Shovels
Shovels - Building permit and contractor intelligence
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Access the first signal of construction

Get Shovel-ready intelligence delivered via our API. We capture permit, contractor, and property data from thousands of municipalities—using AI to clean, enrich, and unify it into standardized intelligence. Enhanced geo-search, expanded filtering, and lightning-fast responses.

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API for the building trades

Shovel-ready intelligence, delivered via API

Everything built starts with a permit. Our API delivers that first signal—turning fragmented public records from thousands of municipalities into standardized, Shovel-ready intelligence. Built to be powerful, fast, and developer-friendly.

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Enhanced geographic search.
Our new geo_id system enables precise searching by address, zip code, jurisdiction, city, and county - making location-based queries more powerful than ever.
Advanced filtering.
10x more search parameters including property specs, contractor history, and permit details - all delivered in clean JSON format.
Regular updates.
Continuous data refresh from multiple source partners, enhanced with our proprietary processing systems for maximum accuracy.
Quality metrics.
We include our derivative metrics (inspection pass rates and green permit types, for example) wherever it's available.
Residential and commercial.
We include both residential and commercial building filters in the API. Search by property type to identify commercial or residential permits and contractors.
Flexible terms.
We won't make your legal team nitpick every line of our terms and conditions. Terms are designed to give you flexibility to reuse and even resell Shovels output.

Building permit and contractor data

The construction activity API

We built, simply put, the best API in the market to identify what's getting built and who's doing it.

Geographic search
Search by zip code, city, county or custom area using our geo_id system. Each geography includes detailed construction metrics.
Advanced permit filters
Filter permits by value, type, status, and property characteristics. Search for specific work types like roofing, HVAC, or solar installations.
Contractor intelligence
Search contractors by specialties, license types, and work history. Track their active permits and historical performance.
Resident & employee data
Access detailed information about contractor employees and resident property owners associated with permits.
Market analytics
Get construction activity metrics by geography, including permit volumes, values, and contractor activity levels.
Address resolution
Validate and standardize US addresses with our address search endpoint for accurate permit and contractor lookups on specific addresses.
Property details
Access property characteristics like square footage, year built, and property type to understand the full context of permits.
Customer support
We're here to help you with any questions or issues you might have. We're a small team, but API users are our favorite and we're dedicated to making sure you have a great experience!

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