building permit

American  

noun

1. an official certificate of permission issued by local authorities to a builder to construct, enlarge, or alter a building.

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Example Sentences

A contractor who offers to do the job without a building permit is a red flag.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 25, 2026

A Times analysis of Los Angeles County building permit records shows two distinct realities: Interest in rebuilding is high and progress is slow.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

The foundations are for a hotel extension that attracted so much controversy last year that the country's top administrative court ended up temporarily blocking its building permit.

From Barron's • Feb. 12, 2026

The city of Narva granted a building permit for the facility in 4½ months, a speed that Mayor Katri Raik said was the fastest possible under the country’s laws.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 16, 2025

I also pull the building permit for the Gardens of Glenwood to show that the interior space has the proper drainage, and that in the original plans, they didn't show rocks, but plants.

From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan