How to Read Permit Status in California: What Every Status Actually Means

If you pull permits across multiple California jurisdictions, you've noticed that every building department uses different terminology to describe the same permit states. What LADBS calls "Submitted" another city calls "Received." What one portal shows as "In Review" another calls "Plan Check." And the status that means your permit is actually approved in one city — "Issued" — means something completely different from "Approved" in another.

This inconsistency costs contractors real time and money. A status that looks like progress might actually mean your permit has been sitting in a queue untouched for two weeks. A status that sounds alarming might just mean a minor administrative hold.

Here's a plain-language translation of the most common permit statuses across California AHJs.

Statuses that mean your permit is moving forward

Received / Submitted / Application Received

The portal has your application but plan check hasn't started. This is not progress — it's just confirmation the submittal landed. The clock doesn't meaningfully start until you hit the next stage. If you're stuck at "Received" for more than 3 business days, it's worth a call to confirm nothing is missing from the submittal.

In Plan Check / Under Review / Plan Review

A plan checker has been assigned and is actively reviewing your submittal. This is the main processing stage. How long it takes varies enormously by jurisdiction and time of year. It does not mean your permit is close to approval — it could still need corrections.

Corrections Required / Comments Issued / Plan Check Corrections

The plan checker has completed review and found issues that need to be addressed before the permit can be approved. This is the status where delays most often compound. The correction notice contains specific items that need to be revised or clarified. Response time is typically required within 30–60 days or the application may be abandoned.

Critical timing note: Most California AHJs issue corrections during business hours and the status change appears in the portal the same day. If you're checking portals manually once per day or less, you may not see a correction notice until it's 24–72 hours old. In some jurisdictions a response clock starts ticking from the issue date, not from when you notice it.

Resubmitted / Recheck / Corrections Resubmitted

You've responded to the corrections and the application is back in review. A second plan check is typically faster than the initial review, but this is not guaranteed in high-volume AHJs.

Approved / Ready to Issue / Permit Ready

Plan check is complete and the permit is approved. This does not always mean the permit is issued — some jurisdictions require a separate permit issuance step where fees are paid and the permit document is generated. Do not schedule installation until the permit is actually issued.

Issued / Active / Permit Issued

The permit is fully issued. This is the status you're waiting for before starting installation. Work can legally begin. This is when you want to mobilize your crew immediately.

Statuses that require immediate action

Suspended / Hold / On Hold

The permit has been placed on administrative hold. This could be for many reasons: missing documentation, unpaid fees, a lien on the property, or a compliance issue with a prior permit on the address. A suspended permit is not moving forward until the hold is resolved. Every day this sits unnoticed is a day of unnecessary delay.

Expired / Lapsed

The permit has passed its validity window. Most California permits expire after 180 days of inactivity (no inspections or progress). Renewing an expired permit typically requires a fee and updated plans — it's a significant delay and additional cost.

Denied / Rejected

The application was rejected outright. This is different from a correction — it means the project as submitted cannot be approved. This is relatively uncommon for standard residential solar and electrical but does happen for complex commercial projects or sites with pre-existing compliance issues.

Why permit status terminology matters operationally

A contractor checking permits across five California cities in a morning isn't just reading five different portals — they're interpreting five different status vocabularies. "Active" in Riverside doesn't mean the same thing as "Active" in San Diego. "Approved" in Anaheim is a different stage from "Approved" in Los Angeles.

The risk isn't just confusion — it's action errors. Scheduling installation when a permit is "Approved" but not yet "Issued" in an AHJ where those are separate steps can mean your crew shows up to a job that can't legally start. Missing a "Corrections Required" status because it looked similar to a previous in-review status means three days of delay that didn't need to happen.

The most operationally efficient contractors either dedicate significant coordinator time to portal literacy across their active jurisdictions, or they use a monitoring tool that normalizes status across all of their AHJs so the same plain-language status appears regardless of which portal the permit is in.

Related guides

[

Operations

What to Do When a California Permit Gets Suspended

](/blog/permit-suspended-california)[

Operations

Permit Correction Notices: What They Mean and What to Do

](/blog/permit-correction-notice-california)[

Operations

How Permit Delays Cost California Contractors Money

](/blog/permit-delays-cost-contractors)[

Tools

Permit Tracking Software for Solar Contractors

](/blog/permit-tracking-software-solar-contractors)