About the directory
Building projects come with plenty of questions. Finding the right office shouldn’t be one of the difficult ones.
US Building Department brings together local permit contacts, inspection information, and official online services. It’s a starting point for homeowners, contractors, and project teams working out their next step.
An independent resource
We are not a government agency. We don’t issue permits, approve plans, collect application fees, or schedule inspections. Our purpose is to help you reach the official department that serves your property.
How to use the guides
Search for a city or county, or browse your state. Department guides include official website links, phone numbers, application and inspection resources, and the date the guide’s content was last reviewed.
A county directory is a geographic starting point. Depending on the address, a city, town, borough, or another authority may handle the project. Always confirm jurisdiction with the local office.
How we research department guides
Every department guide is built from the department’s own published sources, not from aggregated listings.
- Official sources only. Phone numbers, addresses, portals, and inspection links come from the city, county, or regional government website. Each guide lists the exact pages we used.
- Jurisdiction first. We note whether an office is a city, county, regional, or independent-city department, because a mailing address doesn’t decide who issues a permit.
- Dated reviews. Each guide shows the date its sources were last checked. We re-check links regularly and replace or remove ones that stop working.
- No guesses. We don’t publish estimated fees, processing times, or permit thresholds for a department unless the department publishes them. When a detail can’t be confirmed, we point you to the official source instead.
- No paid placement. Departments can’t pay to be listed or ranked, and we don’t sell your details to contractors.
Our project and process guides explain the International Residential Code and common practice in plain language. They cite their sources and point out where states and cities commonly differ, but they are general information, not code or legal advice.
County pages without a researched department guide are kept out of search engines until we have substantive local information to add.
Keeping the directory useful
Department websites, contacts, and procedures change. Each researched guide links to its official sources so you can check current details. If you notice something outdated, send us a correction with the page address and a current official source.