HazardHub, the USA’s fastest-growing supplier of geospatial risk data, a 2020 Gartner Cool Company, and 2020 Lloyd’s Lab participant – announces a massive new database of building permits – PermitHub. By the end of 2021, PermitHub aims to be the largest repository of building permits in the United States.
John Siegman, CCA of HazardHub explains, “For the longest time, we have thought about adding building permit data to the litany of data assets available from HazardHub. Our clients use this data to help make more sound underwriting decisions by alerting them to both issues and improvements to properties. The problem is that none of the existing datasets available have met the HazardHub standard for completeness, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness. So we decided to build our own. The result is PermitHub – which will eventually become the largest building permit database in the US. The best part? Like our Hazard data and Replacement Cost estimates, it’s a buck.”
The task of gathering permit data is complex, as there are zero existing standards for the publishing of permit data. PermitHub will create a consistent data framework that is easily and instantly available via the HazardHub API.
The initial launch of PermitHub will cover available building permits for 46% of the US population – including nearly all of the state of Florida – moving to over 75% by the end of May 2021. PermitHub will include both residential and commercial permits, along with the permit type, date, amount, contractor, and status.
Bob Frady, CEO of HazardHub adds, “We spend a lot of time talking to our clients about data that can make a difference to their underwriting process, as we specialize in creating high-resolution data. Permit data has come up multiple times. Our clients bemoan the combination of spotty coverage and high price. Just like hazard data, we thought we could build a better, more cost-effective product that was better tuned to the needs of our clients, so we’ve built PermitHub. We are incredibly excited for this next generation of our business.”
PermitHub will be available in April 2021 via an add-on license to HazardHub’s lightning-fast API.