# NYC Building Permits API (DOB NOW) – Contractor Leads (`implementable_antler/nyc-dob-permits`) Actor

NYC DOB NOW building permits API: construction leads with permittee business, license, estimated cost, coordinates and trade tags (plumbing, HVAC, GC). Permit data CSV/JSON. Renewals excluded.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/implementable_antler/nyc-dob-permits.md
- **Developed by:** [Blake Runckel](https://apify.com/implementable_antler) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Real estate, Business
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.50 / 1,000 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

## NYC Building Permits API (DOB NOW) – Contractor Leads

NYC Department of Buildings **DOB NOW: Build** work permits from NYC Open Data (dataset rbx6-tga4): permittee business, license type and number, estimated job cost, coordinates, and sub-trade tags with provenance. **Renewals are excluded by default**, so you get new issuances, not re-issued old jobs. No owner or personal names.

> **Not included: Electrical, Elevator and Limited Alteration Application (LAA) permits.** DOB publishes those in separate datasets, so this Actor is not a source of electrical or solar leads, and those trades are not offered in the trade filter.

**Use it for:** contractor leads and construction leads (new jobs by trade), a building permits API for your CRM, or a permit data CSV/Excel export for market research. Runs on a schedule; export CSV, Excel, JSON or call the API.

### Sample rows (table)

| issueDate | address | workType | contractorName | valuation | trades |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-16 | 17 LOUIS PLACE, Brooklyn, NY 11233 | Mechanical Systems | HERITAGE V LLC | $3,000 | HVAC |
| 2026-10-16 | 2150 ATLANTIC AVENUE, Brooklyn, NY 11233 | Mechanical Systems | HERITAGE V LLC | $3,000 | HVAC |
| 2026-10-16 | 1940 SHORE PARKWAY, Brooklyn, NY 11214 | Standpipe | AMOK INC |  | fire/life-safety, plumbing |
| 2026-10-16 | 374 WORTMAN AVENUE, Brooklyn, NY 11207 | Plumbing | FJP MECHANICAL INC | $96,621 | plumbing |
| 2026-10-16 | 177 ARDSLEY LOOP, Brooklyn, NY 11239 | Mechanical Systems | DJH MECHANICAL CORP | $50,000 | HVAC |

### Quick start

Example input (also prefilled in the input form):

```json
{
  "days": 7,
  "boroughs": [
    "Brooklyn",
    "Queens"
  ],
  "trades": [
    "plumbing",
    "HVAC"
  ],
  "excludeRenewals": true,
  "maxItems": 100,
  "explicitTradesOnly": true
}
```

### Input

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `days` | How many days back from today to include, by permit issue date (1-366). |
| `trades` | Only return permits tagged with at least one of these trades. Leave empty for all trades. Electrical, solar and elevator are not offered: this DOB NOW dataset excludes Electrical, Elevator and LAA permits (DOB publishes those separately). |
| `explicitTradesOnly` | When filtering by trade, match only trades stated by the permit type, a listed contractor role or the description, and ignore 'implied' tags (e.g. roofing implied by a new house). On by default for lead generation; turn off to include implied new-build trades. |
| `boroughs` | Limit to these boroughs (filtered at the source). Empty = all five. |
| `excludeRenewals` | Skip permit renewals/reinstatements (often old jobs re-issued). Recommended for lead generation. |
| `excludeStaleApprovals` | Skip permits whose approvedDate is before 2025-01-01 (old jobs only now being issued). Default on. Permits with no approval date are kept and flagged `approvalDateMissing: true`. |
| `dedupePermits` | One row per permit ID (default on). DOB lists one line per work type on the same permit; the extra lines are merged into `workTypes`, `trades` and `contractors`. Turn off for one row per permit line. |
| `dateFrom` | Earliest issue date, YYYY-MM-DD. When set, overrides 'Days back'. |
| `dateTo` | Latest issue date, YYYY-MM-DD. Defaults to today. |
| `minValuation` | Only permits with a declared valuation at or above this amount. Rows with no or zero valuation are dropped when this is set (note: many NYC sub-permits such as Foundation, Structural, Standpipe and Scaffold carry $0 because the cost sits on the parent GC permit). |
| `excludeNonBuilding` | Skip administrative and non-building records (administrative changes, reinstatement-only and similar no-work records). |
| `maxItems` | Maximum number of records to return (1-50,000). |

### Fields

Every Ledger permit Actor (Deschutes/Bend, Chicago, NYC) outputs the same fields:

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `recordId` | Unique row key. One job can produce several rows (NYC: one per work type; Bend: one per sub-permit such as building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical). Dedupe on `permitID` if you want one row per permit. |
| `permitID` | The agency's permit/application number. |
| `jurisdiction` | City or county that issued the permit. |
| `address` | Site address as published. |
| `parcel` | Tax lot / PIN / BBL (see completeness). |
| `latitude`, `longitude` | WGS84 coordinates where the source publishes them (Chicago, NYC); null for Deschutes/Bend. |
| `workType` | The agency's work/permit-type label (e.g. Plumbing, Electrical, New - Single Family Dwelling). |
| `permitType`, `permitSubtype` | The agency's broader permit category and subtype (see "Source mapping"). |
| `filingReason`, `isRenewal` | Why it was filed; `true` for renewals/reinstatements (usually old jobs). |
| `description` | Free-text scope of work. |
| `status` | Permit status as published. A value ending in "(inferred: …)" means the source left it blank and we derived it. |
| `contractorName` | The agency's main contractor field (general contractor where known). Never a record the agency labels as owner. |
| `contractors` | All contractor roles listed on the permit, `[{role, name}]`. |
| `contractorLicense` | `{type, number}` where published (NYC). |
| `valuation` | Declared job value in USD (null if not published). |
| `squareFeet` | Square footage where published. |
| `applicationDate`, `approvedDate`, `issueDate`, `expirationDate`, `finalDate` | ISO dates (YYYY-MM-DD); null when the source doesn't publish that date. `approvalDateMissing` is true when approvedDate is null. |
| `trades` | All sub-trades the job likely needs, including implied ones. |
| `explicitTrades` | Only trades stated by the permit type, a listed contractor role, or the description. |
| `tradeDetails` | `[{trade, source, confidence}]`: source `permitType`/`contractorRole` (high), `keyword` (medium), `implied` (low, e.g. a new house implies roofing). |
| `sourceUrl` | Link to the record (or the official export containing it) at the source. |
| `source` | Publisher and dataset name. |

### Source mapping

| Source field | Ledger field |
|---|---|
| work_type | `workType` and `permitType` |
| filing_reason (Initial Permit / Renewal…) | `filingReason`, `isRenewal` |
| approved_date / issued_date / expired_date | `approvedDate` / `issueDate` / `expirationDate` (this dataset publishes no filing date, so `applicationDate` is null) |
| applicant_business_name, permittee_s_license_type, applicant_license | `contractorName`, `contractorLicense` |
| estimated_job_costs, latitude, longitude, bbl | `valuation`, `latitude`, `longitude`, `parcel` |
One job filing often has several work permits (plumbing, mechanical, sprinklers…), so expect several rows per job with different `recordId`s.

**Zero-cost sub-permits:** Foundation, Structural, Earth Work, Standpipe and Scaffold permits filed "in conjunction with" a GC application often show `valuation` 0 because the cost sits on the parent GC permit. `minValuation` drops them.

**Old approval dates:** about 5% of non-renewal records are initial permits approved in 2023–2024 but issued now. They are genuine new issuances (filing reason "Initial Permit"); filter on `approvedDate` if you want only recent approvals.

### Completeness

Measured on 5,000 records issued 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-16 (default filters, renewals excluded):

| Contractor (permittee business) | Valuation > 0 | Parcel (BBL) | Lat/lon | Distinct permits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | 81% | 94% | 99% | 4,201 of 5,000 rows |

### Sample output

(Generated 2026-10-19 by the current version.)

```json
{
  "recordId": "B00590900-I1-MS|Mechanical Systems|1|571971443",
  "permitID": "B00590900-I1-MS",
  "jurisdiction": "New York City",
  "address": "17 LOUIS PLACE, Brooklyn, NY 11233",
  "latitude": 40.677301,
  "longitude": -73.917332,
  "workType": "Mechanical Systems",
  "permitType": "Mechanical Systems",
  "isRenewal": false,
  "description": "Affordable House Development, HUB Consultation Meeting Accepted 07/07/21. File mechanical work in conjunction with NB# 321600601.",
  "status": "Permit Issued",
  "contractorName": "HERITAGE V LLC",
  "contractors": [
    {
      "role": "permittee (GC)",
      "name": "HERITAGE V LLC"
    }
  ],
  "valuation": 3000.0,
  "issueDate": "2026-10-16",
  "trades": [
    "HVAC"
  ],
  "explicitTrades": [
    "HVAC"
  ],
  "tradeDetails": [
    {
      "trade": "HVAC",
      "source": "permitType",
      "confidence": "high"
    }
  ],
  "sourceUrl": "https://data.cityofnewyork.us/resource/rbx6-tga4.json?work_permit=B00590900-I1-MS"
}
```

### Pricing

**Pay per result: $2.50 per 1,000 permit records ($0.0025 per result)**, plus a $0.00005 Apify start fee per run. You pay only for rows written to your dataset; Apify platform usage (compute) is included in that price, not billed separately. Set a maximum cost per run in Apify Console or the API and the run stops at that limit. Users on the Apify free plan can try it within their free monthly credit.

### Privacy

Owner and homeowner records are not included: no field or contact role that the agency labels as owner is exported. Personal phone numbers and emails are not exported either. **Contractor names are the agency's contractor field as published. Most are businesses, but some are sole proprietors or individual licensees.** Treat contractor contact as B2B. Follow the TCPA, CAN-SPAM, do-not-call rules and the source's terms; contact at a permit address should be by mail only unless you have consent.

### Reliability

Each run reads the official feed live. Requests retry up to 3 times with backoff (2 s, 4 s, 8 s) on rate limits, server errors and timeouts. If a run finds 0 matching records it pushes nothing and sets a status message saying so. A change in the source's columns stops the run with a clear error.

### Limitations

- Trade tags are rules applied to permit types, contractor roles and descriptions, so they are not guaranteed. With a trade filter set, only explicit (stated) trades match by default; set `explicitTradesOnly` to false to include implied new-build trades.
- Not affiliated with or endorsed by the data publisher.

### Attribution and terms

Source: NYC Department of Buildings via NYC Open Data, dataset rbx6-tga4 (DOB NOW: Build - Approved Permits), current version at time of run. Modifications: fields renamed to the Ledger permit schema, owner and personal-name fields removed, rows without an issued work permit excluded, renewals excluded unless `excludeRenewals` is false, permits approved before 2025-01-01 excluded unless `excludeStaleApprovals` is false, lines of the same permit merged into one row unless `dedupePermits` is false, and trade tags added.

# Actor input Schema

## `days` (type: `integer`):

How many days back from today to include, by permit issue date (1-366).

## `trades` (type: `array`):

Only return permits tagged with at least one of these trades. Leave empty for all trades. Electrical, solar and elevator are not offered: this DOB NOW dataset excludes Electrical, Elevator and LAA permits (DOB publishes those separately).

## `explicitTradesOnly` (type: `boolean`):

When filtering by trade, match only trades stated by the permit type, a listed contractor role or the description, and ignore 'implied' tags (e.g. roofing implied by a new house). On by default for lead generation; turn off to include implied new-build trades.

## `boroughs` (type: `array`):

Limit to these boroughs (filtered at the source). Empty = all five.

## `excludeRenewals` (type: `boolean`):

Skip permit renewals/reinstatements (often old jobs re-issued). Recommended for lead generation.

## `excludeStaleApprovals` (type: `boolean`):

Skip permits whose approvedDate is before 2025-01-01 (old jobs only now being issued). Default on.

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

Earliest issue date, YYYY-MM-DD. When set, overrides 'Days back'.

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

Latest issue date, YYYY-MM-DD. Defaults to today.

## `minValuation` (type: `integer`):

Only permits with a declared valuation at or above this amount. Rows with no or zero valuation are dropped when this is set (note: many NYC sub-permits such as Foundation, Structural, Standpipe and Scaffold carry $0 because the cost sits on the parent GC permit).

## `excludeNonBuilding` (type: `boolean`):

Skip administrative and non-building records (administrative changes, reinstatement-only and similar no-work records).

## `dedupePermits` (type: `boolean`):

DOB lists one line per work type on the same permit. On (default): one row per permit ID, with all work types in workTypes and merged trades. Off: one row per permit line.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of records to return (1-50,000).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "days": 7,
  "trades": [
    "plumbing",
    "HVAC"
  ],
  "explicitTradesOnly": true,
  "boroughs": [
    "Brooklyn",
    "Queens"
  ],
  "excludeRenewals": true,
  "excludeStaleApprovals": true,
  "excludeNonBuilding": true,
  "dedupePermits": true,
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "days": 7,
    "trades": [
        "plumbing",
        "HVAC"
    ],
    "explicitTradesOnly": true,
    "boroughs": [
        "Brooklyn",
        "Queens"
    ],
    "excludeRenewals": true,
    "excludeStaleApprovals": true,
    "maxItems": 100
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("implementable_antler/nyc-dob-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 = {
    "days": 7,
    "trades": [
        "plumbing",
        "HVAC",
    ],
    "explicitTradesOnly": True,
    "boroughs": [
        "Brooklyn",
        "Queens",
    ],
    "excludeRenewals": True,
    "excludeStaleApprovals": True,
    "maxItems": 100,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("implementable_antler/nyc-dob-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 '{
  "days": 7,
  "trades": [
    "plumbing",
    "HVAC"
  ],
  "explicitTradesOnly": true,
  "boroughs": [
    "Brooklyn",
    "Queens"
  ],
  "excludeRenewals": true,
  "excludeStaleApprovals": true,
  "maxItems": 100
}' |
apify call implementable_antler/nyc-dob-permits --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,implementable_antler/nyc-dob-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/TVDawAM01F53FWlj0/builds/RGqyCeeg25aCLQWXr/openapi.json