Chicago window permits, and when you do not need one

Most Chicago window replacements need no building permit. The city publishes a list of work that does not require one, and it covers, in a residential building up to four stories above grade, "Repairing or replacing (in-kind) an exterior window or skylight in the existing opening". In any building, whatever its height, it also covers repairing a window, replacing the glass in an existing sash, fitting a storm window or an insect screen, and replacing a ground-level window in kind where no part of the exterior wall is cut away. In-kind is the word that decides it: Chicago defines it as new elements "of the same type, size, and shape". Change the size, the opening or the operation and the exemption is gone. Landmark property is reviewed separately, and no exemption waives the construction codes themselves. All read at chicago.gov, 2026-08-11.

This is the hub for everything this site publishes about Chicago permit rules, and the four pages under it are linked below. How we source, and what we refuse to publish, is set out on our methodology page.

The rule in one table

Chicago publishes two separate lists of work that needs no building permit. They are not the same list, and the gap between them decides the answer for a lot of Chicago housing. Every row below is the city's own wording.

Work, as the city words it	Where the exemption applies
"Repairing damage to an existing window or exterior door"	Any building
"Replacing glass in an existing window sash or door frame"	Any building
"Replacing (in-kind) an existing ground-level window, including the frame, provided that the work does not require cutting away or removal of any portion of an exterior wall"	Any building
"Installing, maintaining, or removing a storm window"	Any building
"Installing, maintaining, or removing an insect screen"	Any building
"Repairing or replacing (in-kind) an exterior window or skylight in the existing opening"	Residential building up to four stories above grade, or an accessory building such as a garage on the same lot
"Repairing or replacing (in-kind) an exterior door in the existing opening"	Same as above
"Repairing or replacing (in-kind) exterior wood, vinyl, aluminum, fiber cement, stucco, or EIFS siding"	Same as above
"Removing and replacing (in-kind) up to 50 square feet of masonry (brick or concrete)"	Same as above

Source: City of Chicago, Guide to Building Permits, work not requiring a building permit, exterior. Read at chicago.gov 2026-08-11.

Why the four-story line is the one that matters

Read the two lists side by side and the gap is obvious. In any building, only a ground-level window can be replaced in kind without a permit. The broader exemption, covering an in-kind replacement in an existing opening at any floor, is written only for "a residential building up to 4 stories above grade or an associated accessory building (such as a garage) on the same lot".

That line is why the answer is usually "no permit" here. Chicago's ordinary residential stock sits under it: a bungalow, a two-flat, a three-flat, a greystone and a small courtyard building are all residential buildings up to four stories above grade, so an in-kind swap in the existing opening is on the exemption list at every floor, not just the first. Go taller and that changes. A unit on the ninth floor of a lakefront high-rise is not described by the second list at all, so the permit route applies, and in a condo the association's declaration decides who owns the window before the city's rules even come up.

Building	In-kind replacement, upper floors	In-kind replacement, ground level
Bungalow, two-flat, three-flat, greystone, small courtyard building	On the exemption list	On the exemption list
Residential building of five stories or more	Not on the list, so the permit route applies	On the list, where no part of the exterior wall is cut away
Any non-residential building	Not on the list, so the permit route applies	On the list, where no part of the exterior wall is cut away
Landmark property or a landmark district, any height	The city says the exceptions "may not apply". Assume nothing, and read the landmark page below

The first three rows read the city's two published lists against each other. The reading is ours; the lists are the city's, read at chicago.gov 2026-08-11.

In-kind is the word the whole thing turns on

Chicago does not leave this to interpretation. On the same page it defines the term: "'In-kind replacement' means replacement of existing materials, objects, or elements using new materials, objects, or elements of the same type, size, and shape."

Type, size, and shape, all three. This is where a job that started out exempt quietly stops being exempt, usually in a showroom, usually while somebody is being sold an upgrade.

What you are considering	Still in-kind on the city's definition?	What that means
New double-hung in the same opening, same size, same operation	Yes	Squarely on the exemption list for a residential building up to four stories
Double-hung replaced with a casement or a slider	No. The type changes	Outside the exemption wording. Treat it as a permit job
Opening widened or heightened, even slightly	No. The size changes	Outside the exemption, and outside the Express Permit Program, whose terms bar any change in opening size
An arched head replaced with a square unit	No. The shape changes	Outside the exemption
A new window cut into a wall that did not have one	No. There is no existing element to replace	A permit job, and listed as not eligible for the Express route
Window converted to a door, or a door to a window	No	A permit job
Same size and shape, different frame material (wood to vinyl)	Unresolved. The city does not publish whether material is part of "type"	We do not answer this one. Ask the Department of Buildings before ordering, and get it in writing

The definition is the city's, read at chicago.gov 2026-08-11. Applying it to each row is our reading, and the last row is flagged unresolved rather than guessed.

An exemption from the permit is not an exemption from the code

This is the sentence that stops "no permit needed" from meaning "anything goes", and the city puts it on the same page as the exemption list:

"Any work performed without a building permit, as allowed by Section 14A-4-402 of the Municipal Code, must still comply with all applicable requirements of the Chicago Construction Codes. Section 14A-4-402 does not waive any applicable requirements of the Chicago Construction Codes or of the Municipal Code other than the requirement to obtain a building permit."

So the egress, safety and energy requirements that apply to a replacement window still apply to your job even when nobody files anything. Nobody from the city inspects an exempt job, which is exactly why the specification you sign matters more, not less.

Read at chicago.gov 2026-08-11.

A decision path you can finish in two minutes

Work down in order. The first line that describes your job is your answer. This is a reading aid, not a determination, and the Department of Buildings decides.

• Is the property a designated or proposed Chicago Landmark, or inside a landmark district? Stop here. The city says its exemptions "may not apply" and does not publish which ones survive. Contact the Historic Preservation Division before ordering.
• Are you only repairing, reglazing, or adding a storm window or screen? That work is exempt in any building, at any height.
• Is the work in-kind, in the existing opening, in a residential building up to four stories above grade? On the city's list, no building permit is required.
• Is it in-kind at ground level in a taller or non-residential building, with no part of the exterior wall cut away? Again, no building permit is required.
• Anything else, including a new opening, a change of size, shape or window type, or fire-rated glass? Treat it as a permit job and read the Express page below.

The recommendation. Settle the landmark question first. It is the only one that can invalidate everything under it, and it is the one homeowners discover last. Then write your scope in the city's vocabulary (same opening, same type, same size, same shape) and hand that sentence to the contractor instead of accepting a permit line item you have not tested. If the scope drifts off in-kind during the sale, the permit answer changes with it, and noticing that is your job.

You may not need a permit, and you may not need this pillar at all

This site is paid a referral fee when a homeowner asks to be matched with a window contractor, which is set out in full on how we make money. So it is worth saying plainly where reading on is a waste of your time.

• If your job is an in-kind swap in a house up to four stories and the property is not landmark property, you are done. No building permit is required for that work on the city's own list. The rest of this pillar covers cases that are not yours.
• You may not need replacement windows either. Chicago's adopted guidance for historic buildings, in place since 1992, says: "The first and best answer to the question of how to treat windows is not to replace them but rather to retain and repair the existing sash and frames." On the energy argument specifically: "properly weather-stripped, single-glazed sash can greatly reduce or eliminate air infiltration between sash and frame where most energy is lost. The cost of weather stripping is nominal compared to the price of replacement windows, yet the effect can be considerable." That is the city writing about landmark property rather than every house, but it is the city rejecting the energy-savings pitch as an automatic reason to replace, and it is worth hearing before a sale.
• A single failed unit is not a whole-house job. Repairing damage to an existing window and replacing glass in an existing sash are both exempt in any building, at any height.

Guidelines for Alterations to Historic Buildings and New Construction, adopted March 4, 1992, read at chicago.gov 2026-08-11.

The four pages under this hub

Do I need a permit?

The question that ends the process for most Chicago homeowners, with both of the city's no-permit lists quoted in full: the one that applies to a residential building up to four stories above grade, and the shorter one that applies in any building at any height. It also works through the in-kind test, the four-story line, and what to ask a contractor who has put a permit line on your estimate.

The Express Permit Program

The route for jobs that do need a permit. The city calls it "a streamlined way to obtain a building permit for replacement of doors, windows, and skylights in existing exterior wall and roof openings", with a dedicated window and door replacement worktype. Eligible work includes replacing a window in an existing opening "in a building up to 7 stories tall", and the same work in a taller building with drawings prepared by an Illinois-licensed architect or structural engineer. That page also covers the licensed general contractor requirement, the uploads the city asks for, and the binding terms on glazing area, openable area and opening control devices. Not eligible, in the city's words:

• "Creating a new opening in an exterior wall or roof for a new window, door, or skylight"
• "Replacing a window or door that has or is required to have fire-rated glass"
• "Replacing a window or door within 10 feet of a fire escape"
• "In a building with more than 3 stories, replacing a window in a wall that is within 2 feet of a lot line that separates two properties"
• "Installing a new window, door, or skylight that does not meet minimum energy efficiency requirements of the Chicago Energy Transformation Code"

Express Permit Program window and door replacement instructions, read at chicago.gov 2026-08-11.

Landmark buildings and landmark districts

The answer that overrides everything else. Chicago Landmark districts cover a great deal of the city's housing, and two-flats and greystones sit inside them. No bungalow district appeared among the Chicago Landmark districts we reviewed, which is our reading of the city's alphabetical landmarks listings page rather than an all-clear, because that page says it shows just a portion of the designations. Either way the owner is the one who has to check the address, and plenty find out after choosing a window. That page covers what the Commission on Chicago Landmarks reviews and how applications are routed, what the 1992 Guidelines require of a replacement window, what you have to submit, the pre-permit review the Commission encourages, and the permit fee waiver that may be offered on landmark property.

Chicago Landmarks alphabetical listings page, read at chicago.gov 2026-08-11. The reading of it is ours.

Energy code requirements for replacement windows

Chicago names its own energy code inside the permit rules. The Express Permit Program lists as not eligible "Installing a new window, door, or skylight that does not meet minimum energy efficiency requirements of the Chicago Energy Transformation Code", and every Express application for this worktype must upload an "Energy and water efficiency compliance form". Because exempt work still has to comply with the Chicago Construction Codes, the energy requirement does not disappear just because nobody files a permit. That page reads the code at source and publishes what it says with its effective date. No performance figure appears on this hub, because we have not read one at the agency, and a U-factor from a manufacturer brochure is not a code citation.

If you own a condo, start on the condo page

Two rulebooks stack on a condo window and only one of them is the city's, which is why this site answers the condo question outside this pillar. Whether the window is yours to replace at all is set by the association's declaration, a private document. The permit rules sit on top of that answer rather than replacing it. Height then decides the permit route: the no-permit list runs to four stories above grade, so an upper-floor in-kind replacement in a taller building is not on it, and the permit route applies even where identical work in a three-flat would be exempt. The Express Permit Program adds a third layer, requiring a "Condominium association approval letter" for condominium property. All three are answered together on the condo and high-rise page, which reads the Illinois Condominium Property Act alongside the permit rules quoted here.

Guide to Building Permits exterior worktype page and the Express Permit Program window and door replacement instructions, read at chicago.gov 2026-08-11.

Landmark and district property, the short version

• There is no separate landmark permit. The city states it: "No additional City permits are required for Landmark buildings. The Commission simply reviews permits as part of the normal building permit process." The Department of Buildings routes applications to Commission staff automatically, and the same source says "The Commission annually reviews some 2,000 permits for Landmark properties, most of which are approved in one day."
• Window work is not on the list of projects that go to a public meeting. The Commission's published list of what needs Permit Review Committee or full Commission review covers new infill construction, garages on corner properties, visible additions and dormers, certain signage, driveways and curb cuts, and demolitions of 40 percent or more. Windows appear nowhere on it. Our inference, labelled as one: routine window work is therefore handled at Commission staff level unless staff refer it up for unusual conditions or non-compliance with the Guidelines. The city never says "windows are staff-level" in those words, and we will not pretend it does.
• What is protected is usually what the street can see. "For most landmark districts, the significant features typically are the exterior building elevations visible from the public right-of-way except regarding work involving demolition."
• The window standard is demanding. Where total replacement is unavoidable, the 1992 Guidelines require replacements that "match the historic windows in design and operation, material, glass size, muntin arrangements, profiles, and trim such as brick mold and sill". That is a specification, and it is not what a standard vinyl replacement quote describes.
• A permit fee waiver may be offered on designated landmark property. Chicago runs a Permit Fee Waiver, passed by City Council ordinance per property, for permits where Commission approval is required. The order of operations is what to carry away: the city's form states that "Permit fee waiver applications are not accepted after the permit has been issued." Apply before the permit, never after. We publish no amount, no processing time and no application window, because those belong to the city and they change. Current terms are on the city's permit fee waiver form.
• The Commission invites a conversation before you file. "The Landmarks Commission encourages applicants to seek its advice and guidance before filing a permit application. A pre-permit submission can clarify landmark requirements and help expedite the commission's review during the application process." That first look typically needs only photographs, a plat of survey and a description of the proposed work.

Quotes read at chicago.gov 2026-08-11: Commission questions and answers; permit application submission requirements, dated December 5, 2024; the 1992 Guidelines; the permit fee waiver form; the landmarks permit review page.

How to find out whether your address is landmark property

There is no single-address instant lookup on chicago.gov. We looked. What exists is three published instruments and a phone number, and the phone number is what the city itself points people to.

Instrument	Limitation worth knowing
Chicago Landmark Address List (PDF, June 2026): street name, address range and landmark name, covering individual landmarks and districts	The closest thing to an address lookup, but a long PDF searched by eye, listing ranges rather than exact addresses. Rows read "E. 18th St. | 205 thru 315 (odds) | Prairie Avenue District"
Chicago Landmark Name List (PDF): every designated landmark and district by name	Useful only once you know the district name
Chicago Historic Resources Survey: a 1995 survey of buildings built before 1940 that identified 17,371 properties of historic or architectural importance, with date, architect, style and landmark status	Two traps. Its form takes architect, community, street name, style and year, so it searches by street name and not full address. And a survey listing is not landmark designation
Historic Preservation Division, Department of Planning and Development. 312.744.3200, landmarks@cityofchicago.org	None worth reporting. This is the route the city's own permit pages point to

All read at chicago.gov 2026-08-11. The survey's search fields were read from the form itself, not from a description of it.

What we could not confirm, and will not guess

Five things a homeowner might reasonably want are not on this page, because the city does not publish them and we do not fill gaps with inference dressed as fact.

• Whether landmark property may use the Express Permit Program for windows. The word landmark appears zero times across the Express window instructions, the Express window terms and the programme overview. Assume nothing either way.
• Which specific window exemptions survive landmark status. The city's only statement is the hedge, "These exceptions may not apply". It does not enumerate, and its instruction is to contact the Historic Preservation Division.
• Whether a fee waiver reaches a routine window replacement. The waiver covers permits "for which Commission approval is required", and the Commission reviews all landmark permit applications. Whether a staff-level window review satisfies that phrase is answered by neither document, so we do not join them up for you.
• A window-specific adopted Commission policy. There is not one. The Commission's publications carry adopted policies for siding and for dormers in certain districts, none for windows. Window work is governed by the 1992 Guidelines instead.
• The Municipal Code text itself. Chicago cites Section 14A-4-402 and the landmark ordinance sections by number but hosts the code text on a third-party site. We have not read that text in full, so we quote the city's own pages and not the statute.

What a permit costs

No figure appears on this page, and that is deliberate. We have not read a Department of Buildings fee for window replacement at the agency that charges it, and this site's rule is that a government fee is quoted from the agency or not published at all. A number lifted from a contractor's blog or a search summary is not a source.

What to do instead. Ask the Department of Buildings what the fee is for your scope, since it follows the permit type and the project cost class rather than the window count. If a contractor quotes a permit cost, ask for the permit receipt when the job is done, not a line item on an estimate. And test the prior question first: on an in-kind replacement in the existing openings of a residential building up to four stories, on a property that is not landmark property, the city's own list says no building permit is required, and a fee for a permit nobody has to file is not a fee at all.

Sources

All read at chicago.gov on 2026-08-11: work not requiring a building permit, exterior; Express Permit Program, exterior window or door replacement; its terms and conditions; Commission on Chicago Landmarks permit application submission requirements; Commission questions and answers; the 1992 Guidelines; the permit fee waiver form; landmarks permit review; the Chicago Historic Resources Survey search. No competitor page, contractor blog or search summary informed any statement above.

If you want quotes to hold against these answers, the form below passes your details to an independent licensed window contractor working in your part of the city. What that relationship is, and is not, is set out on the about page.

Straight answers

Questions Chicago homeowners ask

Do I need a building permit to replace my windows in Chicago?

Usually no. Chicago publishes a list of work that does not require a building permit, and in a residential building up to four stories above grade it includes "Repairing or replacing (in-kind) an exterior window or skylight in the existing opening". In any building, at any height, the list also covers repairing an existing window, replacing glass in an existing sash, installing or removing a storm window or insect screen, and replacing a ground-level window in kind where no part of the exterior wall is cut away. Two things change the answer: landmark property, and any job that stops being in-kind. Read at chicago.gov, 2026-08-11.

What exactly does the city mean by in-kind?

Chicago defines it on the same page: "'In-kind replacement' means replacement of existing materials, objects, or elements using new materials, objects, or elements of the same type, size, and shape." Same opening, same size, same shape, same type of unit. Widen the opening by an inch, swap a double-hung for a casement, or turn a window into a door, and it is no longer in-kind, so the exemption stops covering you. The city does not publish whether changing frame material alone is still the same "type", so we publish no answer either. Ask the Department of Buildings before you order.

My building is taller than four stories. Does the exemption still cover me?

Only in part, and this is the difference most people miss. Chicago publishes two lists. The one for any building exempts repairs, glass replacement, storm windows, insect screens, and in-kind replacement of a ground-level window. The broader one, exempting in-kind replacement in the existing opening at any floor, applies only to "a residential building up to 4 stories above grade or an associated accessory building (such as a garage) on the same lot". A unit on the ninth floor of a high-rise is not on that second list, so the permit route applies. In a condo the association may also control the window whatever the city requires.

What if my building is a Chicago Landmark or sits in a landmark district?

Do not assume the exemption carries. Directly under the exemption list the city writes: "These exceptions may not apply to work on a property that is a proposed or designated Chicago Landmark or part of a proposed or designated Chicago Landmark district." Note the hedge. The city says "may not apply" and never publishes which exemptions survive, which is why its own instruction is to contact the Historic Preservation Division. There is no extra landmark permit. The Commission on Chicago Landmarks reviews permits inside the normal building permit process, and says most of the roughly 2,000 landmark permits it reviews each year are approved in one day.

What does a Chicago window permit cost?

We publish no figure, because we have not read one at the agency that charges it. This site quotes a government fee from the agency or not at all, and a number copied from a contractor blog is not a source. Ask the Department of Buildings what the fee is for your scope, and ask your contractor for the permit receipt rather than a line item. If the job is in-kind replacement in existing openings in a house up to four stories, and the property is not landmark property, the better question is whether a permit is required at all.

My contractor added a line item for permit handling. Is that legitimate?

It depends on your scope, which is why the rule is worth knowing before the sales visit. If the job is in-kind replacement in existing openings, in a residential building up to four stories above grade, and the property is not a designated or proposed Chicago Landmark or inside a landmark district, the city's own published list says a building permit is not required for that work. Ask which specific part of your job triggers a permit. A contractor who names it (a new opening, fire-rated glass, a taller building, a landmark district) is telling you something real. One who cannot may be charging you for paperwork nobody has to file.

Can a landmark building use the Express Permit Program for windows?

Chicago does not say, and neither will we. We read all three Express Permit Program pages covering window and door replacement, and the word landmark appears on none of them. The Department of Buildings pages about work needing no permit mention landmarks once each; the Express pages never do. The city publishes no statement either allowing or excluding landmark property from that route, so any site telling you the answer is either reading a source we did not find or making it up. Ask the Historic Preservation Division at 312.744.3200 or landmarks@cityofchicago.org before you file.