Last updated: September 26, 2026 — reviewed by MD Saeed
Home Permit Pro is a homeowner-first permit research and filing service. We track building permit requirements across 2,400+ U.S. cities and counties so that decks, fences, additions, ADUs, and remodels don't stall on paperwork. Every guide on this site is written in plain English, sourced to the actual code, and reviewed by a real person — our founder, MD Saeed.
Our Mission
Permit rules should not be a mystery. Most homeowners meet them for the first time mid-project — after the fence posts are ordered or the deck lumber is delivered. Our mission is simple: make residential permit requirements, costs, and application steps understandable before money is spent, so projects get approved the first time and never stall on paperwork.
What We Do
- Permit guides by project type — fences, decks, sheds, pools, bathrooms, kitchens, windows, garages, and ADUs, each with the real thresholds that trigger a permit.
- State and city pages — requirements, fees, and application portals for all 50 states, researched from state statutes and municipal code databases.
- Free permit check — tell us your project and address, and we identify which permits apply and what your building department will ask for.
- Permit filing service — we prepare reviewer-ready application packages, submit them to your city, and track status until the permit is issued.
Our Story
Home Permit Pro was founded by MD Saeed, a residential permitting specialist who spent years on the practical side of home construction — preparing applications, responding to plan-review corrections, and sitting across the counter from building departments. The same questions kept coming up from homeowners: "Do I really need a permit for this?" "Why did my neighbor's project cost half as much?" "What does the inspector actually look for?"
The official answers existed, but they were buried in municipal code chapters, fee schedules, and PDF applications written for contractors, not homeowners. Saeed started writing plain-English explanations of permit rules — one project type and one jurisdiction at a time — and keeping them updated as codes changed. That habit became Home Permit Pro: a living library of permit requirements, tracked daily, with every figure traceable to the code section or fee schedule that defines it.
Today the site covers all 50 states and thousands of municipalities, and our filing service prepares and submits permit applications for homeowners who'd rather not deal with the counter at all.
Meet the Founder
MD Saeed
Founder & Lead Permit Researcher · Home Permit Pro
MD Saeed is a residential permitting specialist and home-improvement writer. He has spent years helping homeowners and small contractors work with building departments — permit applications, plan review, inspections, and fees — across projects ranging from simple fence lines to full additions and ADUs. At Home Permit Pro he personally researches and reviews the guides on this site against current building codes and local amendments, so the numbers you read match what your building department will actually enforce.
Our Values
Accuracy & Trust
Permit thresholds, setback distances, and fee figures are sourced to primary documents — the IRC/IBC code cycles as adopted locally, state statutes, and municipal fee schedules. When a city amends its rules, we update the page. When we are not certain, we say so and tell you exactly whom to call.
Plain English
Code language is precise but impenetrable. We translate it without watering it down: every "you need a permit" statement on this site comes with the specific exemption test or threshold behind it.
Transparency
Flat, published service fees — no markup on city charges, no hidden resubmission costs. If a project doesn't need a permit, we tell you that too, even though there's no fee in it for us.
Independence
We are not affiliated with any government agency, and no jurisdiction sponsors this site. Building departments don't always love that we publish their fee schedules in plain English — that's exactly why we keep doing it.
Editorial Standards
Every guide follows the same process: research against the governing code and the local amendments, verification against the city's own published documents, plain-English writing, and a final review by MD Saeed before publication. Articles carry a visible author byline and a review date, and high-traffic pages are re-checked each code cycle. Our full process is described in the Editorial Policy.
Why You Can Trust Our Permit Numbers
Trust on a permitting site is not a slogan — it is a method. Here is, specifically, how this site earns and keeps yours.
Real-world experience, not armchair research
The founder of this site has prepared and submitted real permit applications for real projects — fences, decks, additions, ADUs — and has responded to real plan-review correction letters from building departments. When a guide here describes what happens after you submit, it describes a process someone on this team has actually sat through, not a paraphrase of a government FAQ.
Sourced to the governing documents
Every permit threshold, setback, and fee figure traces to a primary source: the adopted code cycle (IRC, IBC, and local amendments), a state statute, or the city's own published fee schedule. Where a rule varies street by street — historic districts, flood zones, HOA overlays — the guide says so instead of pretending one number fits everywhere.
Accountability by name
Every article carries a visible author byline and a review date, and the person named on it is reachable — see the author profile page or email info@homepermitpro.com. When a reader spots an error, we correct the page and note the correction in our Editorial Policy log. No anonymous content, no ghost-written pages, no uncorrected mistakes.
Independence you can verify
No government agency runs, sponsors, or reviews this site before publication, and no jurisdiction has paid us to describe its rules favorably. That independence cuts both ways: we can publish fee schedules cities would rather not highlight, and we can also tell you when your project does not need a permit at all. Our Disclaimer spells out the limits of what we offer.
How We Make Money
The guides, state pages, and permit-check tool are free and always will be. We earn revenue two ways: the optional permit filing service, charged at a flat fee per project, and non-intrusive on-site advertising. Free content is never gated behind a payment, and paid services never influence what the guides say.
What We Are Not
- We are not a government agency and have no authority to issue or approve permits.
- We are not lawyers — nothing here is legal advice, and zoning disputes deserve a licensed attorney.
- We are not a licensed design firm — projects requiring engineered drawings are referred to licensed professionals in your state.
- We are not a substitute for your building department — rules change street by street, so always confirm the final requirement with your local office before you build.
Get In Touch
Have a permit question we haven't answered, or spotted a figure that doesn't match your city's current fee schedule? We genuinely want to hear it — corrections make this resource better for everyone. Email info@homepermitpro.com or use the free permit check and we'll tell you exactly which permits your project needs.