Building Permits Multi-City API

Fresh building permits from New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Toronto in a single schema. Filter by recency, keyword, project category or cost. Great for solar, roofing, HVAC and renovation lead generation, construction analytics and proptech.

What does Building Permits Multi-City API do?

• Five major city open-data portals, one consistent output
• Project tags detected from the description: solar, EV charger, roofing, pool, demolition, new construction and more
• Address, coordinates, permit type, status, dates and declared cost where the city publishes them
• No API keys; runs in seconds

How to use it

1. Click Try for free and open the Input tab.
2. Fill in the fields below, or keep the defaults for a quick test.
3. Press Start. Results appear in the Output tab within seconds to a few minutes.
4. Download as JSON, CSV or Excel, or call the actor from the API, a schedule, Make, Zapier or an AI agent through the Apify MCP server.

Input

Field	Type	Description
cities	array	Which city portals to query.
daysBack	integer	Permits filed or issued within this many days.
searchText	string	Optional word in the work description, e.g. solar, roof, pool.
categories	array	Optional filter on detected project type.
minEstimatedCost	integer	Skip permits below this declared cost (local currency).
maxPermitsPerCity	integer	Cap per city.

Example input

{
  "cities": [
    "chicago",
    "sanfrancisco"
  ],
  "daysBack": 14,
  "searchText": "",
  "categories": [],
  "minEstimatedCost": 0,
  "maxPermitsPerCity": 50
}

Output

Each result is a flat JSON object that you can open in the Output tab, export to CSV or Excel, or read through the API. See the dataset views for the main columns.

How much does it cost to use Building Permits Multi-City API?

Pricing is pay per event: $0.003 per permit (empty searches are free). You pay only for results saved to the dataset, plus nothing extra for platform usage on the free plan limits. Apify's free monthly credit lets you test it before paying.

FAQ

How fresh is the data? As fresh as each city publishes it, typically daily.

Why are some fields empty? Cities publish different columns. For example, NYC DOB NOW filings often omit cost or applicant dates.

Can I add more cities? Open an issue on the actor page and name the city portal.

Is it legal?

The actor reads public, open-licence or government data only and does not collect private information. You are responsible for using the results in line with the source's terms and applicable laws.

Use it with AI agents (MCP)

This actor is agent-ready: it is a plain tool with a documented JSON input and a flat JSON output, so Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other agents can call it through the Apify MCP server.

Add it to an MCP client with this URL (Apify account or agentic payment required):

https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=flyingnimbus/building-permits-multi-city

Example prompt: "Use the Building Permits Multi-City API tool with the example input below and summarise the results."

Calls are pay per event ($0.003 per permit (empty searches are free)), so an agent can estimate the cost before it runs. Empty or failed lookups return a status record instead of failing the run.

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Feedback

Found a bug or need another field or city? Open an issue on the actor's Issues tab and it will be looked at quickly.