# FirstDig

> FirstDig emails contractors and home-service businesses the new building permits filed in their service area. It reads city building-permit open data about once an hour, sorts each permit by trade (roofing, solar, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, remodels, pools, new construction and more: 18 trades), and sends the ones that match the areas a business draws on a map.

## Key facts

- Who it is for: businesses that sell to property owners after a permit is filed, such as roofers, solar installers, HVAC and plumbing contractors, remodelers, pool builders and pool service companies, fence and window companies, dumpster rental. Alerts go to businesses only; FirstDig never contacts or markets to homeowners.
- What an alert contains: the permit's type and trade, the address, the filing date, the job value when the city lists it, and the contractor's business name (and phone, where the city publishes it).
- AI assistants: on the paid Pro and Business plans (not during the free trial) a customer can connect their own ChatGPT, Claude or Codex to their account to search permits, see which streets and builders are busy and, if they allow it, log lead results. The assistant only sees that customer's account.
- Speed: each city feed is checked about once an hour. Paid plans email new permits every morning; the Free plan sends a weekly email and shows permits 7 days after filing.
- Plans: Free, Pro and Business. Every account starts with 14 days of Pro with no card needed, then moves to Free unless the customer chooses to pay. Current prices: https://firstdig.net/#pricing (live JSON: https://api.firstdig.net/v1/public/plans?market=US).
- Privacy: names of property owners, applicants and other private individuals are removed from city records before anything is stored. FirstDig does not sell personal information and does not run ads.
- Data: public government open-data portals; each source is credited on the site.
- Country: United States.

## Coverage

- Phoenix, AZ
- Maricopa County, AZ (unincorporated areas around Phoenix)
- Tucson, AZ
- Mesa, AZ
- Scottsdale, AZ
- Tempe, AZ
- Coconino County, AZ (Flagstaff area)
- Los Angeles, CA
- Los Angeles County, CA (unincorporated areas)
- San Diego, CA
- San Diego County, CA (unincorporated areas)
- San Jose, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- Sacramento, CA
- Sacramento County, CA (unincorporated areas)
- Riverside County, CA (unincorporated areas)
- Corona, CA
- Marin County, CA
- Denver, CO
- Aurora, CO
- Centennial, CO
- Boulder, CO
- Douglas County, CO (unincorporated areas)
- Adams County, CO (unincorporated areas)
- Hartford, CT
- Washington, DC
- Miami, FL
- Miami-Dade County, FL (unincorporated areas)
- Hillsborough County, FL (unincorporated areas around Tampa)
- Orlando, FL
- Osceola County, FL
- Volusia County, FL (unincorporated areas)
- Port St. Lucie, FL
- Cape Coral, FL
- Alachua County, FL (Gainesville area)
- Lakeland, FL
- Atlanta, GA
- DeKalb County, GA
- Boise, ID
- Chicago, IL
- Naperville, IL
- Overland Park, KS
- Louisville, KY
- New Orleans, LA
- Baton Rouge, LA
- Baltimore, MD
- Montgomery County, MD
- Prince George's County, MD
- Boston, MA
- Worcester, MA
- Cambridge, MA
- Somerville, MA
- Detroit, MI
- Minneapolis, MN
- Kansas City, MO
- Lincoln, NE (new homes)
- Las Vegas, NV
- Clark County, NV (unincorporated areas around Las Vegas)
- Henderson, NV
- New York City, NY (NYC Department of Buildings)
- Buffalo, NY
- Rochester, NY
- Raleigh, NC
- Wake County, NC (county areas, Wendell, Knightdale, Rolesville, Zebulon)
- Greensboro, NC
- Durham, NC (demolition permits)
- Columbus, OH
- Cleveland, OH
- Cincinnati, OH
- Portland, OR
- Salem, OR
- Bend, OR
- Philadelphia, PA
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Allentown, PA
- Charleston, SC
- Sioux Falls, SD
- Nashville, TN
- Memphis and Shelby County, TN
- Harris County, TX (unincorporated areas around Houston)
- San Antonio, TX
- Austin, TX
- Fort Worth, TX
- El Paso, TX (new homes)
- Collin County, TX (Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen)
- Arlington, TX
- Tyler, TX
- Midland, TX
- College Station, TX
- San Marcos, TX
- Fairfax County, VA
- Virginia Beach, VA
- Loudoun County, VA
- Norfolk, VA
- Charlottesville, VA
- Seattle, WA
- Tacoma, WA
- Bellevue, WA
- Everett, WA
- Pierce County, WA (unincorporated areas)

Live coverage with each city's permit count for the last 30 days: https://api.firstdig.net/v1/public/landing

## City pages (live numbers)

One page per city and trade, e.g. https://firstdig.net/roofing-permits/tx/austin or https://firstdig.net/pool-permits/fl/miami: permits filed in the last 7 days and 12 weeks, a map of where the work is, and recent examples at block level.

- [Every city page's current numbers (Markdown)](https://api.firstdig.net/v1/public/pages.md)
- [List of city pages (JSON)](https://api.firstdig.net/v1/public/pages)

Each city page links its monthly reports, e.g. https://firstdig.net/pool-permits/fl/miami/2026-09: the month's total, the change from the month before, permits per day, the busiest ZIP codes and the kinds of work.

## Guides

Practical guides on using building permits to find customers (pool service, dumpster rental, home services, reading a permit), each with live numbers: https://firstdig.net/guides (JSON: https://api.firstdig.net/v1/public/guides).

## Compared with other permit services

How FirstDig compares with PermitGrab, Permitlify, New Permit Alerts, PermitVector, PermitMap, DigPermit, The Permit Sheet, Permit Leads, permits.llc, JustPermitted, Construction Monitor, Projects Ahead, PermitRadar, PermitStack, Shovels, ConstructConnect and Dodge Construction Network: coverage, freshness, alerts, homeowner data and price, each side by side and dated, from the other company's own website: https://firstdig.net/compare (JSON: https://api.firstdig.net/v1/public/compare).

## Pages

- [Home](https://firstdig.net/): how FirstDig works, live coverage, pricing and FAQ
- [Pricing](https://firstdig.net/#pricing): plans compared
- [Start free](https://firstdig.net/signup): create an account (14 days of Pro)
- [Request a city](https://firstdig.net/waitlist): join the waitlist for a city that isn't covered yet
- [Terms of Service](https://firstdig.net/terms)
- [Privacy Policy](https://firstdig.net/privacy)
- [Support](https://firstdig.net/support)