# US Building Permits API - Normalized Construction Leads (`webdata_labs/us-building-permits-api`) Actor \[💵 $3.00 / 1K] One normalized schema for US building permits across major cities (Austin, Chicago, San Francisco, NYC). Unified permit type, status, valuation, geocoded address, dates, and contractor/owner contact - not a raw per-city dump. - **URL**: https://apify.com/webdata\_labs/us-building-permits-api.md - **Developed by:** [WebData Labs](https://apify.com/webdata_labs) (community) - **Categories:** Lead generation, Real estate, Developer tools - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $2.00 / 1,000 permit records This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. Actors are written with capital "A". ## 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. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## US Building Permits API - Normalized Construction Leads **One clean schema for US building permits across major cities.** Pick a city, filter by issue date, permit type, valuation, or keyword, and get analysis-ready permit rows: normalized permit category, status, construction valuation, geocoded address, key dates, and contractor / owner contact - including phone numbers where the city publishes them. Every US city posts building permits on its own open-data portal, and every portal has a different schema. Chicago names contractors in `contact_1_name` and reports cost in `reported_cost`; New York City buries the licensed contractor in `permittee_s_business_name` with a phone in `permittee_s_phone__` and stores dates as text; San Francisco uses `estimated_cost` and a GeoJSON point; Austin splits out `contractor_company_name`, `contractor_phone`, and `contractor_trade`. Most "permit scrapers" hand you one city's raw columns. This Actor does the hard part: it maps each city onto **one unified schema**, normalizes dates to ISO, coerces valuation to a number, classifies the permit into a cross-city category, composes a single clean address, and pulls contractor/owner contacts into the same fields every time. ### ✅ What you get / ❌ what this isn't | This Actor gives you | This Actor is not | |---|---| | One normalized row per permit, identical shape across every city | Not a raw per-city column dump | | Cross-city `permitCategory` (SOLAR, ROOFING, ELECTRICAL, NEW_CONSTRUCTION...) | Not affiliated with or endorsed by any city or government | | Contractor name, trade, license, and phone where the city publishes it | Not a guarantee every city exposes contractor or valuation data | | Construction `valuation` coerced to a number, dates normalized to ISO | Not real-time - reflects each portal's publishing cadence | | Geocoded address (street, locality, region, postal, lat/lng) | Not a credit, licensing, or legal-status check on any contractor | | Reliable official open-data reads (no anti-bot, no proxy needed) | Not a national database - supported cities are listed below | ### 🔎 Why use this Actor - Build fresh construction lead lists - solar, roofing, remodeling, HVAC - filtered by city, date, and trade. - Monitor new permits weekly for a sales territory without learning four different city APIs. - Track high-value projects by filtering on minimum construction valuation. - Feed one consistent permit schema into a CRM, dashboard, model, or LLM pipeline. - Skip the plumbing - date parsing, valuation coercion, address composition, and contact extraction are done. ### 👥 Who it's for - Contractors and trade businesses (solar, roofing, HVAC, remodeling) buying local permit leads. - Building-material suppliers and manufacturers tracking new construction activity. - Proptech, construction-tech, and market-research teams needing normalized permit data. - Sales and go-to-market teams building territory lead lists. - Data teams that want one schema instead of a per-city ETL project. ### 🗂️ What data you get One row per permit: | Field | Type | Description | |---|---|---| | `source`, `city`, `state` | string | Which city portal the row came from | | `permitNumber`, `permitUrl` | string | City permit identifier and its detail page (where available) | | `permitType` | string | The city's raw permit-type label | | `permitCategory` | string | Normalized cross-city category (SOLAR, ROOFING, ELECTRICAL, PLUMBING, MECHANICAL_HVAC, NEW_CONSTRUCTION, ADDITION_ALTERATION, DEMOLITION, SIGN, POOL_SPA, FENCE_WALL, DRIVEWAY_SITE, OTHER) | | `workClass`, `description` | string | Secondary work classification and work description | | `status`, `statusNormalized` | string | Raw status and normalized status (ISSUED, COMPLETED, IN_PROCESS, INACTIVE) | | `appliedDate`, `issuedDate`, `expirationDate`, `completedDate` | string | Key dates, normalized to `YYYY-MM-DD` | | `valuation`, `valuationType` | number / string | Construction value coerced to a number, and which field it came from | | `address`, `street`, `locality`, `region`, `postalCode` | string | Composed address plus components | | `latitude`, `longitude` | number | Geocoordinates where published | | `contractorName`, `contractorTrade`, `contractorLicense`, `contractorPhone`, `contractorLocation` | string | Contractor contact where the city publishes it | | `ownerName`, `ownerBusinessName`, `applicantName` | string | Owner / applicant where published | | `contacts` | array | All parties on the permit, each with role, name, and (where present) phone / license | ### Example tasks - [Fresh solar install leads in Austin](https://apify.com/webdata_labs/us-building-permits-api/examples/fresh-solar-install-leads-in-austin) - [High-value construction permits in San Francisco](https://apify.com/webdata_labs/us-building-permits-api/examples/high-value-construction-permits-in-san-francisco) - [New building permits with contractor contacts in NYC](https://apify.com/webdata_labs/us-building-permits-api/examples/new-building-permits-with-contractor-contacts-in-nyc) ### 🌎 Supported cities | City | Source portal | Contractor data | Valuation | |---|---|---|---| | Austin, TX | data.austintexas.gov | Name, trade, phone | - | | Chicago, IL | data.cityofchicago.org | Typed contacts (name, location) | Reported cost | | San Francisco, CA | data.sfgov.org | - | Estimated cost | | New York City, NY | data.cityofnewyork.us | Permittee business, phone, license | - | More cities are added over time. Request a city via an Actor issue. ### ⚙️ How to get building permit data 1. Open the Actor on Apify. 2. Choose a `city`. 3. Optionally filter by `issuedAfter` / `issuedBefore`, `permitTypeContains`, `minValuation`, or `searchText`. 4. Set how many permits to return (`maxItems`). 5. Run the Actor. 6. Open the `Permits` dataset view. 7. Export JSON, CSV, Excel, HTML, or XML, or call the Actor through the Apify API. ### 📥 Input ```json { "city": "austin", "searchText": "solar", "issuedAfter": "2026-01-01", "maxItems": 500 } ```` ### 📤 Output ```json { "recordType": "permit", "source": "austin", "city": "Austin", "state": "TX", "permitNumber": "2026-064893 EP", "permitType": "Electrical Permit", "permitCategory": "SOLAR", "status": "Active", "statusNormalized": "ISSUED", "issuedDate": "2026-06-26", "valuation": null, "address": "715 E 32ND ST, AUSTIN, TX 78705", "latitude": 30.29, "longitude": -97.72, "contractorName": "Freedom Solar Power", "contractorTrade": "Electrical Contractor", "contractorPhone": "5125967031", "contacts": [ {"role": "contractor", "name": "Freedom Solar Power", "trade": "Electrical Contractor", "phone": "5125967031"} ] } ``` ### 💵 How much does it cost? The launch price is about `$3.00 / 1,000 permits`, tier-discounted for higher Apify plans. One permit row is one charged result. A run returning 500 permits is 500 results. Error rows are not charged. ### 🔁 Run it on the Apify platform Schedule a weekly run per city to keep a fresh lead feed, call it from the Apify API, export to CSV/JSON/Excel, or connect the dataset to Make, Zapier, webhooks, a warehouse, a CRM, or an LLM pipeline. ### ⚠️ Limits and caveats - This Actor reads each city's **public open-data portal**. It is not affiliated with any city or government, and it does not check a contractor's license validity, credit, or legal status. - **Field coverage varies by city.** Not every city publishes contractor contact, phone, or valuation; missing fields are returned as `null` rather than guessed. See the supported-cities table. - **NYC ordering caveat.** NYC stores `issuance_date` as unsortable text, so results are ordered (and `issuedAfter` / `issuedBefore` filtered) on the DOB processing date `dobrundate`. The permit's own issuance date is still parsed into `issuedDate`. - **`permitCategory` is best-effort** keyword classification over each city's raw type/description vocabulary; the raw `permitType` is always preserved. - Data reflects each portal's publishing cadence, which can lag the permit office by days. ### 🧩 Related Actors - Website Contact Extractor - emails, phones, and socials from any domain. - Lead List Deduplicator - dedupe and normalize messy lead lists. - Shopify Store Analyzer - catalog and contacts from any Shopify store. - SEC Financials API - normalized income, balance sheet, and cash flow from EDGAR. ### ❓ FAQ #### Which cities are supported? Austin, Chicago, San Francisco, and New York City at launch. Each is sourced from that city's official open-data portal and normalized to the same schema. More cities are added over time. #### Where does the data come from? Each city's public open-data portal (Socrata). These are the same datasets the cities publish for free; this Actor's value is normalizing them into one consistent, lead-ready schema. #### Which cities include contractor phone numbers? Austin and NYC publish a contractor/permittee phone on most records. Chicago publishes typed contacts (name and location, no phone). San Francisco does not publish contractor contact. The `contractorPhone` field is populated wherever the city provides it. #### Why are some fields null? Because that city does not publish that field for that permit. Coverage differs by city and by record type; nothing is guessed. #### Does it need a proxy? No. City open-data portals are public and served reliably to datacenter IPs. Enable Apify Proxy only for very large batches. ### 🛠️ Support For bugs, missing fields, or a city request, open an Actor issue with the run URL, the city and filters used, and the field or behavior you expected. ### ⭐ Rate this Actor If this Actor saved you time, please take 30 seconds to leave a review on the **Reviews** tab of [US Building Permits API - Normalized Construction Leads](https://apify.com/webdata_labs/us-building-permits-api) - reviews are the main trust signal other users see, and they directly decide which features get built next. If something is broken or a field is missing, please [open an issue](https://apify.com/webdata_labs/us-building-permits-api/issues) first - we typically respond within a day and would love the chance to fix it before you rate. # Actor input Schema ## `city` (type: `string`): Which city's permits to pull. Each city is sourced from its official open-data portal and normalized to the same schema. ## `issuedAfter` (type: `string`): Only permits issued on/after this date (YYYY-MM-DD). For NYC this filters on the DOB processing date (see README). ## `issuedBefore` (type: `string`): Only permits issued on/before this date (YYYY-MM-DD). ## `permitTypeContains` (type: `string`): Case-insensitive substring match on the city's raw permit-type field (e.g. 'electrical', 'sign', 'new construction'). Use permitCategory in the output for a normalized cross-city category. ## `minValuation` (type: `integer`): Only permits whose reported/estimated construction value is at least this amount. Applies only to cities that publish a valuation (Chicago, San Francisco); ignored for others. ## `searchText` (type: `string`): Optional Socrata full-text search across the whole record (work description, names, etc.). ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of permits to return. Newest first (by the city's issue/processing date). ## `includeRaw` (type: `boolean`): Attach the city's original unnormalized record under 'raw' for auditing. Off by default to keep rows clean. ## `socrataAppToken` (type: `string`): Optional free Socrata app token to raise rate limits for very large pulls. Not required for normal use. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Optional. City open-data portals are public and work without a proxy; enable Apify Proxy only for very large batches. ## Actor input object example ```json { "city": "austin", "issuedAfter": "2026-01-01", "maxItems": 500, "includeRaw": false, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `OUTPUT` (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 = { "city": "austin" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("webdata_labs/us-building-permits-api").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 = { "city": "austin" } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("webdata_labs/us-building-permits-api").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "city": "austin" }' | apify call webdata_labs/us-building-permits-api --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=webdata_labs/us-building-permits-api", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "US Building Permits API - Normalized Construction Leads", "description": "[💵 $3.00 / 1K] One normalized schema for US building permits across major cities (Austin, Chicago, San Francisco, NYC). Unified permit type, status, valuation, geocoded address, dates, and contractor/owner contact - not a raw per-city dump.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "GsMgCFqx31p3sKGsW" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/webdata_labs~us-building-permits-api/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-webdata_labs-us-building-permits-api", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/webdata_labs~us-building-permits-api/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-webdata_labs-us-building-permits-api", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/webdata_labs~us-building-permits-api/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-webdata_labs-us-building-permits-api", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "city" ], "properties": { "city": { "title": "City", "enum": [ "austin", "chicago", "sf", "nyc" ], "type": "string", "description": "Which city's permits to pull. Each city is sourced from its official open-data portal and normalized to the same schema.", "default": "austin" }, "issuedAfter": { "title": "Issued after", "type": "string", "description": "Only permits issued on/after this date (YYYY-MM-DD). For NYC this filters on the DOB processing date (see README)." }, "issuedBefore": { "title": "Issued before", "type": "string", "description": "Only permits issued on/before this date (YYYY-MM-DD)." }, "permitTypeContains": { "title": "Permit type contains", "type": "string", "description": "Case-insensitive substring match on the city's raw permit-type field (e.g. 'electrical', 'sign', 'new construction'). Use permitCategory in the output for a normalized cross-city category." }, "minValuation": { "title": "Minimum valuation (USD)", "type": "integer", "description": "Only permits whose reported/estimated construction value is at least this amount. Applies only to cities that publish a valuation (Chicago, San Francisco); ignored for others." }, "searchText": { "title": "Full-text search", "type": "string", "description": "Optional Socrata full-text search across the whole record (work description, names, etc.)." }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max permits", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 50000, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of permits to return. Newest first (by the city's issue/processing date).", "default": 500 }, "includeRaw": { "title": "Include raw record", "type": "boolean", "description": "Attach the city's original unnormalized record under 'raw' for auditing. Off by default to keep rows clean.", "default": false }, "socrataAppToken": { "title": "Socrata app token (optional)", "type": "string", "description": "Optional free Socrata app token to raise rate limits for very large pulls. Not required for normal use." }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy", "type": "object", "description": "Optional. City open-data portals are public and work without a proxy; enable Apify Proxy only for very large batches.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": false } } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```