City and County of Honolulu
Honolulu County, Hawaii
Last verified September 16, 2026
City and County of Honolulu is the unincorporated portion of Honolulu County, Hawaii — the area outside the limits of any city or town, 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
- 808-768-8000
- dpp@honolulu.gov
- Department Site
- Department of Planning and Permitting (opens in a new tab)
Certificate Holder Mailing Address
City and County of Honolulu, Department of Planning and Permitting650 South King Street, 7th Floor
Honolulu, HI 96813
Use this address when the jurisdiction needs to be listed as a certificate holder on a contractor's insurance documentation.
Additional Notes
Residential building permit inquiries: 808-768-8220. Commercial building permit inquiries: 808-768-8232. HNL Build is the current online permitting system; the legacy Honolulu Internet Permit System (HIPS) is being retained for historical records as the department migrates fully to HNL Build.
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 and County of Honolulu'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.