Methodology
How we calculate closure rates and which permits we count for Honolulu.
What is a closure rate?
When a contractor pulls a building permit in Honolulu, 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 freshness
Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting publishes building permits as a quarterly static snapshot on its Socrata open data portal. Unlike most cities on this site, the data is not updated daily — each dataset covers a fixed date range (currently January 2005 through June 2025) and is replaced when a new snapshot is published.
We check for new snapshots nightly and skip the download when the source data has not changed.
Included permits
We classify permits using the structurecode field. Two categories are excluded because they do not represent inspectable construction:
| Category | Structure Codes |
|---|---|
| Residential | 51 (Single Family), 52 (Two Family), 53 (Apartment) |
| Commercial | All other codes (offices, hotels, schools, restaurants, etc.) |
| Electrical | 96 (Electrical) |
| Plumbing | 97 (Plumbing) |
| Excluded: Fence/Wall | 02 (Wall or Fence) |
| Excluded: Pool | 09 (Pool, Recreation Equipment) |
Applicant identification
Honolulu’s dataset includes an applicant field that typically contains a company name followed by a person name (e.g., “LKL CONSTRUCTION INC, KEVIN WANG.”). We extract the company name (before the comma) as the applicant. This field is populated on approximately 92% of permits.
The separate contractor field is less useful (often “NONE” with license numbers). Owner sentinel values (OWNER, HOMEOWNER, N/A, SELF, TBD, etc.) are filtered out and treated as missing applicant data.
Status mapping
Honolulu permits use a statusdescription field. We map three values to our open/closed system:
| Status | Classification |
|---|---|
| Permit application closed | Counted as closed (77%) |
| Inspection(s) in Progress | Counted as open |
| Permit approved to issue | Counted as open |
| Job Cancelled / Permit revoked / Denied | Excluded |
| Plans review in progress | Excluded (pre-issuance) |
| All others (~4K) | Excluded |
Geographic data
Honolulu’s joblocation field contains the street address, neighborhood, and ZIP code in a combined format (e.g., “3004 HERMAN ST Honolulu / Waialae Kahala 96816”). We parse this to extract the street address, neighborhood (for geographic grouping), and 5-digit ZIP code.
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., Electrical, Plumbing). 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
All data comes from the Approved Building Permits dataset on City and County of Honolulu. 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 Department of Planning and Permitting at .