Does my building permit expire?

Yes. It is your responsibility to request rough and final inspections of work covered by a building permit. If you do not request and pass Department of Buildings inspections of the work covered by your permit, your permit will be suspended and eventually expire.

The deadline to request an inspection, and avoid permit suspension or expiration, depends upon the type of permit and whether it is the first inspection or a follow-up inspection.

Plan-Based Building Permits

For a plan-based building permit, the full permit fee is determined at the time the permit is issued. You have 120 days from the permit issue date to pay any balance due. You may not begin working under the permit until you pay this fee. If you do not pay the fee within 120 days of the permit issue date, the unpaid permit will be cancelled.

All plan-based permits require inspections—in most cases, several inspections.

You must begin work and request your first inspection within 180 days (approximately 6 months) after you pay for the permit or the permit issue date, whichever is later.

You must request and pass a follow-up inspection at least every 365 days (1 year) until you pass all required inspections.

If you do not request inspections by these deadlines, your permit will be suspended, and you will be required to reinstate your permit and pay a reinstatement fee before continuing work.

Express Permit Program

For permits issued through the Express Permit Program, the permit fee is collected before the permit is issued.

If the permit certificate states that inspections are required, you must request the first inspection within 365 days (1 year) after the permit issue date. (For some types of permits issued through the Express Permit Program, inspections are optional.)

If inspections are required or you request an inspection, you must request and pass a follow-up inspection at least every 365 days (1 year) until you pass all required inspections.

If you do not request inspections by these deadlines, your permit will be suspended, and you will be required to pay a reinstatement fee before continuing work.

Expiration

For all types of building permits (plan-based permits and Express Permit Program permits):

If you do not pass a first inspection within 540 days (approximately 18 months) of the date when you may begin work, the permit will expire.

After you pass a first inspection, if you do not request and pass a follow-up inspection within 730 days (approximately 2 years) of the last inspection, the permit will expire.

The Department of Buildings does not have legal authority to reinstate an expired permit.