Chicago Building Violations Scraper

🏗️ Automate your building violations research with comprehensive data collection from Chicago's official open data portal.

This tool makes it easy to collect building code violation records from the City of Chicago, giving you access to violation details, inspection results, addresses, ordinance citations, and GPS coordinates for 2 million+ records updated daily. Perfect for real estate investors, property managers, contractors, and researchers who need accurate, up-to-date building violation data without spending hours searching manually.

Target Audience: 👥 Real estate investors, property managers, insurance companies, contractors, journalists, city planners, attorneys
Primary Use Cases: 🏠 Property due diligence, portfolio monitoring, risk assessment, lead generation, investigative research, enforcement analysis

🎯 What Does This Tool Do?

This tool automatically collects building violation records from the City of Chicago's official database. Simply set your filters, and it finds all matching violations for you. Here's what you get:

✅ Complete Violation Details - Code, description, status, ordinance citation, and inspector comments
✅ Inspection Data - Status, category, department, and inspector information
✅ Full Address Breakdown - Street number, direction, name, type, and complete formatted address
✅ GPS Coordinates - Latitude and longitude for every violation record
✅ Powerful Filters - Narrow results by status, category, department, address, and date range
✅ Flexible Sorting - Sort by violation date, last modified date, address, status, or department

💡 Why This Matters: Save hours of manual work. Instead of searching through the city portal one page at a time, this tool finds and collects everything you need in minutes.

📥 Input - What You Need to Provide

Getting started is simple! Just fill in the input form with:

🔢 Max Items - Set how many violations to collect (Free users: up to 100. Paid users: up to 1,000,000)
📍 Address - Search by street address with partial matching (e.g., "71ST", "MICHIGAN AVE")
📋 Violation Status - Filter by OPEN, COMPLIED, or NO ENTRY
🔍 Inspection Category - Filter by COMPLAINT, PERIODIC, PERMIT, or REGISTRATION
📊 Inspection Status - Filter by FAILED, PASSED, CLOSED, or HOLD
🏢 Department - Filter by any of 15 departments (Conservation, Elevator, Boiler, Electrical, Plumbing, and more)
📅 Date Range - Set start and end dates for violation date (YYYY-MM-DD format)
🔄 Sort Options - Choose how to sort results (by violation date, last modified, address, status, or department)

Here's a simple example:

{
    "maxItems": 10,
    "violationStatus": "OPEN",
    "inspectionCategory": "COMPLAINT"
}

Example with Date Range and Department:

{
    "maxItems": 50,
    "departmentBureau": "CONSERVATION",
    "dateFrom": "2024-01-01",
    "dateTo": "2024-12-31",
    "sortBy": "violation_date",
    "sortOrder": "DESC"
}

📤 Output - What You Get

After the tool finishes, you'll get a complete dataset with all the violation records you requested. You can download your results as Excel, CSV, or other popular formats.

Here's an example of what you'll get:

{
    "id": "7449366",
    "inspectionNumber": "14765877",
    "inspectorId": "478934",
    "violationCode": "CN197087",
    "violationDescription": "CARB MONOX DETECT IN RESID",
    "violationStatus": "OPEN",
    "violationDate": "2026-02-06",
    "violationLastModifiedDate": "2026-02-06",
    "violationLocation": "OTHER   :    :OTHER",
    "violationInspectorComments": "1ST FLOOR / CO2 DETECTOR - MISSING. 14X-5-504.9.",
    "violationOrdinance": "Install carbon monoxide detector within 40 feet of every sleeping room...",
    "inspectionStatus": "FAILED",
    "inspectionCategory": "COMPLAINT",
    "inspectionWaived": false,
    "departmentBureau": "CONSERVATION",
    "address": "1214 E 71ST PL",
    "streetNumber": "1214",
    "streetDirection": "E",
    "streetName": "71ST",
    "streetType": "PL",
    "latitude": 41.7651913665,
    "longitude": -87.5952393381,
    "propertyGroup": "406157",
    "specialServiceArea": "47"
}

What's Included:

• ✅ Violation ID, code, description, and status
• ✅ Inspector comments and ordinance citations
• ✅ Full inspection details (status, category, department)
• ✅ Complete address with street components
• ✅ GPS coordinates for mapping and spatial analysis
• ✅ Property group and special service area identifiers

💾 Download Options: Get your data in CSV, Excel, or other formats - perfect for analysis in Excel, Google Sheets, or any tool you prefer!

⭐ Why Choose This Tool?

🎯 Comprehensive Coverage - Access 2 million+ building violation records across all 15 Chicago inspection departments
⏱️ Save Time - Collect thousands of records in minutes instead of hours of manual searching
🔄 Always Up-to-Date - The City of Chicago updates this dataset daily, and every run fetches the latest data
🔍 Powerful Filters - Find exactly what you need by status, category, department, address, and date range
📍 Location Data - Every record includes GPS coordinates for mapping and spatial analysis
📊 20 Years of History - Data goes back to January 2006 for comprehensive historical research

⏰ Time Savings: Collect hundreds of violation records in minutes instead of hours
🚀 Efficiency: Never miss important violations - automated collection ensures completeness

🚀 How to Get Started

1. Sign Up - Create a free account w/ $5 credit (takes 2 minutes)
2. Find the Tool - Visit the Chicago Building Violations Scraper page
3. Set Your Filters - Choose violation status, department, date range, address, or any combination
4. Set Max Items - Choose how many records to collect
5. Click Start - Let the tool collect your violation data
6. Download Results - Get your data from the "Dataset" tab in CSV, Excel, or other formats

⏱️ Total Time: Less than 5 minutes from sign-up to downloaded data
👆 No Technical Skills Required: Everything is point-and-click - no coding needed!

💼 Business Use Cases

🏠 Real Estate Investors

• Find distressed properties with open code violations for wholesaling and fix-and-flip opportunities
• Assess property risk before purchasing
• Monitor violation trends in target neighborhoods

🏢 Property Managers

• Monitor violation status across your portfolio
• Get alerted to new violations at managed properties
• Track compliance progress over time

🛡️ Insurance Companies

• Assess property risk and claims history
• Identify buildings with repeated violations
• Evaluate properties in specific neighborhoods

🔧 Contractors

• Identify properties that need remediation work
• Find leads based on specific violation types
• Target outreach by department and violation category

📰 Journalists and Researchers

• Investigate building safety patterns across neighborhoods
• Analyze enforcement trends by area and violation type
• Build datasets for data-driven stories

🔌 Using with the Apify API

For advanced users who want to automate this process, you can control the tool programmatically with the Apify API. This allows you to schedule regular data collection and integrate with your existing business tools.

• Node.js: Install the apify-client NPM package
• Python: Use the apify-client PyPI package
• See the Apify API reference for full details

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How does it work? A: Simply configure your search filters, and the tool automatically finds and collects all matching building violation records from Chicago's official database. No technical knowledge required!

Q: How accurate is the data? A: All data comes directly from the City of Chicago's official open data portal, maintained by the Chicago Department of Buildings. The data matches exactly what you would find on the city's website.

Q: How often is the data updated? A: The City of Chicago updates this dataset daily. Each run fetches the latest data directly from the official source.

Q: Can I filter by neighborhood or ZIP code? A: You can filter by street address (partial match). For neighborhood-level analysis, use the latitude/longitude coordinates with your own geo boundaries.

Q: What's the difference between violation status and inspection status? A: Violation status tracks the violation itself (OPEN = unresolved, COMPLIED = fixed, NO ENTRY = inspector couldn't access). Inspection status tracks the inspection outcome (FAILED = violation found, PASSED = no violation, CLOSED = case closed).

Q: How far back does the data go? A: The dataset covers violations from January 1, 2006 to present - nearly 20 years of records.

Q: Can I schedule regular runs? A: Yes! Use the Apify scheduler to run the tool automatically on a schedule, ensuring you always have the latest violation data.

Q: What if I need help? A: Our support team is here to help you get the most out of this tool. Contact us through the Apify platform for assistance.

🔗 Integrate with Any App and Automate Your Workflow

This tool can be connected with almost any cloud service or web app thanks to integrations on the Apify platform.

These include:

• Make
• Zapier
• Slack
• Airbyte
• GitHub
• Google Drive
• and much more.

Alternatively, you can use webhooks to carry out an action whenever an event occurs, e.g. get a notification whenever the tool successfully finishes a run.

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💡 Pro Tip: Browse our complete collection of data collection actors to find the perfect tool for your business needs.

Contact us to request a new scraper, propose a custom data project, or report a technical issue with this actor at https://tally.so/r/BzdKgA

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⚠️ Disclaimer: This Actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the City of Chicago or any of its subsidiaries. All trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.