Every week, your town hall publishes a list of people who are about to spend money on their property.

It's called the building permit register. It's public record. It's free to access. And almost no contractor in your market is looking at it.

That's your opening.

What a Building Permit Actually Tells You

When someone pulls a permit, they're not just filing paperwork. They're announcing a project. And a project means contractors, subcontractors, and service trades are all needed.

A residential addition permit? That homeowner probably needs:

A framer or general contractor
An electrician to update the panel
A plumber if there's a bathroom
An HVAC tech to extend the ductwork
A painter when it's done

A demolition permit often signals a full gut renovation is coming. A pool permit means an electrician and a landscaper. A commercial reno permit in a strip mall means every trade in the building gets touched.

The permit tells you what's happening, where it's happening, and who owns the property. That's enough to make a call.

Where to Find Permit Lists in Your Town

Most municipalities post permit data on their own website or through a third-party platform. Here's where to look:

Ontario

Almost every Ontario municipality runs a building permit portal. The City of Greater Sudbury posts permits through their building services page at greatersudbury.ca. Toronto posts detailed permit data on their open data portal at open.toronto.ca. Search "[your city] building permit search" and you'll usually find it within two clicks.

British Columbia

BC municipalities vary. Surrey, Burnaby, and Kelowna all have public permit lookups on their city sites. Most link directly to an Accela Citizen Access portal or similar system. Search "[your city] building permit inquiry" to find yours.

Smaller Towns

In municipalities under 50,000 people, permit data is often handled by the county or regional government. If your town doesn't have a searchable portal, call the building department and ask if they publish a weekly permit log. Many do — they just don't advertise it.

The US

American counties post permit data through their assessor's office or a dedicated permit portal. Counties like Maricopa (AZ), King (WA), and Mecklenburg (NC) have full searchable databases online. Smaller jurisdictions often use platforms like OpenGov, Cloudpermit, or Accela — search "[your county] permit portal" and you'll find it.

A permit is a homeowner raising their hand and saying: "I'm spending money on my property, and I need professionals to help me do it."

How to Turn a Permit Into a Phone Call

Speed matters. A permit gets filed. You see it. You call within 48 hours.

Most trades are still waiting for referrals. You're calling before anyone else even knows the project exists.

Here's how to work it:

Get the address. Look it up on your county assessor or Canada411 to find the owner's name.
Find a number. Google the address, check Canada411 or WhitePages, or look at public social profiles tied to the property.
Call or text the same day. Keep it short: "Hey, I'm a local [your trade] and I noticed a permit was filed at your address. Happy to give you a free quote — I work in [neighbourhood] all the time."

You don't need a script. You need to be first. And you need to sound like a human being, not a call centre.

The homeowner already said yes to the project. The money is already moving. You're not convincing anyone of anything — you're just showing up before the competition does.

Why This Works Better Than Paid Ads

With Google Ads or HomeAdvisor, you're trying to intercept someone at the moment they're searching. That's fine. But you're also competing with every other contractor in your market running the same ads, paying the same cost-per-click, fighting for the same position.

With permits, you're calling someone who has already decided to do the work. The intent isn't hypothetical. The money is committed. And most of the time, you're the only one calling.

That's not a warm lead. That's a hot lead.

Electricians and roofers who work off permit lists consistently report close rates well above what paid ads deliver — because the homeowner needs someone, and you showed up first with no competition.

The Real Problem: Who Does This Every Day?

Here's the honest part.

Checking the permit list, cross-referencing addresses, finding owner names, tracking down phone numbers — that's 45 minutes to an hour every single morning. Before you've even touched your first job.

Most trades owners don't have that hour. You're already up at 5:30. You've got a full crew to manage, materials to pick up, and a customer waiting. Playing permit detective every morning isn't realistic — not consistently, and not without dropping something else.

So the permit list just sits there. Unpulled. Full of hot leads. And nobody's calling them.

The best lead source in your market is probably free, public, and updated every week. The bottleneck isn't knowing about it. It's doing it every single day without burning out.

Consistency Is the Whole Game

Permit leads, recently-sold listings on Realtor.ca or Zillow, Nextdoor job requests, local Facebook group posts — these sources only work if someone's watching them consistently.

One good morning on permits doesn't build a pipeline. Checking every weekday for six months does.

That kind of consistency requires either a dedicated person (most small shops don't have one) or a system that does it for you while you're on the job.

Night Manager does the watching. Every morning, 5–10 qualified local leads hit your inbox — sourced from permit filings, recently-sold properties, and local intent signals in your specific market. No portals to check. No addresses to cross-reference. Just open your phone and start calling.

First 10 leads are free. No credit card. nightmanager.xyz.