Hillsborough County Development Services maintains documents and records for building permits

Hillsborough County Development Services maintains documents and records for building permits. This includes building plans, site plans, applications, certificates of occupancy, elevation certificates, and other supporting documents.

Records are maintained from 1976 to present. The date of construction or permit application is needed to obtain records, either through submitting a record request or searching online records.

To determine when a property was built, visit the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser

Locating permit documents and records

How to find documents and records depend on the time range the record was filed.

Records from 2004 and before

Records from 2004 and older are not available online and a request should be submitted by email to ds-recordsresearch@hcfl.gov.

The following should be included in the email request:

  • Year property was built, address, any previous addresses, and folio number
  • For records prior to 1989, the year the permit was applied for is required in order to perform a search
  • Provide as much detail as possible regarding your request and items needed

Records from 2005 - Jan. 19, 2021

Records from 2005 and newer are available online.

Visit Building Permits Reports to view permit history, find a permit, and locate information on permits from 1995 through 1/19/2021

To view permit history

  • Leave the first drop down blank and search via Street Name or Folio Number.
  • Use the address number
  • Abbreviate the suffix of the address. i.e. – Street as St, Drive as Dr, Road as Rd, etc. NOTE: the suffix is not required for a search

Other information is also available on this page including inspections, fees, contactors, and more

For additional details and attachments visit the PGM Store.


Detailed documents from 2004 - Jan. 10, 2021

Records obtained from the Building Permits Reports may not include all details and attachments. For Detailed documents from 2004 to 01/10/2021 visit the PGM Store.

  • Obtain the Permit/Project Number as noted in steps above
  • Log in to the PGM Store
    • User Name: public
    • Password: public
  • Select ‘Document Repository Public’
  • Enter the Permit/Project Number in field labeled ‘App/Permit/Tracking #’
  • Select ‘Query’ (located on the left above the County seal)
  • A blue bar will appear with the Application Number, Permit Type, and Current Status
  • Double click on the bar to access documents
  • An illustrated guide is available


Records and Detailed Documents on or after Jan. 20, 2021

For detailed documents beyond 1/19/2021, visit HillsGovHub and search via the folio or address (See the search record guide for detailed instructions)

Note: When entering your search criteria the end date will default to the current date and the start date will default to exactly two years prior. If you know the dates you would like to search, please enter them accordingly or, to search the entire database, enter a start date of 1/19/2021.

Update the dates on the following dropdown sections as follows:

  • Change Record from 2005 - Jan 19, 2021 to Records from 2005 - Jan. 18, 2021
  • Change Records and Detailed Documents on or after Jan. 20, 2021 to Records and Detailed Documents on or after Jan. 19, 2021

Additional documents

Certificate of occupancy and elevation certificates have different availability and search rules than other documents.

Certificates of occupancy (CO)

  • Properties built prior to 2012 – a CO is not available
  • Permit issued prior to 1/19/2021 – search the PGM Store. The Permit/Project Number is required. Search via the address or folio on Building Permits Reports and then search in the PGM Store.
  • Permits issued after 1/19/2021 – Search for the permit on HillsGovHub 

Elevation certificates

  • Elevation Certificates are typically not available for homes built prior to 2000
  • For homes built prior to 2000, other supporting documents such as an application, flood zone affidavit, or site plan may be available and may state the elevation
  • For homes built after 2004, first search the PGM Store for an elevation certificate. If one is not in the PGM Store then you will need to submit a Records Request with the required information noted above

Questions and other inquiries may be directed to ds-recordsresearch@hcfl.gov.


Code compliance

Code Compliance Cases are found in two databases.

Cases created prior to 1/19/2021

Use the Building Permits Reports page

  • Select ‘Search’ from the drop down
  • Select ‘Locks/Holds/Notices/Comments’
  • Select ‘Search By’ and choose the desired criteria, such as street, folio, etc. Note: For these searches, Case numbers would be entered as the Permit/Project Number
    • Make selection based upon search results


Cases created on or after 1/19/2021

Search using HillsGovHub

  • Select Search from left menu
  • Select Building & Site Records
  • Enter address
  • Enter additional search criteria
    • Note: When entering your search criteria the end date will default to the current date and the start date will default to exactly two years prior. If you know the dates you would like to search, please enter them accordingly or, to search the entire database, enter a start date of 1/19/2021
  • Select Search
    • Single record will default to Record Details
    • Multiple records will default to a list for selection
  • Select small triangle to expand information

Questions may be directed to licensing@hcfl.gov.


Records research fees

  • There is no charge to access documents available online
  • The first 30 minutes of research is free, after that there is a charge of $13.42 per hour
  • Physical and digital copies of documents from microfilm are $2 per page
  • Fees are assessed after research is completed and payment instruction will be provided
Last Modified: 1/22/2024, 6:37:51 PM

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