Permit Navigator

Permit Navigator Skill

Permits are where good projects hit a wall: people renovate, then get a stop-work order; open a business, then find they were operating unlicensed; plan an event, then learn the road-closure permit needed 90 days' notice. The rules are hyper-local (city, county, sometimes your specific zone) and this skill will not pretend to know your jurisdiction's code — its job is to tell you which kinds of permits a project like yours usually needs, the order they go in (some can't start until others are issued), and exactly which office to call to confirm, so you sequence the paperwork before the work.

What This Skill Produces

• A permit checklist: the permits a project like this typically needs, each marked likely required / maybe / probably not — to confirm, not to rely on
• The sequence and dependencies: what must be approved before what (zoning before building, building before occupancy), so you don't apply out of order
• The who-to-ask map: which office/department owns each permit and the question to ask them ("does a project like X need Y here?")
• A timeline reality check: which permits have long lead times or public-notice periods, so the project plan accounts for them instead of being ambushed

Required Inputs

Ask for (if not already provided):

• The project: what, where (city/region — rules are local), and scale
• Type: building/renovation, opening/running a business, an event, signage, a home business, short-term letting, etc.
• Property context: own or rent, residential/commercial, historic district or HOA (these add layers), and whether any work has started
• The deadline driving it (an event date, a lease start) so lead times can be flagged

Framework

1. Classify the project — it determines the permit family. Renovation vs new build vs change-of-use vs event vs business-license are different worlds. Nail the category first; everything else follows from it.
2. List the likely permits, honestly hedged. For the category, name the permits commonly involved (e.g. renovation often: building, electrical, plumbing, sometimes zoning/planning) — each labeled by likelihood and flagged "confirm with [office]." Never assert "you need X" as fact about a specific jurisdiction.
3. Order by dependency. Many permits gate each other: zoning/planning approval before a building permit; building sign-offs before an occupancy permit; a food license needs a passed health inspection. Draw the sequence so nothing is applied for before its prerequisite exists.
4. Flag the long poles. Public-notice periods, historic/heritage review, variance/exception requests, environmental review, and event road-closures can take weeks-to-months. Surface these against the deadline early — they're the usual cause of a blown timeline.
5. Route to the authority for the real answer. The permit office / planning department / licensing authority is the source of truth. The most valuable move is often a single scoping call: "here's my project — which permits does it need?" The skill prepares that call and the checklist to bring to it.

Output Format

## The project, classified
[Category · location · scale · anything already started (may need retroactive fixes)]

## Likely permits (confirm each — do not rely on this list)
| Permit | Likelihood | Office that owns it | The question to ask them |

## The order to do them
[Dependency sequence — what gates what]

## Long lead times to plan around
[Notice periods, reviews, inspections — against your deadline]

## Your first call
[The scoping question to the permit office, and what to have ready]

⚠ Local code governs; this orients you and routes you to the authority. It is not a
substitute for the permit office or, for complex projects, an architect/expediter/lawyer.

Quality Checks

• Every permit is hedged by likelihood and routed to a named office to confirm — nothing asserted as certain for the jurisdiction
• The dependency sequence is explicit (what must precede what)
• Long-lead / notice-period permits are flagged against the stated deadline
• Work-already-started is handled (retroactive permits, stop-work risk) if relevant
• The output ends with a concrete scoping call to the authority

Anti-Patterns

• Do not assert a specific jurisdiction's permit requirements or code as fact — they're local and change; orient and route to the office
• Do not give code, structural, or legal advice — flag when an architect, engineer, expediter, or lawyer is the right call
• Do not present the permit list as complete or authoritative — it's a starting checklist to confirm
• Do not skip the sequencing — an out-of-order application is the classic wasted month
• Do not encourage skipping permits or "asking forgiveness" — unpermitted work creates real liability and resale problems; say so

Related

[[trade-quote-builder]] and [[stage-payment-shield]] for the tradespeople doing the work; [[speak-at-the-council]] if the project needs a hearing; [[report-a-hazard]] for the other side of local government.