Shovels captures the first signal of construction—using AI to turn fragmented permit data into Shovel-ready intelligence. Access via API, web app, or direct data warehouse integration.
Because you want to get insights from building permits, not wrangle with raw data.
Our data is Shovel-ready
We make building permits easy to understand and use for market research, go-to-market, and sales. No data engineering required.
We offer three interfaces to interact with our building permit, contractor, and government decision data.
Purchase single or multiple seats to explore and download our building permit, contractor, and local government decision data.
Automate access and integrate with other applications like CRMs, custom web apps, and more.
Get parquet files or private table shares into Snowflake, Databricks, or Big Query.
We write about building permits, contractors, government decisions, and the future of the built environment.
Shovels Newsletter - July 2026
CEO Ryan Buckley on the four proprietary data building blocks Shovels now owns — permits, contractors, decisions, and properties — plus a content roundup, a new-home construction permit wait-times map, July release notes, and team sightings.
VP of Marketing
Monthly Memo - July 2026
This month's memo is the epilogue to Ryan's data journey—the four proprietary building blocks Shovels now owns outright. It traces how the company started with permits (buyer intent, invisible to Google), expanded to contractors and their license data, acquired ReZone to add government Decisions, and is now building nationwide Properties from tax assessor rolls across about 2,800 counties. The payoff is a circular, self-enriching system where Permits, Decisions, and Properties each enrich the others in near real-time.
CEO
What Is a Zoning Variance? How It Works and How to Get One
A zoning variance is official permission to deviate from a specific zoning rule. Learn how use and area variances work and how to get one approved.
Senior Marketing Manager
