Contractor Records
Home › Riverside County

Unincorporated Riverside County, CA building permits

Data through September 2026 · updated 23 Oct 2026

27,209 building permits were issued in unincorporated Riverside County from October 2024 to September 2026, about 13,604 a year. Electrical permits lead with 4,935, then solar (4,242) and new homes (3,769). 79% 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, when and how fast the county signed it off.

27,209permits issued
13,604a year
79%for homes
77%finished (Oct 2024–Sep 2025 permits)
117days, usual issue to final
Sep 2026records through

What gets built here

Electrical

4,935permits
2,419last 12 mo
56days to final

Solar

4,242permits
1,942last 12 mo
100days to final

New homes

3,769permits
1,765last 12 mo
256days to final

Fences & walls

3,639permits
1,636last 12 mo
150days to final

HVAC

1,833permits
939last 12 mo
68days to final

Plumbing

1,813permits
848last 12 mo
51days to final

Garages, sheds & shade structures

1,657permits
757last 12 mo
56days to final

Roofing

973permits
486last 12 mo
37days to final

Pools & spas

949permits
424last 12 mo
120days to final

ADUs & casitas

438permits
168last 12 mo
365days to final

What this page can and can't show

  • ✓Permits the county issued, by kind of work and month.
  • ✓How long a permit takes from issue to the county's final inspection.
  • ✓Which permits finished, are still open or expired.
  • Who did the work. The county's file doesn't name contractors, so we can't rank, compare or profile firms here.
  • What the job cost. The file carries no job value.
  • Where, by ZIP code. The file carries no usable ZIP code.
  • Street addresses or owners. We publish counts and permit rows without them.

Permits Riverside County Building and Safety issues for unincorporated land only: places such as Thermal, Mecca, Winchester, French Valley, Mead Valley, Anza, Aguanga, Temescal Valley and the Temecula wine country. Riverside, Moreno Valley, Corona, Temecula, Murrieta, Palm Springs and the county's other incorporated cities (28 in all) run their own permit offices and are not in this file. Blythe permits, which the county keeps under their own permit type, are left out too.

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 California Contractors State License Board, then ask the county whether they pulled the permit for your job.

How to check a contractor's license in California →

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
Electrical4,93518%2,419
Solar4,24216%1,942
New homes3,76914%1,765
Fences & walls3,63913%1,636
HVAC1,8337%939
Plumbing1,8137%848
Garages, sheds & shade structures1,6576%757
Roofing9734%486
Pools & spas9493%424
ADUs & casitas4382%168
Additions150under 1%83
Demolition108under 1%49
Remodels & repairs105under 1%57
Other2,59810%1,299

Download this table (CSV)

Riverside County permit statistics →How long permits take in Riverside County →Riverside County building permit search: RivCoPlus, statuses and records →

Before you start a project

All guides →

Guides for Riverside County

Local permit rules and lookups, each with Riverside County's own permit numbers.

Nearby permit data

Permit data for other places in Los Angeles and the Inland Empire. Each permit office keeps its own file, so the numbers are not added together.

Anaheim, CALos Angeles, CACulver City, CACorona, CA

How these numbers are made

Source: Riverside County GIS Open Data, PLUS_ACTIVITIES (Public Land Use System), Building department records, read 23 Oct 2026. We count permits issued October 2024 through September 2026; denied and withdrawn permits are left out.

Permits Riverside County Building and Safety issues for unincorporated land only: places such as Thermal, Mecca, Winchester, French Valley, Mead Valley, Anza, Aguanga, Temescal Valley and the Temecula wine country. Riverside, Moreno Valley, Corona, Temecula, Murrieta, Palm Springs and the county's other incorporated cities (28 in all) run their own permit offices and are not in this file. Blythe permits, which the county keeps under their own permit type, are left out too.

  • The county's file names no contractor, so there are no contractor lists, rankings or firm pages for Riverside County.
  • The file has no declared job value, so we show no costs.
  • The file gives a parcel number but no ZIP code, so there are no ZIP code pages.
  • Tract builders file one permit per house, so a new subdivision shows as many new-home permits, often with a matching repeat-production wall permit for each lot.
  • Battery storage permits are counted as electrical; rooftop and ground-mount solar as solar.
  • A final date is the county's completed date on a permit marked Final. Administratively closed permits count as expired.
  • Grading, hourly inspection, agricultural fee-only and legacy converted records are left out.

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, "Unincorporated Riverside County, CA building permits", https://contractorrecords.com/riverside-county/, data through September 2026, from Riverside County Building and Safety 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 Riverside County issue a year?About 13,604 a year in unincorporated Riverside County: 27,209 permits issued October 2024 through September 2026, 12,872 of them in the last 12 months. That counts the permits the county issued, homes and commercial, not denied or withdrawn applications.
  • Can I find a contractor's permits in Riverside 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 California Contractors State License Board and ask the contractor for the permit number of a past job.
  • What do people build most in Riverside County?Electrical: 4,935 of the 27,209 permits (18%), then solar (4,242), new homes (3,769), October 2024 through September 2026.
  • How long does a building permit take in Riverside County?The usual permit took 117 days from issue to the county's final (middle half: 47 to 231 days), from 11,057 permits issued Oct 2024–Sep 2025 that reached a final. Each kind of work →
  • How do I look up a building permit in Riverside County?Filter the permit list on this page by month, kind of work 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 Riverside County →
  • How many permits were issued in Riverside County last month?1,161 in September 2026, the last full month on file; 12,872 over the last 12 months.

Browse the permits

Browse 27,209 permits

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

The list loads as you reach it (27,209 permits).

IssuedKind of workCounty permit typeStatus

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 20261,161New homes (269)
Aug 20261,012Electrical (226)
Jul 2026976Electrical (180)
Jun 20261,217New homes (224)
May 20261,029Fences & walls (201)
Apr 20261,278New homes (288)
Mar 20261,253Fences & walls (254)
Feb 2026965Electrical (202)
Jan 2026917Electrical (150)
Dec 20251,094Solar (240)
Nov 2025900Solar (211)
Oct 20251,070Solar (245)

Download this table (CSV)