on record, sorted by what you value.