Before you write to anyone, answer one question: whose name is on the permit? Usually it is a contractor who has already been hired for the main job. So a permit rarely leads you to someone who is about to hire your trade. It leads you to the next trade, or the supplier, or the owner who still needs what the permit's contractor does not provide.
Building permit records are public, which makes them one of the better lead sources for contractors, suppliers, lawn and garden crews, cleaners, inspectors and security firms. The method has six steps: find where your city or county publishes them, filter for the jobs you want, find the named person, write a short message that mentions the project, time it, and log it. Public portals only, used the way they were meant to be used.
What a building permit tells you
A permit is a record that someone asked the city for permission to build or change something. A typical record shows the address, the type of work, a short description, the estimated value, the date it was issued, the status, and the applicant. The applicant is either the contractor, who often pulls permits on the owner's behalf, or the owner doing the work themselves. Some records also show the contractor's license number and the owner's name.
The type tells you who might need your service. A pool permit means a pool builder is already hired, and the homeowner will soon need a barrier fence that meets code, plus garden work and maybe a cover. A new house means the builder needs many trades over the next year. A tenant improvement permit in a commercial space means a business is moving in, and after the work is done it needs cleaning, signage and security. A demolition often precedes a new build. Our guide to finding companies that are about to buy covers other signals like this one.
Where permit records are published
Start with your city or county building department's website, and look for "permit search" or "records." Some large cities, including New York, Chicago, Seattle and Austin, publish permit data on open-data portals where you can filter and export a file. Smaller places often offer a search by address or date range, and a few require a records request. Use the portal's own search and export tools, follow its terms, and don't point automated tools at it. A weekly manual pull is enough for most businesses and keeps you inside the rules.
Filtering for the jobs you want
Take Redfern Fence and Gate, which installs residential fences in a mid-size city. In a month the city issues a few hundred permits. Sam, the owner, filters the portal by permit type (pool, new single-family house), status (issued), issue date (the last 14 days) and his service-area ZIP codes. Out of about 25 pool permits that month, 14 are in his ZIP codes. That is his list. Add a minimum value if small jobs do not interest you. Fewer, better rows beat a long list.
Finding the owner or contractor by name
If the applicant is a contractor, look up the license number on the state licensing board's lookup, which usually lists the business name, address and phone. If the applicant is the owner, or the record shows an owner name, the county assessor's page confirms it. For a business owner, how to find who owns a business shows the registry route, and finding commercial property owners covers buildings held by an LLC. For contractors, finding general contractors to sell to goes further. Then find a business email for the contractor, and for homeowners, plan on a letter.
A first message that references the permit
Write to the contractor as a colleague and to the owner as a neighbor. Never open with how you found them as if it were a secret; say it plainly. To the pool builder, by email:
Subject: Fence for the Alder Court pool permit?
Hi Ramona, I'm Sam at Redfern Fence and Gate. I saw your permit for the pool at 12 Alder Court. Code requires a barrier fence before final inspection, and we install them on pool schedules. If you don't already have a fence partner, I'd like to send you our pricing and timelines. Fifteen minutes by phone this week?
To the homeowner, by mail, a short letter:
Hello, I'm Sam Redfern, and I install pool barrier fences in this area. Public records show a pool permit at your address. Many pool inspections require a code-compliant barrier, and it helps to line the fence up early. If you haven't, I'd be glad to give you a free written quote. Call 555-0166 or reply to the card. If you aren't interested, no need to respond, and I won't contact you again.
Use mail for homeowners. Marketing calls and texts to consumers run into the National Do Not Call Registry and consent rules, and a permit record is not consent. A letter avoids all of that. Sam's letters cost about $1.15 each, so 14 letters is $16.10, while a single fence job at $4,800 with a 30 percent margin is $1,440 of profit.
Timing: when to write
| When | Who | What |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 to 3 after the permit is issued | The contractor on the permit | A short email like the one above |
| Day 1 to 3 | The owner | A letter, mailed |
| Day 10 | The contractor | One follow-up with a specific offer, such as a price sheet |
| Day 21 | Both | A last short note, then stop |
| Every week | The portal | A fresh pull for new permits |
The window matters because the decision on the fence, the cleaner or the lawn crew is made early. By the time the project is nearly done, the choice has usually been made. Ask the contractor how long the job runs so you can tune the days to your trade.
Following up and logging
Keep a sheet with these columns: permit number, date issued, type, address, applicant, license number, contact, date messaged, reply, next step. Dedupe by permit number so you never write twice about the same project. When a contractor replies, treat them as a lasting source: one pool builder who sends you every fence is worth more than 14 letters. Our guide to building a lead list has the sheet layout.
Pulling permits is a weekly habit; the writing and follow-up are where time gets lost. Rocketship finds the buyers by name, emails them from your own Gmail, follows up, and books the meeting on its own, so a contractor you found in the permit records gets the follow-up on day 10 whether or not you remember. Plans that get you customers start at $24.99 a month (Launch), and every monthly plan starts with a 7-day free trial, card required. See the AI workers. For businesses rather than building sites, finding new businesses in your area to sell to is the sister method.