How to Find New Construction Projects in Your Area Using Permit Data

If you're a subcontractor, a materials supplier, a real estate investor, or any trade that benefits from knowing about construction projects early, building permit data is the cleanest signal available. Every new build in the United States — commercial, residential, interior fit-out, roof replacement, solar install — starts with a permit filed at a city or county building department. Those permits are public records. Most are online. Very few contractors actually use them.

What counts as "new construction" in permit data

Cities tag permits by type. The ones most contractors care about:

• New residential construction — single-family, multi-family, ADUs. Filed months before framing starts.
• New commercial construction — office, retail, industrial, mixed-use. Usually includes subsequent MEP permits once the shell is approved.
• Major additions — room additions, second stories, rear extensions. Often driven by families growing in-place.
• Tenant improvements — interior fit-out permits for a new tenant moving into existing commercial space. Very high volume in the top metros.
• Demolition permits — a leading indicator of new construction at the same address within 6-12 months.

Step 1: Pick your markets

Most contractors over-index on one or two metros. Start there. If you serve Dallas and Fort Worth, your permit feed should be filtered to Dallas County and Tarrant County. Our city pages list coverage for each top metro: Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Denver, Phoenix, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Columbus, Nashville.

Step 2: Filter by permit type and value

The permit feed is the raw data; the value comes from filtering. Filter by:

• Permit type — match the work you bid. "New Construction," "Addition," "TI," "Mechanical," etc.
• Project value — your sweet spot is probably projects between $X and $Y. Below that is often owner-builder; above that is usually already spoken for. Filter to your real-world bid range.
• Neighborhood or ZIP — if you have service-area limits, filter them upfront.

PermitGrab's dashboard lets you save a filter combination so each day's feed shows only the permits that match your business.

Step 3: Act in the first 48 hours

The window between "permit filed" and "homeowner/GC has selected their subs" is usually short — days, not weeks. If you see a permit in your feed Monday morning, reach out Monday or Tuesday. Past that, you're competing with whoever the GC already called.

For commercial and TI permits, the contact on the permit is usually the GC. For residential, it's usually the owner or the architect. Either way, the permit gives you a name and a legitimate reason to reach out: "I saw the permit was filed for 123 Main St last week — I'd like to bid the [electrical/plumbing/HVAC/roofing] portion."

Step 4: Track conversion and iterate

Within 30-60 days you'll know which permit types, neighborhoods, and project values produce your best-converting leads. Double down on those and prune the rest. The permit feed is infinite; your time isn't.

See pricing or browse a free city feed to see what the permits in your market actually look like.