PITTSBURGH — The City of Pittsburgh’s Department of Permits, License and Inspections (PLI) has launched a new online “Permit Tracker” on its OneStopPGH portal.
This initiative delivers on Mayor Corey O’Connor’s permit reform efforts, aiming to provide greater transparency and clearer expectations for applicants navigating the permitting process.
The new tracker addresses shortcomings of the previous online application system, which Mayor O’Connor described as outdated, time-consuming and confusing in an executive order on permit reform signed on his first day in office.
The prior system lacked a visual map, leaving applicants without a clear view of their application’s status or subsequent steps and required City staff to frequently provide status updates that were not available online.
Mayor Corey O’Connor stated that the goal of permit reform is to simplify the process for small businesses and individuals seeking permits.
“Permit reform is about making the process easier for small businesses and individuals to get a permit. Before now, an applicant could track their pizza order, but not their permit,” O’Connor said. “This new tracker will allow applicants to see where their permit is in the process and what notes City departments have for them along the way to make it a smoother, more efficient process for small businesses, residents, staff and everybody.”
The Permit Tracker is modeled after a pizza delivery tracker, offering applicants a clear visual representation of their application’s journey from submission through review to approval. This feature helps users understand their application’s current stage and anticipate what is required next.
The system integrates applications across the Department of Permits, License and Inspections, the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure and the Department of City Planning.
The new tracker also enhances transparency by making inspection information accessible to anyone following a project’s progress. This includes a list of all required inspections, a history of completed inspections, access to summary reports for past inspections and contact information for assigned inspectors and their supervisors.
Additionally, Certificates of Occupancy issued since June 2019 are now available for direct download from their respective permit records on OneStopPGH. This eliminates the previous requirement for applicants to use a separate portal to request copies.
The Permit Tracker will apply to all Building Development Applications and most standard permit types.
A few exceptions, including Department of Mobility and Infrastructure permits, will be incorporated into the system in a later phase.
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