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The City of Santa Barbara, CA building permits

Data through August 2025 · updated 19 Oct 2026

5,231 building permits were issued in the City of Santa Barbara from September 2023 to August 2025, about 2,616 a year. Roofing permits lead with 1,397, then electrical (693) and solar (656). 66% were for homes. The city's file doesn't name contractors, so we can't rank, compare or profile firms here: these pages show what was built, where, when and how fast the city signed it off.

5,231permits issued
2,616a year
66%for homes
60%finished (Sep 2023–Aug 2024 permits)
64days, usual issue to final
Aug 2025records through

What gets built here

Roofing

1,397permits
679last 12 mo on file
40days to final

Electrical

693permits
302last 12 mo on file
30days to final

Solar

656permits
307last 12 mo on file
52days to final

Remodels & repairs

651permits
353last 12 mo on file
126days to final

Plumbing

408permits
208last 12 mo on file
18days to final

HVAC

256permits
127last 12 mo on file
59days to final

ADUs & casitas

236permits
125last 12 mo on file
296days 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 or are still open.
  • Who did the work. The city'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.
  • Street addresses or owners. We publish counts and permit rows without them.

Building and trade permits the City of Santa Barbara issues inside city limits: new homes and ADUs, additions, alterations, re-roofs, solar, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, pool, demolition and sign permits. Revisions to an earlier permit, flood-elevation determinations and other administrative records, and grading and paving sitework are not counted. Goleta, Montecito and the rest of unincorporated Santa Barbara County are permitted by other 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 CSLB licence check, then ask the city whether they pulled the permit for your job.

How to check a contractor's license in California →

Permits by kind of work

Permits issued September 2023 through August 2025, every kind of work with 100 or more. Last 12 months on file is Sep 2024–Aug 2025. Homes is the share issued as residential permits.

Kind of workPermitsShareLast 12 mo
Roofing1,39727%679
Electrical69313%302
Solar65613%307
Remodels & repairs65112%353
Plumbing4088%208
HVAC2565%127
ADUs & casitas2365%125
Demolition1142%67
Other55111%273

Fewer than 100 permits, so no row: additions (81), fences & walls (67), pools & spas (58), garages, sheds & shade structures (37), new homes (26).

Download this table (CSV)

Santa Barbara permit statistics →How long permits take in Santa Barbara →Santa Barbara permits by ZIP code →Santa Barbara building permit search: Accela Citizen Access, the Property Records Database and archived plans →

Before you start a project

All guides →

Guides for Santa Barbara

Local permit rules and lookups, each with Santa Barbara's own permit numbers.

How these numbers are made

Source: City of Santa Barbara GIS, Building Permits layer (Building_Permits FeatureServer, Accela BLD records), read 19 Oct 2026. We count permits issued September 2023 through August 2025; denied and withdrawn permits are left out.

Building and trade permits the City of Santa Barbara issues inside city limits: new homes and ADUs, additions, alterations, re-roofs, solar, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, pool, demolition and sign permits. Revisions to an earlier permit, flood-elevation determinations and other administrative records, and grading and paving sitework are not counted. Goleta, Montecito and the rest of unincorporated Santa Barbara County are permitted by other offices and are not in this file.

  • The city's layer names no contractor, so there are no contractor lists, rankings or firm pages for Santa Barbara.
  • The layer has no declared job value, so we show no costs.
  • The city has not added permits to this layer since early September 2025, so these pages end with August 2025.
  • A permit counts as finished when the city marks it complete; the final date is the layer's completed date.
  • Homes are permits the city codes as one- or two-family dwellings (its R and R-3 codes) and its 1 & 2 family express permits; apartment buildings count as other.
  • Electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits are separate from the building permit for the same job, so one project can count more than once.

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, "The City of Santa Barbara, CA building permits", https://contractorrecords.com/santa-barbara/, data through August 2025, from City of Santa Barbara Community Development, Building & 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 on file.

Common questions

  • How many building permits does Santa Barbara issue a year?About 2,616 a year in the City of Santa Barbara: 5,231 permits issued September 2023 through August 2025, 2,583 of them in the last 12 months on file (to August 2025). That counts the permits the city issued, homes and commercial, not denied or withdrawn applications.
  • Can I find a contractor's permits in Santa Barbara?Not from this file: the city publishes its permits without the contractor's name, so we can't list or rank firms. Check a license at the CSLB licence check and ask the contractor for the permit number of a past job.
  • What do people build most in Santa Barbara?Roofing: 1,397 of the 5,231 permits (27%), then electrical (693), solar (656), September 2023 through August 2025.
  • How long does a building permit take in Santa Barbara?The usual permit took 64 days from issue to the city's final (middle half: 20 to 161 days), from 1,589 permits issued Sep 2023–Aug 2024 that reached a final. Each kind of work →
  • How do I look up a building permit in Santa Barbara?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 Santa Barbara →
  • How many permits were issued in Santa Barbara last month?270 in August 2025, the last full month on file; 2,583 over the last 12 months on file (to August 2025).

Browse the permits

Browse 5,231 permits

Every permit in the file issued September 2023 through August 2025, 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 (5,231 permits).

IssuedKind of workCity permit typeStatusZIP

Permits each month, the last 12 months on file

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
Aug 2025270Roofing (62)
Jul 2025199Roofing (50)
Jun 2025221Roofing (55)
May 2025191Roofing (47)
Apr 2025271Roofing (77)
Mar 2025214Roofing (66)
Feb 2025177Roofing (41)
Jan 2025218Roofing (57)
Dec 2024187Roofing (43)
Nov 2024172Roofing (47)
Oct 2024272Roofing (72)
Sep 2024191Roofing (62)

Download this table (CSV)