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Contractor IDs are designed to be stable, but they can occasionally change as we continuously collect new permits and discover additional details about a contractor.

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How Contractor IDs Are Assigned

Contractor IDs are assigned at the branch level. This means:
  • A contractor with a business address in City X has a different ID than the same business name in another city
  • If we cannot associate a contractor with a specific business address, they are assigned a separate ID

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When IDs Change

An ID change can happen when a subsequent permit scrape reveals new information. For example:
  • A contractor was previously unassociated with a specific business address
  • A new scrape reveals their address
  • The contractor is matched to an existing branch record, resulting in an updated ID
These changes are infrequent but can occur as our dataset grows and data quality improves.

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Contractor ID Changelog

We maintain a contractor ID changelog that tracks these changes. If ID changes affect your workflow, contact us and we can share the changelog for your records.
If you cache contractor IDs and encounter not-found responses, use other record attributes (business name, address, license number) to look up the updated ID. Contact support@shovels.ai if you need the full changelog.