An open permit means a building inspector never signed off on the work — and neither your home inspector nor your title insurer will chase it down for you.
Published 2026-07-03
Every Massachusetts city and town is required to designate a building inspector or building commissioner who administers and enforces the state building code (M.G.L. c. 143, §3). Most construction, reconstruction, alteration, or repair work needs a permit from that office before it starts, and a final inspection after it finishes. A permit is open — sometimes called expired — when it was issued but the work was never signed off in a completed final inspection. The town's own file still shows the job as unresolved, whether or not the work looks finished from the street.
That is a different problem from unpermitted work: work done with no permit filed at all. Both leave a buyer holding the same risk — nothing about the work has ever been certified as code-compliant — but they show up differently in the records, so it is worth checking for both.
Open permit: a permit exists in the building department's file, but the final inspection was never completed and closed out.
Unpermitted work: no permit was ever filed for the work at all — it simply does not appear in the town's records.
An open or missing permit rarely stops a sale outright, but it changes who is holding the risk once you own the property:
None of this requires special access — it just requires asking the right offices before your inspection contingency expires, not after.
| Step | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Pull the assessor's property record card | The town's own record of finished square footage and recorded improvements — compare it to what the listing claims. |
| Request the full permit history for the address | Every permit filed, issued, finaled, or left open, plus any code-violation history, directly from the Building Department / Inspectional Services office. |
| Compare visible work to the permit file | Additions, finished basements, decks, pools, electrical panel upgrades, solar, and converted garages should each have a matching permit. |
| Check historical satellite/street-view imagery | When a visible change (deck, addition, dormer) actually appeared, versus the permit's issue date. |
| Ask the listing agent or seller directly, in writing | Massachusetts has no seller disclosure form, so a written answer is often the only record you will have if a dispute comes up later. |
In the towns Fyts covers today, the building department is a direct part of the pre-offer checklist — Medford, Arlington, Wakefield, and Malden each have their permitting office linked directly on the town guides. For any other Massachusetts town, the building department's own page is the starting point — many now run on a ViewPoint Cloud or OpenGov portal.
Finding an open permit or unpermitted work is not automatically a deal-breaker — it is a negotiation point. Common paths, best worked out with a Massachusetts real estate attorney before you waive any contingency:
A building permit was issued for work at the property, but the local building inspector never completed and closed out the final inspection — so the work was never certified as compliant with the state building code. It is distinct from unpermitted work, where no permit was ever filed at all; both leave a buyer with the same problem.
Often yes, but many title insurers will except unpermitted or open-permit work from coverage, or ask for a municipal sign-off or affidavit before insuring over it — particularly for anything that changed the finished square footage, like an added dormer or finished basement. Ask your title company and closing attorney about the specific property before you assume it is a non-issue.
No. A standard Massachusetts home inspection is a visual, non-invasive walkthrough of the property's condition — it does not include a records search at the building department. Checking permit history is a separate step a buyer (or their attorney) has to take on their own.
You inherit it. Massachusetts follows caveat emptor for most residential sales — sellers have no general statutory duty to disclose property defects and there is no state-mandated seller disclosure form — so a buyer who does not independently check has little recourse after closing. Depending on the work, a town can require it be permitted retroactively, altered, or removed, and it can complicate a future sale, refinance, or insurance claim.
Start with the city or town's Building Department / Inspectional Services office — many now publish permit history through an online portal (ViewPoint Cloud and OpenGov are common in Massachusetts). See our town guides for direct links in Medford, Arlington, Wakefield, and Malden; for any other town, the building department's own page is the starting point.
Primary-source citations for the legal and regulatory claims above. Massachusetts state sites (mass.gov and everything behind it) block automated verification, so citations to those regulations are given by name/number rather than linked.
Requires every Massachusetts city and town to designate an inspector of buildings/building commissioner to administer and enforce the state building code.
Published by the Board of Building Regulations and Standards at mass.gov; that domain blocks automated verification, so it is cited by name rather than linked — search "780 CMR" plus the current edition year.
Federal (non-MA-specific) primer on the home-buying process, inspections, and closing, for general background.
A condo purchase is really two purchases: the unit, and a fractional stake in the association that runs it. The paperwork tells you which one you're actually buying.
If a Massachusetts property isn't on public sewer, state law requires an independent septic inspection before the sale can close — and the result can swing the deal.
Nearly every Massachusetts home sale needs a fire-department smoke and carbon monoxide certificate. It's the seller's job to pass it — but a failed inspection is your closing that slips.
This guide is educational information for Massachusetts home buyers, not legal, financial, or professional advice, and it may not reflect the most recent regulatory changes. Verify current requirements with the relevant town department, MassDEP, or a licensed Massachusetts attorney before relying on anything here.
Fyts runs this kind of research for a specific address — permits, condo documents, septic/sewer, and more — and hands back a sourced go/no-go memo. Your first report is free, no card required.