Methodology
How we calculate closure rates and which permits we count for Cincinnati.
What is a closure rate?
When a contractor pulls a building permit in Cincinnati, 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.
Included permits
Cincinnati’s Buildings & Inspections department publishes building permits via the City of Cincinnati Open Data portal. We include five permit types (the permittypemapped field) representing physical construction work:
| Category | Included Types |
|---|---|
| Building | Building |
| HVAC | HVAC |
| Plumbing | Plumbing Permits |
| Fire Protection | Fire Protection Systems |
| Demolition | Wrecking |
Cincinnati does not issue separate electrical permits — electrical work is covered under general building permits.
Excluded permits
The following permit types are excluded from closure rate calculations:
| Excluded Type | Reason |
|---|---|
| Signs | Sign installation, not construction work |
| Elevator | Elevator inspections, not new construction |
| Excavation/Fill | Earthwork permits, systemically low closure |
| Misc. Structures | Miscellaneous non-building structures |
| Parking Lots | Surface lot permits, not building construction |
| Repair | Maintenance repairs, not new construction |
| Swimming Pools | Pool permits, not building construction |
| Temporary Structures | Temporary tents and event structures |
Applicant identification
Cincinnati’s dataset includes a companyname field identifying the contractor or company performing the work. This field is populated on 99.4% of all permits, providing excellent contractor coverage for leaderboard rankings.
Status mapping
Cincinnati permits use a statuscurrent field. We map three values to our open/closed system and exclude the rest:
| Status | Classification |
|---|---|
| CLOSED | Counted as closed — permit finaled |
| ISSUED | Counted as open — permit issued, work not yet completed |
| EXPIRED | Counted as open — permit expired without completion |
| WITHDRWN, REVOKED, etc. | Excluded — administrative statuses |
Deduplication
Approximately 6% of permit numbers appear in multiple rows because the same permit can span sub-permit types (e.g., a building permit may also have an HVAC sub-permit). Pre-filtering to construction types and using INSERT OR REPLACE on permit number ensures one row per unique permit.
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, HVAC, Plumbing, Fire Protection, 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 dataset on the City of Cincinnati Open Data. The dataset is refreshed nightly.
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 Cincinnati Buildings & Inspections at .