Pull Your Boston Building Permit — Direct Links + How to Read Codes
The Boston ISD permit portal is the official system of record for every building permit, electrical permit, plumbing permit, gas permit, occupancy permit, and code-enforcement violation issued inside the City of Boston. It is the same database ISD inspectors and plan reviewers write to in real time. We deep-link you there directly — no middleman, no stale mirror.
Opens on boston.gov — the official City of Boston government site. For work touching a state road or highway, also see MassDOT Highway Division.
What to look up
The ISD portal accepts three search axes: street address, permit number, and parcel ID. Address search returns every permit ever pulled on the parcel — useful when buying a triple-decker and wanting to confirm the basement unit was permitted as habitable space. Permit number lookup pulls the full job card with plan reviewer comments and inspection history. The portal also surfaces ISD code-enforcement orders (open and closed) and the short-term-rental registration status, neither of which appear on private scraped mirrors. For pre-2006 records, file a public-records request at the ISD office at 1010 Massachusetts Ave — online coverage thins quickly before that date.
How to read Boston permit codes
Boston permits use a discipline prefix that tells you the work type at a glance. ALT covers alterations to an existing building, ERT is erection of a new structure, ELV is elevator/conveyance, E is electrical, P is plumbing, G is gas, SF is sheet metal, and OCC is a certificate of occupancy. A permit number like ALT1234567 reads as an alteration permit, sequence 1234567. The status field reads either Issued (work approved, may begin), Closed (signed off, complete), Expired (12+ months without inspection — needs a renewal), or Withdrawn (homeowner pulled the permit before any work occurred). Inspections nest under each permit and Boston's snow, cold, and frost cycle means many permits show seasonal gaps — that is normal. A C of O is its own document, separate from the building permit, and is required before occupants move into new or substantially altered space.
Red flags to watch for
The single biggest red flag on a Boston property record is an expired permit on substantial work — finished basement, third-floor headroom raise, deck addition. Expiration without a final inspection means ISD never confirmed the work meets code, and the new owner inherits the open permit and the liability. A second red flag is open ISD violations — these include illegal occupancy (e.g. a basement bedroom in a unit zoned two-family), short-term-rental non-compliance (Boston's STR rules are aggressive and ISD enforces them), or unpermitted alterations. Violations follow the property, not the seller. Third: if address search returns no records on a clearly remodeled triple or row-house, the work was either pre-2006 (paper-only) or unpermitted; walk the property with that hypothesis. Finally, watch for missing C of O after a substantial alteration — Boston requires a fresh occupancy certificate after major work, and a closed building permit alone does not satisfy that requirement.
Questions LA homeowners actually ask
Because ISD records change throughout the day. A pulled permit, an issued violation, or a final sign-off updates on the city portal in real time — any third-party mirror is already out of date. The only honest answer is the source system, so we deep-link you there.
AskBaily does not scrape ISD
We have no Boston ISD database mirror. We do not cache permit results. We do not sell permit data. The deep-link above is the entire integration — the homeowner reads the City of Boston record on the City of Boston system. That is the only way to know what is actually on file.
Last reviewed 2026-04-24.