NONRESIDENTAIAL BUILDING PERMITS SURVEY DOCUMENTATION - PLACE DISKETTE Place Level Nonresidential Building Permit Statistics Introduction For the years 1980-1994 and the months from January 1988 through December 1995, these files provide building permit statistics on new residential and nonresidential construction; additions, alterations and conversions; and demolitions. These are provided for individual permit-issuing jurisdictions. File Formats A. To allow these large files to fit on standard density diskettes, the United States is divided into seven sections (called regional parts), as follows: Northeast Part 1 (NEP1) CT,ME,MA,NH,NJ Part 2 (NEP2) NY,PA,RI,VT Midwest Part 1 (MWP1) IL,IN,IA,KS,MI Part 2 (MWP2) MN,MO,NE,ND,OH,SD,WI South Part 1 (SOP1) AL,AR,DE,DC,FL,GA,KY,LA,MD Part 2 (SOP2) MS,NC,OK,SC,TN,TX,VA,WV West (including Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands) All (WEST) AK,AZ,CA,CO,HI,ID,MT,NV,NM,OR,PR,UT,VI,WA,WY 1. Monthly Data - Two monthly files are available for each of the seven regional parts, current month data and year-to-date data. These are defined as follows: a. Current month - data tabulated for only that survey period. File Name - .CM, where "PART" is the regional part as defined above and "YYMM" is the survey date; i.e. 9410. Example is NEP19410.CM. b. Year-to-Date monthly - summed data from the beginning of the year through the current survey month including late reports and corrections. File Name - .YTD, where "PART" is the regional part as defined above and "YYMM" is the survey date; i.e. 9410. Example is NEP19410.YTD. 2. Annual Data - Data tabulated for that survey year for each of seven regional divisions: File Name - , where "PART" is the regional part as defined above and "YY" is the year. Example is NEP192. B. The current month file is an ASCII, comma delimited file, providing: 1. Survey date, in the form "YYMM"). 2. Two-digit FIPS state code. 3. Six-digit ID code (Census code to sort places alphabetically in a state. 4. Three-digit FIPS county code. 5. Four-digit FIPS CMSA or MSA code or "9999" if not in a CMSA or MSA. 6. Four-digit FIPS PMSA code or "9999" if not a PMSA. 7. One-digit Census region code. 8. One-digit Census division code. 9. Source code identifying source of data as shown: 1 Building Permits C-404 survey form. 2 Received entire report by telephone. 3 Received residential data by telephone, imputed nonresidential data. 4 Received residential data from Survey of Construction, imputed nonresidential data. 5 No report received, imputed data. 9 No report received and no imputed data. 10. Blank field. 11. Alpha place name. 12. Buildings, units and valuation permit data (estimates with imputation). See Attachment A for a complete record layout. C. The year-to-date and annual files are ASCII, comma delimited files, providing: 1. Survey date, in the form "YYMM" (annual files show a date of "YY99"). 2. Two-digit FIPS state code. 3. Six-digit ID code (Census code to sort places alphabetically in a state. 4. Three-digit FIPS county code. 5. Four-digit FIPS CMSA or MSA code or "9999" if not in a CMSA or MSA. 6. Four-digit FIPS PMSA code or "9999" if not a PMSA. 7. One-digit Census region code. 8. One-digit Census division code. 9. Number of months of reported residential data. 10. Number of months of reported nonresidential data. 11. Alpha place name. 12. Buildings, units and valuation permit data (estimates with imputation). 13. Buildings, units and valuation permit data (reported only). Note: Two sets of data are shown for each type of construction: 1. Estimates with Imputation - includes reported data for monthly respondents and imputed data for nonrespondents. 2. Reported Only - includes only reported data for respondents. See Attachment B for a complete record layout. Source of Data Statistics provided in these files are based upon reports submitted by local building permit officials in response to a mail survey. If an official fails to respond and the permit-issuing place is in our Residential Permit Use Survey (SUP), then the residential housing unit data are obtained from that survey and nonresidential, nonhousekeeping and demolition data are imputed. The SUP (a component of the Survey of Construction) is a survey in which interviewers go to approximately 850 selected permit offices and list data from each building permit that authorizes construction of new residential housekeeping buildings. If no report is received and the place is not in SUP, then all data items are imputed. Geographic Coverage of Building Permit Jurisdiction Most of the permit-issuing jurisdictions are municipalities; the remainder are counties, townships, or unincorporated towns. For the municipalities, and townships or towns, ]the area subject to building permit requirements to which the figures pertain is normally that of the governmental jurisdictions. A small number of municipalities have authority to issue building or zoning permits for areas extending beyond their corporate limits. In such cases, the data relate to the entire area within which the permit-issuing authority is exercised. Similarly, a small number of townships issue permits for only a part of the township and the data normally covers only the area subject to the township's permit system. Limitations of Data The portion of construction measurable from building permit records is inherently limited since such records obviously do not reflect construction activity outside of the area subject to local permit requirements. For the nation as a whole, less than 5 percent of all privately owned housing units built are construction in areas that do not require building permits. The reported statistics are also influenced by the following factors: 1. Some building permit jurisdictions close their books a few days before the end of the month/year, so that the time reference for permits is not, in all cases, strictly the calendar month/year. 2. A study spanning 4 years showed that about 3 percent of the single-family houses built in permit-issuing places are built without a permit. To the extent that most of these limiting factors apply rather consistently over an extended period, they may not seriously impair the usefulness of building permit statistics as prompt indicators of trends in residential construction activity. Questions should be directed to Manufacturing and Construction Division, Bureau of the Census, Washington, D.C. 20233-6900. Phone: (301) 457-1321. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Attachment A Record Layout of Building Permits Place Level ASCII Customer Data File - Current Month Field Description 1 Survey Date; YYMM 2 FIPS state code 3 6-digit ID code 4 FIPS county code 5 FIPS CMSA/MSA code 6 FIPS PMSA code 7 Census Region code 8 Census Division code 9 Source code 10 Blank 11 Place Name Reported and Imputed Data 12 101-Buildings 13 101-Units 14 101-Valuation 15 103-Buildings 16 103-Units 17 103-Valuation 18 104-Buildings 19 104-Units 20 104-Valuation 21 105-Buildings 22 105-Units 23 105-Valuation 24 213-Buildings 25 213-Units 26 213-Valuation 27 214-Buildings 28 214-Units 29 214-Valuation 30 318-Buildings 31 318-Valuation 32 319-Buildings 33 319-Valuation 34 320-Buildings 35 320-Valuation 36 321-Buildings 37 321-Valuation 38 322-Buildings 39 322-Valuation 40 323-Buildings 41 323-Valuation 42 324-Buildings 43 324-Valuation 44 325-Buildings 45 325-Valuation 46 326-Buildings 47 326-Valuation 48 327-Buildings 49 327-Valuation 50 328-Buildings 51 328-Valuation 52 329-Buildings 53 329-Valuation 54 434-Buildings 55 434-Valuation 56 437-Buildings 57 437-Valuation 58 438-Buildings 59 438-Valuation 60 645-Buildings 61 645-Units 62 646-Buildings 63 646-Units 64 647-Buildings 65 647-Units 66 648-Buildings 67 648-Units 68 649-Buildings Attachment B Record Layout of Building Permits Place Level ASCII Customer Data File - Year-to-Date and Annual Field Description 1 Survey Date; YYMM 2 FIPS state code 3 6-digit ID code 4 FIPS county code 5 FIPS CMSA/MSA code 6 FIPS PMSA code 7 Census Region code 8 Census Division code 9 Number of Months Reported - Res 10 Number of Months Reported - Nonres 11 Place Name Reported and Imputed Data 12 101-Buildings 13 101-Units 14 101-Valuation 15 103-Buildings 16 103-Units 17 103-Valuation 18 104-Buildings 19 104-Units 20 104-Valuation 21 105-Buildings 22 105-Units 23 105-Valuation 24 213-Buildings 25 213-Units 26 213-Valuation 27 214-Buildings 28 214-Units 29 214-Valuation 30 318-Buildings 31 318-Valuation 32 319-Buildings 33 319-Valuation 34 320-Buildings 35 320-Valuation 36 321-Buildings 37 321-Valuation 38 322-Buildings 39 322-Valuation 40 323-Buildings 41 323-Valuation 42 324-Buildings 43 324-Valuation 44 325-Buildings 45 325-Valuation 46 326-Buildings 47 326-Valuation 48 327-Buildings 49 327-Valuation 50 328-Buildings 51 328-Valuation 52 329-Buildings 53 329-Valuation 54 434-Buildings 55 434-Valuation 56 437-Buildings 57 437-Valuation 58 438-Buildings 59 438-Valuation 60 645-Buildings 61 645-Units 62 646-Buildings 63 646-Units 64 647-Buildings 65 647-Units 66 648-Buildings 67 648-Units 68 649-Buildings Reported Only Data 69 101-Buildings 70 101-Units 71 101-Valuation 72 103-Buildings 73 103-Units 74 103-Valuation 75 104-Buildings 76 104-Units 77 104-Valuation 78 105-Buildings 79 105-Units 80 105-Valuation 81 213-Buildings 82 213-Units 83 213-Valuation 84 214-Buildings 85 214-Units 86 214-Valuation 87 318-Buildings 88 318-Valuation 89 319-Buildings 90 319-Valuation 91 320-Buildings 92 320-Valuation 93 321-Buildings 94 321-Valuation 95 322-Buildings 96 322-Valuation 97 323-Buildings 98 323-Valuation 99 324-Buildings 100 324-Valuation 101 325-Buildings 102 325-Valuation 103 326-Buildings 104 326-Valuation 105 327-Buildings 106 327-Valuation 107 328-Buildings 108 328-Valuation 109 329-Buildings 110 329-Valuation 111 434-Buildings 112 434-Valuation 113 437-Buildings 114 437-Valuation 115 438-Buildings 116 438-Valuation 117 645-Buildings 118 645-Units 119 646-Buildings 120 646-Units 121 647-Buildings 122 647-Units 123 648-Buildings 124 648-Units 125 649-Buildings