Every city publishes building permits differently
You need recent permits by place, trade, project type or cost. The records are public, but a multi-city list starts with separate portals, separate field maps and separate refresh checks.
Preview building permits on one schema See the building permit dataset
Worked example: Chicago new-construction permits costing $1 million or more
Choose US building permits, set Source: Chicago, Category: New construction and Minimum estimated cost: 1,000,000. This selects permits whose reported cost meets the threshold; it does not establish that work has started or is available to bid.
| Permit number | Permit type (as published) | Area | Issued on | Estimated cost (USD) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 101081192 | NEW CONSTRUCTION | Chatham | 2026-10-09 | 25000000 | Active |
| 101085393 | NEW CONSTRUCTION | Lake View | 2026-10-08 | 1500000 | Active |
| 101079464 | NEW CONSTRUCTION | South Chicago | 2026-10-07 | 1923323 | Active |
| 101087238 | NEW CONSTRUCTION | North Center | 2026-10-07 | 2182930 | Active |
| 101081111 | NEW CONSTRUCTION | Near West Side | 2026-10-05 | 19000000 | Active |
The table shows 6 selected columns. The free CSV includes all 15 public columns for these first 5 rows. Blank source values stay blank in the CSV. These are the first matching permits in the current import, not a ranking of projects. Chicago ZIP codes are not mapped in this export; use community area instead.
Source: City of Chicago Building Permits. DataScoop import: 2026-10-11. Rows can change after a new import.
Download 5 example rows freeBuild this list with your own filters
Choose filters that work for your city
Six cities share the same CSV columns, but they do not populate every field. This table describes DataScoop's current mappings. A mapped field can still be blank in an individual record.
| City and original data | Area means | Estimated cost (USD) | Work description | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York City · Official source | Borough | Not mapped | Not mapped | Published ZIP |
| Chicago · Official source | Community area; city name when unavailable | Reported cost | Work description | Not mapped |
| Los Angeles · Official source | Community plan area; city name when unavailable | Valuation | Work description | Published ZIP |
| Austin · Official source | Published city | Total job valuation; building valuation when absent | Description | First five ZIP characters |
| San Francisco · Official source | Analysis neighborhood; city name when unavailable | Estimated cost; revised cost when absent | Description; proposed use when absent | Published ZIP |
| Seattle · Official source | Published city | Estimated project cost | Description | First five ZIP characters |
Before using a cost, description or ZIP filter: New York City has no mapped cost or description, so a positive minimum cost or a description search returns no NYC rows. Chicago has no mapped ZIP, so use its community area or work description instead. These gaps describe this export, not everything available from the city. Blank values stay blank in the CSV.
Three permit lists to start with
- Chicago new-construction permits with estimated cost of $1 million or more. The cost threshold is inclusive and uses the city's reported cost.
- New York City permits in Brooklyn. Use borough, category or issue date here; cost and description are not mapped.
- Austin mechanical permits. The source city distinguishes Austin, Texas from Chicago's Austin community area.
Open a list, adjust its filters and check the matching rows. Download the free sample of up to 25 records before buying the full filtered CSV. The building-permit dataset page shows the current import date, sample and column list.
Compare permit records carefully
- Keep source city and permit number together. A permit record is not a unique project, property or available contract.
- Categories are broad mappings of each city's published permit type. Keep the original type and status when comparing cities; the same category does not establish identical local rules.
- Area can mean a borough, community area, plan area, neighborhood or whole city. Choose the source city before narrowing the area.
- Issue date records permit issuance, not the start of work. Coverage periods and publication schedules differ by city; the current import is not a complete historical archive.
- Estimated cost is the source's published estimate or valuation, not a verified contract value. Description text is limited to 300 characters where mapped.
Verify a time-sensitive project in its original city record. Owner and applicant contact details are excluded. In Excel, use Data → From Text/CSV and keep permit numbers and ZIP codes as text to preserve their formatting.
What is happening
People building permit-data products describe maintaining separate city importers with different schemas, refresh cadences and field mappings. Contractors and developers still have to turn those administrative records into one list before they can use them.
One city shows the scale of the job. Chicago's official permit dataset contains hundreds of thousands of rows and more than one hundred source columns. Other cities publish their own datasets rather than conforming to one national record schema.
What it disrupts
- A six-city question becomes six downloads or API integrations before analysis starts.
- Permit type, status, area and cost fields need city-specific interpretation and mapping.
- A source change or stale feed can silently make one city incomparable with the rest of the list.
Why it happens
- Building permitting is administered locally, so each city owns its publication system and field model.
- Open-data portals expose the source records, but they do not provide a cross-city normalization layer.
- The records are designed around permit administration. A contractor, researcher or developer usually needs a smaller list-shaped view.
Checks to make now
- Confirm that New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Austin, San Francisco and Seattle cover the places you need. This is not a national permit register.
- Decide whether issued permits are the right event. Applications, inspections and final approvals are different stages and are not interchangeable.
- Keep the source city, permit number, status and issued date with every row, and verify the local record before acting on a time-sensitive project.
Where DataScoop fits
DataScoop maps the six municipal permit feeds onto one organization-level schema. The current catalog contains 106,388 records and was last imported on 2026-10-11.
Filter by source city, normalized category, area, ZIP, work-description text, minimum estimated cost or issued date. Preview 25 rows free, then download the matching CSV for $1.99 or query it through the API and MCP.
Where it fits, and where it does not
Good fit
- Contractors, analysts, researchers and software teams that need issued permits across one or more of the six covered cities.
- Repeatable city, category, area, cost and date queries where the original permit facts remain visible.
Not the right fit
- Nationwide coverage, every permitting jurisdiction, real-time project monitoring or a guarantee that work has started.
- Owner, applicant or individual contractor contact lists. DataScoop deliberately excludes personal fields.
Proof and boundaries
Coverage is limited to six named cities. Availability and source freshness differ by city; DataScoop's import date does not make every municipal source equally current.
Categories are normalized for filtering, but the original permit type, work description, status, permit number and source city remain in the result.
Estimated cost is a published permit field, not a verified contract value. A permit is not proof that a project is active or available to bid.
There is no customer outcome claim yet. The proof is the visible city coverage, common filter schema, free preview, import date and official source attribution.
Questions people ask
Which cities are included?
New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Austin, San Francisco and Seattle. It is not a national permit register.
Are permit categories identical across cities?
No. DataScoop provides a normalized category for filtering and retains the source permit type and description so you can inspect how each city classified the work.
Does a permit mean the project has started?
No. It shows a published permit record and status. Verify the local permit before treating it as an active project or sales opportunity.
Does the export include owner or applicant contacts?
No. DataScoop keeps permit and business-level fields and deliberately excludes personal owner, applicant and contact details.
How current is the data?
The page shows DataScoop's import date. Each city controls its own publication schedule, so check the original local record when freshness is critical.
Start with the city and permit signal you need
Choose a city, category, area or cost threshold and inspect 25 matching permits before downloading the full slice.
Preview building permits on one schema