How long does a home addition permit take in Philadelphia?

The usual one took 246 days from issue to the city's final inspection, and the middle half took 149 to 350 days (236 permits issued Oct 2024-Sep 2025 that reached a final). The wait to get the permit issued is not in this file.

When do people in Philadelphia file the most home addition permits?

July (120 against an average month of 100); December is the quietest (82). If you can choose, a quiet month at the permit counter can mean contractors have more room in their schedules.

Which ZIP code has the most home addition permits in Philadelphia?

19146, with 111 of the 847 (13%); then 19147 (85).

Home Addition Permits in Philadelphia, PA: 847 Issued (Sep 2026)

Home addition permits by month

Permits issued each month, October 2024 through September 2026.

The same numbers as a table

Month	Permits
Oct 2024	37
Nov 2024	30
Dec 2024	29
Jan 2025	38
Feb 2025	36
Mar 2025	24
Apr 2025	31
May 2025	44
Jun 2025	33
Jul 2025	38
Aug 2025	37
Sep 2025	32
Oct 2025	38
Nov 2025	33
Dec 2025	29
Jan 2026	36
Feb 2026	28
Mar 2026	50
Apr 2026	33
May 2026	40
Jun 2026	38
Jul 2026	47
Aug 2026	30
Sep 2026	36

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When home addition permits are filed

By calendar month, 100 = an average month (the thin line). July is the busiest (120), December the quietest (82). A busy month at the permit counter usually means a longer wait for a contractor.

The same numbers as a table

Month	Index
January	105
February	91
March	105
April	91
May	119
June	101
July	120
August	95
September	96
October	106
November	89
December	82

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How long a home addition permit takes

Permits issued Oct 2024–Sep 2025, at least 12 months before the file ends. Usual days is the middle permit among the 236 with a final date.

Measure	Value
Permits issued Oct 2024–Sep 2025	409
Finished	57.9%
Expired	6.4%
Usual days, issue to final	246
Middle half, days	149–350

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ZIP codes with the most home addition permits

Counted at the property's ZIP code. Share is the part of the city's 847 home addition permits.

ZIP code	Permits	Share
19146	111	13%
19147	85	10%
19125	62	7%
19148	59	7%
19145	31	4%
19134	30	4%
19121	29	3%
19118	27	3%
19130	27	3%
19119	24	3%

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Guides for this kind of work

All guides →

Other kinds of work here

Plumbing (20,008)Remodels & repairs (10,519)Electrical (9,822)HVAC (6,884)Roofing (3,853)Solar (2,188)New homes (1,334)Demolition (621)

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, "Home addition permits in Philadelphia, PA", https://contractorrecords.com/philadelphia/addition-permits, data through September 2026, from the City of Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections building-permit records.

Link to a table: By month · Season · Days to final · By ZIP code.

Download the tables (CSV): Additions permits by month · Additions permits by calendar month (index) · Additions permits: days to final · Additions permits by ZIP code.

Common questions

How many home addition permits does Philadelphia issue a year?About 424 a year in Philadelphia: 847 permits issued October 2024 through September 2026, 438 of them in the last 12 months.
How long does a home addition permit take in Philadelphia?The usual one took 246 days from issue to the city's final inspection, and the middle half took 149 to 350 days (236 permits issued Oct 2024–Sep 2025 that reached a final). The wait to get the permit issued is not in this file.
When do people in Philadelphia file the most home addition permits?July (120 against an average month of 100); December is the quietest (82). If you can choose, a quiet month at the permit counter can mean contractors have more room in their schedules.
Which ZIP code has the most home addition permits in Philadelphia?19146, with 111 of the 847 (13%); then 19147 (85).

Philadelphia permit data →Philadelphia permit statistics →How long permits take in Philadelphia →Browse Philadelphia home addition permits →