The City of Chicago lets you look up permits, inspections and violations by address. The tool is the Department of Buildings' "Search Building Department Records." This article covers where it is, what to look for once you are in, and the limits that trip people up, whether you are checking your own building, a contractor's claim or a property you want to buy.
Where do I look up a Chicago building permit?
The Department of Buildings runs a records search that covers permit, inspection and violation records by address (City of Chicago). You type the address of the building and read what comes back. The City describes it as a public records search.
There is a second source for violations only. The City's Data Portal publishes a Building Violations dataset of violations issued by the Department of Buildings from 2006 to the present (Chicago Data Portal). It is useful if you want to sort or download many records. For one building, the address search is the faster tool.
Both are volatile: the City changes its web tools, and the layout you see may not match anything we describe here. Treat the screen in front of you as the authority.
How do I search by address?
Start with the street number, direction and street name written the way the City writes them: "W Grand Ave," not "West Grand Avenue." If nothing comes back, try the address without the street type, or with the opposite spelling of the direction. Corner buildings and buildings with a rear coach house or a two-flat with two street numbers can sit under more than one address.
If you still find nothing, do not conclude that no permit exists. An empty result can mean a typo, an address variation, or work from before the records you are searching. Call the Department of Buildings and ask. That answer beats a guess.
What does the record tell me?
Read it with three questions in mind.
1. Is there a permit for the work I am looking at? Match the permit's description of the work to what actually happened at the building. A permit for a rear porch does not cover a rebuilt front stair. A permit for roof repair does not cover a new roof deck. If the work you can see has no permit that describes it, you have a gap. The guide to Chicago permits explains which permit fits which job.
2. Did the inspections happen? A permit is only the start. Permitted work is meant to be inspected, and a permit with no inspection history may be work that was never finished, never called in, or never closed out. Our article on requesting and passing a Chicago permit inspection covers how that step works.
3. Are there violations, and are they open? The same search covers violations cited by the Department of Buildings (City of Chicago). An open violation on a building you own is a problem to deal with. An open violation on a building you are about to hire someone to work on is a reason to ask how the permit will address it. If you hold a notice, start with what happens when work is done without a permit.
What if the permit looks stale?
Permits do not last forever. For Express permits, the City says a permit expires if the first inspection is not passed within 540 days (about 18 months) of when work may begin. After a first inspection, a follow-up must pass within 730 days of the last inspection. The Department of Buildings also says it does not have legal authority to reinstate an expired permit (City of Chicago).
So an old permit with no inspections is not proof that the work is legal. It may be an expired permit sitting in the record. What happens when a Chicago permit expires covers the next step. These periods are volatile, so confirm current rules with the Department of Buildings.
What the lookup does not tell you
This is where owners and buyers get burned. The City's own notice on the violations dataset says the data is historical, does not necessarily reflect current condition, includes both "liable" and "not liable" findings, and should not be relied on for real estate transactions. It also points lenders and title companies to the title commitment for enforcement actions pending in the Circuit Court of Cook County or the Department of Administrative Hearings (Chicago Data Portal).
Plain English: a clean-looking search is not a clean bill of health. A violation cited by the Department of Buildings can show up, but a court or hearing case may be tracked elsewhere. And a record can show a violation that was already found "not liable."
On two-flats and three-flats, the record often tells a partial story. A permit exists for one phase of a project, and the next phase, a porch, a rear stair or a basement, shows nothing at all. When we see that pattern, we ask the owner for the permit number and the inspection history before we quote anything that touches the same area.
How do I use the lookup before hiring a contractor?
Ask for the permit number before work starts, then look it up yourself. The permit should name the same address, describe the same work and list the contractor you hired. If the contractor says they will "handle it later," that is the moment to pause. Public way items such as scaffolding or a dumpster in the alley need their own permit from the Chicago Department of Transportation (City of Chicago), so ask who is pulling that one too.
If the work already started with no permit on file, the City describes what can follow: a stop work order, a tripled permit fee in most cases, and a possible enforcement case (City of Chicago). Check current details with the Department of Buildings.
Can I use it when buying a building?
Yes, and you should, but as a first pass. Search the address, read every permit, inspection and violation line, and bring questions to your attorney and title company. Court and hearing cases are the part the search may not show, which is why the City points to the title commitment (Chicago Data Portal). Violations tied to those cases also get their follow-up inspections through the case itself, not the online permit-inspection form (City of Chicago).
Found a gap or an open item and want to know what it would take to fix? Our permit expediting team can read the record with you and tell you what the City would likely want to see. We handle the repair and the paperwork.
Common questions
It is the Department of Buildings' public records search, and it covers permit, inspection and violation records by address. Confirm the current tool, access rules and layout on the City's site, since web tools change.
Yes. The Department of Buildings search covers permit, inspection and violation records by address. If your search returns nothing, try a different spelling or direction. Do not assume no permit exists. Call the Department of Buildings to confirm.
Not necessarily. The City says its violations data is historical, does not necessarily show current condition, and should not be relied on for real estate transactions. Court and administrative hearing cases may be tracked elsewhere, so check the title commitment.
Ask for the permit number before work starts, then search your address in the City's records. The permit should name your address, describe the work and list the contractor. If it does not, ask why before the job goes further.
Sources
- City of Chicago, Department of Buildings: Search Building Department Records
- City of Chicago Data Portal: Building Violations dataset
- City of Chicago, Department of Buildings: Porch and Deck Safety
- City of Chicago: Guide to Building Permits: Does My Building Permit Expire?
- City of Chicago, Department of Buildings: Express Permit Program
- City of Chicago: Guide to Building Permits: What Types of Work Do Not Require a Building Permit?
- City of Chicago: Guide to Building Permits: What Happens If I Start Work Without a Required Permit?
Facts last checked: October 7, 2026.
This article explains general rules and common situations in Chicago. It is not legal advice, and City rules change. For a specific property, check with the Chicago Department of Buildings or a licensed professional.