Anybody who's filed for a building permit has asked the question, usually a few weeks in: what is taking so long? The honest answer is that it depends on the city, the type of work, and how busy the permit counter happens to be that month. But there are real patterns under the noise, and they show up clearly when you watch permit data day after day.
Here's what we've seen from filings across the cities we cover.
The short answer
For a simple residential job — a re-roof, a water heater swap, a new electrical panel — most cities issue a permit in a few business days. Some of them issue same-day over the counter if the inspector likes the paperwork.
For anything that has to go through plan review (additions, ADUs, new construction, big commercial work), expect weeks at the fast end and several months at the slow end. The slowest US cities for plan review currently sit around 4–6 months on a typical residential addition.
Express vs. standard vs. plan review
Most cities run two or three tracks for permits, even if they don't advertise them clearly:
- Express / over-the-counter. Small work that doesn't need plan review. Roof replacements (no structural change), water heaters, simple electrical, mechanical swaps. Often issued the same day or within a week.
- Standard. Bigger work that still doesn't trigger a full architectural review. Solar installs, EV chargers, kitchen and bath remodels without footprint changes. Usually 1–3 weeks.
- Plan review. Anything that changes the building's footprint, structure, or use. ADUs, additions, new construction, change-of-use. This is where the long timelines live: 6 weeks at the fast end, 4–6 months at the slow end, longer in tough jurisdictions.
What we see in the data
Looking at issue dates across the cities we monitor:
- San Francisco is famously slow for plan review. ADUs and additions routinely take 4–8 months. Simple over-the-counter permits move fine — usually under two weeks.
- Seattle runs a strong over-the-counter program for trades work — same-day issuance is common for electrical and mechanical. Plan review on additions still runs 3–5 months.
- Austin has gotten faster in the last year on residential plan review. Trade permits issue in days. Larger projects still take a couple of months but the queue has been shorter than it was during the post-2021 boom.
- Columbus moves quickly relative to most cities. Most permit types issue in under two weeks even with plan review.
- Chicago is a tale of two tracks. Easy Permit Process work issues fast. Standard plan review can take months, particularly for older buildings that trip historical or zoning reviews.
- Washington DC is mid-pack. Trade permits are fast. Major work runs months.
- New York City is its own animal — DOB permits can take weeks to months depending on the borough, the work, and how clean the filing is.
The pattern that holds across every city: the work itself doesn't determine the timeline as much as which review track you land in.
What slows a permit down
Plan review delays almost always come down to one of a handful of things:
- The application is incomplete. Missing plans, missing structural calcs, missing energy compliance forms. Reviewers reject and the clock restarts.
- Zoning or historical review gets triggered. Adding square footage near a setback line, or working on a building in a historic district, can add weeks per cycle.
- The reviewer comes back with comments. Every comment cycle adds 2–6 weeks depending on how fast you respond and how busy the queue is.
- The contractor isn't licensed in that city. Some jurisdictions hold the permit until licensing clears.
- Fees aren't paid. Sometimes a permit is sitting "approved" with a fee still owed.
The fastest filings are the ones where the applicant did their homework: full plans, correct forms, accurate scope description, current license on file.
How to move things along
If you're a contractor or homeowner waiting on a permit, a few things actually help:
- Pre-app meetings. Most cities offer them. Free, voluntary, and they catch problems before you file.
- File trade permits separately. If you can break out electrical, plumbing, and mechanical on their own filings, those usually move on the fast track even when the main permit is in plan review.
- Respond to comments fast. A 24-hour turnaround on reviewer comments can shave weeks off the total timeline.
- Use the right code year. Cities update their adopted codes on a cycle. Filing under the previous code, when allowed, can simplify a review.
Why timelines matter for lead generation
For contractors watching permit data to find new jobs, the time-to-issuance matters in a specific way: the moment a permit is issued (not filed) is when work is legally allowed to start. That's the signal that a job is real, the homeowner is committed, and the project is about to break ground.
Filed-but-not-issued permits are still interesting — those are jobs in the pipeline. But issued permits are the ones with the shortest window between alert and shovel hitting the ground.
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