Nearby Permits

List the US cities and counties with building permit data, with each one's slug for the other tools.

Takes no parameters.

Use this tool when someone asks which building, remodeling or demolition permits exist at an address, whether a house had permitted work, or what is permitted next door. It returns the building permits on record at that street address in a supported city or county (Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, Cincinnati, Mesa, New Orleans, Fort Worth, Columbus, San Diego, Detroit, Nashville, Raleigh, Phoenix, San Antonio, Minneapolis, Montgomery County, Boston, Pittsburgh, Washington, Denver, Los Angeles County, Wake County, Miami, Miami-Dade County, Hillsborough County, Cape Coral, Port St. Lucie, Alachua County, Kansas City, Baltimore, Sacramento County, Memphis, Las Vegas, Tacoma, Boulder, Cambridge, Somerville, Marin County, Pierce County, Cary, Cleveland, Arlington, Naperville, Tempe, Anaheim, Riverside), newest first and at most 200: type of work, description, date, status and reported cost, from city and county open data checked around the clock. count is how many are listed; when capped is true there are more, and total gives the city's full count when it was read (else null). history_limited means the city's full history didn't load, so the list is our copy only. The address can be typed loosely (a missing N or S, "Drive" for "Dr", a trailing city, state or ZIP, a unit): it is matched to the spelling the city files. When more than one address matches (N and S Holly Dr), the answer lists them in did_you_mean; ask which one is meant and call again with it.

Use this tool when someone asks what is being built near an address or a place: new buildings next door, construction on the block, what's permitted around a home they might buy or rent. Give a city and street address, or a latitude and longitude. The tool returns building permits within a radius (default 400 meters, about a quarter mile) issued since a date (default about six months back), newest first, each with distance in meters and compass direction from the point. It covers the last 24 months of city open data. counts.total is exact even when the list is capped (null if the count failed). It matches a loosely typed address the same way permits_at_address does. If more than one address matches, the answer has found set to false and lists the addresses in did_you_mean.

Look up one building permit by its city permit number: work, date, status, cost and address.

Use when someone asks what is being built in their neighborhood or ZIP code. Returns the newest building permits in a supported city or county, optionally within one ZIP code.

Use when someone asks about variances, conditional uses, rezonings or zoning appeals near an address: what a neighbor asked the city for, or whether a hearing is coming up. Covers Boston, Washington DC, San Francisco and Seattle. Give a city and street address, or a latitude and longitude. Each case has the city's own status words, our plain status label (Filed, In review, Hearing scheduled, Approved, Approved with conditions, Denied, Withdrawn or Other), the hearing date when the city publishes one, and a link to the city's case record. We never infer an outcome the city's record doesn't state. Owner and applicant names are left out.