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

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 Small Business Administration has already launched a self-certification tool online, available to applicants who have been waiting more than 60 days for a building permit.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 4, 2026

On Holdorff Polhill’s block of Iliff Street, the rebuilding process was underway for nine out of 27 destroyed homes as of early December, according to a Times analysis of Los Angeles city building permit records.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 17, 2025

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

And finally now, just when he’d mastered the parking patterns at City Hall — he even knew which meters were jammed, so he could park free — he had his building permit.

From "Typical American" by Gish Jen