# US Building Permits Feed (37 Cities & Counties, One Schema) (`novadata/city-building-permits-feed`) Actor New building permits from official open-data portals in 37 US cities and counties (NYC, LA, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Antonio, DC, Boston, Denver, Miami and more) in one schema with trade tags (solar, roofing, HVAC, ADU...). Filter by trade, keyword, value. No API key. - **URL**: https://apify.com/novadata/city-building-permits-feed.md - **Developed by:** [novadata](https://apify.com/novadata) (community) - **Categories:** Lead generation, Real estate - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing $3.00 / 1,000 permits 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 ## US Building Permits Feed (37 Cities & Counties, One Schema) Fresh building permits from **official city and county open-data portals**, all in **one consistent schema**, with **trade tags** so you can pull just the solar, roofing, HVAC, electrical, pool or ADU jobs you care about. **37 jurisdictions** (33 cities and 4 counties), including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Jose, Austin, Columbus, Fort Worth, Washington DC, Denver, Nashville, Boston, Louisville, Baltimore, Detroit, Miami and Miami-Dade County. Every source is read live from the government's own public data service (Socrata, ArcGIS REST or CARTO APIs, or the city's official CSV export for Boston, San Antonio and San Jose). No API key, no login, no scraping of web pages. ### Coverage | City / county | Key | Official source | Contractor name | Project value | Permits found, last 30 days\* | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Chicago, IL | `chicago` | [data.cityofchicago.org](https://data.cityofchicago.org/d/ydr8-5enu) (Socrata) | Yes (by role) | Yes | 2,915 | | New York City, NY | `nyc` | [data.cityofnewyork.us](https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/rbx6-tga4) (Socrata) | Yes (permittee business) | Yes | 5,000+ | | Los Angeles, CA | `los_angeles` | [data.lacity.org](https://data.lacity.org/d/pi9x-tg5x) (Socrata) | No | Yes | 4,575 | | San Francisco, CA | `san_francisco` | [data.sfgov.org](https://data.sfgov.org/d/i98e-djp9) (Socrata) | No | Yes | 1,287 | | Austin, TX | `austin` | [data.austintexas.gov](https://data.austintexas.gov/d/3syk-w9eu) (Socrata) | Yes, with business phone | Some | 4,402 | | Seattle, WA | `seattle` | [data.seattle.gov](https://data.seattle.gov/d/76t5-zqzr) (Socrata) | Some | Yes | 451 | | New Orleans, LA | `new_orleans` | [data.nola.gov](https://data.nola.gov/d/rcm3-fn58) (Socrata) | Yes | Yes | 1,300 | | Baton Rouge, LA | `baton_rouge` | [data.brla.gov](https://data.brla.gov/d/7fq7-8j7r) (Socrata) | Some | Some | 650 | | Philadelphia, PA | `philadelphia` | [opendataphilly.org](https://opendataphilly.org/datasets/licenses-and-inspections-building-and-zoning-permits/) (CARTO) | Yes | No | 3,652 | | Washington, DC | `washington_dc` | [opendata.dc.gov](https://maps2.dcgis.dc.gov/dcgis/rest/services/FEEDS/DCRA/FeatureServer/18) (ArcGIS REST) | No | No | 3,418 | | Columbus, OH | `columbus` | [opendata.columbus.gov](https://services1.arcgis.com/9yy6msODkIBzkUXU/arcgis/rest/services/Building_Permits/FeatureServer/0) (ArcGIS REST) | Yes | Some | 3,949 | | Fort Worth, TX † | `fort_worth` | [data.fortworthtexas.gov](https://services5.arcgis.com/3ddLCBXe1bRt7mzj/arcgis/rest/services/CFW_Open_Data_Development_Permits_View/FeatureServer/0) (ArcGIS REST) | No | Some | 5,000+ | | Nashville, TN | `nashville` | [data.nashville.gov](https://services2.arcgis.com/HdTo6HJqh92wn4D8/arcgis/rest/services/Building_Permits_Issued_2/FeatureServer/0) (ArcGIS REST) | Some | Yes | 925 | | Denver, CO | `denver` | [opendata-geospatialdenver.hub.arcgis.com](https://services1.arcgis.com/zdB7qR0BtYrg0Xpl/arcgis/rest/services/ODC_DEV_RESIDENTIALCONSTPERMIT_P/FeatureServer/316) (ArcGIS REST) | Yes | Yes | 458 | | Louisville, KY | `louisville` | [louisville-metro-opendata-lojic.hub.arcgis.com](https://services1.arcgis.com/79kfd2K6fskCAkyg/arcgis/rest/services/active_construction_permits/FeatureServer/0) (ArcGIS REST) | Some | Yes | 1,175 | | Baltimore, MD | `baltimore` | [data.baltimorecity.gov](https://baltegis.baltimorecity.gov/mapping/rest/services/Housing/DHCD_Open_Baltimore_Datasets/FeatureServer/3) (ArcGIS REST) | No | Yes | 2,456 | | Detroit, MI | `detroit` | [data.detroitmi.gov](https://services2.arcgis.com/qvkbeam7Wirps6zC/arcgis/rest/services/bseed_building_permits/FeatureServer/0) (ArcGIS REST) | No | Yes | 565 | | Miami, FL | `miami` | [datahub-miamigis.opendata.arcgis.com](https://services1.arcgis.com/CvuPhqcTQpZPT9qY/arcgis/rest/services/Building_Permits_Since_2014/FeatureServer/0) (ArcGIS REST) | Yes | Yes | 2,584 | | Miami-Dade County, FL | `miami_dade_county` | [gis-mdc.opendata.arcgis.com](https://services.arcgis.com/8Pc9XBTAsYuxx9Ny/arcgis/rest/services/miamidade_permit_data/FeatureServer/0) (ArcGIS REST) | Yes | Yes | 5,000+ | | Minneapolis, MN | `minneapolis` | [opendata.minneapolismn.gov](https://services.arcgis.com/afSMGVsC7QlRK1kZ/arcgis/rest/services/CCS_Permits/FeatureServer/0) (ArcGIS REST) | Yes | Some | 2,799 | | Cleveland, OH | `cleveland` | [data.clevelandohio.gov](https://services3.arcgis.com/dty2kHktVXHrqO8i/arcgis/rest/services/Building_Permits/FeatureServer/0) (ArcGIS REST) | Yes | Yes | 1,360 | | Raleigh, NC | `raleigh` | [data-ral.opendata.arcgis.com](https://services.arcgis.com/v400IkDOw1ad7Yad/arcgis/rest/services/Building_Permits/FeatureServer/0) (ArcGIS REST) | Yes | Yes | 424 | | Tacoma, WA | `tacoma` | [www.cityoftacoma.org](https://services3.arcgis.com/SCwJH1pD8WSn5T5y/arcgis/rest/services/accela_permit_data/FeatureServer/0) (ArcGIS REST) | No | Some | 742 | | Bellevue, WA | `bellevue` | [data.bellevuewa.gov](https://services1.arcgis.com/EYzEZbDhXZjURPbP/arcgis/rest/services/Bellevue_Permits_\(Pending_-_Ready_to_Issue_-_Issued_-_Open\)/FeatureServer/0) (ArcGIS REST) | Yes | No | 823 | | Boulder, CO | `boulder` | [open-data.bouldercolorado.gov](https://services.arcgis.com/ePKBjXrBZ2vEEgWd/arcgis/rest/services/Construction_Permits/FeatureServer/0) (ArcGIS REST) | Yes | Yes | 756 | | Pierce County, WA | `pierce_county` | [gisdata-piercecowa.opendata.arcgis.com](https://services2.arcgis.com/1UvBaQ5y1ubjUPmd/arcgis/rest/services/Permits_Pierce_County/FeatureServer/0) (ArcGIS REST) | No | Some | 805 | | Cincinnati, OH | `cincinnati` | [data.cincinnati-oh.gov](https://data.cincinnati-oh.gov/d/uhjb-xac9) (Socrata) | Yes | Yes | 931 | | Norfolk, VA | `norfolk` | [data.norfolk.gov](https://data.norfolk.gov/d/fahm-yuh4) (Socrata) | No | Yes | 976 | | Mesa, AZ | `mesa` | [citydata.mesaaz.gov](https://citydata.mesaaz.gov/d/dzpk-hxfb) (Socrata) | Some | Yes | 353 | | Cambridge, MA | `cambridge` | [data.cambridgema.gov](https://data.cambridgema.gov/d/3wsm-e5jx) (Socrata) | No | No | 1,129 | | Montgomery County, MD | `montgomery_county_md` | [data.montgomerycountymd.gov](https://data.montgomerycountymd.gov/d/m88u-pqki) (Socrata) | No | Yes | 603 | | Marin County, CA | `marin_county` | [data.marincounty.gov](https://data.marincounty.gov/d/mkbn-caye) (Socrata) | Yes | Yes | 404 | | Corona, CA | `corona` | [corstat.coronaca.gov](https://corstat.coronaca.gov/d/2agx-camz) (Socrata) | No | Some | 263 | | Everett, WA | `everett` | [data.everettwa.gov](https://data.everettwa.gov/d/3w3u-656c) (Socrata) | Yes | Yes | 651 | | San Jose, CA ‡ | `san_jose` | [data.sanjoseca.gov](https://data.sanjoseca.gov/dataset/last-30-days-building-permits) (official CSV export) | Yes | Some | 2,264 | | San Antonio, TX | `san_antonio` | [data.sanantonio.gov](https://data.sanantonio.gov/dataset/building-permits) (official CSV export) | No | No | 5,000+ | | Boston, MA | `boston` | [data.boston.gov](https://data.boston.gov/dataset/approved-building-permits) (official CSV export) | No | Yes | 263 | \* Rows the Actor read from each source for permits issued Sep 18 – Oct 18, 2026 (test on Oct 18, 2026), before your filters. Volumes change daily; this is a snapshot, not a guarantee. † Fort Worth doesn't publish an issue date, so the date window uses the **filing date** (`appliedDate`) and `issueDate` is empty. ‡ San Jose's official feed only covers the **last 30 days**. "Contractor name": Yes = most records name a contractor business, Some = a minority do, No = the source doesn't publish one. ### Who it's for - **Contractors and installers** (solar, roofing, HVAC, pools, windows) looking for neighbourhoods where work is happening, or for subcontracting partners - **Building-material suppliers and distributors** finding active contractors - **Insurance, home-warranty and home-services marketers** watching renovation activity - **Real-estate investors and analysts** tracking new construction, ADUs and demolitions - **PropTech and data teams** that want one schema instead of 37 ### Inputs | Input | Example | Notes | |---|---|---| | `cities` | `["philadelphia", "columbus", "miami"]` | Keys from the table above. Empty = all 37 | | `issuedWithinDays` | `7` | Cities publish with a lag of 1 to 10 days | | `trades` | `["solar", "roofing", "hvac"]` | Keyword-based tags (see below) | | `keywords` | `["heat pump"]` | Matches permit type, work class and description | | `minValue` | `50000` | Declared project value in USD | | `requireContractor` | `true` | Drops permits without a contractor name (and so cities that don't publish one) | | `includePersonNames` | `false` | Off by default (see Privacy) | | `dedupe` | `true` | One row per permit number per city | | `maxPerCity`, `maxItems` | `200`, `1000` | `maxItems` also caps your cost | #### Example input: roofing, solar and HVAC permits from the last 2 weeks that name a contractor ```json { "cities": ["philadelphia", "columbus", "cleveland", "miami", "raleigh"], "issuedWithinDays": 14, "trades": ["solar", "roofing", "hvac"], "requireContractor": true, "maxItems": 1000 } ``` ### Output Every record has the same fields whatever the city. Fields a city doesn't publish are `null`. Example (real record from a test run): ```json { "city": "Austin", "state": "TX", "permitNumber": "2026-101809 MP", "permitType": "Mechanical Permit", "workClass": "Remodel", "status": "Active", "description": "INTERIOR REMODEL-RECEPTION AREA AND EXPANDING INTO 3500SF OFFICE SPACE THE REST OF THE SPACE IS PAINT AND FLOORING", "issueDate": "2026-10-16T00:00:00.000", "appliedDate": "2026-07-29T00:00:00.000", "estimatedValue": null, "address": "5301 SOUTHWEST PKWY BLDG 1 UNIT 460", "zip": "78735", "latitude": 30.24357546, "longitude": -97.84150985, "contractorName": "Airco Mechanical", "contractorTrade": "Mechanical Contractor", "contractorPhone": "512XXXXXXX (redacted in this README)", "contacts": [], "ownerName": null, "recordUrl": "https://abc.austintexas.gov/web/permit/public-search-other?t_detail=1&t_selected_folderrsn=13750684", "tradeTags": [ "hvac", "remodel" ], "sourcePortal": "https://data.austintexas.gov/d/3syk-w9eu", "sourceApi": "https://data.austintexas.gov/resource/3syk-w9eu.json", "scrapedAt": "2026-10-17T12:48:07+00:00" } ``` ### Trade tags Tags come from keyword rules on the permit type, work class and description, such as "re-roof" → `roofing` or "heat pump" → `hvac`. They're useful but not perfect. A renovation that "removes the existing roof" gets tagged `roofing`, and cities with short permit types (Cambridge, Denver, Louisville) get fewer tags. Tags: solar, roofing, hvac, electrical, plumbing, ev_charger, generator, pool, new_construction, demolition, remodel, addition, adu, windows_doors, fence, sign, fire_protection, elevator, foundation. ### Pricing **$3.00 per 1,000 permits**, with no start fee. A weekly pull of 500 filtered leads costs $1.50. ### Privacy and responsible use - By default the Actor returns **business information only**: permit details, address of the work, and contractor business names. Homeowner names and sole-proprietor names are left out unless you turn on `includePersonNames`. - For the 29 jurisdictions added in October 2026, owner names, applicant phone numbers and e-mail addresses are **never downloaded or returned**, even with `includePersonNames` on. Where a city's contractor/applicant column can hold either a company or a person (Nashville, Minneapolis, Louisville, Miami-Dade, Bellevue, Mesa, Marin County, Everett), names that don't look like a business are dropped unless `includePersonNames` is on. - Some cities list individual tradespeople as the contractor (common in New Orleans). Those names are part of the official permit record. - Permit records are public, but **public doesn't mean any outreach is allowed**. Phone and text marketing is regulated (TCPA, Do-Not-Call), and some states restrict commercial use of public records. You're responsible for how you use the data. - This Actor isn't affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for any of these governments. Data is provided by each agency "as is", and the agencies don't warrant its accuracy, completeness or timeliness. Each record links to its source (`sourcePortal`, `sourceApi`). Check the source before relying on a record. ### Limits - Coverage is the 37 jurisdictions above. More can be added one dataset at a time. - Los Angeles refreshes weekly and Baton Rouge with a lag of about a week. A 7-day window can return few or no rows for them, so use 14 to 30 days. - Washington DC is read from its 2025 and 2026 yearly layers, so windows reaching before Jan 1, 2025 return nothing older for DC. - NYC reissues the same permit number on renewals, and San Antonio repeats a permit number per sub-record. With `dedupe` on you get the latest row only. - Boston and San Antonio are read from their full official CSV exports (about 50 MB and 28 MB), which can add a minute or two to runs that include them. They're listed last, so runs that hit `maxItems` earlier skip them. - If one city's API is down, the run continues with the others, and the error is reported in the `RUN_SUMMARY` record. # Actor input Schema ## `cities` (type: `array`): Which cities and counties to pull. Leave empty for all 37. ## `issuedWithinDays` (type: `integer`): Permits with an issue date in the last N days (Fort Worth: filing date, because it doesn't publish an issue date). Cities publish with a lag of 1 to 10 days. San Jose's feed only covers the last 30 days. ## `trades` (type: `array`): Keep permits tagged with any of these trades. Tags are keyword heuristics on permit type and description. ## `keywords` (type: `array`): Case-insensitive match against permit type and description. Any keyword matches. ## `minValue` (type: `integer`): Drop permits with a declared value below this. Permits with no value count as 0. ## `requireContractor` (type: `boolean`): Keep only permits that name a contractor. Some cities don't publish contractor names (for example Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, Boston, San Antonio, Detroit, Baltimore, Tacoma), so this removes them. ## `includePersonNames` (type: `boolean`): Off by default. When on, adds homeowner names (Chicago, NYC, New Orleans) and sole-proprietor contractor names (Austin) where the city publishes them, and keeps applicant/contact names that don't look like a business (Nashville, Minneapolis, Louisville, Miami-Dade, Bellevue, Mesa, Marin County, Everett). Owner names, phones and e-mails are never returned for the cities added in v0.2. Check your local privacy and marketing laws before using personal names for outreach. ## `includeRaw` (type: `boolean`): Adds the untouched city record under 'raw'. ## `dedupe` (type: `boolean`): Keep only the most recent row per permit number (NYC lists renewals of the same permit; SF repeats a permit per address). ## `maxPerCity` (type: `integer`): 0 = no per-city cap. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): You are charged per permit, so this also caps cost. ## `socrataAppToken` (type: `string`): Not required. A free token from any Socrata portal raises rate limits for very large pulls. ## Actor input object example ```json { "cities": [ "austin", "chicago" ], "issuedWithinDays": 7, "requireContractor": false, "includePersonNames": false, "includeRaw": false, "dedupe": true, "maxPerCity": 0, "maxItems": 1000 } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): Normalized building permit records from the selected cities (one item per permit). ## `allFields` (type: `string`): Every field of every record, unflattened. ## `runSummary` (type: `string`): Rows scanned, records returned, why the run stopped, and source freshness. # 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": [ "austin", "chicago" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("novadata/city-building-permits-feed").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": [ "austin", "chicago", ] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("novadata/city-building-permits-feed").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 '{ "cities": [ "austin", "chicago" ] }' | apify call novadata/city-building-permits-feed --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,novadata/city-building-permits-feed" } } } ``` 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/qS4LEL4a1pFw2kxIG/builds/HcI8qpC7sZEIlkCvB/openapi.json