FAQ
Questions about the permit data
Short answers about the City of Calgary file this site copies, and about what the pages will and will not claim. Longer explanations are in the guides.
Where do the permits on this site come from?
They are a copy of the City of Calgary Building Permits open dataset, resource c2es-76ed, published at https://data.calgary.ca/Business-and-Economic-Activity/Building-Permits/c2es-76ed. CalgaryPermit does not create permit records. The City is the publisher. Figures on the community pages are counted from the rows stored in this site's database.
Is CalgaryPermit part of the City of Calgary?
No. This is an independent site. It cannot issue a permit, change a status, or tell you whether your drawings meet the building code. To apply, or to confirm a file, use the City: https://www.calgary.ca/development/permits.html.
What is an issued date?
The issued date is the issueddate field from the City feed: the date the City issued that permit. It is stored here as issued_date and shown on the permit page. An empty issued date means the stored row has no issued date. Applications still in review, on hold, refused, cancelled, or only just received often have none. The site does not fill one in from the status label.
What is the difference between applied, issued, and completed?
Applied is when the application was recorded. Issued is when the permit was issued. Completed is when the City marked the file completed. A permit can be applied and not issued. An issued permit is not the same thing as a finished building. The completed date, when it is present, is the field that says the file was closed out.
What does estimated project cost mean?
It is the estprojectcost value published with the permit. It is an estimate attached to the application, not a contract price, a final invoice, or a property assessment. Many rows leave it blank. Averages on this site use only the rows that have a number, and they say how many rows that was.
Why do some communities not have a page?
A community page is created only when the stored copy has enough permits to summarize. Communities under that cutoff are left off so the site does not publish thin, near-duplicate pages. The cutoff is shown on the communities index and is applied to this database, not guessed.
Can I tell who is building in my neighbourhood?
You can see the contractor name the City published, grouped and counted on the community page. A repeated name means that spelling appears on that many stored permits. It is not a City ranking or a licence check. Blank names are missing data. The same firm may be spelled more than one way, and those spellings are not merged.
How current is the copy?
The site syncs from the City feed once a day. A file can change at the City before the next sync. Community counts describe the stored rows at the time the page is rendered. They are not an official citywide total, because a sync page is capped and this database may not hold every historical row.
Do I need an account to read the guides and community pages?
No. The guides, FAQ, community pages, about, contact, privacy, and terms pages are public. While free access is on, the permit dashboard can be opened without signing in and without a paid plan. That mode is a setting on the site. It is not a promise that paid checkout stays off.
Does the site use advertising cookies?
Yes. Pages load Google AdSense, which can set cookies, including for ad measurement and personalized ads. The privacy policy describes that and links to Google's ad controls. Questions about the policy can go to contact@calgarypermit.ca.
How do I correct a permit or ask about this site?
Permit facts are corrected at the source, which is the City of Calgary. For a problem with this website, email contact@calgarypermit.ca. Include the permit number or the page address. This inbox does not issue permits.
Field definitions are in how to read a permit. Neighbourhood counts are on the community pages.