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 - June 2026
CEO Ryan Buckley on the Shovels Decisions API beta launch and the shift to a fully owned data pipeline, plus a content roundup, the Q1 2026 multifamily construction map, June release notes, and team sightings.
VP of Marketing
Monthly Memo - June 2026
On June 2, Shovels launched its Decisions API—the first expansion beyond permits, connecting decisions, permits, and contractors through shared geo_ids. Ryan ties the launch to a bigger shift: Shovels now gathers its permits, contractors, decisions, and property data 100% on its own, with no licensed records. By the end of the year, the company will have four interconnected proprietary datasets, all "Shovel-ready" for your data teams.
CEO
Shovels Newsletter - May 2026
CEO Ryan Buckley shares Shovels' evolution, featuring new expert voices, expanded permit data coverage with 223 new jurisdictions, and the company's transition to a proprietary data pipeline.
VP of Marketing
