HVAC, Roofing, and Plumbing Leads: How Home Service Companies Use Permit Data
If you run a roofing company, HVAC business, or plumbing service, you know the lead generation treadmill: pay Angi $15-50 per lead, compete with four other companies on the same job, and hope the homeowner picks you. What if you could see every home renovation project in your city the day the permit is filed — before the homeowner starts shopping for contractors?
Permit Data: Your Unfair Advantage
Building permits are filed before work begins. A homeowner who just pulled a renovation permit is about to need trades: roofers for the exterior, HVAC techs for the mechanicals, plumbers for the rough-in, electricians for the wiring. If you reach them during the permit phase, you're the first call — not a response to an ad alongside four competitors.
This is how the most aggressive home service companies in competitive markets are winning work. They monitor daily permit filings, filter by permit type, and make proactive outreach to homeowners before anyone else knows the project exists.
Which Permits Matter for Each Trade
Roofers: Roof replacement permits are obvious, but don't overlook new construction (every new house needs a roof), major renovation permits (which often include roof work), and even solar permits (solar installers frequently partner with roofers for panel installation). Miami-Dade has 692 active roofing companies in its database — if you're not one of them, you're missing the market.
HVAC: Mechanical permits, new construction, and major renovation permits all signal HVAC work. In Chicago alone, HVAC is the #2 trade with 2,001 active companies. San Antonio has 641 HVAC contractors actively pulling permits. Miami-Dade has 945. These numbers tell you the market is active — and competitive.
Plumbers: Plumbing permits, kitchen/bath remodel permits, and new construction all require plumbing work. San Antonio's #2 trade is Plumbing with 689 active companies. Chicago has 575. Phoenix has 383. Every one of those permits represents a project that needs pipe work.
Electricians: Electrical permits, panel upgrades, new construction, and renovation permits all include electrical scope. Chicago's #1 trade is Electrical with 2,774 active contractors — the single largest trade category in any city in the database.
The Volume Is Real
This isn't a trickle of leads. PermitGrab tracks tens of thousands of permits per quarter across its city network:
New York City: 27,916 permits in the last 90 days. San Antonio: 22,555. Austin: 12,041. Cleveland: 9,922. Orlando: 8,753. Phoenix: 6,039. Chicago: 5,684. Miami-Dade: 5,421.
Even filtering down to just renovation and mechanical permits, each city produces dozens to hundreds of trade-specific leads per day. At $149/month for unlimited access, the cost-per-lead is a fraction of what you'd pay on a platform like Angi or HomeAdvisor.
The Angi Comparison
On Angi (formerly HomeAdvisor), a roofing lead costs $15-60 depending on the market. An HVAC lead runs $20-45. A plumbing lead is $15-40. And every lead is shared with up to 4 other contractors. You're paying premium prices for the privilege of competing on price.
Building permit data flips this model. You're not buying individual leads — you're buying access to the complete stream of construction activity in your market. You decide which projects to pursue, you make the first call, and there's no one else bidding on the same "lead" because it's not a lead — it's a public record that most of your competitors don't even know to look at.
$149/month, unlimited cities, unlimited permit types, plus contractor profiles with phone numbers for networking with GCs who can refer you work.
Beyond Homeowners: Use Permit Data to Network with GCs
Home service companies don't just work directly with homeowners. A significant portion of residential work comes through general contractors who sub out the trade work. Permit data shows you which GCs are most active in your market.
In Phoenix, there are 553 general construction companies actively pulling permits. In Miami-Dade, 847. In San Antonio, 580. These are the companies that need reliable roofers, HVAC techs, plumbers, and electricians for their projects. Reaching out to the most active GCs and offering your services is a relationship-building strategy that pays dividends for years.
PermitGrab provides phone numbers for a large percentage of these contractors — 93% in Miami-Dade, 83% in San Antonio, 55% in Phoenix. One call to a busy GC who needs a reliable sub for their next three projects is worth more than a hundred cold Angi leads.
Start your free trial — see every permit filed in your city today.
See also: Homeowner Leads for Solar, Insurance & Home Services
City spotlights
Owner-data deep dives by metro:
- Atlanta real estate investor leads — Fulton + DeKalb mailing addresses, absentee-landlord filtering
- NYC roofing leads from DOB permits — 5-borough coverage, daily filings
- Chicago motivated seller leads — pairs Cook County owner data with active code violations