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New Orleans, LA building permits

Data through September 2026 · updated 18 Oct 2026

27,739 building permits were issued in New Orleans from October 2024 to September 2026, about 13,870 a year. Electrical permits lead with 9,668, then plumbing (7,492) and HVAC (3,333). 100% were for homes. The city's file names contractors, but we haven't matched those names to state license records, so we don't rate, rank or profile firms from it: these pages show what was built, where, when and how fast the city signed it off.

27,739permits issued
13,870a year
100%for homes
70%finished (Oct 2024–Sep 2025 permits)
72days, usual issue to final
Sep 2026records through

What gets built here

Electrical

9,668permits
4,752last 12 mo
47days to final

Plumbing

7,492permits
3,843last 12 mo
41days to final

HVAC

3,333permits
1,918last 12 mo
112days to final

Remodels & repairs

2,172permits
953last 12 mo
155days to final

Roofing

1,777permits
1,276last 12 mo
111days to final

Solar

1,046permits
166last 12 mo
63days to final

New homes

717permits
385last 12 mo
272days to final

Demolition

666permits
258last 12 mo
203days to final

Pools & spas

387permits
203last 12 mo

Additions

304permits
157last 12 mo
286days to final

What this page can and can't show

  • ✓Permits the city issued, by kind of work, month and ZIP code.
  • ✓How long a permit takes from issue to the city's final inspection.
  • ✓Which permits finished, are still open or expired.
  • ✓What the job was declared at on the permit.
  • Who does good work. The city's file names contractors, but we haven't matched those names to state license records, so we don't rate, rank or profile firms from it.
  • Street addresses or owners. We publish counts and permit rows without them.

Residential permits the City of New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits issues inside the city, which is also Orleans Parish: building, renovation, re-roofing, electrical, plumbing, gas, HVAC, solar, pool, generator and demolition permits for single-family homes, two-family homes and doubles. Permits for buildings with three or more units and commercial property are not counted, nor are historic-district reviews, right-of-way permits (street cuts, driveways, sidewalks) and address changes in the same file. Jefferson, St. Bernard and St. Tammany parishes run their own permit offices and are not in this file.

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 Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, then ask the city whether they pulled the permit for your job.

Permits by kind of work

Permits issued October 2024 through September 2026, every kind of work with 100 or more. Last 12 months is Oct 2025–Sep 2026. Homes is the share issued as residential permits.

Kind of workPermitsShareLast 12 mo
Electrical9,66835%4,752
Plumbing7,49227%3,843
HVAC3,33312%1,918
Remodels & repairs2,1728%953
Roofing1,7776%1,276
Solar1,0464%166
New homes7173%385
Demolition6662%258
Pools & spas3871%203
Additions3041%157
Garages, sheds & shade structures174under 1%101

Fewer than 100 permits, so no row: fences & walls (3).

Download this table (CSV)

New Orleans permit statistics →How long permits take in New Orleans →New Orleans permits by ZIP code →New Orleans building permit search: the One Stop App and the city's open permit file →

Before you start a project

All guides →

How these numbers are made

Source: City of New Orleans, Permits - BLDS (data.nola.gov, dataset 72f9-bi28), 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 New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits issues inside the city, which is also Orleans Parish: building, renovation, re-roofing, electrical, plumbing, gas, HVAC, solar, pool, generator and demolition permits for single-family homes, two-family homes and doubles. Permits for buildings with three or more units and commercial property are not counted, nor are historic-district reviews, right-of-way permits (street cuts, driveways, sidewalks) and address changes in the same file. Jefferson, St. Bernard and St. Tammany parishes run their own permit offices and are not in this file.

  • The city's file lists a contractor on most permits, usually the licensed person rather than the company, but these pages show permit counts only: there are no contractor lists, rankings or firm pages for New Orleans.
  • The value is the project cost declared on the application. About a third of permits carry none, mostly small trade permits.
  • Gas permits (gas lines, water heaters and the six-month gas test after a home sits empty) are counted with plumbing; an electrical vacancy permit, needed to turn power back on in a home that sat empty, counts as electrical.
  • The city's file has a residential re-roofing permit type only from May 2025; before that few re-roofs appear in it, so the rise in roofing permits mostly reflects the new permit type, not more roofs.
  • A final date is the day the city recorded the permit as finaled or completed. Permits the city marks Closed count as finished but add no days, because the file does not say whether the work passed a final inspection.

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, "New Orleans, LA building permits", https://contractorrecords.com/new-orleans/, data through September 2026, from the City of New Orleans Department of Safety 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.

Common questions

  • How many building permits does New Orleans issue a year?About 13,870 a year in New Orleans: 27,739 permits issued October 2024 through September 2026, 14,014 of them in the last 12 months. That counts the permits the city issued, all for homes, not denied or withdrawn applications.
  • Can I find a contractor's permits in New Orleans?The city's file names contractors, but we haven't matched those names to state license records, so we don't rate, rank or profile firms from it. Check a license at the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors and ask the contractor for the permit number of a past job.
  • What do people build most in New Orleans?Electrical: 9,668 of the 27,739 permits (35%), then plumbing (7,492), HVAC (3,333), October 2024 through September 2026.
  • How long does a building permit take in New Orleans?The usual permit took 72 days from issue to the city's final (middle half: 22 to 176 days), from 8,946 permits issued Oct 2024–Sep 2025 that reached a final. Each kind of work →
  • How do I look up a building permit in New Orleans?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 city's own records by address or permit number; we don't publish addresses. How to look up a permit in New Orleans →
  • How many permits were issued in New Orleans last month?1,241 in September 2026, the last full month on file; 14,014 over the last 12 months.

Browse the permits

Browse 27,739 permits

Every permit in the file issued October 2024 through September 2026, newest first. Pick a month, a kind of work, a ZIP code or a status. Each row is one permit: no street address, no names.

The list loads as you reach it (27,739 permits).

IssuedKind of workCity permit typeStatusZIP

Permits each month, the last 12 months

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
Sep 20261,241Electrical (404)
Aug 20261,098Electrical (389)
Jul 20261,192Electrical (431)
Jun 20261,204Electrical (427)
May 20261,467Electrical (564)
Apr 20261,196Plumbing (365)
Mar 20261,265Electrical (388)
Feb 20261,062Electrical (379)
Jan 20261,026Electrical (325)
Dec 2025908Electrical (336)
Nov 20251,000Electrical (303)
Oct 20251,355Electrical (470)

Download this table (CSV)