Data through September 2026 · updated 18 Oct 2026
34,177 building permits were issued in Virginia Beach from October 2024 to September 2026, about 17,088 a year. Plumbing permits lead with 8,227, then HVAC (8,024) and electrical (6,621). 100% 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.
Residential permits the City of Virginia Beach issues inside the city: building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing and gas permits for homes, plus the city's roof and siding permits. Commercial permits, moving and hauling, utility, civil site work, fire, elevator and amusement permits in the same file are not counted. Norfolk, Chesapeake and the other Hampton Roads cities run their own permit offices and are not in this file.
The permit file can't tell you who does good work. Ask for the contractor's license number and look it up at the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, then ask the city whether they pulled the permit for your job.
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 work | Permits | Share | Last 12 mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plumbing | 8,227 | 24% | 4,096 |
| HVAC | 8,024 | 23% | 4,301 |
| Electrical | 6,621 | 19% | 3,284 |
| Remodels & repairs | 4,189 | 12% | 2,199 |
| Solar | 2,580 | 8% | 1,313 |
| Additions | 1,010 | 3% | 458 |
| Pools & spas | 971 | 3% | 514 |
| Roofing | 697 | 2% | 389 |
| New homes | 472 | 1% | 223 |
| Demolition | 383 | 1% | 199 |
| Garages, sheds & shade structures | 277 | under 1% | 153 |
| Other | 700 | 2% | 384 |
Fewer than 100 permits, so no row: fences & walls (22), ADUs & casitas (4).
Local permit rules and lookups, each with Virginia Beach's own permit numbers.
Source: City of Virginia Beach Open Data, Building Permits Applications (data.virginiabeach.gov, ArcGIS layer Building_Permits_Applications_view), read 18 Oct 2026. We count permits issued October 2024 through September 2026; denied and withdrawn permits are left out.
Residential permits the City of Virginia Beach issues inside the city: building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing and gas permits for homes, plus the city's roof and siding permits. Commercial permits, moving and hauling, utility, civil site work, fire, elevator and amusement permits in the same file are not counted. Norfolk, Chesapeake and the other Hampton Roads cities run their own permit offices and are not in this file.
Counts are permits, not jobs: one job can need several permits. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can. Sources and definitions →
Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0). Please credit Contractor Records and link to this page. Suggested citation:
Contractor Records, "Virginia Beach, VA building permits", https://contractorrecords.com/virginia-beach/, data through September 2026, from the City of Virginia Beach Planning Department, Permits Division 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.
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 (34,177 permits).
| Issued | Kind of work | City permit type | Status | ZIP |
|---|
Permits issued each month and the kind of work with the most. A month opens its permits in the list above.
| Month | Permits | Top kind of work |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2026 | 1,377 | Plumbing (319) |
| Aug 2026 | 1,517 | HVAC (343) |
| Jul 2026 | 1,538 | HVAC (398) |
| Jun 2026 | 1,684 | HVAC (446) |
| May 2026 | 1,468 | Plumbing (347) |
| Apr 2026 | 1,660 | HVAC (407) |
| Mar 2026 | 1,656 | HVAC (422) |
| Feb 2026 | 1,241 | HVAC (305) |
| Jan 2026 | 1,373 | Plumbing (378) |
| Dec 2025 | 1,280 | HVAC (386) |
| Nov 2025 | 1,180 | Plumbing (289) |
| Oct 2025 | 1,545 | HVAC (355) |