Local construction officials issue building permits for new construction, additions, and alterations.  New construction permits are for new buildings.  Permits for additions authorize work that adds space to an existing structure.  Alterations also are for work on existing buildings, but no new space is added.  Examples of alterations include tenant fit ups, new roofs, and repairs to existing structures. 

Development Trends Viewer 
The Development Trends Viewer is an Excel-based data visualization tool that summarizes building permit and demolition activity data for every county and municipality from 2004 through the most current release. In addition to a multi-year data summary for every community, the Viewer offers four modules that show construction and demolition activity in comparison to regional and statewide norms through interactive tables and graphs.

The following indicators are reported from building permits by year: