# US Building Permits: 13 Metros (NYC, Chicago, Miami & more) (`groundtip/us-building-permits`) Actor

Fresh building permits from 13 US city and regional open-data feeds (New York, Chicago, Miami, Orlando, Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Seattle, Tempe, Cambridge, Rockville, Baltimore region), normalized into one table with contractor names where the city publishes them and trade presets.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/groundtip/us-building-permits.md
- **Developed by:** [Groundtip](https://apify.com/groundtip) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$4.00 / 1,000 permit results

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: 13 Metros (NYC, Chicago, Miami & more)

Fresh building permits from 13 US city and regional open-data feeds, normalized into one table. Where the city publishes them, you also get the **contractor's company name**, and in some cities the contractor's phone or email. Filter by trade (roofing, demolition, concrete, HVAC and more), by permit type, by work class or by date range. Every row links back to the official record.

Use it to find jobs before your competitors do: roll-off dumpsters, roofing, concrete, fencing, HVAC, solar, insulation, supply sales, or any trade that follows new construction and remodels.

### Coverage

Typical 7-day volume is the number of permits returned for 2026-10-15 to 2026-10-21.

| City | Official source | Permit types | Contractor fields | Typical 7-day volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York City, NY | NYC Open Data: DOB NOW Build, Approved Permits | All work types (general construction, plumbing, mechanical, scaffold, earthwork…) | Permittee business name (all rows) | ~1,900 |
| Chicago, IL | Chicago Data Portal: Building Permits | All building permits incl. express permits | Contractor name (~96%) | ~420 |
| Miami, FL | City of Miami: Building Permits Since 2014 | All building permits | Company name (~96%) | ~440 |
| Orlando, FL | City of Orlando: Permit Applications | Building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, roof, engineering… | Contractor company (~90%), phone (~50%) | ~400 |
| Columbus, OH | City of Columbus: Building Permits | Residential and commercial building, MEP | Applicant business (~89%) | ~330 |
| Cincinnati, OH | City of Cincinnati: Building Permits | Building, mechanical, elevator… | Company name (~95%) | ~110 |
| Cleveland, OH | City of Cleveland: Issued Building Permits | Building permits | Contractor business (~86%; homeowner permits have none) | ~110 |
| Detroit, MI | City of Detroit BSEED: Building Permits | Building permits | Not published | ~110 |
| Rockville, MD | City of Rockville: Permit View | All case types (filed date) | Contractor or applicant business (~80%) | ~70 |
| Seattle, WA | Seattle Open Data: Building Permits | Construction permits | Contractor company (sparse, ~5-10%) | ~60 |
| Tempe, AZ | City of Tempe: Building Permits | Building permits | Company, phone, email when filled (rare) | ~25 |
| Cambridge, MA | Cambridge Open Data: New Construction, Addition/Alteration, Short Form, Roof, Siding, Demolition | Those six permit types | Licensed firm name (~95%) | ~15 |
| Baltimore region, MD | Baltimore Metropolitan Council BPDS (Baltimore City and County, Anne Arundel, Howard, Harford, Carroll, Annapolis) | Building permits | Contractor name (~50%) | Published monthly: use 30+ days back (~230 for the latest month) |

Rockville rows are dated by filing date (`date_basis: "filed"`); all others by issue date.

### Privacy

We never output property-owner, homeowner or private-individual names. Contractor and business fields appear only where the city publishes them for the contractor. Entries such as "Owner" or "Homeowner" in a contractor field are blanked.

### Input

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `cities` | Which feeds to pull (default: all 13) |
| `daysBack` | Last N days (default 7), ending on `dateTo` or today |
| `dateFrom`, `dateTo` | Exact range (YYYY-MM-DD); `dateFrom` overrides `daysBack` |
| `tradePresets` | Dumpster/demolition/remodel, concrete, fencing, roofing, pools, solar, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, insulation, new construction |
| `permitTypes`, `workClasses` | Keep only permits whose type / work class contains any of these words |
| `maxResults` | Stop after this many permits, newest first (default 5,000) |

### Output

One row per permit: `city`, `state`, `permit_number`, `issued_date`, `date_basis`, `status`, `type`, `work_class`, `description`, `address`, `zip`, `lat`, `lon`, `valuation`, `contractor_name`, `contractor_phone`, `contractor_email`, `contact_name`, `contact_role` (for example "applicant business"), `source_url`.

Duplicates within a run are removed. A `RUN_REPORT` record in the key-value store shows how many permits each city returned and kept. If one city's site is down, the others still run, and the report shows the error.

### Pricing

Pay per result: **$4 per 1,000 permits** ($0.004 each).

### Data sources and notices

- **Data is public:** all data comes from official government open-data portals. It reflects what each city had published at the time of the run, and feeds update on their own schedules (most daily, Baltimore region monthly).
- **Attribution:**
  - City of Miami and City of Tempe data is used under CC BY 4.0.
  - City of Cleveland data is used under the Open Database License (ODbL).
  - Cambridge, Seattle, Cincinnati and Columbus data are public domain.
- **City of Chicago notice:** "This site provides applications using data that has been modified for use from its original source, www.cityofchicago.org, the official website of the City of Chicago. The City of Chicago makes no claims as to the content, accuracy, timeliness, or completeness of any of the data provided at this site. The data provided at this site is subject to change at any time. It is understood that the data provided at this site is being used at one's own risk."
- **Contacting contractors:** follow the CAN-SPAM Act, the TCPA and state rules. Do not text or autodial without consent.

### Contact

Built by Groundtip. Questions, more cities or bugs: **hello@groundtip.com**.

# Actor input Schema

## `cities` (type: `array`):

Which city feeds to pull. Leave empty for all 13.

## `daysBack` (type: `integer`):

Used when 'Date from' is empty: pull the last N days, ending on 'Date to' (or today).

## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):

Optional start date. Overrides 'Days back'.

## `dateTo` (type: `string`):

Optional end date. Defaults to today.

## `tradePresets` (type: `array`):

Keep only permits relevant to these trades (matched on permit type, work class and description). Leave empty for all permits.

## `permitTypes` (type: `array`):

Optional. Keep permits whose type contains any of these words, e.g. 'Building Permit', 'Demolition'.

## `workClasses` (type: `array`):

Optional. Keep permits whose work class contains any of these words, e.g. 'New', 'Remodel'.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many permits (newest first).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "cities": [
    "new_york",
    "chicago",
    "rockville_md",
    "miami",
    "tempe",
    "cambridge_ma",
    "detroit",
    "seattle",
    "orlando",
    "baltimore_region",
    "cincinnati",
    "columbus",
    "cleveland"
  ],
  "daysBack": 7,
  "tradePresets": [],
  "permitTypes": [],
  "workClasses": [],
  "maxResults": 5000
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `permits` (type: `string`):

Normalized building permits from the selected city feeds.

## `runReport` (type: `string`):

Per-city fetched and kept counts for this run.

# 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("groundtip/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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("groundtip/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 '{}' |
apify call groundtip/us-building-permits --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,groundtip/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 <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` 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/irePF55UsB1LbLu1c/builds/7eD3G53qSt5W4PmqD/openapi.json