Tracking Your Building Permits

How to add and manage building permits, track status, and maintain compliance.

Revision staged for the published article at `/help/permits/track-permits`
(category **Permits & Inspections**, slug `track-permits`, title and URL unchanged).
Reason: the live body describes a "permits area" where you enter a permit number, an issue date, an
expiration date and the phases a permit covers. None of that exists. OwnerDraw holds a single
free-text **Permit Number** field on the project, and everything else goes into **Files** under the
**Permits** category. There is no permit record, no status, no expiry tracking and no reminder.
The permit-type background in the live body is accurate and is kept.
Apply at release; do not change the slug, title or URL.

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Why keep permit information in OwnerDraw

Your building department issues the permit, your insurer and your lender will ask about it, and you
will need it again at closeout. Keeping the number and the paperwork with the project means you can
find it without hunting through email.

OwnerDraw is not connected to any building department. It never applies for, renews or verifies a
permit, and it never tells you an inspection passed.

Recording your permit

1. Open the project selector in the sidebar and choose **Edit** for the project.
2. Type the number your building department issued into **Permit Number**, exactly as issued.
3. Save the project.
4. Open **Files**, set the category to **Permits**, and upload the permit document itself.

That single field is the whole permit record. If you hold several permits, keep the main building
permit number in the field and upload the rest to **Files** with names that carry the type and date —
for example `Electrical permit 2026-04-11.pdf`.

Dates and expiry

There is no issue date, expiry date or status field, and **OwnerDraw never reminds you about a
permit**. If a date matters:

put the date on **Schedule** as a task, and
put anything you must chase on **To-Dos** with a **Due Date**.

Permit types you may need

**Building Permit** — the primary permit for new construction
**Electrical Permit** — for electrical work
**Plumbing Permit** — for plumbing installations
**Mechanical Permit** — for HVAC systems
**Grading Permit** — for significant site work

> Apply before construction begins. Processing runs from days to weeks depending on the jurisdiction,
> and permitting delays are among the most common causes of schedule slippage. Ask your building
> department specifically about owner-builder requirements.

Who can see it

Permit information follows the project's normal permissions. Bankers get read-only access to permit
and inspection information; a collaborator's access to the permit documents follows their
**Documents / Files** permission; clients on the private portal have neither project settings nor the
**Files** page.

Permits and inspections: what OwnerDraw actually tracks — `/help/permits/permits-inspections-guide`
Understanding the Permit Timeline — `/help/permits/permit-timeline`
Storing Your Project Files and Photos — `/help/files/files-page-guide`