Methodology

What is a closure rate?

When a contractor pulls a building permit in Cape Coral, an inspector needs to verify the work was completed correctly before the permit can be closed. A closure rate measures the percentage of an applicant’s permits that have been properly closed:

The 365-day eligibility rule

A contractor who pulled a permit last month hasn’t had time to complete the work yet. To avoid penalizing recent activity, we only count permits issued more than 365 days ago when calculating closure rates.

Permits issued within the last year still appear in the data but are dimmed in the table and not factored into the rate.

Data source

Permits come from the City of Cape Coral Building Division, published via an ArcGIS MapServer table. The dataset covers building permits from approximately 2016 to present and is refreshed daily. As of early 2026 the dataset contains approximately 42K permits.

Included permit types

We include permit types representing inspectable construction work, grouped into six categories:

Permit types not in the above categories — including Code-RV Permit, Utility, Marine, Signs, Stormwater, Right of Way, Temporary, Events, and Site Development — are excluded from closure rate calculations.

Status mapping

We classify Expired as “open” because it indicates the contractor did not complete and close the permit before it lapsed. Other statuses (Application, Hold, Pending, Review, Void) are excluded as pre-issuance or voided records.

Applicant identification

Address and geographic data

Addresses are assembled from five separate fields (street number, pre-direction, street name, street type, post-direction). ZIP codes are available from a dedicated field. The dataset does not include latitude/longitude coordinates or neighborhood designations.

Valuation data

Cape Coral publishes a Permit Value field representing the declared project valuation. This data is included in the permit table where available.

Leaderboard criteria

The leaderboard applies two additional filters:

• Minimum 20 rated permits — avoids surfacing statistically insignificant data.
• Active in the last 3 years — prevents the list from being populated by defunct companies.

The leaderboard can be filtered by permit type (e.g., Building, Trades, HVAC, Pool, Fire, Demolition). When filtered, both thresholds apply only to permits of the selected type.

Median comparison

On applicant detail pages, each closure rate is compared to the median closure rate across all leaderboard-eligible applicants in the same category. This gives context — a 50% closure rate means something different in a category where the median is 40% versus one where it’s 80%.

Medians are calculated from the same pool of applicants who meet the 20-permit minimum threshold.

Data source

Data comes from the Building Permits MapServer table published by the City of Cape Coral Building Division. The dataset covers ~42K permits from 2016 to present and is refreshed daily.

Limitations

This site shows permit closure data. It does not evaluate the quality of anyone’s work. There are legitimate reasons a permit may remain open:

• Client non-cooperation — the property owner may fail to schedule the final inspection or grant access.
• Administrative backlog — work may be inspected and approved but not yet updated in the system.
• Project delays — financing, design changes, supply chain issues, or other factors outside the applicant’s control.
• Multi-phase projects — large commercial projects may legitimately take years to complete.
• Permit holder vs. contractor — the applicant may be a GC, architect, or owner — not necessarily the person scheduling the inspection.

If you believe there are inaccuracies in the underlying permit data, contact the City of Cape Coral Building Division at .