Shovels | The API for building permits and building contractors

Read our case studies

How we're different

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.

Fanatical customer service: We're a small company with a big heart. We're here to help you succeed.
Constant innovation: We ship fast. We ship often. We ship quality. We use the latest technology to make your life easier.
Transparency: We're not afraid to show you exactly where our coverage gaps are. We're the only company that's fully transparent about our data.
Residents and employees: We go beyond just the properties and contractors. We also include residents and employees with contact information.
Helpful documentation: Our documentation is comprehensive and easy to understand. We keep our API documentation and data dictionary up to date.
AI-powered from the start: We run hundreds of millions of records through our AI to make sure our data is accurate.
Pricing for everyone: We work with all budgets. Our customers range from climate and proptech startups to publicly-traded companies.
Multiple interfaces: We're more than just a data provider. We're both a data platform and a software company.

From the blog

We write about building permits, contractors, and the future of the built environment.

Jun 07, 2025 Company

How to supercharge lead generation with Shovels API and Clay

This article provides a practical guide on integrating Shovels API with Clay to automate construction industry lead generation. It demonstrates how to combine Shovels' database of 170M+ building permits and 3M+ contractors with Clay's no-code platform to create efficient prospecting workflows. The guide includes three real-world examples: finding active HVAC contractors, enriching contractor profiles, and building solar company mailing lists, showing how to reduce manual research costs by 87% while significantly increasing prospect volume.

Ryan Buckley

CEO

Jun 04, 2025 Company

A Deeper Dive into Shovels AI Classifications

Discover how Shovels leverages advanced AI to transform permit classification, using a sophisticated multi-layer approach that combines pattern matching, semantic similarity, and entity extraction. Our system accurately categorizes permits into 22 distinct categories, validated by specialized annotators, ensuring precise classification for millions of construction permits nationwide.

Betty Wan

VP of Growth

May 30, 2025 Company

Introducing the Shovels Nationwide Contractor State License File

Shovels announces the Nationwide Contractor State License File (CSL), a comprehensive dataset covering 1.8 million contractors across 37 states. The CSL dataset features standardized classifications, enhanced verification capabilities, and integrated contact information, enabling better fraud detection and entity resolution in the construction industry.