Chicago Building Permits Scraper (Contractors, Owners)

Here is one real result, with every field the actor returns:

{
  "permitNumber": "B200506822",
  "permitId": "N2960310",
  "permitType": "PERMIT – EXPRESS PERMIT PROGRAM",
  "reviewType": "EXPRESS PERMIT PROGRAM",
  "permitStatus": "ACTIVE",
  "permitMilestone": "INSPECTIONS",
  "workType": "Electrical Work",
  "workDescription": "LINE VOLTAGE ELECTRICAL WORK. NEW PERMANENT 100 AMP SERVICE DISCONNECTING MEANS WITH 1 CIRCUITS. RECEPTACLE OUTLETS: 1 . LIGHTING OUTLETS: 0. SPECIFIC LOCATION: FRONT.",
  "permitConditions": null,
  "address": "1746 N STOCKTON DR, CHICAGO, IL",
  "streetNumber": "1746",
  "streetDirection": "N",
  "streetName": "STOCKTON DR",
  "applicationDate": "2026-08-10",
  "issueDate": "2026-08-12",
  "processingDays": 2,
  "reportedCost": 1000,
  "totalFee": 100,
  "feesPaid": 100,
  "feesUnpaid": 0,
  "feesWaived": 0,
  "feeBreakdown": {
    "building": {"subtotal": 75, "paid": 75, "unpaid": 0, "waived": 0},
    "zoning": {"subtotal": 0, "paid": 0, "unpaid": 0, "waived": 0},
    "other": {"subtotal": 25, "paid": 25, "unpaid": 0, "waived": 0}
  },
  "ownerName": "CHICAGO SPECIAL EVENTS MANAGEMENT",
  "ownerCity": "CHICAGO",
  "ownerState": "IL",
  "contractorName": "HAUGER ELECTRIC",
  "contractorType": "ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR",
  "contractorCity": "GLENDALE HEIGHTS",
  "contractorState": "IL",
  "contacts": [
    {"type": "OWNER", "name": "CHICAGO SPECIAL EVENTS MANAGEMENT", "city": "CHICAGO", "state": "IL", "zip": "60609"},
    {"type": "WEB APPLICANT", "name": "HAUGER KEN", "city": "CHICAGO", "state": "IL", "zip": "60139"},
    {"type": "ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR", "name": "HAUGER ELECTRIC", "city": "GLENDALE HEIGHTS", "state": "IL", "zip": "60139"}
  ],
  "ward": "43",
  "communityArea": "7",
  "censusTract": "71500",
  "pinList": "1433210003",
  "latitude": "41.9144421056552",
  "longitude": "-87.6322626481453",
  "aiSummary": "This permit authorizes electrical work at 1746 N Stockton Dr, Chicago, IL, involving the installation of a new permanent 100 AMP service disconnecting means with one circuit. The work is being performed by Hauger Electric and has a reported cost of $1,000.",
  "aiExtract": {
    "scope": "LINE VOLTAGE ELECTRICAL WORK",
    "structureType": null,
    "unitCount": null,
    "storyCount": null,
    "isNewConstruction": true,
    "materials": ["100 AMP SERVICE DISCONNECTING MEANS", "RECEPTACLE OUTLETS"],
    "trades": ["Electrical Work"]
  },
  "observedAt": "2026-08-14T07:22:30.607Z",
  "error": null
}

The most complete Chicago building permits scraper available. It returns every field the City of Chicago permit dataset exposes for each permit, including owner and contractor names with city and state, a full contacts list, fee breakdown, ward, community area and coordinates, plus optional AI summaries and structured work-detail extraction, and gives you free-text search plus a dozen filters to target exactly the permits and leads you need.

📥 Input · 📤 Output · 💰 Pricing · ▶️ Examples

Table of contents

• What it does
• Quickstart
• Input reference
• Output reference
• Example output record
• Run via API and CLI
• Fetch results
• Billing and limits
• FAQ and troubleshooting

What it does

The actor queries the City of Chicago building permits open dataset, applies the filters you pass as input, and writes one normalized record per permit to the run's dataset, newest issued first. Each record carries the permit number and ID, type, status and milestone, work type and description, full address with parsed street parts, application and issue dates with processing days, reported cost, fees with a paid/unpaid/waived breakdown, owner and contractor names with city and state, a full contacts list, ward, community area, census tract, PINs, and coordinates. Missing source values are returned as null.

Optional AI add-ons (paid Apify plans only) add a plain-English permit summary and a structured extraction of the work (scope, structure type, unit and story counts, new-construction flag, materials, trades).

Quickstart

Open the actor, paste this into the input, and press Run. It returns the 5 most recently issued Chicago permits with AI summary and extraction enabled.

{
  "maxPermits": 5,
  "withAiSummary": true,
  "withAiExtract": true
}

Every filter is optional. With an empty input the actor returns the most recently issued permits (default maxPermits is 10).

Input reference

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
maxPermits	integer	no	10	Maximum number of permit records to collect. Newest issued first.
query	string	no	(empty)	Free-text search across the whole permit record, including work description and every owner and contractor name, for example ROOF, ADDITION, or a company name.
permitType	enum	no	(any)	Restrict to one permit type (Express Permit, Easy Permit, Renovation/Alteration, New Construction, Signs, Elevator, Wrecking/Demolition, Scaffolding, Porch, Reinstate Revoked, Extension).
workType	string	no	(empty)	Match the work type, for example ELECTRIC, PLUMBING, ROOF. Case-insensitive, matches anywhere.
minCost	integer	no	(none)	Only permits with a reported construction cost of at least this many US dollars.
issuedFrom	string	no	(empty)	Only permits issued on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD).
issuedTo	string	no	(empty)	Only permits issued on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD).
ward	string	no	(empty)	Restrict to a single Chicago ward number, for example 43.
communityArea	string	no	(empty)	Restrict to a single community area number (1 to 77), for example 6.
street	string	no	(empty)	Match permits on a street name, for example HALSTED. Do not include direction or number.
ownerName	string	no	(empty)	Match the property owner name (person or company).
contractorName	string	no	(empty)	Match any contractor company on the permit.
appToken	string	no	(empty)	Optional Socrata app token that raises the rate limit for very large pulls.
withAiSummary	boolean	no	false	Paid add-on. Summarize each permit's work description in plain English. Requires a paid plan and a work description. Billed only when a summary is produced.
withAiExtract	boolean	no	false	Paid add-on. Extract structured work details from the description. Requires a paid plan and a work description. Billed only when details are produced.

Filters combine with logical AND.

Output reference

One dataset item per permit. Types: string, integer, object[], object, or null when the source value is absent.

Field	Type	Description
permitNumber	string	Chicago permit number.
permitId	string	Internal permit ID.
permitType	string	Permit type.
reviewType	string	Review / program type.
permitStatus	string	Permit status, for example ACTIVE.
permitMilestone	string	Current permit milestone.
workType	string	Work type, for example Electrical Work.
workDescription	string	Full narrative work description.
permitConditions	string	Permit conditions text, or null.
address	string	Full permit address.
streetNumber	string	Parsed street number.
streetDirection	string	Parsed street direction.
streetName	string	Parsed street name.
applicationDate	string	Application date (YYYY-MM-DD).
issueDate	string	Issue date (YYYY-MM-DD).
processingDays	integer	Days between application and issue.
reportedCost	integer	Reported construction cost in US dollars.
totalFee	integer	Total permit fee.
feesPaid	integer	Fees paid.
feesUnpaid	integer	Fees unpaid.
feesWaived	integer	Fees waived.
feeBreakdown	object	Fee subtotals by category (building, zoning, other) with paid/unpaid/waived.
ownerName	string	Property owner name.
ownerCity	string	Owner city.
ownerState	string	Owner state.
contractorName	string	Primary contractor company.
contractorType	string	Contractor type, for example ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR.
contractorCity	string	Contractor city.
contractorState	string	Contractor state.
contacts	object[]	All permit contacts (type, name, city, state, zip).
ward	string	Chicago ward number.
communityArea	string	Community area number.
censusTract	string	Census tract.
pinList	string	Parcel identification numbers.
latitude	string	Latitude of the permit location.
longitude	string	Longitude of the permit location.
aiSummary	string	AI permit summary (paid add-on), else null.
aiExtract	object	AI structured work details (paid add-on), else null.
observedAt	string	ISO 8601 timestamp of when the record was collected.
error	string	null on success. On a failed run, a single item with a populated error field is written instead.

Example output record

Real record from a live run (input {"maxPermits":5,"withAiSummary":true,"withAiExtract":true}):

{
  "permitNumber": "B200506822",
  "permitType": "PERMIT – EXPRESS PERMIT PROGRAM",
  "permitStatus": "ACTIVE",
  "workType": "Electrical Work",
  "address": "1746 N STOCKTON DR, CHICAGO, IL",
  "issueDate": "2026-08-12",
  "reportedCost": 1000,
  "totalFee": 100,
  "ownerName": "CHICAGO SPECIAL EVENTS MANAGEMENT",
  "contractorName": "HAUGER ELECTRIC",
  "contractorType": "ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR",
  "contractorCity": "GLENDALE HEIGHTS",
  "ward": "43",
  "communityArea": "7",
  "latitude": "41.9144421056552",
  "longitude": "-87.6322626481453",
  "aiSummary": "This permit authorizes electrical work at 1746 N Stockton Dr, Chicago, IL, involving the installation of a new permanent 100 AMP service disconnecting means with one circuit.",
  "observedAt": "2026-08-14T07:22:30.607Z",
  "error": null
}

Run via API and CLI

Start a run and wait for it to finish, then read the dataset. Replace <TOKEN> with your Apify API token.

Run synchronously and get dataset items in one call:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/scrapers_lat~chicago-building-permits-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"workType":"ROOF","minCost":50000,"maxPermits":50}'

Start a run asynchronously:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/scrapers_lat~chicago-building-permits-scraper/runs?token=<TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"permitType":"PERMIT - NEW CONSTRUCTION","issuedFrom":"2026-01-01","maxPermits":200}'

Apify CLI:

apify call scrapers_lat/chicago-building-permits-scraper \
  --input '{"ward":"43","maxPermits":25}'

Fetch results

Every run writes to a dataset. Fetch items as JSON, CSV, or Excel by changing format:

# JSON
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&clean=true&format=json"

# CSV
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&clean=true&format=csv"

# Paginate large datasets
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/<DATASET_ID>/items?token=<TOKEN>&offset=1000&limit=1000"

<DATASET_ID> is returned as defaultDatasetId in the run object. Use offset and limit to page through large result sets. clean=true drops empty and internal fields.

Billing and limits

• Pay per result. You are charged per permit returned (result event). See the pricing tab for the current per-result price.
• Paid AI add-ons. withAiSummary and withAiExtract are optional, require a paid Apify plan, and are billed per record only when they return usable output.
• No charge on failure. If a run errors, the actor writes a single item with a populated error field and does not charge for it. Empty runs cost nothing.
• Spend cap respected. Set maxTotalChargeUsd on the run; once reached, the actor stops emitting and charging further billable results.
• Free Apify plans are capped at 10 records per run. Upgrade for higher maxPermits.

FAQ and troubleshooting

A run returned 0 records. Why? The filter combination matched no permit. Loosen filters (remove ward or widen the date range). Zero-result runs are not charged.

How do I find leads by contractor or owner? Use contractorName or ownerName, or put a company name in query to search across all contacts and the description at once.

Why are the AI fields null? The matching add-on was off, you are on a free account, or the permit had no work description to summarize. AI fields are never invented.

Do I need a Socrata app token? No. The source is keyless. A free appToken only raises the rate limit for very large pulls.

Why is contractorName empty on some permits? Some permit types (for example simple sign or scaffolding permits) list no contractor. Missing values are returned as null.

Is this an official City of Chicago tool? No. This actor is independent and has no affiliation with the City of Chicago. It reads only data that is publicly available through the City's open data portal. Use it in accordance with the portal terms.

Related scrapers

• NYC DOB Permits Scraper: New York City building permits with contractors and owners.
• USA Contractor Licenses Scraper: Contractor license records across US states.
• OSHA Inspections & Violations Scraper: US workplace safety inspections and violations.
• USA Business Licenses Scraper: US local business license records.
• Google Maps Business Leads Scraper: Local business leads with contacts from Google Maps.

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Independent tool, not affiliated with the City of Chicago. Accesses only publicly available open data. Use in accordance with the data portal terms of service.