# US Building Permits Tracker: Solar, Roof, ADU, Pool (`metal_spinney/us-building-permits`) Actor Daily building permits from official open data in NYC, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Austin, Seattle and Detroit. Filter solar, roofing, ADU, pool, demolition, EV charger and battery permits, with a new-since-last-run mode for contractor leads. - **URL**: https://apify.com/metal_spinney/us-building-permits.md - **Developed by:** [Open Registry Data](https://apify.com/metal_spinney) (community) - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per usage This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-usage ## 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 Scraper: Solar, Roofing, Pool, ADU & Demolition Leads Fresh **building permits from 7 large US cities**, all from official open data: **New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, Seattle and Detroit**. Filter them with ready-made **project categories (solar, roof / re-roof, swimming pool, ADU / accessory dwelling unit, demolition, EV charger, heat pump, battery storage)** or your own keywords. You get one normalized schema with address, ZIP, work description, estimated cost, contractor (where published) and lat/long. **Diff mode** returns only permits issued since your last run, which works as a daily permit-lead feed. **Keywords:** building permits scraper, building permit data, permit leads, solar permits, roofing leads, re-roof permits, pool permits, ADU permits, demolition permits, EV charger permits, contractor leads, construction leads, home improvement leads, NYC DOB permits, LADBS permits, Chicago permits, Austin permits, Seattle permits, San Francisco permits, Detroit permits. ### Use cases - **Solar, battery and EV-charger installers**: see competitor installs and neighborhood adoption, and find homeowners who are adding a roof or ADU (good upsell timing). - **Roofers, pool builders, ADU builders and demolition/haulage firms**: get a daily list of permitted projects by ZIP or cost. - **Building-material suppliers, insurers, lenders and home-service marketplaces**: target new construction activity. - **Market research**: track solar or ADU permit counts by city over time (the `SUMMARY` record in the key-value store holds per-city counts). ### Input examples ```json { "categories": ["solar", "roof", "pool", "adu", "demolition"], "lookbackDays": 14 } { "mode": "diff", "jurisdictions": ["los-angeles"], "categories": ["adu"], "minEstimatedCost": 100000, "stateKey": "la-adu" } { "jurisdictions": ["austin", "seattle"], "keywords": ["generator"] } ``` The actor runs a broad server-side text search, then applies a precise word-boundary regex, so `adu` doesn't match "graduate". Each item lists its `matchedCategories`. ### Output (one item per permit) `jurisdiction, city, permitId, issueDate, address, zip, permitType, description, estimatedCost, status, contractor, owner, parcelId, latitude, longitude, matchedCategories, source` (+ `raw` when `includeRaw` is on; `changeType, firstSeenAt` in diff mode). Example output (real records, Oct 2026 test run): ```json [ { "jurisdiction": "chicago", "city": "Chicago, IL", "permitId": "B200514154", "issueDate": "2026-10-06", "address": "1725 W 99TH ST", "zip": null, "permitType": "PERMIT – EXPRESS PERMIT PROGRAM / Small-Scale Solar PV System", "description": "INSTALL SOLAR PANELS ON ROOF OF PRINCIPAL BUILDING. ROOF TYPE: STEEP (>5:12). INVERTER OUTPUT: 9 KW. ARRAY OUTPUT: 9.66 KW. INCLUDES 16 KWH ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM. LOCATION: ROOF OF THE PRINCIPAL HOUSE. ICC DISTRIBUTED GENERATION INSTALLER CERT. #26-0701.", "estimatedCost": 22710.0, "status": "ACTIVE", "contractor": "(XRB) CONSTRUCTION SERVICES, LLC.", "owner": null, "parcelId": "2507404006", "latitude": 41.7137915365028, "longitude": -87.66636946458827, "matchedCategories": [ "solar", "roof" ] }, { "jurisdiction": "los-angeles", "city": "Los Angeles, CA", "permitId": "26016-90000-27236", "issueDate": "2026-10-03", "address": "3268 N BERRY DR", "zip": "91604", "permitType": "Bldg-Alter/Repair / 1 or 2 Family Dwelling", "description": "Re-roof with Class A or B roof covering material weighing less than 6 pounds per sq. ft. over existing solid sheathing 27 Squares. Class A roof covering is required within Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFHSZ). For residential roof replacement > 50% of the total roof area, apply Cool Roof Product labeled and certified by Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC). Cool Roof may be required for non-residential buildings per Title 24, Part 6, Section 141.0(b)2B.", "estimatedCost": 5400.0, "status": "Issued", "contractor": null, "owner": null, "parcelId": "2380016017", "latitude": 34.13301, "longitude": -118.3797, "matchedCategories": [ "roof" ] }, { "jurisdiction": "austin", "city": "Austin, TX", "permitId": "2026-129364 EP", "issueDate": "2026-10-06", "address": "6409 SALCON CLIFF DR", "zip": "78749", "permitType": "Electrical Permit / Auxiliary Power", "description": "Avery - 40-23269 - Install new 11.4kW rooftop solar system to existing residential only using backfed breaker only.", "estimatedCost": null, "status": "Active", "contractor": "Power Home Remodeling", "owner": null, "parcelId": "0418400213", "latitude": 30.20807812, "longitude": -97.8828614, "matchedCategories": [ "solar", "roof" ] } ] ``` Test run (14 days, solar+roof+pool+ADU+demolition, all 7 cities): **2,561 permits in about 25 s**. That breaks down as NYC 681, Chicago 297, LA 1,255, SF 60, Austin 206, Seattle 35, Detroit 27. ### "New since last run" (diff mode) Set **Mode = diff** and schedule the actor daily or weekly. Each run looks at a rolling date window and returns **only records it has never returned before**, tagged `changeType: "new"` and `firstSeenAt`. Seen IDs are stored in a named key-value store (`stateStoreName`, separate `stateKey` per saved search), so the state survives between scheduled runs. On the first run you can output the whole window (flagged `baselineRun: true`) or store a silent baseline (`firstRunBehaviour: baselineOnly`). Pair it with an Apify integration (Slack, email, Google Sheets, Zapier, Make, webhook) to get a lead alert feed. ### Sources | key | Dataset | |---|---| | `nyc` | NYC DOB NOW: Build – Approved Permits (`rbx6-tga4`) | | `chicago` | Chicago Building Permits (`ydr8-5enu`) | | `los-angeles` | LADBS Building Permits Issued 2020–present (`pi9x-tg5x`) | | `san-francisco` | SF DBI Building Permits (`i98e-djp9`) | | `austin` | Austin Issued Construction Permits (`3syk-w9eu`) | | `seattle` | Seattle SDCI Building Permits (`76t5-zqzr`) | | `detroit` | Detroit BSEED Building Permits (ArcGIS open data) | Public records used under each city's open-data terms, with a `source` block on every item. Not affiliated with or endorsed by any city. Contractor and owner names appear only where the city publishes them. Follow TCPA/CAN-SPAM rules for any outreach. ### Row cap and failure handling - **`maxRowsPerSource`** (default 5000, 0 = unlimited): per-source cap on raw rows fetched, with automatic pagination. Sources that hit the cap are listed under `cappedSources` in the `OUTPUT` record and in the run's status message. - **Failures are loud**: if any source fails (HTTP error, ArcGIS error, timeout), the run is marked **FAILED**, the status message names the failed source(s) and error, and the `OUTPUT` key-value record contains `ok: false` and `failedSources`. Rows from a failed source are never returned partially. # Actor input Schema ## `mode` (type: `string`): Diff mode remembers IDs already returned (named key-value store) and outputs only new ones. Schedule it daily/weekly for alerts. ## `jurisdictions` (type: `array`): Official permit datasets to search. ## `categories` (type: `array`): Pre-built keyword sets matched against description and permit type. ## `keywords` (type: `array`): Your own substring keywords (OR with categories), e.g. generator, kitchen remodel. ## `minEstimatedCost` (type: `integer`): Skip permits valued below this (permits with no value are skipped too when set). ## `dateFrom` (type: `string`): Issue date from. ## `dateTo` (type: `string`): YYYY-MM-DD. Default today. ## `lookbackDays` (type: `integer`): Window size if Date from is empty. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): 0 = no limit. ## `perJurisdictionLimit` (type: `integer`): Deprecated: use maxRowsPerSource. Overrides it when > 0. ## `maxRowsPerSource` (type: `integer`): Per-source row cap (paginated). 0 = no limit. The run status/OUTPUT record flags sources that hit the cap. ## `includeRaw` (type: `boolean`): Adds every original column under 'raw'. ## `stateKey` (type: `string`): Use a different key per saved search/schedule so their 'seen' lists don't mix. ## `stateStoreName` (type: `string`): Named key-value store holding the seen-ID state. Leave empty for the default. ## `firstRunBehaviour` (type: `string`): What the first diff run (no state yet) returns. ## Actor input object example ```json { "mode": "snapshot", "jurisdictions": [ "nyc", "chicago", "los-angeles", "san-francisco", "austin", "seattle", "detroit" ], "categories": [ "solar" ], "lookbackDays": 7, "maxItems": 0, "perJurisdictionLimit": 0, "maxRowsPerSource": 5000, "includeRaw": false, "stateKey": "default", "firstRunBehaviour": "emitAll" } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): No description ## `resultsView` (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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "categories": [ "solar" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("metal_spinney/us-building-permits").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`πŸ’Ύ 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); }); // πŸ“š Want to learn more πŸ“–? Go to β†’ 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 = { "categories": ["solar"] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("metal_spinney/us-building-permits").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print(f"πŸ’Ύ 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) # πŸ“š Want to learn more πŸ“–? Go to β†’ https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "categories": [ "solar" ] }' | apify call metal_spinney/us-building-permits --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,metal_spinney/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 ` 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/9ztTstmxdW9EBjvzJ/builds/tq3W320WyMgwWZcmg/openapi.json