# US Building Permits: 10 cities, one schema (open data) (`cheering_unicorn/us-building-permits`) Actor Returns recently issued building permits from the open-data portals of New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Seattle, New Orleans, Montgomery County MD, Cincinnati and Baton Rouge in one normalized schema: permit number, type, description, status, address, coordinates... - **URL**: https://apify.com/cheering_unicorn/us-building-permits.md - **Developed by:** [Akshay Irudayaraj](https://apify.com/cheering_unicorn) (community) - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $2.00 / 1,000 permit records This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md. ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run. For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below. Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`). # README ## US Building Permits (10 cities, one schema) Recently issued building permits from ten US open-data portals, returned in a single normalized table. Pick the cities, a date range and optional keywords such as `solar`, `roof`, `demolition` or `pool`, and get permit number, type, work description, status, address with coordinates, applied/issued/expiry dates, estimated project cost and the contractor company where the city publishes it. Sources (all official open-data portals, no login, no browser): | Key | Source | Updated | |---|---|---| | `nyc` | NYC DOB NOW: Build – Approved Permits | daily | | `chicago` | City of Chicago Building Permits | daily | | `san-francisco` | San Francisco Building Permits | daily | | `los-angeles` | LADBS Building Permits | daily | | `austin` | City of Austin Issued Construction Permits | daily | | `seattle` | Seattle Building Permits | daily | | `new-orleans` | City of New Orleans Building Permits | daily | | `montgomery-county-md` | Montgomery County MD Residential and Commercial Permits | daily | | `cincinnati` | City of Cincinnati Building Permits | daily | | `baton-rouge` | East Baton Rouge Parish Building Permits | daily | Each city publishes different columns; this Actor maps them onto the same fields so you can build one pipeline for all of them. Need another city? Open an issue with a link to its open-data permit dataset. ### What you get ```json { "source": "austin", "sourceName": "City of Austin Issued Construction Permits", "state": "TX", "city": "AUSTIN", "permitNumber": "2026-133771 PP", "permitType": "Plumbing Permit", "permitSubtype": "C-1000 Commercial Remodel / Remodel", "description": "Interior renovation of a two-story multi-family building...", "status": "Active", "address": "1105 CLAYTON LN UNIT 207", "zip": "78723", "latitude": 30.3043, "longitude": -97.7013, "appliedDate": "2026-09-29T00:00:00", "issuedDate": "2026-10-22T00:00:00", "expiresDate": "2027-04-20T00:00:00", "estimatedCost": 185000, "contractorCompany": "ABC Plumbing LLC", "recordUrl": "https://abc.austintexas.gov/web/permit/public-search-other?t_detail=1&t_selected_folderrsn=...", "datasetUrl": "https://data.austintexas.gov/d/3syk-w9eu", "scrapedAt": "2026-10-22T19:04:11+00:00" } ``` Columns a city does not publish are `null`. Names of individuals (owners, applicants, contacts) are never included in the normalized fields; `contractorCompany` is filled only from columns that hold a business name. ### Input | Field | Type | Notes | |---|---|---| | `cities` | array | Source keys from the table above. Empty = all. | | `issuedAfter` | `YYYY-MM-DD` | Default: 7 days ago. | | `issuedBefore` | `YYYY-MM-DD` | Exclusive upper bound. | | `keywords` | array | Work description contains any keyword (case-insensitive). | | `minEstimatedCost` | integer | Skip small jobs. Ignored by sources without a cost column. | | `includeRawRecord` | boolean | Attach the original row under `raw`. | | `maxPermitsPerCity` / `maxPermits` | integer | Caps (0 = unlimited). | | `socrataAppToken` | string | Optional; only needed for very large pulls. | Example – solar and roofing leads from the last 30 days, three cities: ```json { "cities": ["chicago", "austin", "seattle"], "issuedAfter": "2026-09-22", "keywords": ["solar", "roof", "reroof"], "minEstimatedCost": 5000 } ``` ### Pricing Pay per event: **$0.002 per permit** saved ($2 per 1,000), plus Apify's standard Actor start fee. Filters are applied server-side at the portal, so you are not charged for permits you filtered out. A daily run over all ten cities with a 1-day window is typically 1,000–3,000 permits, i.e. $2–6; narrow it with keywords or `minEstimatedCost` to pay cents. ### Use cases - **Contractor and supplier lead generation**: new roofs, HVAC, solar, pools, demolitions, with the address and project value. - **Real-estate and construction analytics**: permit volume and value by city, ZIP or type over time. - **Property research**: what work was permitted at an address. - **Proptech and insurance data pipelines**: a single schema instead of ten. ### How it works Each source is a Socrata SODA endpoint (`https:///resource/.json`). The Actor sends one SoQL query per page (`$where` on the issued-date column, keyword `like` filters, `$order` newest first, 1,000 rows per page) with polite rate limiting and retries, then maps the rows to the shared schema. Open-data portals occasionally lag a day or two behind the city's permit system. ### FAQ **Why is `status` or `estimatedCost` missing for a city?** That portal does not publish the column (for example Baton Rouge has no status field). **Can I get owner or applicant names?** No. The normalized output excludes personal names by design; use `includeRawRecord` only if you need other city-specific columns and have a lawful basis for processing whatever the city publishes. **Dates look like `2026-10-22T00:00:00` without a timezone.** They are local civil dates as published by each city. # Actor input Schema ## `cities` (type: `array`): Which open-data sources to query. Leave empty for all. ## `issuedAfter` (type: `string`): Date in YYYY-MM-DD. Default: 7 days ago. ## `issuedBefore` (type: `string`): Date in YYYY-MM-DD (exclusive). Leave empty for no upper bound. ## `keywords` (type: `array`): Keep permits whose work description contains any of these words (case-insensitive), for example `solar`, `roof`, `demolition`, `pool`. ## `minEstimatedCost` (type: `integer`): Skip permits with a declared project value below this amount. Sources without a cost column ignore this filter. ## `includeRawRecord` (type: `boolean`): Add the original open-data row under `raw` (city-specific columns). Names of individuals are never included in the normalized fields; the raw row may contain whatever the city publishes. ## `maxPermitsPerCity` (type: `integer`): 0 = no limit. ## `maxPermits` (type: `integer`): Stop the run after this many permits. 0 = no limit. You pay only for permits saved. ## `socrataAppToken` (type: `string`): Optional Socrata application token to lift the anonymous rate limit on very large pulls. Not needed for normal use. ## Actor input object example ```json { "cities": [ "chicago", "austin", "seattle" ], "keywords": [ "solar", "roof" ], "minEstimatedCost": 0, "includeRawRecord": false, "maxPermitsPerCity": 100, "maxPermits": 0 } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `permits` (type: `string`): No description ## `errors` (type: `string`): No description # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "cities": [ "chicago", "austin", "seattle" ], "keywords": [ "solar", "roof" ], "maxPermitsPerCity": 100 }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("cheering_unicorn/us-building-permits").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "cities": [ "chicago", "austin", "seattle", ], "keywords": [ "solar", "roof", ], "maxPermitsPerCity": 100, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("cheering_unicorn/us-building-permits").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}") for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "cities": [ "chicago", "austin", "seattle" ], "keywords": [ "solar", "roof" ], "maxPermitsPerCity": 100 }' | apify call cheering_unicorn/us-building-permits --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,cheering_unicorn/us-building-permits" } } } ``` The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer ` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations). ## OpenAPI specification Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/eqaJB65AOVHsarQEs/builds/TznSL7aWGfasAfubA/openapi.json