How we measure permitting time
This page explains, in plain language, exactly how the State of New Jersey Permitting map is built, and what it does and doesn’t claim. It is built entirely from records New Jersey municipalities and the state already publish.
Where the data comes from
Every permit case is drawn from the public record — municipal permit portals and the state’s Uniform Construction Code filings. We do not use any private or purchased data. Each municipality’s cases are the same records that municipality already publishes.
How “review time” is calculated
For each permit we take the number of days from when it was applied for to when it was issued. We then report the median (the middle case) for each municipality, plus a “slower quarter” figure (the 75th percentile) so you can see the spread. We use the median, never the average, because a handful of unusually long cases would otherwise distort a town’s number.
What we leave out (on purpose)
A small share of records have data-entry issues — an issue date before the application date, or gaps of several years that don’t reflect real review. We exclude any case whose computed time is negative or longer than three years before calculating a municipality’s median. Municipalities with fewer than ten completed cases are shown blank rather than as a number, because a median from a handful of cases isn’t reliable.
“Residential activity”
This counts residential permits (one- and two-family homes, multi-family dwellings, and residential-code construction) on record per municipality. It is a measure of where residential building is concentrated, not a measure of speed or approval.
What this is not
This map does not predict whether any permit will be approved, does not rank or score any person or applicant, and does not set or override any municipality’s timelines. It is a read on the public record, meant to complement the tools the state and municipalities already use.
Coverage is honest
Coverage is broad across New Jersey but deeper in some places than others. Where we don’t yet have enough data for a reliable figure, we say so rather than filling the gap. If you spot something that looks off, that feedback makes the record better.