We pull live building permits from Chicago Department of Buildings through the Chicago Building Permits dataset, then assemble a verified permit history for Chicago city-limit addresses — so your team can flag permit gaps, expired work, and triple-decker, basement-unit, or ADU projects before the title policy issues.
Houston, Sacramento, and Los Angeles pilots also live → /for-title-companies/houston · /for-title-companies/sacramento · /for-title-companies/los-angeles
The Chicago pilot covers the workflows Illinois title, escrow, and counsel teams actually run — pre-closing permit-gap review, permit-field checks, and Building Records portal follow-up.
Surface Chicago Building Permits rows and older or expired work on the schedule before the policy issues. The permit history gives your team a documented starting point for investigating a suspected addition, conversion, or structural change during an Illinois closing.
Review Chicago permit history for additions, renovations, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, and demolition work before financing closes. Chicago Building Permits rows expose the permit number, type, issue date, reported cost, contractor, status, and work description your team needs for a focused follow-up.
Use the permit fields to investigate gaps in the timeline, then use the Chicago Building Records portal when a title review needs additional documents or occupancy-certificate context. The pilot helps title and escrow teams separate a recorded permit trail from work that needs additional documentation.
The Chicago pilot is scoped to Chicago city limits because that's where we have a fully live lookup path. We pull building permits directly from the Chicago Building Permits dataset ydr8-5enu — Chicago Building Permits records from 2006-present, no manual research, no aggregator lag. Suburban Cook County municipalities, pre-2006 records, and permits still in pending review remain outside this page's claim.
No calls to Chicago permit counters. No multi-day waits. Submit a Chicago address, get a structured permit history back.
Submit the Chicago property address and select your tier. No payment required upfront — we invoice after confirming your order.
Basic $29 · Premium $79We query the Chicago Building Permits Socrata dataset for the available permit history — number, type, dates, reported cost, status, and description — so your team can investigate anything that needs follow-up.
Chicago pilot · 24-hour turnaroundNormalized permit data plus original permit documents (Premium tier where available), flagged and formatted. Delivered to your email with a 7-day download link and a public /track/PR-XXXXXX page.
Email + order status pagePulled live from the Chicago Building Permits dataset on this page load. Each row links back to the Chicago Building Permits dataset so you can verify the data yourself.
| Address | Neighborhood | Permit # | Issue Date | Permit Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1300 N State St | Gold Coast | B200467429 | 2026-05-15 | PERMIT – EXPRESS PERMIT PROGRAM | TUCKPOINTING AND UNIT MASONRY REPAIR / REPLACEMENT: 500 SQ. FT., LINTEL QTY. 0, MAX. LENGTH 0. LOCATION: EAST AND SOUTH ELEVATION. |
| 1 E Wacker Dr | The Loop | B200511274 | 2026-09-14 | PERMIT – EXPRESS PERMIT PROGRAM | FOR PERMIT 101082299: REPLACEMENT ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR. NEW CONTRACTOR(S) LISTED UNDER "OTHER APPLICANTS AND CONTRACTORS" ON PERMIT CERTIFICATE. |
| 2444 N Elston Ave | Logan Square | 101086055 | 2026-08-28 | PERMIT - RENOVATION/ALTERATION | SELF-CERT 2019 CBRC: ALTERATION OF 500 SF OF LEVEL 1 SALES OFFICE TO A SMOOTHIE AND COFFEE SALES COUNTER WITH PREPARED FOOD IN REFRGERATED CASES. SPACE IS WITHIN A 5 STORY MIXED USE BUILDING CONTAINING A HEALTH CLUB AND HOTEL. (OCCUPANCY GROUP A-3, TYPE 1-B CONSTRUCTION) |
Data source: Chicago Department of Buildings — Building Permits (Chicago Building Permits dataset ydr8-5enu) · Updated live · Generated Sep 15, 2026, 09:11 PM UTC
We're inviting a short-list of Illinois title, escrow, and real-estate attorney teams to a free pilot through Q4. Drop your details and we'll set up your workspace within 1 business day.
Pilot terms: free through Q4, priority 24-hour turnaround on Chicago addresses, monthly volume ≥ 10 reports, cancel anytime, direct Slack channel for data requests and edge cases.
The Chicago pilot covers City of Chicago jurisdiction only. It queries the Chicago Department of Buildings Building Permits dataset and does not claim coverage for suburban Cook County municipalities.
A Chicago report returns permit number, permit type, issue date, reported cost, contractor, status, and work description when those fields are available in the source record.
The Chicago Building Permits dataset covers 2006-present. Pre-2006 records generally require a FOIA request to the Chicago Department of Buildings, and occupancy certificates are a separate Department of Buildings record type rather than part of this permit dataset.
Use the live Chicago lookup to search an address, or submit the property address through the Chicago pilot form to request a sample report.