BuildZoom Scraper

This Apify actor is a powerful BuildZoom scraper designed to extract comprehensive contractor and permit data directly from BuildZoom.com. It acts as a robust BuildZoom API alternative, providing structured data for market research, lead generation, and competitive analysis in the construction industry.

What is the BuildZoom Scraper?

The BuildZoom Scraper is a specialized tool that navigates BuildZoom.com to collect detailed information about general contractors, their services, and their project history, including crucial permit data. This actor is ideal for anyone needing to programmatically access BuildZoom data for business intelligence or lead generation without relying on an official BuildZoom API.

Why use the BuildZoom Scraper?

Comprehensive Contractor Data Extraction

Our BuildZoom scraper goes beyond basic contact information, providing a rich dataset for each contractor:

• Detailed Contractor Profiles: Extract names, locations, phone numbers, and BuildZoom scores.
• License Verification: Obtain detailed license information, including license numbers, statuses, cities, types, business types, verification dates, and links.
• Employee Details: Get insights into a contractor's team, including employee names and titles.
• Services Offered: Discover the full range of services provided by each contractor.
• Project Overviews: Understand a contractor's activity with total permitted projects, projects over recent years, and typical permit values.

Unlock Valuable Permit Data

This BuildZoom API alternative excels at extracting in-depth permit data, offering unparalleled insights into a contractor's work history:

• Permit Details: For each project, retrieve the permit header, address, date, detailed description, valuation, permit number, status, fee, permit type, and building type.
• Project History: Gain a clear understanding of past projects, their scope, and their outcomes.

Apify Platform Advantages

Leverage the power of the Apify platform for your BuildZoom data extraction needs:

• Scalability: Run large-scale scraping operations efficiently.
• Reliability: Benefit from automatic proxy rotation and error handling.
• Scheduling: Automate your data collection with scheduled runs.
• Integrations: Easily connect with tools like Zapier, Make, and other business applications.
• API Access: Access your scraped BuildZoom data programmatically via Node.js and Python SDKs.

Use Cases for BuildZoom Data

• Lead Generation: Identify potential clients or partners in the construction industry.
• Market Research: Analyze trends, contractor activity, and project types in specific locations.
• Competitive Analysis: Monitor competitors' project portfolios and service offerings.
• Due Diligence: Verify contractor credentials and project history before hiring.
• Real Estate Development: Gain insights into construction activity and property development.

How to scrape BuildZoom data

Using the BuildZoom Scraper is straightforward. Simply provide your search criteria in the input form:

1. Go to the Input tab: Here you will define your scraping parameters.
2. Enter a Search Term: Specify keywords like "general contractor" or "plumber".
3. Provide a Location: Use the format "City, ST" (e.g., "Dallas, TX").
4. Set Max Pages: Define how many search result pages to crawl (0 for unlimited).
5. Set Max Requests per Crawl: Limit the total number of requests (0 for unlimited).

For more detailed instructions and options, please refer to the Input tab of this actor.

What data can the BuildZoom Scraper extract?

The BuildZoom scraper extracts a comprehensive set of data points for each contractor and their associated permits. Below is a summary of the key fields:

Field Name	Description
url	The URL of the contractor's profile page.
contractorName	The name of the contractor.
description	A brief description of the contractor's business.
location	The primary location of the contractor.
phoneNumber	The contact phone number for the contractor.
bzScore	The BuildZoom score of the contractor.
numberOfProjects	The total number of projects listed for the contractor.
fullAddress	The full street address of the contractor.
reviewsCount	The number of reviews the contractor has received.
totalPermittedProjects	Total number of permitted projects.
totalProjectsLastXYears	Total projects in the last X years.
totalProjectsYears	The number of years considered for totalProjectsLastXYears.
typicalPermitValue	The typical value of permits obtained by the contractor.
insurer	The contractor's insurance provider.
insuredAmount	The insured amount.
licenses	An array of objects, each detailing a contractor's license (number, status, city, type, business type, verification date, link).
employees	An array of objects, each detailing an employee (name, title).
servicesOffered	An array of strings, listing the services the contractor offers.
permits	An array of objects, each detailing a building permit (header, address, date, description, valuation, permit number, status, fee, permit type, building type).

How much will it cost to scrape BuildZoom?

Web scraping costs can vary based on the complexity of the website and the volume of data extracted. The BuildZoom Scraper operates on the Apify platform, which charges based on Compute Unit (CU) consumption. A Compute Unit is a measure of the processing power required for your scraping task.

To give you an idea, a typical run extracting data for a few hundred contractors might consume a small number of CUs. Apify offers a free plan that includes a certain amount of free CUs each month, allowing you to test the BuildZoom scraper and extract a significant amount of data without any cost. For larger-scale operations, you can easily scale up your plan. You can monitor your CU consumption in the Apify Console to manage your costs effectively.

Input and Output Examples

For a detailed overview of the input options, please refer to the Input tab of this actor. You'll find fields for searchTerm, locationQuery, maxPages, and maxRequestsPerCrawl.

Here's a simplified JSON example of the output data you can expect from the BuildZoom scraper:

[
  {
    "url": "https://www.buildzoom.com/contractor/example-contractor",
    "contractorName": "Example Construction Inc.",
    "location": "Dallas, TX",
    "phoneNumber": "(123) 456-7890",
    "bzScore": "150",
    "numberOfProjects": 120,
    "licenses": [
      {
        "licenseNumber": "LIC12345",
        "licenseStatus": "Active",
        "licenseCity": "Dallas",
        "licenseType": "General Contractor",
        "licenseBusinessType": "Corporation",
        "licenseVerificationDate": "October 2025",
        "licenseVerificationLink": "https://example.com/license-verify"
      }
    ],
    "servicesOffered": [
      "New Home Construction",
      "Kitchen Remodel"
    ],
    "permits": [
      {
        "header": "Residential Repair Permit",
        "address": "123 Main St, Dallas, TX",
        "date": "2025-01-15",
        "description": "Interior remodel, drywall repair, paint.",
        "valuation": "$10,000",
        "permitNumber": "REP-25-001",
        "status": "Issued",
        "fee": "$150",
        "permitType": "Residential",
        "buildingType": "Single Family"
      }
    ]
  }
]

FAQ, Disclaimers, and Support

Is it legal to scrape BuildZoom?

Our BuildZoom scraper is designed to extract only publicly available information from BuildZoom.com. We adhere to ethical web scraping practices and do not extract any private user data. While we believe our scrapers are safe when used for ethical purposes, you should be aware that the extracted data might contain personal information that is publicly accessible. Always consult with legal professionals if you have concerns about your specific use case, especially regarding data privacy regulations like GDPR.

What is the "BuildZoom API"?

BuildZoom does not offer a public API for direct data access. This BuildZoom scraper acts as a powerful alternative, allowing users to programmatically extract structured data from BuildZoom.com, effectively serving as a custom BuildZoom API for your data needs.

Troubleshooting and Support

If you encounter any issues or have questions about using the BuildZoom scraper, please check the Issues tab on the actor's page. We welcome your feedback and are open to creating custom solutions based on your specific requirements. Feel free to contact us for further assistance.