City of Harvard

McHenry County, Illinois

Last verified September 17, 2026

City of Harvard is a jurisdiction in McHenry County, Illinois, with an online portal for searching and pulling active or historical building permits. Use the contact information below to reach the local building department, or the mailing address if the jurisdiction needs to be listed as a certificate holder on a contractor's insurance documentation.

Contact

Phone: 815-943-6468
Department Site: Building Department (Community Development) (opens in a new tab)

Source: cityofharvard.org (opens in a new tab)

Permit Search

Building Permit Application (fillable PDF) (opens in a new tab)

Certificate Holder Mailing Address

City of Harvard, Building Department
201 West Diggins St., PO Box 310
Harvard, IL 60033

Use this address when the jurisdiction needs to be listed as a certificate holder on a contractor's insurance documentation.

Additional Notes

Official city site (cityofharvard.org) confirms Building Department under Community Development, phone 815-943-6468, fax 815-943-4556, City Hall address. A search-indexed staff directory entry showed a Code Enforcement Officer's personal email (nutley@cityofharvard.org), but the department's own contact page returned a 403 error when fetched directly, so no generic department email is confirmed here; left blank rather than guess a generic address.

What You Need Before Applying for a Permit

Most building departments ask for the same core package before they'll issue a permit: a completed application naming the property owner and contractor, the contractor's state license number and proof of insurance (general liability, and workers' comp if employees are on the job), a notice of commencement or equivalent recorded filing for larger jobs where the state requires one, and scaled plans or a site plan for anything beyond minor repairs. Roofing, fence, pool, and solar permits typically have their own simplified checklists — City of Harvard's department (above) can confirm exactly what applies to your project.

Why this matters for insurance: permit history is one of the first things an underwriter or adjuster checks. Unpermitted work — a finished basement, an added bedroom, a rebuilt roof — can complicate a claim or even void coverage for that portion of the loss, and it routinely surfaces during a home inspection. Pulling the right permit up front, and keeping the closed-permit record on file, protects both the property's value and its insurability at resale.

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