Norfolk building & ADU permits
Recent permit activity, updated continuously.
Norfolk anchors Virginia's Hampton Roads region and is permitted separately from Virginia Beach next door. The city publishes two permit datasets; Igni reads the clean one-row-per-permit table rather than the inspection-joined version, and reverse-geocodes each ZIP from the coordinates the city supplies.
Igni is tracking 409 residential and building permits in Norfolk, VA. The most active ZIP is 23513. The most recent filing Igni tracked was Sep 30, 2026. All records come from data.norfolk.gov (Socrata), an official government open-data feed, and are refreshed continuously.
409
Permits tracked
0
ADU permits
12
Distinct ZIP codes
Sep 30, 2026
Newest permit
Recent permits
A sample of the freshest permits in this jurisdiction — ZIP and city only (no street addresses).
| ZIP | Permit type | ADU type | Valuation | Applied |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23504 | Commercial | — | $196,094 | Jun 12, 2026 |
| 23508 | Residential | — | $23,200 | Sep 16, 2026 |
| 23507 | Residential | — | $5,000 | Sep 2, 2026 |
| 23513 | Residential | — | $66,060 | Sep 14, 2026 |
| 23509 | Residential | — | $100,000 | Sep 16, 2026 |
| 23509 | Residential | — | $13,000 | Sep 16, 2026 |
| 23518 | Residential | — | $12,000 | Sep 24, 2026 |
| 23513 | Residential | — | $43,789 | Sep 29, 2026 |
| 23523 | Residential | — | $145,000 | Aug 9, 2026 |
| 23503 | Commercial | — | $68,599 | Aug 5, 2026 |
| 23505 | Residential | — | $12,000 | Sep 1, 2026 |
| 23509 | Residential | — | $51,800 | Aug 18, 2025 |
| 23505 | Residential | — | $6,000 | Aug 5, 2026 |
| 23503 | Residential | — | $15,068 | Sep 24, 2026 |
| 23513 | Commercial | — | $7,430 | Mar 12, 2025 |
| 23505 | Residential | — | $2,000 | Aug 28, 2026 |
| 23518 | Residential | — | $35,587 | Sep 29, 2026 |
| 23505 | Residential | — | $30,302 | Aug 26, 2026 |
| 23518 | Residential | — | $6,000 | Sep 28, 2026 |
| 23502 | Residential | — | $98,527 | Sep 16, 2026 |
Top ZIP codes by recent activity
Permit activity in Norfolk
Igni counted 2,038 permits issued in Norfolk over the last 12 months (Sep 2025 – Aug 2026) — up 4.0% on the 1,959 in the 12 months before. The forecast expects about 947 over the next 6 months.
Forecast: Holt–Winters, typical error ±14% in backtests one to six months ahead. How we forecast
| Permit type | Last 12 months | Year over year | Forecast, next 6 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| All permits | 2,038 | Up 4.0% | ≈ 947 |
| Residential building | 1,190 | Up 11.1% | ≈ 594 |
| Commercial building | 451 | Down 3.2% | ≈ 202 |
| Trade (electrical, plumbing, mechanical) | 397 | Down 5.9% | ≈ 198 |
| ADU | 0 | — | — |
Monthly figures
| Month | Permits | 10th–90th percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2023 | 125 | — |
| Oct 2023 | 188 | — |
| Nov 2023 | 153 | — |
| Dec 2023 | 153 | — |
| Jan 2024 | 137 | — |
| Feb 2024 | 139 | — |
| Mar 2024 | 168 | — |
| Apr 2024 | 190 | — |
| May 2024 | 182 | — |
| Jun 2024 | 170 | — |
| Jul 2024 | 180 | — |
| Aug 2024 | 127 | — |
| Sep 2024 | 160 | — |
| Oct 2024 | 207 | — |
| Nov 2024 | 144 | — |
| Dec 2024 | 168 | — |
| Jan 2025 | 134 | — |
| Feb 2025 | 126 | — |
| Mar 2025 | 187 | — |
| Apr 2025 | 135 | — |
| May 2025 | 187 | — |
| Jun 2025 | 184 | — |
| Jul 2025 | 177 | — |
| Aug 2025 | 150 | — |
| Sep 2025 | 149 | — |
| Oct 2025 | 180 | — |
| Nov 2025 | 113 | — |
| Dec 2025 | 160 | — |
| Jan 2026 | 138 | — |
| Feb 2026 | 154 | — |
| Mar 2026 | 225 | — |
| Apr 2026 | 183 | — |
| May 2026 | 210 | — |
| Jun 2026 | 155 | — |
| Jul 2026 | 210 | — |
| Aug 2026 | 161 | — |
| Sep 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 153 | 130–192 |
| Oct 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 200 | 171–252 |
| Nov 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 137 | 119–177 |
| Dec 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 154 | 134–200 |
| Jan 2027 (forecast) | ≈ 148 | 130–192 |
| Feb 2027 (forecast) | ≈ 155 | 137–201 |
Counts are permits issued per calendar month as Norfolk publishes them to its open-data feed — not a complete census; a change in what the city publishes moves them too. The current month is left out, and the most recent months are provisional. A forecast is a statistical estimate with a range, not a prediction for any project. Informational only.
How long do permits take in Norfolk?
Based on 5,194 Norfolk permits applied for between Sep 2023 and Jun 2026, the typical (median) permit was issued 23 days after application, and the middle half of permits took 9–51 days. One in ten took longer than 112 days.
| Permit type | Median | Typical range | Permits |
|---|---|---|---|
| All permits | 23 days | 9–51 days | 5,194 |
| Residential building | 29 days | 13–61 days | 2,960 |
| Commercial building | 36 days | 20–69 days | 1,111 |
| Trade (electrical, plumbing, mechanical) | 7 days | 3–15 days | 1,123 |
Typical, not guaranteed: individual permits vary with project scope, application completeness and plan-review workload. Days are calendar days from application to issuance; applications still pending are counted as not-yet-issued rather than dropped. Informational only, not legal advice. How we calculate approval times.
Housing law — Virginia
Accessory dwelling units in Virginia are handled locally; without a statewide ADU mandate, rules differ by city and county.
Virginia has no statewide upzoning law; residential density is set by local zoning, with several Northern Virginia jurisdictions pursuing reform.
Data source
Sourced from data.norfolk.gov (Socrata). Public domain.
Nearby cities — Virginia
Learn more about ADUs & building permits
Background reading on accessory dwelling units, building permits, and how Igni turns Norfolk permit records into leads.
Norfolk permit data — FAQ
Where does Igni get Norfolk permit data?
How fresh is Norfolk permit data?
How long does it take to get a building permit in Norfolk?
Is construction activity growing in Norfolk?
Does Norfolk allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs)?
Get permit leads — Norfolk
Fresh, filterable residential and ADU permit leads from Norfolk — delivered before your competitors even know.
Informational only, not legal advice. Headline counts reflect all permits Igni has tracked for this jurisdiction; the table shows recent activity. Housing law changes — verify current statutes before relying on this.