# Us Building Permit Monitor (`jamkon/us-building-permit-monitor`) Actor Monitor newly issued US building permits (NYC, Chicago, SF, Austin) by trade - roofing, solar, HVAC, plumbing and more. Deduped daily feed, official city open data, no owner personal data. - **URL**: https://apify.com/jamkon/us-building-permit-monitor.md - **Developed by:** [james correy](https://apify.com/jamkon) (community) - **Categories:** Automation, Lead generation - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $5.00 / 1,000 new permits This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. Actors are written with capital "A". ## 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. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## New Building Permit Monitor - Deduped Daily Contractor Leads (US) Get **newly issued building permits** in major US cities as a clean, deduplicated feed — roofing, solar, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, pool, demolition and more. Run it on a schedule and receive **only the permits that are new since your last run**, never the whole pile again. Built on **official city open-data portals** (NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, Austin). No scraping, no fragile page automation, and **no owner personal data**. ### Who uses this - **Material suppliers, subcontractors, and service businesses**: a new permit is a project about to start and a buyer about to spend. Reach out first. - **Solar / roofing / HVAC sales teams**: filter to your exact trade and city and get a daily list of fresh jobs. - **Proptech and market analysts**: track construction activity by city, trade and value. ### Why "deduped monitor" matters Most permit datasets dump the entire history every time. This actor remembers where it got to and emits **only new permits** on each run — so a daily schedule gives you a clean daily lead list, ready for your CRM or a webhook, with no duplicates to filter out. The **first run sets a baseline and emits nothing** (there's no "previous" to compare to yet). New permits flow from the second run onward. Schedule it daily. ### What you get ```json { "cityLabel": "Chicago", "permitNumber": "100987654", "permitType": "PERMIT - NEW CONSTRUCTION", "normalizedTrade": "general_building", "valuation": 425000, "siteAddress": "1234 N Damen Ave", "zip": null, "issueDate": "2026-07-04T00:00:00.000", "contractorBusinessName": null, "contractorLicenseNumber": null, "latitude": 41.90, "longitude": -87.67 } ```` Filter by **trade**, **city**, and **minimum valuation**. Point it at a **webhook** to push straight into Zapier/Make/n8n or your CRM. ### What this actor never collects Permit records often contain the owner's name, home address, and the permittee's personal phone number. This actor emits **the permit, the work, the value, the site address, and the contractor's BUSINESS identity only**: - No owner personal names - No owner home addresses (separate from the job site) - No personal phone numbers - Contractor fields are business name and license number only, and only where the city publishes them as business data (currently New York City) ### Coverage | City | Source | Valuation | Contractor | |---|---|---|---| | New York City | NYC DOB permit issuance | – | business name + license | | Chicago | Chicago building permits | yes | – | | San Francisco | SF building permits | yes | – | | Austin | Austin issued construction permits | – | – | Need another city? Open an issue and name it — most US cities with a Socrata/open-data portal can be added quickly. ### Notes - Cities report on their own schedules; a permit may appear a day or two after issuance. The monitor handles late-arriving records by re-checking the boundary day each run. - Trades are classified from each city's permit-type and work-description text; use the `normalizedTrade` filter for consistent cross-city trades. - Found a problem or need a city or field added? Open an issue — replies are fast. # Actor input Schema ## `cities` (type: `array`): Which cities to monitor. More cities added on request. ## `trades` (type: `array`): Only emit permits for these trades. Leave empty for all. ## `minValuation` (type: `integer`): Only emit permits with a reported value at or above this (permits with no value are excluded when set). Cities without a value field: NYC and Austin. ## `webhookUrl` (type: `string`): If set, each run POSTs a summary to this URL (results are always in the dataset too). ## `seedLookbackDays` (type: `integer`): On the very first run for a city, emit permits from this many days back as a starter batch, then track only new permits after that. Default 3. ## Actor input object example ```json { "cities": [ "nyc", "chicago", "sf", "austin" ], "trades": [], "seedLookbackDays": 3 } ``` # 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": [ "nyc", "chicago", "sf", "austin" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("jamkon/us-building-permit-monitor").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": [ "nyc", "chicago", "sf", "austin", ] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("jamkon/us-building-permit-monitor").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).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": [ "nyc", "chicago", "sf", "austin" ] }' | apify call jamkon/us-building-permit-monitor --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=jamkon/us-building-permit-monitor", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Us Building Permit Monitor", "description": "Monitor newly issued US building permits (NYC, Chicago, SF, Austin) by trade - roofing, solar, HVAC, plumbing and more. Deduped daily feed, official city open data, no owner personal data.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "fSMNmcc7F6oPIbYPN" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/jamkon~us-building-permit-monitor/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-jamkon-us-building-permit-monitor", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/jamkon~us-building-permit-monitor/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-jamkon-us-building-permit-monitor", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/jamkon~us-building-permit-monitor/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-jamkon-us-building-permit-monitor", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "cities": { "title": "Cities", "type": "array", "description": "Which cities to monitor. More cities added on request.", "items": { "type": "string", "enum": [ "nyc", "chicago", "sf", "austin" ], "enumTitles": [ "New York City", "Chicago", "San Francisco", "Austin" ] } }, "trades": { "title": "Trades filter", "type": "array", "description": "Only emit permits for these trades. Leave empty for all.", "items": { "type": "string", "enum": [ "roofing", "solar", "hvac", "plumbing", "electrical", "pool", "demolition", "sign", "fence", "deck", "general_building", "other" ] }, "default": [] }, "minValuation": { "title": "Minimum valuation ($)", "type": "integer", "description": "Only emit permits with a reported value at or above this (permits with no value are excluded when set). Cities without a value field: NYC and Austin." }, "webhookUrl": { "title": "Webhook URL (optional)", "type": "string", "description": "If set, each run POSTs a summary to this URL (results are always in the dataset too)." }, "seedLookbackDays": { "title": "Starter batch days (first run)", "type": "integer", "description": "On the very first run for a city, emit permits from this many days back as a starter batch, then track only new permits after that. Default 3.", "default": 3 } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```