State coverage

California Building Permit Data

California building permit data is the public record of construction authorized by California's counties and cities. Builty holds 41.7M+ structured California permit records from 296 issuing jurisdictions across 46 counties, covering 1990 to the present, matched to addresses and normalized to a single schema.

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41.7M+
Structured permit records
296
Issuing jurisdictions
46
Counties covered
1990 to today
Sustained coverage
Coverage

Where the records are

Volume concentrates in the Los Angeles basin and the Bay Area, though the state's longest continuous series is San Jose's, which reaches back to the 1920s.

JurisdictionShare of state recordsNotable for
Los Angeles17.5%Deep renovation and seismic retrofit history in aging stock
San Jose5.3%The state's longest continuous series, reaching back to the 1920s
San Diego2.8%Coastal residential plus steady solar and electrification work
Los Angeles County2.1%Unincorporated county, distinct from the city authority
San Francisco1.9%Dense multifamily and change-of-use activity
Oakland1.7%Soft-story retrofit and multifamily conversion

Coverage continues across the remaining 290 jurisdictions. Ask for the full jurisdiction list →

What's in the data

What's in the California data

FieldCoverageNotes
street_address + geoCompleteCounty, locality, ZIP, CBSA and FIPS codes on every record
descriptionNearly completeThe free text the jurisdiction published
projectsMost recordsBuilty taxonomy labels across ten categories
record_type / work_typeNearly completeStandardized across every issuing authority
attributesMost recordsParsed detail such as utility type, dwelling type, structure type
DatesMost recordsSubmitted, issued, finaled, on one timeline

Records outside the usable window are flagged, so a date is either real or explicitly unknown.

Roughly 4.7M of these records come from 57 retired permitting platforms that California jurisdictions have since replaced. That history stays in the data when a locality changes systems.

Use cases

What California data answers

Seismic & retrofit history
Soft-story and unreinforced masonry retrofit work, recorded as it is permitted, across the state's oldest stock.
Wildfire mitigation
Roof replacement, vent, and defensible-space work in the wildland-urban interface.
Solar & electrification
The largest residential solar permit stream in the country, plus panel upgrades and storage.
Housing supply
New residential construction and unit counts by county and locality, including ADUs.
Property condition
Roof, systems, and structural history at address level for underwriting and claims.
Market research
Three and a half decades of history, in the same schema as every other state.
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Are California building permits public record?
Yes. Building permits issued by California jurisdictions are public records. Each one publishes them in its own format and its own system, which is why a statewide view requires collecting and standardizing them jurisdiction by jurisdiction.
How do I look up a building permit in California?
For a single property, the issuing jurisdiction's permit portal is the place to start, since permits are issued locally rather than by the state. For many properties at once, or for analysis across jurisdictions, a standardized dataset is the practical route: Builty holds 41.7M+ California permit records in one consistent structure.
How far back does California permit data go?
California carries sustained coverage from 1990 to the present. Individual jurisdictions reach back further, and some records carry placeholder dates from legacy systems; those are identified as placeholders, so the stated window is the one the data actually supports.
Which California city has the most building permits?
Los Angeles, by a wide margin, at roughly 17% of all California records. San Jose is second, and it also holds the state's deepest history.
Does Builty cover unincorporated California?
Yes. County authorities are collected separately from the cities inside them, so Los Angeles County appears alongside the City of Los Angeles rather than being folded into it.
Can I get data for a single county or city?
Yes. Delivery can be scoped to any set of California jurisdictions, project types, or date ranges, by API, bulk file, or ongoing feed.
Related

Keep reading

Infrastructure
Data Centers & Power →
Structure & Materials
Multifamily →
Overview
US Building Permit Data →

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Statewide, or scoped to the jurisdictions and project types you care about.

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