Enter a permit number and get the real status straight from the city's own records. Live lookup in Austin, Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Seattle.
Number formats: Austin 2026-033822 PP · Columbus RSWDR2611829 · Cleveland BCH26-032235 · Cincinnati 2026P06504 · Detroit BLD2026-01450 · Philadelphia CP-2025-001242 · Pittsburgh BDA-2026-03807 · Seattle 7083427-CN
Checked it once. Now stop checking.
Add the permit you just looked up and ClearedNo checks it every two hours, around the clock. You get an email the moment the status moves — issued, corrections required, cleared — with the city's own wording and a link to the record.
One permit tracked free, forever. No card. Covers Austin TX, Columbus OH, Cleveland OH, Cincinnati OH, Detroit MI, Philadelphia PA, Pittsburgh PA, and Seattle WA.
Cities use dozens of different words for the same handful of situations — Austin says “Final”, Cincinnati says “Permit Finaled”, Seattle says “Completed”. The checker maps each city's vocabulary onto the 8statuses below and shows the city's exact wording alongside whenever it matters.
The city has your application, or has approved it, but has not issued the permit. This covers intake queues, scheduled intake appointments, fee-due states, and approved-but-not-issued states like Seattle's "Ready for Issuance" or Pittsburgh's "Ready For Issue".
What to doNothing yet, unless fees are due. Work may not legally start until the status moves to APPROVED.
A reviewer or inspector is actively working the file — plan review in process, routed for review, inspection pending, or a hold the city placed itself.
What to doWait. The ball is with the city. If it sits here for longer than the typical review window for your project type, call the department.
The city has stopped and is waiting on you. Corrections required, additional information requested, applicant revisions, an incomplete application, a failed inspection, or a declined payment. Review does not resume until you respond.
What to doOpen the permit record today, read the reviewer's comments, and submit what was asked for. Every day this sits is a day added to your timeline.
The permit is issued and active. Inspections may still be ahead, and some cities use it for "inspections passed, certificate of occupancy still required".
What to doWork can proceed. Schedule inspections as each phase completes.
The final inspection passed and the permit is closed out, or the certificate of occupancy was issued. The job is done as far as the city is concerned.
What to doKeep the record for the property file. Nothing further is owed to the city on this permit.
Denied, withdrawn, cancelled, voided or revoked. The application will not become a permit in its current form.
What to doRead the denial reason. Most cities allow a corrected resubmittal or a new application.
The permit or application lapsed before the work was finaled. Cities expire permits when no inspection is called for a set period, often 180 days.
What to doContact the department about reinstatement or a renewal permit before doing any further work.
The city returned a status we have not classified yet. The checker shows the city's exact wording next to it so you are never left with just a label.
What to doRead the city's own wording. If you see this often for one city, tell us — it usually means the city added a status.
Each of these cities publishes permit records through a public open-data API. That is the only way the checker adds a city — no scraping, no guessing.
These cities publish permits without a status field, or no per-permit feed at all, so a live check is not honest yet. Their pages explain how to check manually and let you join a waitlist. Request a city →
Yes. Pick a city, enter a permit number, and you get the current status straight from the city's own public records. No account, no email, no card. Lookups are limited to five per hour per visitor to keep the tool fast for everyone.
Live status lookup works in 8 cities: Austin TX, Columbus OH, Cleveland OH, Cincinnati OH, Detroit MI, Philadelphia PA, Pittsburgh PA, and Seattle WA. Each one publishes its permit records through a public open-data API, which is what makes an instant check possible. Other cities have permit guides on this site but no live lookup yet.
Directly from each city's open-data feed — the same records the building department publishes. The checker queries the feed at the moment you click, so the result is as current as the city's last data refresh, which is daily for every city we support.
It means the city has paused your permit and is waiting on you: corrections required, additional information requested, applicant revisions, an incomplete application, a failed inspection or a declined payment. Nothing moves until you respond. It is shown in red because it is the one status where not knowing costs you days.
PENDING means the city has the application but has not issued the permit — including approved-but-not-yet-issued states. UNDER REVIEW means a reviewer or inspector is actively working the file. APPROVED means the permit is issued and work may proceed. Only APPROVED authorises work to start.
Three common reasons: the number was typed in a different format than the city publishes (see the examples above the checker), the application is very new and has not reached the open-data feed yet — that can take a few days — or the permit belongs to a different jurisdiction, such as a county or a neighbouring city.
Yes. A free ClearedNo account tracks one permit forever and emails you the moment its status changes, in any of the 8 live cities. Paid plans track unlimited permits. Checks run every two hours around the clock.
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