The permits open data never shows

4,500 Boston permits are stuck waiting on action

The City's published permit feed lists issuedpermits. It says nothing about applications that were denied, sent back for more information, or parked awaiting fees — the stages where a permit needs an owner, a contractor, or an expediter to do something. Verdwise tracks each permit's position inside Inspectional Services review, including every one of those stages.

The count above is live: permits sitting in an action-needed stage for more than 180 days. Across the full pipeline, 26,315tracked permits have no row in the City's open data portal at all.

Where they're stuck

3,784

More information requested

3,784 not in open data

1,389

Denied

1,389 not in open data

1,327

More information requested (Planning & Zoning)

1,327 not in open data

833

Awaiting fee payment

833 not in open data

385

Waiting on Board of Appeal

385 not in open data

262

Refused

262 not in open data

Conditions to satisfy

70 not in open data

Longest waiting — a sample

Days waiting	Stage	Permit	Type	Address	Neighborhood
1,900	Awaiting fee payment Not in open data	SF1201422	Short Form Bldg Permit	1006 MASSACHUSETTS AV	Roxbury
1,898	Awaiting fee payment Not in open data	ALT1202437	Long Form/Alteration Permit	5 HOWARD AV	Dorchester
1,890	Awaiting fee payment Not in open data	SF1206124	Short Form Bldg Permit	521 ASHMONT ST	Dorchester
1,880	Awaiting fee payment Not in open data	ALT1202142	Long Form/Alteration Permit	150 NORWELL ST	Dorchester
1,880	Awaiting fee payment Not in open data	ALT1206394	Long Form/Alteration Permit	116 HUNTINGTON AV	Boston
1,877	Awaiting fee payment Not in open data	SF1202866	Short Form Bldg Permit	11 PARKMAN ST	Dorchester
1,876	Awaiting fee payment Not in open data	SF1205296	Short Form Bldg Permit	11 VINSON ST	Dorchester
1,869	Awaiting fee payment Not in open data	SF1206516	Short Form Bldg Permit	24 FROST AV	Dorchester
1,864	Awaiting fee payment Not in open data	ALT1203351	Long Form/Alteration Permit	10 DEAN ST	Dorchester
1,856	Awaiting fee payment Not in open data	ALT1215791	Long Form/Alteration Permit	969 BENNINGTON ST	East Boston
1,838	Awaiting fee payment Not in open data	SF1221431	Short Form Bldg Permit	699 MASSACHUSETTS AV	Roxbury
1,829	Awaiting fee payment Not in open data	SF1213023	Short Form Bldg Permit	51 SHEPTON ST	Dorchester
1,815	Awaiting fee payment Not in open data	ALT1236802	Long Form/Alteration Permit	39 MOUNT PLEASANT AV	Roxbury
1,810	Awaiting fee payment Not in open data	ALT1213600	Long Form/Alteration Permit	782 ADAMS ST	Dorchester
1,810	Awaiting fee payment Not in open data	SF1239789	Short Form Bldg Permit	31 BURGOYNE ST	Dorchester

15 of the 15permits above do not appear in the City's open data portal — this list cannot be assembled from published data.

The full list lives in the product

Inside Verdwise you can filter every stuck permit by stage, neighborhood, and time waiting, open the full review history behind each one, and pull the complete parcel record — zoning, appeal history, violations, and overlays — for any address on this list. Or just ask: “which permits near me are stuck, and why?”

Ask Verdwise Search an address

Stage positions come from the City of Boston's own permit-review system and are refreshed on an automated schedule; each permit's stage date is as recorded by Inspectional Services. Verdwise reports what is on record — a stuck permit is a fact about a stage, not a judgment about anyone involved. See data freshness for sync dates and caveats.