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Howard County, MD building permits

Data through November 2025 · updated 19 Oct 2026

33,773 building permits were issued in Howard County from December 2023 to November 2025, about 16,886 a year. Electrical permits lead with 11,976, then plumbing (9,666) and HVAC (3,024). 100% were for homes. The county's file doesn't name contractors, so we can't rank, compare or profile firms here: these pages show what was built, where and when.

33,773permits issued
16,886a year
100%for homes
Nov 2025records through

What gets built here

Electrical

11,976permits
6,236last 12 mo on file

Plumbing

9,666permits
4,712last 12 mo on file

HVAC

3,024permits
1,674last 12 mo on file

Solar

2,095permits
1,420last 12 mo on file

Garages, sheds & shade structures

1,752permits
832last 12 mo on file

Remodels & repairs

1,275permits
655last 12 mo on file

New homes

1,014permits
366last 12 mo on file

Additions

996permits
508last 12 mo on file

Pools & spas

204permits
88last 12 mo on file

What this page can and can't show

  • ✓Permits the county issued, by kind of work, month and ZIP code.
  • Who did the work. The county's file doesn't name contractors, so we can't rank, compare or profile firms here.
  • Which permits were finished. The county's file has no permit status or final inspection date, so it can't say which permits were finished.
  • What the job cost. The file carries no job value.
  • Street addresses or owners. We publish counts and permit rows without them.

Residential permits Howard County's Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits issues countywide: new houses and townhouses, alterations, additions, decks and porches, solar, pools, demolition, and electrical, plumbing, HVAC and fire-sprinkler permits for homes. Howard County has no incorporated towns, so Columbia, Ellicott City, Elkridge, Clarksville, the Howard County parts of Laurel and Mount Airy and the rest of the county are all in this file. Commercial and sign permits in the same file are not counted, and grading permits 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 Maryland Home Improvement Commission, then ask the county whether they pulled the permit for your job.

Permits by kind of work

Permits issued December 2023 through November 2025, every kind of work with 100 or more. Last 12 months on file is Dec 2024–Nov 2025. Homes is the share issued as residential permits.

Kind of workPermitsShareLast 12 mo
Electrical11,97635%6,236
Plumbing9,66629%4,712
HVAC3,0249%1,674
Solar2,0956%1,420
Garages, sheds & shade structures1,7525%832
Remodels & repairs1,2754%655
New homes1,0143%366
Additions9963%508
Pools & spas204under 1%88
Demolition133under 1%114
Other1,5965%699

Fewer than 100 permits, so no row: fences & walls (42).

Download this table (CSV)

Howard County permit statistics →Howard County permits by ZIP code →Howard County, MD building permit search: Accela Citizen Access and open data →

Before you start a project

All guides →

Nearby permit data

Permit data for other places in the area. Each permit office keeps its own file, so the numbers are not added together.

Washington, DC

Arlington, VAWashington, DCFairfax County, VAMontgomery County, MDRockville, MDPrince George's County, MD

Baltimore

Baltimore, MDBaltimore County, MD

How these numbers are made

Source: Howard County Open Data, Building, Electrical, Fire, Grading, Mechanical, Plumbing & Sign Permits (Socrata dataset kvz2-j5cj), read 19 Oct 2026. We count permits issued December 2023 through November 2025; denied and withdrawn permits are left out. The county's file has no permit status or final inspection date, so it can't say which permits were finished, so no finished share is shown.

Residential permits Howard County's Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits issues countywide: new houses and townhouses, alterations, additions, decks and porches, solar, pools, demolition, and electrical, plumbing, HVAC and fire-sprinkler permits for homes. Howard County has no incorporated towns, so Columbia, Ellicott City, Elkridge, Clarksville, the Howard County parts of Laurel and Mount Airy and the rest of the county are all in this file. Commercial and sign permits in the same file are not counted, and grading permits are left out.

  • The county's file names no contractor, so there are no contractor lists, rankings or firm pages for Howard County.
  • The file has no declared job value, no status and no final inspection date, so we show no costs, no finished share and no time to finish.
  • The county updates the file once a year, in December; the copy on file runs through November 2025, so the counts stop there.
  • The file holds no permits issued between December 2022 and November 2023, so the window starts in December 2023, the first month after the gap.
  • Only the residential permits are counted; a permit that was issued twice under one number is counted once, at its first issue date.

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, "Howard County, MD building permits", https://contractorrecords.com/howard-county/, data through November 2025, from Howard County Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits 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 Howard County issue a year?About 16,886 a year in Howard County: 33,773 permits issued December 2023 through November 2025, 17,326 of them in the last 12 months on file (to November 2025). That counts the permits the county issued, all for homes, not denied or withdrawn applications.
  • Can I find a contractor's permits in Howard County?Not from this file: the county publishes its permits without the contractor's name, so we can't list or rank firms. Check a license at the Maryland Home Improvement Commission and ask the contractor for the permit number of a past job.
  • What do people build most in Howard County?Electrical: 11,976 of the 33,773 permits (35%), then plumbing (9,666), HVAC (3,024), December 2023 through November 2025.
  • How do I look up a building permit in Howard County?Filter the permit list on this page by month, kind of work and ZIP code to see what was issued. For one property's permits, search the county's own records by address or permit number; we don't publish addresses. How to look up a permit in Howard County →
  • How many permits were issued in Howard County last month?1,226 in November 2025, the last full month on file; 17,326 over the last 12 months on file (to November 2025).

Browse the permits

Browse 33,773 permits

Every permit in the file issued December 2023 through November 2025, newest first. Pick a month, a kind of work or a ZIP code. Each row is one permit: no street address, no names.

The list loads as you reach it (33,773 permits).

IssuedKind of workCounty permit typeZIP

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 20251,226Electrical (455)
Oct 20251,669Electrical (578)
Sep 20251,631Electrical (642)
Aug 20251,600Electrical (611)
Jul 20251,620Electrical (603)
Jun 20251,567Electrical (630)
May 20251,463Electrical (531)
Apr 20251,401Electrical (468)
Mar 20251,464Electrical (498)
Feb 20251,197Electrical (425)
Jan 20251,254Electrical (406)
Dec 20241,234Plumbing (402)

Download this table (CSV)