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Building permits in 23523, Norfolk

Data through September 2026 · updated 19 Oct 2026

567 building permits were issued in ZIP code 23523 by the City of Norfolk Development Services Center, October 2024 through September 2026: 4% of the 13,323 in Norfolk, the 9th busiest ZIP code. Electrical permits lead with 307. 176 permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), 55% fewer than the 391 in the 12 months before. Permits from a city that runs its own permit office are not counted.

567permits in 23523
176last 12 months
100%for homes
84days, usual issue to final
Sep 2026records through

Permits in 23523 by kind of work

Share here is the part of the 567 permits in 23523; citywide is the same for all of Norfolk.

Kind of workPermitsShare hereCitywide
Electrical30754%29%
HVAC9617%28%
Plumbing6812%20%
Remodels & repairs285%10%
New homes234%4%
Solar234%5%
Demolition61%1%
Additions3under 1%2%
Garages, sheds & shade structures2under 1%under 1%
Roofing2under 1%under 1%
Other92%1%

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Permits in 23523 by year

Permits issued in each calendar year of the window.

YearMonthsPermitsPer year
2024 (from October)32531,012
202512182182
2026 (through September)9132176

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How permits in 23523 finish

Permits issued Oct 2024–Sep 2025, at least 12 months before the file ends.

Measure23523Citywide
Permits issued Oct 2024–Sep 20253916,260
Finished89.0%80.2%
Expired10.5%18.2%
Usual days, issue to final8443

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How these numbers are made

Source: City of Norfolk Open Data, Permits (data.norfolk.gov, dataset fahm-yuh4), read 19 Oct 2026. We count permits issued October 2024 through September 2026; denied and withdrawn permits are left out.

Residential permits the City of Norfolk issues inside the city: building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing and demolition permits for single-family homes, duplexes, townhouses and their garages and sheds. Commercial permits, zoning permits and short-term rental inspections in the same file are not counted. Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth and the other Hampton Roads cities run their own permit offices and are not in this file.

  • The city's file names no contractor, so there are no contractor lists, rankings or firm pages for Norfolk.
  • The city files roof replacements and rooftop solar under one work type. We count a permit of that type as solar when the city issued an electrical permit under it, and as roofing when it did not.
  • A new house or a big renovation gets separate building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits, so one project can count several times, once under each kind of work.
  • The value is the project cost declared on the permit. The ZIP code comes from the city assessor's record for the parcel.

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, "Building permits in 23523, Norfolk", https://contractorrecords.com/norfolk/zip/23523, data through September 2026, from the City of Norfolk Development Services Center building-permit records.

Link to a table: By kind of work · By year · How permits finish.

Download the tables (CSV): Permits in 23523 by kind of work · Permits in 23523 by year · Permits in 23523: finished and days to final.

Common questions

  • How many building permits were issued in 23523?567 permits issued by the city in ZIP code 23523, October 2024 through September 2026: 307 electrical, 96 HVAC, 68 plumbing. 176 were in the last 12 months.
  • What is built most in 23523?Electrical: 307 of the 567 permits (54%), against 29% citywide.
  • How long does a permit take in 23523?The usual permit issued here Oct 2024–Sep 2025 took 84 days from issue to final (348 permits with a final date), against 43 days citywide.
  • Who did the work in 23523?The city's file doesn't name contractors, so we can't say. Ask a contractor for the permit numbers of past jobs and check them with the city.