Burlington Building Permits – Open Data API

Building Permits for Burlington only, from the city's official open dataset (~5,000 source rows), via the ArcGIS REST API — no website scraping.

• Key fields: permitNumber, permitType, workType, status, issuedDate, ward, estimatedValueCad, residentialUnits.
• Licence: City of Burlington Open Data Terms of Use; every record carries the required credit and licence link.
• Output: structured JSON, or CSV / Excel from the Apify dataset. Filters run at the source (type, status, issued dates and more), up to 50,000 permits per run.
• Privacy: street addresses and free-text descriptions removed.

Why not build it yourself? No ArcGIS/Socrata paging, field mapping, date normalising or de-duplication to write and maintain. You get one tidy row per permit with consistent field names and ISO dates.

Price: $0.003 per result (three-tenths of a cent; 1,000 results = $3.00), no start fee. You pay only for permits returned.

What it does

This Actor reads building permits from the City of Burlington's official open dataset (Burlington open data, about 5,000 source rows) through the ArcGIS REST query API. It does not scrape any website.

Rows are deduplicated so you get one record per permit number.

Free open data vs. this Actor

The dataset is free on the Burlington open-data portal. Use that for a one-off download. This Actor is for:

• Filters at the source: permit type, status, issued dates, minimum value, ward, keyword
• Clean JSON: ISO dates, consistent field names, one row per permit
• Privacy trimming: no street addresses, no free-text descriptions, no names
• Scheduled runs and Apify API / Sheets / Make / Zapier exports

Who it's for

• Contractors and suppliers (windows, HVAC, roofing, landscaping) watching new work in Burlington
• Developers and real-estate analysts tracking construction activity
• Housing researchers counting permits and new units

What data you get

Field	Meaning
permitNumber	City permit number
permitType	Permit type / class
workType	Kind of work
subType	Sub-type of work
status	Permit status
applicationDate	YYYY-MM-DD
issuedDate	YYYY-MM-DD
ward	Ward number
estimatedValueCad	Estimated construction value (CAD)
residentialUnits	Residential units
referenceFile	Related file number
source	Source portal
licence	Licence credit and Terms of Use link (the Terms must accompany redistributed data)

Input

Field	Key	Notes
Permit type contains	permitType	e.g. Single Detached Dwelling, Commercial (case-insensitive).
Work type contains	workType	e.g. New, Addition, Alteration.
Status contains	status	e.g. Issued, Closed.
Issued on/after (YYYY-MM-DD)	issuedFrom	Optional start date.
Issued on/before (YYYY-MM-DD)	issuedTo	Optional end date.
Minimum construction value (CAD)	minValue	Optional.
Ward	ward	Ward number (optional).
Keyword	keyword	Server-side filter on sub-type, type and permit number.
Max permits	maxItems	Stop after this many permits.

Bad dates or an inverted date range fail before any API call, with a clear error.

Example input:

{"permitType": "Single Detached Dwelling", "issuedFrom": "2025-01-01", "maxItems": 200, "minValue": 1000000}

Pricing

Pay per result: you are charged only for permits returned (one result = one permit). See the Pricing tab for the current rate.

Licence and privacy

• Licence: City of Burlington Open Data Terms of Use. Reuse, including commercial use and redistribution, is allowed. Credit is not required but encouraged (the City may ask for a credit to be removed). If you redistribute the data you must include these Terms of Use (or their URL) and make recipients bound by them. Every record carries a credit line with the Terms URL.
• No endorsement: this Actor is independent. It does not use City of Burlington trade-marks, official marks or logos and does not imply City participation, sponsorship, approval or endorsement (Terms: No Endorsement / No Association).
• Privacy: The output is reduced, not anonymous: permit numbers can be looked up in City records and may be tied to a property, and a permit can still relate to an identifiable homeowner. Street addresses (civic number, street name and unit) and free-text work descriptions are removed. Owner, applicant and contractor names are not exported. Records still include permit number, permit type and category, status, dates, construction value and unit counts, and (where the source has them) ward. Also not exported: name or contact fields (none exist in the source).

Limits

• Coverage is the City of Burlington only.
• Data freshness and completeness match the Burlington open-data feed. This Actor does not add or correct permits.
• Max 50,000 permits per run. Pages of 1,000 with a 1 s pause between pages.
• Fields can be null when the source left them blank.

FAQ

Is this scraping? No. It queries the city's public ArcGIS REST API.

Does it include owner or applicant names or addresses? No. Street addresses and descriptions are removed, but the data is reduced, not anonymous: a permit number can be looked up in City records and may relate to a specific property.

Can I use it commercially? Yes, under the City of Burlington Open Data Terms of Use. If you pass the data on, include the Terms URL. Don't imply City endorsement and don't use City logos or marks.