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Introducing our nationwide contractor licensing dataset with standardized classifications and enhanced verification

Introducing the Shovels Nationwide Contractor State License File

Company
Betty Wan

Betty Wan

VP of Growth

At Shovels, our mission is straightforward: provide reliable, actionable construction data. We're excited to announce our latest dataset—the Nationwide Contractor State License File (CSL).

Why Contractor Licensing Data?

For years, Shovels has sourced contractor data directly from building permits. Now, by incorporating state licensing information, we're significantly enhancing our understanding of the construction labor market. The CSL dataset enables improved verification, fraud detection, and accurate entity resolution.

Addressing Industry Challenges

Collecting state licensing data at scale historically presented several challenges:

  • Not all states offer centralized repositories.
  • States vary significantly in their classification systems, update frequencies, and data accessibility.
  • Collecting state-by-state licensing data is resource-intensive, both in terms of time and cost.
  • Standardizing fragmented data is complex and requires significant effort.

We've developed robust processes to efficiently tackle these challenges.

How Shovels Improves Contractor Licensing Data

The CSL dataset aggregates licensing data from 37 states, covering over 1.8 million contractors. Key features include:

  • Standardized Classifications: We streamlined roughly 3,000 diverse state-specific classifications into 12 standardized SHOVELS_DERIVED categories such as plumbing, electrical, and roofing.
  • Clear License Status Tracking: Two new fields, status and status_detailed, provide clear categorization of licenses (Expired, Suspended, Retired, Revoked, Pending).
  • Integrated Data: We've linked approximately 200,000 licensed contractors to our existing permit-based dataset, adding about 700,000 phone numbers and roughly 200,000 emails.

Features and Functionality

  • Custom Reports: Create reports tailored to your schema and file preferences, including permits, employee details, and contact information.
  • Property Filtering: Apply tax assessor data filters to view contractors by commercial, residential, or industrial project types.
  • Monthly Updates: Data is updated monthly to ensure accuracy and relevance.
  • Nationwide Reach: Currently includes licensing data from 37 states, with continued expansion.
  • Complete Contact Information: Public contact details from license and permit records, plus optional additional employee information.

Secure and Efficient Data Delivery

Our data is securely delivered using modern cloud storage and analytics platforms like AWS, Azure, GCP, Snowflake, BigQuery, and Databricks. We apply advanced geospatial and data science methodologies to ensure accuracy and utility.

Enhance Your Operations

The CSL dataset simplifies the complexity of state licensing data, enabling better business decisions. Let us streamline your data needs so you can focus on core tasks.

Interested in learning more about our Nationwide Contractor State License File? Reach out to our team today.