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How to Look Up New Building Permits in Chicago, and Find Who Pulled Them

Published · By , Founder
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Builtie construction intelligence content.

Chicago's building permits are public. The data is published on the Chicago Data Portal, dataset "Building Permits" (ydr8-5enu), and each record carries contact names with their role (general contractor, electrical, plumbing and others), reported cost, permit type (new construction, renovation, wrecking) and work description. In H1 2026 the city issued 3,667 permits. The permit tells you a project exists and who filed it; it does not tell you the stage, the person who awards your trade, or how to reach them. That last step is what Builtie adds.

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Find, qualify, identify, reach Findpermits, planning records,builder posts, site checks Qualifyscored 0 to 100 for yourprofile, stage and territory Identifythe company and the personwho awards the work ReachLinkedIn and email, underyour name, done for you

The same four steps, whether the buyer is a builder, a designer, an owner or a company you want to acquire.

Search the Chicago Data Portal, dataset "Building Permits" (ydr8-5enu). Filter on issue date and work type, then sort by value where the city publishes it.

What each permit tells you

Each record carries contact names with their role (general contractor, electrical, plumbing and others), reported cost, permit type (new construction, renovation, wrecking) and work description. Chicago's declared value rose 74% in H1 2026 on H1 2025.

Traps in the data

Each contact carries a role; filter on the general contractor role to find builders. Tents and event structures appear among new-construction permits.

From a permit to a conversation

Turning a Chicago permit into a lead 1 Filter to new builds and major renovations Skip repairs and small alterations 2 Check the stage against your trade's window See when each trade is hired 3 Identify the builder The contractor, applicant or owner field, then the operating company 4 Find the person who awards your trade Owner at a small builder; estimator or PM at a GC 5 Reach out before buyout One message naming the project

Builtie does steps 1 to 5 every day for Chicago.

City guide: construction leads in Chicago. Report: Chicago H1 2026. Other cities: Building permit lookup: Austin, Building permit lookup: Miami-Dade, Building permit lookup: New York City, Building permit lookup: Nashville, Building permit lookup: Seattle, Building permit lookup: Los Angeles, Building permit lookup: Vancouver, Building permit lookup: Calgary.

Plans and coverage

Builtie's Starter plan is $79 per seat per month (CAD) for 20 projects; Growth is $99 for 50 projects and adds the LinkedIn and email outreach you run yourself. Opening a project spends one credit, and the decision makers, emails, phones and AI call script inside it are included. Your monthly credits reset at each renewal, and extra credit packs are valid for 30 days. The free trial runs 7 days with 10 projects. Custom, where Builtie's team runs the outreach for you, starts from CAD $1,500 a month on top of a Growth seat.

Builtie covers North America, with its deepest permit and contact data in the Greater Toronto Area, where it started. How much a city yields depends on what that municipality publishes, so ask for live sample projects in your own city before you buy.

Frequently asked questions

How do I look up building permits in Chicago?

Use the Chicago Data Portal, dataset "Building Permits" (ydr8-5enu). Filter by issue date and work type.

Do Chicago permits show the contractor?

Each record carries contact names with their role (general contractor, electrical, plumbing and others), reported cost, permit type (new construction, renovation, wrecking) and work description.

How much does Builtie cost?

Starter is $79 per seat per month (CAD) for 20 projects; Growth is $99 for 50 projects plus LinkedIn and email outreach; 7-day free trial with 10 projects. Billed monthly.