Village of Essex

Kankakee County, Illinois

Last verified September 17, 2026

Village of Essex is a jurisdiction in Kankakee County, Illinois, which does not currently list an online permit database — contact the department directly by phone or email. 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
815-342-3824
Email
villageclerk@villageofessex.com
Department Site
Building Department, Village of Essex (opens in a new tab)

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

Permit Search

No online permit database on file — contact the department directly by phone or email.

Certificate Holder Mailing Address

Village of Essex, Village Hall
219 Main Street / P.O. Box 219
Essex, IL 60935

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

Additional Notes

Building Department phone found directly on the official villageofessex.org site; general Village Hall line is (815) 365-2813. Note: the clerk email listed on the official site uses a villageofessex.com domain rather than .org — a discrepancy present on the official site itself, not introduced in this research. Kankakee County separately offers an online SmartGov building-permit portal (co-kankakee-il.smartgovcommunity.com) for the county's Building Division, but it is unconfirmed whether that portal also covers permits inside Essex's village limits.

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 — Village of Essex'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.

More in Kankakee County

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Other building permit jurisdictions in Kankakee County:

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