# Building Permits Leads: Contractor & Construction Data (`ledgerstar/building-permits`) Actor

Newly issued building permits from official city open-data portals in NYC, Chicago, Austin, Seattle and San Francisco. Filter by permit type, valuation and date. Records include address, permit type, valuation and contractor business name where published. Ready for contractors and suppliers.

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

## Pricing

$3.00 / 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

## Building Permits Leads: Contractor & Construction Data

Every week thousands of building permits are issued across major U.S. cities. This Actor turns official city permit records into ready-to-use leads: site address, permit type, job valuation and the contractor's business name where the city publishes one, filtered to your city, work type and date range.

### What you get

- Fresh permits from five official city open-data portals: New York City, Chicago, Austin, Seattle and San Francisco. Each record has site address, permit type, issue date, job valuation and status where published.
- Contractor's business name included only when the source clearly identifies a registered business; personal names, phone numbers and email addresses are never collected.
- Filters for date, city, ZIP, work type and minimum job valuation, plus an alert mode that returns only permits you have not seen yet.

### Quick start

1. Choose a date range: the last N days (default 30) or an exact start date.
2. Add filters if you want them: cities, permit types, ZIP prefixes and a minimum valuation.
3. Click Start, then export the results.

Worked example: city Austin, work type new construction, minimum valuation $100,000, last 7 days. Your count will vary week to week. Set a maximum cost per run and the Actor stops cleanly when your budget is reached.

### Who uses it

- Suppliers and subcontractors: reach projects before they buy materials or staff a job. Filter by type and valuation to prioritise high-value work in your area.

- Lenders and insurers: flag properties under active development for construction loans and builder's risk insurance by city and valuation.

- Accountants and bookkeeping firms: capture newly permitted contractors running active projects with payroll and tax needs.

### Sample output

Example rows showing the format:

| Issued | City | Type | Address | Contractor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-18 | Austin | new\_construction | 100 ELM ST | HILL COUNTRY BUILDERS LLC |
| 2026-09-20 | Seattle | electrical | 2401 N 45TH ST | APEX ELECTRIC INC |
| 2026-09-22 | Chicago | addition\_alteration | 1847 W MADISON ST | |

<details><summary>Full JSON example</summary>

```json
{
  "permitId": "AUSTIN-2026-100001-BP",
  "city": "Austin",
  "state": "TX",
  "permitNumber": "2026-100001 BP",
  "permitType": "new_construction",
  "workDescription": "New construction of duplex residence",
  "status": "Active",
  "issuedDate": "2026-06-01",
  "filedDate": "2026-05-01",
  "valuationUsd": 280000,
  "address": "100 ELM ST",
  "zip": "78701",
  "latitude": 30.267,
  "longitude": -97.743,
  "contractorBusinessName": "HILL COUNTRY BUILDERS LLC",
  "contractorLicenseNumber": null,
  "sourceUrl": "https://data.austintexas.gov/dataset/3syk-w9eu",
  "sourceDataset": "City of Austin — Issued Construction Permits (Austin Open Data)",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-09-25T14:00:00.000Z"
}
```

</details>

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cities | array | all 5 | New York, Chicago, Austin, Seattle, San Francisco. |
| Permits issued in the last N days | integer | 30 | Look back N days from today. |
| Issued on or after | date | none | Start date in YYYY-MM-DD format. |
| Permit / work type | array | all types | New construction, alteration, demolition, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, other. |
| Minimum job valuation (USD) | integer | none | Only permits at or above this amount. |
| ZIP codes or ZIP prefixes | array | none | Full ZIP or prefix. Chicago has no ZIP code. |
| Maximum results | integer | 20 | Results returned. You pay per result. |

<details><summary>Advanced options</summary>

- **Maximum source rows to scan** (integer, default 20000): Safety cap on how many source rows are read per run, across all selected cities.
- **Seconds between requests to the same city** (integer, default 1): Minimum delay between requests to the same source. Never less than one second.
- **Only new since** (string, optional): Set to lastRun on a schedule to fetch only permits new since the previous run, or an exact date in YYYY-MM-DD format. A permit already delivered is never charged for twice.
- **Alert mode lookback (days)** (integer, default 7, max 30): Only used with Only new since set to lastRun. Checks this many days before your last run for permits the source posted late.
- **Socrata app token** (string, optional): Free app token from any of these cities' open data portals. Raises rate limits for very large pulls.
- **Alert mode: stable state name** (string, optional): Only used with alert mode. Give this a fixed name such as "austin nightly" so this schedule always uses the same saved last run date, even if you change other filters. Letters, numbers and hyphens only, up to 30 characters.

</details>

### Alert mode: only new records

Run the Actor on a schedule and get only the permits issued since your last run. The first run returns normal results; every run after that returns only new permits. You pay only for new results, so a run with nothing new costs nothing.

Set it up in three steps:

1. Create a Task in Apify Console with all your filters (cities, work types, valuation).
2. In the Task input, set "Only new since" to lastRun.
3. Go to the Task Schedule tab, click Add Schedule and choose daily or weekly.

Keep your filters the same on every run. How the Actor remembers what it already sent is explained in the FAQ.

### Pricing

$3.00 per 1,000 results ($0.003 per permit).

Worked examples: 100 results cost $0.30, 1,000 results cost $3.00, and 10,000 results cost $30.00. Set a maximum cost per run in the run options and the Actor stops cleanly when your budget is reached.

### Integrations

- Google Sheets: send every run's results to a sheet automatically.
- Zapier and Make: trigger a workflow for each new permit, for example add it to your CRM.
- Slack: post a message when a run finds new permits.
- Apify API: download results as CSV, Excel or JSON from your own code.
- Export: CSV, Excel and JSON downloads straight from the dataset view.

### Data source and compliance

The data is published as open data by each city and accessed through each city's official public API without login. Only the contractor's registered business name is included; owner names, applicant names, phone numbers and email addresses are never collected.

You are responsible for compliance with CAN-SPAM and TCPA when contacting businesses. Only contact business decision-makers at the business address. This Actor is not affiliated with any city and data should be verified before relying on it for business decisions.

### FAQ

**How current is the data?**
The Actor queries each city's live dataset every time it runs, so results are as current as each city's latest publication.

**Why do some records have null values?**
Not every city publishes every field. Chicago has no site ZIP code and San Francisco publishes no contractor name. Contractor names are only included when they look like registered businesses (LLC, Inc., Corp., etc.).

**What do the permit types mean?**
Permit types are normalised categories (new construction, addition, demolition, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, other) derived from each city's free-text classifications and used as a convenience filter only.

**Could workDescription contain a name?**
Occasionally, as it is the city's own free text published as-is.

**Can I use this for cold outreach?**
Yes, but comply with CAN-SPAM and TCPA laws. Only contact business decision-makers at the business address.

**How does alert mode work?**
The Actor saves delivered permit ids to a key value store (alert-building-permits-{code}) and skips them on future runs. It looks back 7 days by default to catch late-posted permits and never charges twice. To reset, delete the store in Apify Console or set a custom alert mode stable state name.

**Where are the city data portals?**
NYC: https://data.cityofnewyork.us/dataset/rbx6-tga4. Chicago: https://data.cityofchicago.org/dataset/ydr8-5enu. Austin: https://data.austintexas.gov/dataset/3syk-w9eu. Seattle: https://data.seattle.gov/dataset/76t5-zqzr. San Francisco: https://data.sf.gov/dataset/i98e-djp9.

### More from Ledgerstar

- **Texas New Business Leads:** weekly new sales tax permits from the Texas Comptroller: https://apify.com/ledgerstar/texas-sales-tax-permits

- **New Business Filings:** Colorado and New York business formation data: https://apify.com/ledgerstar/state-business-filings

- **Nonprofit Finder:** IRS Exempt Organizations by state: https://apify.com/ledgerstar/nonprofit-finder

- **Chamber of Commerce Directory Scraper:** Local Chamber of Commerce business lists: https://apify.com/ledgerstar/chamber-directory-scraper

### Support

Support: open an issue on this Actor's Issues tab in Apify Console.

# Actor input Schema

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

Leave empty for all supported cities.

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

Look back this many days from today. Ignored when 'Issued on or after' is set.

## `issuedFrom` (type: `string`):

Exact start date (YYYY-MM-DD). Overrides 'last N days'.

## `newSince` (type: `string`):

Set to "lastRun" on a schedule to fetch only permits new since the previous run; a permit already delivered is never charged for twice. Or set an exact date (YYYY-MM-DD). Leave empty for a normal one-off run.

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

Leave empty for all types.

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

Only permits with a published valuation at or above this amount. Not every city publishes a valuation; leave empty to include all.

## `zipPrefixes` (type: `array`):

e.g. 78701 for one ZIP, or 787 for a whole region. Chicago's dataset does not publish a site ZIP code and is unaffected by this filter.

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

Stop after this many results. You are charged per result.

## `maxRowsScanned` (type: `integer`):

Safety limit on how many raw rows are read while filtering, across all selected cities combined.

## `requestDelaySecs` (type: `integer`):

Minimum delay between requests to the same source. Never less than 1 second.

## `alertLookbackDays` (type: `integer`):

Only used with "Only new since" = lastRun. A safety margin re-checked on every scheduled run to cover late-posted records; already-delivered permits are never charged twice.

## `appToken` (type: `string`):

Optional free app token from any of these cities' open data portals. Gives higher rate limits for very large pulls. Not needed for normal use.

## `alertStateKey` (type: `string`):

Only used with alert mode (newSince above). Give this a fixed name such as austin nightly so this schedule always uses the same saved last run date, even if you change other filters. Letters, numbers and hyphens only, up to 30 characters. Leave empty to have one chosen automatically based on your filters.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "cities": [],
  "daysBack": 30,
  "permitTypes": [],
  "maxItems": 20,
  "maxRowsScanned": 20000,
  "requestDelaySecs": 1,
  "alertLookbackDays": 7
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

## `runSummary` (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 = {
    "daysBack": 30,
    "maxItems": 20
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("ledgerstar/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 = {
    "daysBack": 30,
    "maxItems": 20,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("ledgerstar/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 '{
  "daysBack": 30,
  "maxItems": 20
}' |
apify call ledgerstar/building-permits --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,ledgerstar/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/FPuVXSg7NjRloSTz6/builds/o4iV54T5E7L77s7ne/openapi.json