How we collect building-permit data

PermitGrab collects permit records from official municipal public sources — not aggregator scrapes — and shows each market's source date and available fields before you act on it.

The pipeline

1. Source, per city. A market is linked to a named official public publisher and a reviewed field mapping where available. Source platforms can include Socrata (SODA), ArcGIS REST, CKAN, Accela citizen-access, or a county assessor roll; the market page identifies the source actually used.
2. Collect and check on a schedule. Collection workers check configured sources and use row-publish timestamps when a feed backfills older business dates. Municipal publishing schedules differ, so a publisher record can appear after its business date.
3. Deduplicate. Records are keyed by permit identity; a permit can't appear twice in a city page or a digest.
4. Classify the trade. Permit type and work-description fields can be grouped into a research filter such as roofing, HVAC, electrical, or solar. That grouping helps browse published records; it is not a publisher statement about a firm's specialty, availability, or interest.
5. Keep source roles separate. Where a publisher supplies a party or role, we show its label and distinguish it from our own category. A displayed name, phone, or address remains a source field—not permission to contact, a buyer signal, or proof of current contractor status.
6. Reconcile freshness. We retain source checks and applicable newest published record dates. A market can therefore disclose a delayed, backfilled, or dormant source instead of implying universal recency.

Why this page publishes no fleet counter

This page used to open with four fleet figures: sellable cities, permit records, states covered, and a fresh/aging percentage. We removed them rather than restate them, because each was computed from a different table with a different scope and none of them was shown with an as-of date.

The city figure counted our own internal market-review rows. The record figure counted every permit row ever collected, including markets whose sources have since gone dormant. The state figure counted configured registry entries — states we have a source configured for, which is not the same claim as states with published records behind them. The page could also serve those figures either from a background snapshot or from a recount made during the request, so two readers could be shown numbers from two different collection cycles without either number saying so.

A single fleet total cannot carry those qualifications, and this page's own evidence standard below asks us not to publish an undated figure as a claim about today. Coverage is a per-market fact: the city directory and data sources page name each market's publisher, its source date, and the fields that source actually provides. That is the number that should decide whether a market is worth your time.

Record field and date dictionary

These labels are deliberately narrower than sales language. They help a researcher decide whether a public record is worth reviewing, but do not turn that record into a bid, customer request, or current project status.

Publisher record date

The date field the original publisher exposes for the record, such as an issue, filing, or update date. It identifies the publisher's record timing; it does not prove work is occurring now.

Collection receipt

When shown, this is the time PermitGrab last completed or checked its configured collection step for that market. It is not the permit's business date or a promise that the publisher has released every new record.

Published role

A role label, such as applicant, owner, or contractor, only when the original publisher supplies it. Labels vary by jurisdiction and should be verified in the linked source before relying on them.

Trade category

A PermitGrab browsing classification derived from published permit fields. It is not a licensing determination, company specialty claim, or statement that a person is seeking work.

Declared value and status

These are included only when a publisher exposes them. A missing value stays missing, and a source status is historical record context—not a current condition, procurement, or completion conclusion.

What we don't do

We don't fabricate contact data, we don't relabel a publisher party as a contractor, and we don't imply a total valuation over records that did not report one. If a city's source is genuinely dormant, the page says so.

Editorial and evidence standard

PermitGrab Research is the organization byline on our guides and market analysis. We do not attach a named author or professional credential unless that person has actually reviewed the work and agreed to be identified.

1. Name the publisher. A material fact about a local record should be traceable to the city, county, state, or other original publisher that supplied it. We preserve the publisher’s role labels and date fields rather than converting them into sales conclusions.
2. Label fixed analysis honestly. A market-size or historical figure is a dated research snapshot. It is not automatically refreshed into a claim about today’s total, and readers can use the city directory to inspect current source dates and available fields.
3. Update for a reason. A published or modified date reflects a substantive revision to the article or its disclosed evidence—not a cosmetic change made to simulate recency.
4. Correct the record. If a source, label, or interpretation appears wrong, tell us through our contact form. We review corrections against the named publisher and revise or clarify the page when the evidence warrants it.

Source-bounded research workflows

Some documented research workflows use an official source outside a city building-permit feed. Those guides name the publisher, review date, allowed record roles, and query boundary rather than presenting the source as general permit coverage. For example, the Washington workflow documents L&I Intent Project Details for reviewing one known public-works filing identity; it is not a bid list, opportunity feed, or contact directory.

Review the Washington source-bounded workflow →

Contractors comparing permit research to consumer-lead channels can also review permit leads for contractors, which shows city-level source and field availability before a trial.

Frequently asked questions

Is PermitGrab real-time permit data?

No. PermitGrab collects from official municipal public sources on a schedule. Municipal publishing schedules differ, and a publisher record can appear after its business date. Each market page shows the source it used and the newest source date available for it, rather than promising a same-day update.

Does every city and every record include a contractor phone and an owner?

No. Available fields vary by source and record. PermitGrab can also match a record to separately sourced property-owner or contractor contact information. Those matches are distinct from fields published on the permit itself, and may be unavailable or withheld when the evidence is insufficient. Check the source context on the record; no owner or contact field is guaranteed.

What does PermitGrab Pro cost?

PermitGrab Pro is $149 per month. The 14-day trial requires a card up front, and you can cancel any time before the trial ends. See pricing for the current terms.

See our live data-source coverage →