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Shovels stands out from other permit data providers through five key differentiators: (1) USPS-standardized, geocoded addresses, (2) comprehensive contractor data with parent-company grouping, (3) 98% classification accuracy using AI validated by industry experts, (4) sophisticated deduplication that maintains consistent IDs across updates, and (5) every way of reaching the data included on every plan. We source directly from jurisdictions—never from third-party resellers.

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Key Differentiators

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1. Very Clean Data

Our addresses are standardized to USPS format and geotagged with coordinates. We cross-reference against multiple authoritative datasets:
  • National Address Dataset from the US Census
  • Open Address dataset
  • Simple Maps
  • ESRI

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2. Comprehensive Contractor Data

Our contractor data is derived directly from permit metadata, including contractor grouping that links contractors under the same parent organization. This helps you understand relationships between:
  • Local branches and regional offices
  • DBA names and parent companies
  • Related business entities

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3. Modern Data Infrastructure

We use AI and machine learning with a documented 98% accuracy rate validated by construction industry experts. Our rigorous data labeling process involves:
  • Multiple independent annotators
  • Manual review for divergent responses
  • Golden datasets for benchmarking

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4. Sophisticated Deduplication

Our system maintains a unique identifier for each permit and updates records as permit statuses change, rather than creating duplicate entries. This means:
  • Consistent permit IDs throughout the lifecycle
  • No duplicate records from status updates
  • Reliable tracking across data refreshes

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5. Every Interface Included

You are not buying a seat in one tool. Every plan includes the same ways of reaching the data, and they draw on one shared credit balance—so you can move between them without changing plans or negotiating an add-on:
  • Shovels Online — search, filter, map, and export in the browser
  • Shovels API — REST endpoints for integrations and automated workflows
  • Shovels CLI — a single binary with JSON output, built for terminals and AI agents
  • Charlie — the AI agent inside Shovels Online, opened with the Agent button
See choosing an interface for which one fits a given job. Hosted GIS layers for ArcGIS and QGIS sit outside the plan lineup: they are scoped and provisioned by our GIS team, and are also available as an Enterprise Data License delivery format.
Learn more about our data quality approach in our data labeling process article.

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Data Sources

We source data directly from jurisdictions through:
  • Direct relationships with local governments
  • Integration with online permitting portals
  • Public records requests where needed
We don’t purchase data from other sources—we get it straight from the source.