Nashville Building Permits (Enriched)

Structured building-permit intelligence for Nashville / Davidson County, Tennessee, built for AI agents and scripts that need one clean JSON answer per call.

Two things make this different from a raw open-data dump:

1. Enrichment. Metro's open dataset lists the paperwork applicant, not the licensed contractor, the property owner, the sub-trade permits still required, or how far inspections have progressed. Turn on enrich and every permit is joined to Metro's ePermits case record, which carries all four.
2. Scope presets that ignore boilerplate. Almost every Nashville residential permit says "not to add a second kitchen". A naive keyword search returns thousands of false kitchen remodels. The kitchen preset (and 21 others) strips that boilerplate first, then requires a real remodel phrase.

All data is public record. Nothing is scraped from listing sites, and no field is guessed: missing values are null.

Quick start

Search the last 90 days of real residential kitchen remodels:

{ "scope": "kitchen", "residentialOnly": true, "maxRecords": 100 }

Full case lookup for one permit (contractor, owner, sub-trades, inspections):

{ "permitNumber": "2026073320", "enrich": true }

Everything filed or issued at a parcel:

{ "parcel": "11801002600", "datasets": "both" }

Who is building pools in Nashville, ranked, last 12 months:

{ "mode": "contractors", "scope": "pool", "dateFrom": "2025-09-01", "minPermits": 2 }

Pending applications above $250k in two ZIPs, with the licensed contractor attached:

{ "datasets": "applications", "zips": ["37205", "37215"], "minValuation": 250000, "enrich": true }

Input

Field	Type	Notes
mode	search | contractors	One row per permit, or one row per ranked contractor. Default search.
datasets	both | issued | applications	Applications are permits filed but not yet issued (early signal). Default both.
dateFrom, dateTo	YYYY-MM-DD	Issue date for issued permits, filing date for applications. Defaults to the last 90 days unless permitNumber, parcel, or address is given.
scope	preset key	any, kitchen, bathroom, interior_remodel, addition, new_construction, adu, roofing, pool, fence, deck, garage, demolition, solar, hvac, electrical, plumbing, foundation, windows_doors, commercial, multifamily, short_term_rental, sign.
keyword	string	Free-text substring on the description, server-side, case-insensitive.
address	string	Substring of the street address (Metro stores them upper-case, no unit numbers).
parcel	string	Exact Davidson County parcel ID.
zips	string[]	Restrict to ZIP codes.
applicant	string	Substring of the applicant / contact on the open dataset.
permitNumber	string	Exact permit number.
permitType	string	Substring of Metro's permit type or subtype, e.g. Residential - Rehab.
minValuation, maxValuation	integer	Declared construction cost in USD.
residentialOnly	boolean	Drop permits whose text reads as commercial.
maxRecords	integer	Cap on rows returned. Default 200, max 5000.
enrich	boolean	Join to ePermits. About one second per permit (politely rate-limited).
enrichMaxAgeDays	integer	Reuse cached ePermits data younger than this. Default 7.
minPermits	integer	Contractors mode: hide contractors below this many matching permits.
maxPermitsScanned	integer	Contractors mode: how many matching permits (newest first) feed the ranking. Default 2000. Not billed.

Output: permit record

{
  "permit_number": "2026073320",
  "source": "issued",
  "status": "issued",
  "date_entered": "2026-09-02",
  "date_issued": "2026-09-04",
  "permit_type": "Building Residential - Rehab",
  "permit_subtype": "Single Family Residence",
  "type_code": "CARR",
  "subtype_code": "CAA01R301",
  "description": "Interior renovations to existing kitchen relocating gas range and moved kitchen island...",
  "address": "1320 SWEETBRIAR AVE",
  "city": "NASHVILLE",
  "state": "TN",
  "zip": "37212",
  "parcel": "11801002600",
  "subdivision_lot": null,
  "council_district": 18,
  "lon": -86.7913,
  "lat": 36.1244,
  "valuation": 100000.0,
  "applicant": "sapphire development",
  "applicant_is_owner": false,
  "is_residential": true,
  "scope_tags": ["kitchen", "interior_remodel"],
  "ivr_track": 4946321,
  "enrichment": null
}

Field	Meaning
source / status	issued or applications / applied.
applicant	Who filed the paperwork. Often, but not always, the contractor. applicant_is_owner is true for owner-builder filings.
is_residential	true, false, or null when the text does not say.
scope_tags	Every preset that matches this permit, so an agent can classify without re-querying.
ivr_track	Metro's case ID, the key into ePermits.
valuation	Declared construction cost as filed. Not an appraisal.

Output: enrichment block (when enrich: true)

{
  "status": "ok",
  "source": "live",
  "fetched_at": "2026-09-07T22:14:03+00:00",
  "missing_endpoints": [],
  "case": {
    "case_number": "2026073320",
    "status": "Issued",
    "decision": "Issued",
    "description": "Building Residential - Rehab / Single Family",
    "project_scope": "Interior renovations to existing kitchen ...",
    "applicant": "sapphire development",
    "accepted": "2026-08-21",
    "issued": "2026-09-04",
    "expires": "2028-09-04",
    "is_expired": false,
    "fees": 812.5,
    "payments": 812.5,
    "amount_due": 0.0
  },
  "contractor": {
    "company": "SAPPHIRE DEVELOPMENT LLC",
    "is_owner_builder": false,
    "contact": null,
    "license": "MCN152005",
    "license_expires": "2999-12-31",
    "phone": "(615) 555-0100",
    "email": "office@example.com",
    "city": "NASHVILLE",
    "state": "TN",
    "zip": "37212",
    "classifications": "BC-A, BC-B"
  },
  "owner": { "name": "...", "mailing_city": "NASHVILLE", "mailing_state": "TN", "mailing_zip": "37212" },
  "sub_trade_permits": [
    { "code": "CAPLMB", "description": "Plumbing Permit - CAPL", "satisfied": true,  "date_completed": "2026-09-04" },
    { "code": "CAHVAC", "description": "Mechanical Permit - CAMC", "satisfied": false, "date_completed": null }
  ],
  "outstanding_sub_trades": ["CAAL", "CAHVAC", "CALV", "CAAF"],
  "inspections": {
    "completed_count": 0,
    "scheduled_count": 1,
    "latest_completed": null,
    "history": []
  },
  "inspection_stage": "permit_issued"
}

Field	Meaning
status	ok (all five ePermits endpoints answered), partial, failed, or no_ivr_key.
contractor	The licensed contractor of record, with Metro license number. is_owner_builder marks the SELF CONTRACTOR placeholder.
owner	Current property owner as listed on the case.
sub_trade_permits	Each required trade permit (plumbing, electrical, mechanical, gas, low-voltage, fire alarm, ...) and whether it has been pulled.
outstanding_sub_trades	Codes not yet satisfied. Each one is a live lead for that sub-trade.
inspection_stage	Description of the latest passed inspection, or permit_issued when work has not started.

Common sub-trade codes: CAPLMB plumbing, CAELEC electrical, CAHVAC mechanical, CAGM gas/mechanical, CAGA/CAGH/CAGJ gas, CALV low voltage, CAAF/CAAL fire alarm / life safety.

Output: contractor row (mode: contractors)

{
  "rank": 1,
  "contractor": "SPARKS, KEVIN SIGNATURE POOLS, LLC",
  "license": "MCN0XXXXX",
  "permits": 14,
  "issued_permits": 12,
  "pending_applications": 2,
  "total_valuation": 1273609.0,
  "median_valuation": 85000.0,
  "first_permit": "2025-09-10",
  "last_permit": "2026-09-04",
  "zips": ["37076", "37204", "37206", "37207"],
  "scopes": ["pool", "deck"],
  "sample_permits": [ { "permit_number": "...", "date": "...", "address": "...", "valuation": 91000.0, "description": "..." } ]
}

Groups by the licensed contractor when enrichment is on, otherwise by applicant. Owner-builders are excluded. Spelling variants of one company ("RONDO POOLS LLC", "Rondo Pools, LLC.") are merged into one row; placeholder names ("see ePermits", "not published") are dropped. license is filled only when enrichment is on.

Pricing

Pay per row delivered. Nothing is charged for a run that returns no rows.

Event	When
permit	One permit record from the open dataset.
enriched-permit	One permit record joined to ePermits.
contractor	One ranked contractor row.

Set maxTotalChargeUsd on the run to cap spend. Enrichment is trimmed to what the cap allows before any slow fetching starts, and records beyond the cap are returned un-enriched at the permit price.

Coverage and freshness

• Issued permits: Metro Nashville "Building Permits Issued", about 29,000 rows over a rolling three-year window, refreshed daily.
• Applications: about 6,000 rows, rolling three-year window, refreshed daily.
• ePermits: real-time, fetched on demand at one request per second and cached for enrichMaxAgeDays.
• Davidson County only. Other Tennessee counties will be added if there is demand.

Sources and data policy

• Metro Nashville Open Data, Building Permits Issued and Building Permit Applications, ArcGIS feature services published under Metro's open data terms.
• Metro Nashville ePermits public case search.
• Building permits are open public records under Tennessee's Public Records Act (T.C.A. 10-7-503). This actor republishes what those sources already publish and adds organization, not surveillance. Do not use contact details for unsolicited marketing where prohibited.

Use it from Clay or Zapier

No code needed. Both tools call this actor with your own Apify account, so you pay the per-record prices above and nothing else.

Clay: contractors into a table, then emails and phones

The contractors mode produces the list an outbound team wants: every licensed contractor doing a kind of work in Nashville, ranked by permit count, with their license number and the ZIP codes they work in. Clay then does what it is good at, finding the people behind each company.

1. In a Clay table, click Add enrichment, search for Apify, and pick Import data from Apify Actor. Connect your Apify account when asked.

2. Choose the actor perchpermits/nashville-building-permits and paste this input:

   {
     "mode": "contractors",
     "scope": "pool",
     "dateFrom": "2025-09-01",
     "minPermits": 2,
     "enrich": true
   }
   

   Change scope to any preset from the Input table (kitchen, roofing, solar, adu, and so on). enrich: true groups by the licensed contractor rather than the paperwork applicant; leave it on for this use.

3. Each contractor row lands in the table with contractor, license, permits, total_valuation, zips, and scopes as columns. Add Clay's own enrichments on top: a company-domain lookup on contractor, then a work-email or phone waterfall, then your outreach step.

4. To keep the list fresh, use Run Apify Actor instead with auto-update on and a scheduled row, or run the import on a Clay schedule. One run a week is plenty; permits move slowly.

For a per-address workflow (one property per row, for example a list of addresses you already own), use Run Apify Actor with "mode": "search" and put the Clay column token where the value goes, keeping the key in quotes and the token unquoted:

{ "mode": "search", "address": /Address, "dateFrom": "2024-01-01", "enrich": true }

That returns the permits on that address with the licensed contractor, the owner, and the inspection status in the enrichment block.

Zapier: a weekly permit feed into Sheets, Slack, or a CRM

1. Create a Zap with Schedule by Zapier as the trigger (every Monday, say).

2. Add the Apify action Run Actor (synchronous), choose this actor, and give it an input such as:

   { "mode": "search", "scope": "kitchen", "dateFrom": "{{last week}}", "enrich": true, "maxRecords": 100 }
   

   Zapier's date formatter step can produce the dateFrom value (today minus 7 days, formatted YYYY-MM-DD).

3. Add the Apify action Fetch Dataset Items on the run's default dataset, then send each item wherever you work: a Google Sheets row, a Slack message, a HubSpot or Pipedrive company.

Zapier's own trigger Actor Run Finished also works if you prefer to schedule the run in the Apify Console and let Zapier pick up the output.

Wrap this in an afternoon

Reselling these records behind your own search box is allowed and expected; it is what the per-record price is for. A zero-dependency starter kit does it: a one-page storefront, Stripe credit packs that never expire (no subscription), and one call to this actor per search. Point it at perchpermits/nashville-building-permits, set your price per record, and deploy anywhere Node runs. Source and setup: wrapper-kit. Keep the data-policy line above on your page.

Running locally

python -m venv .venv && .venv/Scripts/pip install -r requirements.txt
python -m src.nashville_permits.cli search --scope kitchen --days 30 --max 10 --enrich
python -m src.nashville_permits.cli contractors --scope pool --days 365 --min-permits 2
python -m unittest tests.test_offline

The nashville_permits package is standard library only; the Apify SDK is needed just for src/main.py.