Permit Status

A field in a permit record indicating the current stage of the permit in its lifecycle (e.g., applied, under review, issued, active, finaled, expired).

Permit status is a data field in a jurisdiction's permit management system that describes where a permit stands in its lifecycle. Common statuses include: Applied (application submitted), Under Review (plan check in progress), Issued (approved and ready for work), Active (work ongoing), Inspections Passed / Finaled (all inspections complete), Expired (permit not finaled within the allowed time), and Void or Cancelled. Status definitions vary by jurisdiction and system. Many Texas cities publish permit status data in near-real-time through open data portals or permit lookup tools.

Why it matters for contractors

Filtering for 'Issued' or 'Active' permits in real time gives contractors the freshest possible lead list — jobs that were just approved and have the longest work window ahead of them.