Methodology

What is a closure rate?

When a contractor pulls a building permit in Elk Grove, 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 source

Permits come from the City of Elk Grove Development Services department, published as an ArcGIS MapServer layer (Building Permits) on the city’s open data portal. The dataset covers permits from 1986 to present and is refreshed daily. As of early 2026 the dataset contains approximately 191K permit records.

Included permit types

Elk Grove publishes 64 raw permit types in the PERMIT_TYPE field. We map these to seven simplified categories:

Commercial signs, encroachment permits, cell towers, and transportation permits are excluded as non-construction records.

Status mapping

Status classification uses the PERMIT_STATUS field:

EXPIRED, WITHDRAWN, CANCELLED, IN PLAN CHECK, APPROVED, and other processing statuses are excluded as non-actionable records.

Applicant identification

Address and geographic data

Addresses come from the SITE_ADDRESS field with ZIP codes from SITE_ZIP. Point geometry provides latitude and longitude coordinates. The GIS_SUBDIVISION field is used for subdivision-level grouping where available.

Valuation data

Elk Grove publishes a JOB_VALUE field representing the declared job valuation in dollars. This data is included in the permit table where available.

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 of Elk Grove 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 City of Elk Grove Development Services at .