Building permit glossary

Updated June 11, 2026

Plain-English definitions of the terms behind U.S. building-permit data — how permits are issued, what each field means, and how PermitStack categorizes and labels them.

What this is: a working glossary for anyone querying permit data — contractors, insurers, real-estate and energy analysts, and developers. Every definition is answer-first and ties back to how the term appears in the PermitStack data model. We currently hold 49M+ permit records across 522 active jurisdictions.

Permitting concepts

AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction)

The government body — usually a city or county building department — that reviews, issues, and inspects building permits for a given location.

Jurisdiction vs. Municipality

A jurisdiction is any government body that issues permits (city, county, or special district); a municipality specifically means an incorporated city or town.

Certificate of Occupancy (CO)

An official document an AHJ issues confirming a building is code-compliant and legally safe to occupy — typically the final step after construction permits pass inspection.

Plan Check / Plan Review

The stage where a building department's reviewers examine submitted plans for code compliance before a permit is issued.

Valuation (Job Value)

The declared or estimated cost of the construction work on a permit — used to set permit fees and as a rough proxy for project size.

Reroof vs. Re-roof

Two spellings of the same thing — replacing or recovering a roof — which is why roof-replacement permits hide under several labels. PermitStack normalizes them into ROOFING.

Net Metering / NEM / Interconnection

Net metering (NEM) credits a solar owner for power sent back to the grid; interconnection is the utility's approval to connect a system. Both generate records adjacent to the solar building permit.

Building Permit

Official authorization from an AHJ to construct, alter, repair, or demolish a structure. The atomic record behind everything in the PermitStack API.

Permit Status (filed / issued / final / expired)

Where a permit sits in its lifecycle. PermitStack normalizes every source's local labels into: filed, issued, in_progress, final, expired, cancelled, revoked, unknown.

Property concepts

Parcel / APN (Assessor's Parcel Number)

A parcel is a single legally defined piece of land; the APN is the unique number a county assessor assigns to it for tax and records purposes.

PermitStack transparency

data_status (active / historical_archive / frozen)

PermitStack's per-jurisdiction honesty flag: whether a source is currently publishing (active), frozen/decommissioned (historical_archive), or temporarily paused (frozen). Exposed in the API and on /coverage.html.

Permit categories

A permit to install a rooftop or ground-mount solar PV system. The largest fast-growing category in PermitStack.

5,935,469 permits

A permit to replace, recover, or repair a roof. The basis for permit-derived roof age used in insurance.

2,388,748 permits

A permit for installing or replacing heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning equipment.

2,317,455 permits

Electrical Permit

A permit for electrical work — service upgrades, panels, wiring, EV chargers, and solar tie-ins.

6,308,600 permits

Mechanical Permit

A permit for mechanical systems — often overlapping HVAC plus boilers, exhaust, and refrigeration.

2,142,565 permits

New Construction Permit

A permit to build an entirely new structure from the ground up.

1,382,646 permits

Demolition Permit

A permit to tear down a structure, in whole or part — often the first signal of a redevelopment.

566,999 permits

EV Charger Permit

A permit to install electric-vehicle charging equipment, typically a Level 2 home or commercial charger.

Battery Storage Permit

A permit to install a home or commercial battery energy storage system (e.g. paired with solar).

Put these terms to work

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