Contractor Records
Home › Philadelphia

Philadelphia, PA building permits

Data through September 2026 · updated 19 Oct 2026

57,892 building permits were issued in Philadelphia from October 2024 to September 2026, about 28,946 a year. Plumbing permits lead with 20,008, then remodels & repairs (10,519) and electrical (9,822). 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.

57,892permits issued
28,946a year
100%for homes
71%finished (Oct 2024–Sep 2025 permits)
86days, usual issue to final
Sep 2026records through

What gets built here

Plumbing

20,008permits
10,244last 12 mo
41days to final

Remodels & repairs

10,519permits
5,374last 12 mo
113days to final

Electrical

9,822permits
5,039last 12 mo
80days to final

HVAC

6,884permits
3,510last 12 mo
162days to final

Roofing

3,853permits
1,466last 12 mo
35days to final

Solar

2,188permits
678last 12 mo
37days to final

New homes

1,334permits
684last 12 mo
303days to final

Additions

847permits
438last 12 mo
246days to final

Demolition

621permits
313last 12 mo
32days 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.
  • 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.
  • What the job cost. The file carries no job value.
  • Street addresses or owners. We publish counts and permit rows without them.

Residential permits the City of Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) issues inside the city, which is also Philadelphia County: building, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, EZ minor-work, demolition and solar permits for homes. Commercial permits, zoning and use permits, excavation and site permits, certificates of occupancy and event permits in the same file are not counted. Suburbs in Bucks, Montgomery and Delaware counties run their own permit offices and are not in this file.

Guides for this kind of work

All guides →

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
Plumbing20,00835%10,244
Remodels & repairs10,51918%5,374
Electrical9,82217%5,039
HVAC6,88412%3,510
Roofing3,8537%1,466
Solar2,1884%678
New homes1,3342%684
Additions8471%438
Demolition6211%313
Garages, sheds & shade structures184under 1%92
Fences & walls109under 1%59
Other1,4673%732

Fewer than 100 permits, so no row: pools & spas (56).

Download this table (CSV)

Philadelphia permit statistics →How long permits take in Philadelphia →Philadelphia permits by ZIP code →Philadelphia building permit search: Atlas, the L&I permit file and old records →

How these numbers are made

Source: City of Philadelphia, Licenses and Inspections Building and Zoning Permits, 2007 to present (OpenDataPhilly; Carto table permits), 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 Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) issues inside the city, which is also Philadelphia County: building, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, EZ minor-work, demolition and solar permits for homes. Commercial permits, zoning and use permits, excavation and site permits, certificates of occupancy and event permits in the same file are not counted. Suburbs in Bucks, Montgomery and Delaware counties run their own permit offices and are not in this file.

  • The city's file lists a contractor on most permits, but these pages show permit counts only: there are no contractor lists, rankings or firm pages for Philadelphia.
  • We count residential permits only, as the city's file marks them; a home job filed as a commercial permit is not counted.
  • The city's open permit file has no declared job value, so we show no costs.
  • A new house gets separate building, plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits, so one project can count several times, once under each kind of work.
  • A final date is the day the city marked the permit completed. Permits that expired or were cancelled carry no final date even where the file shows one, because that date is when they lapsed.

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, "Philadelphia, PA building permits", https://contractorrecords.com/philadelphia/, data through September 2026, from the City of Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections 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 Philadelphia issue a year?About 28,946 a year in Philadelphia: 57,892 permits issued October 2024 through September 2026, 28,655 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 Philadelphia?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. Ask the contractor for the permit number of a past job.
  • What do people build most in Philadelphia?Plumbing: 20,008 of the 57,892 permits (35%), then remodels & repairs (10,519), electrical (9,822), October 2024 through September 2026.
  • How long does a building permit take in Philadelphia?The usual permit took 86 days from issue to the city's final (middle half: 21 to 203 days), from 20,637 permits issued Oct 2024–Sep 2025 that reached a final. Each kind of work →
  • How do I look up a building permit in Philadelphia?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 Philadelphia →
  • How many permits were issued in Philadelphia last month?2,149 in September 2026, the last full month on file; 28,655 over the last 12 months.

Browse the permits

Browse 57,892 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 (57,892 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 20262,149Plumbing (740)
Aug 20262,390Plumbing (829)
Jul 20262,374Plumbing (870)
Jun 20262,458Plumbing (877)
May 20262,544Plumbing (893)
Apr 20262,434Plumbing (963)
Mar 20262,710Plumbing (1,058)
Feb 20262,179Plumbing (786)
Jan 20262,095Plumbing (701)
Dec 20252,299Plumbing (806)
Nov 20252,116Plumbing (666)
Oct 20252,907Plumbing (1,055)

Download this table (CSV)