What is a building permit, and where do I find mine?
Your building permit is the official approval your county or city issued before your solar system was installed. Your installer almost always pulls it on your behalf, so you may never have handled it directly — it's usually in the closeout packet they sent you, or available from your local permitting office's online portal.
If you can't find yours, most counties let you search issued permits by address on their permitting portal, and your installer can usually re-send a copy on request.
RECmint uses your building permit to confirm three things: that the system at your address is legally permitted, when it was built, and how big it is.
Most customers never need to send one. We ask for a building permit to register a Maryland system of 20 kW AC or larger for Maryland's Brighter Tomorrow program. A Maryland system under 20 kW AC doesn't need one, and no other state asks for it.
How to tell you're looking at the right document
Permits vary a lot between jurisdictions, so don't worry if yours doesn't match a particular format. Some are a single page, some run several. Some are titled things like "Residential Bldg Uses Permit" rather than "Building Permit" — both are valid.
What every permit has in common:
Issuing jurisdiction — the county, city or town seal and department name
Permit number
Issue date — when the permit was granted
Property address — this should match your service address
Description of work — the important one. It names the work done, the number of panels, and the system size in kW
Contractor and owner names
What to check before sending your permit
An expired building permit is still fine. Permits usually expire a year after issue, but that only means the construction window closed. We only need to see that yours was issued.
A permit application is not an issued permit. Look for an issue date, a signature, or an approval stamp on the document.
Your permit may be split in two. Some jurisdictions issue a building permit for the panels and racking and a separate electrical permit for the wiring. If you have both, send both.
If your document came from your local building department and describes your solar installation, it's what we need — even if it's called a construction permit, a zoning permit, or a residential uses permit.