Enter the address
Use the form below. You only need the street address and an email to send the report to.
For Calgary homeowners
Look up any Calgary home's permit history. Free.
Buying, selling, renovating or filing an insurance claim? Enter an address and we pull the permit record from the City of Calgary's open data, then write it up in plain English.
The report is free and arrives by email within one business day. It is a summary of public City data, not an official City document.
The problem
The permit record exists. Getting to it is slow.
You need to know what has been permitted on a Calgary house. Maybe you are buying. Maybe you are selling and the buyer's agent asked for proof. Maybe you are renovating and want to see what the last owner did before you open a wall.
The City has the data. Digging it out is slow, and the official portal is hard to read. Permit codes, status fields and file numbers mean little until someone explains them.
We do the digging and the explaining. You get one readable report for one address, with the odd items pointed out.
What the report shows
Every permit on the address, explained.
- Every building, development, electrical, plumbing and mechanical permit filed at the address
- Date filed, date closed and status on each
- Contractor on record where the City captured it
- Open or expired permits still attached to the title
- Plain language notes beside anything that looks unusual
Construction Nerds Consulting summarizes public City of Calgary data. The report is not a legal opinion, an inspection or an official City record.
How it works
Enter the address. Read the report.
We pull the permit record from the City of Calgary's open data and write a plain-English summary. The report lands in your inbox within one business day.
We pull the record
We search the City of Calgary's open data for every permit filed at that address.
You get a summary
A short report explains each permit, what it covered and anything that deserves a second look.
Who uses it
People who need the history of a house.
Home buyers
Check for unpermitted renovations before closing, while you can still ask questions or adjust the offer.
Sellers
Prove the work on your house was done properly, and clear up open permits before a buyer's agent finds them.
Renovators
Find out what is behind the drywall by seeing what the last owner had permitted.
Insurance claimants
If you are filing a claim, a permit record helps you show that the work on the house was permitted.
New owners with doubts
If you bought a house and suspect the basement suite was not legal, the permit record is the first place to look.
Cost
The lookup is free.
We cover the lookup because it introduces homeowners to Construction Nerds Consulting. There is no fee and no obligation to hire anyone.
If the report turns up unpermitted work, we can connect you with a contractor to make it right. That introduction only happens if you ask for it.
Limits
What the report does not do.
It does not replace a Real Property Report. A Real Property Report shows the physical location of buildings on the lot, which a permit summary cannot do.
It does not detect work that was never permitted at all. Unpermitted work usually shows up as a gap between what the report says and what the property actually has. If the record shows no basement permit and the basement has a kitchen and two bedrooms, that gap is worth a conversation with your lawyer, inspector or contractor.
Common questions
What people ask before ordering a report.
Is the Calgary permit history report an official City document?
No. It is a plain-English summary of the same data the City of Calgary publishes on its open data portal. For an official document, request records directly from the City.
Does the report catch unpermitted work?
Not directly. Unpermitted work doesn't appear in City records at all. The report tells you what was permitted. A gap between what the record shows and what the house actually has is the signal that something was done without a permit.
How current is the permit data?
The City of Calgary open data is refreshed regularly. Permits usually appear within a few days of being issued.
Can I use this report when buying a house?
Yes. Many buyers order a report during their condition period. It is a quick way to see what work has been done, when, and by whom.
What if a permit was pulled but never closed?
An open permit stays with the property. It can delay a sale or a refinance. The report flags any open or expired permits so you can address them before they become a problem.
Does the report list the contractor by name?
Where the City captured the contractor name on the permit, yes. Older permits and homeowner-pulled permits sometimes do not have a contractor on record.
Start here
Get your free permit history report
It takes about a minute. The report arrives by email within one business day.
Prefer to talk?
587-370-4894
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