# Building permits in suburban Cook County The Cook County Assessor's Office collects building permits data from all municipalities in Cook County as part of its assessment and valuation process, specifically to track improvements made to properties. This was launched in spring 2025. Chicago Cityscape makes the information available in a [separate Building Permits Browser](https://www.chicagocityscape.com/permits.php?city=cook_county) than the Chicago building permits because the data points for Chicago and suburban Cook County permits are unique. Additionally, Cook County data is updated monthly and Chicago data is updated every Tuesday through Saturday.  ## Data points available in suburban Cook County building permits - Local building permit number - Municipality - Applicant name - Address - Permit type (commercial, residential, exempt, occupancy, railroad, and other) - Project scope (based on our observations this is very limited compared to the work description on Chicago building permits) - Property owner name (this information is automatically added by matching the location to the property ownership record in our database) ## Related articles - [[Building Permits Browser]] - Chicago building permits - [[Exporting to spreadsheet]]