# Demolition permit leads: finding new demolition permits

By Rotomal team · Updated 2026-10-29 · Part of [Permit Weekly](https://rotomal.com/permit-leads/)

**Short answer:** Cities that publish permits as open data include demolitions, and the list is short enough to work by hand. For permits issued 1–28 October 2026, our queries found 122 residential and 28 commercial demolition permits in Dallas, 96 building demolitions in Los Angeles (data to 24 October), 88 in Miami-Dade County, 85 in Austin, 53 wrecking/demolition permits in Chicago and 40 in Seattle. A teardown usually comes before a new build: in Dallas, 379 of 554 residential demolitions issued January–June 2026 were followed by a new-home permit at the same address.

## Who a demolition permit is a lead for

| Trade | Why it matters |
| --- | --- |
| Dumpster and roll-off rental, hauling | A teardown produces debris that has to be hauled away |
| Excavation, grading and site work | The lot is cleared for a foundation |
| Home builders and general contractors | A residential teardown often means a new house on the same lot |
| Abatement contractors | Older buildings may need hazardous-material work before demolition; rules vary |
| Fencing, temporary power and site services | Cleared lots need security and utilities during construction |

## Demolition permits by city, 1–28 October 2026

Our counts from each city's open data, run on 29 October 2026:

| City | Field and value | 1–28 Oct 2026 | Contractor named |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dallas | permit_type 'Residential Demolition Permit' / 'Commercial Demolition Permit' | 122 / 28 (September: 101 / 22) | Almost never in 2026 |
| Los Angeles | permit_type 'Bldg-Demolition' (data to 24 October) | 96 | No contractor column |
| Miami-Dade County | CategoryDescription1 contains DEMOLITION | 88 | Yes, on every October permit |
| Austin | work_class 'Demolition' | 85 (78 residential, 7 commercial) | 78 of 85 |
| Chicago | permit_type 'PERMIT - WRECKING/DEMOLITION' | 53 (September: 69) | A general contractor contact on 53 of 53 |
| Seattle | permittypemapped 'Demolition' | 40 | 0 of 40 |
| Philadelphia | permittype 'Demolition' | 28 | 28 of 28 |

Chicago's 53 permits carried a combined reported cost of $2,476,630.

## From teardown to new build: what Dallas shows

We matched Dallas residential demolition permits issued January–June 2026 against residential new-construction permits at the same street address, issued the same day or later, up to 29 October 2026. Of 554 demolitions, 379 (68%) were followed by a new-home permit. The median gap was 44 days; 136 came within 30 days and 235 within 60 days.

For builders and site trades, that makes a demolition permit a lead roughly six weeks before the new-construction permit appears.

## Where the lists come from

Dallas's open data portal (dallasopendata.com) and Chicago's (data.cityofchicago.org) both answer a filter on permit type and issue date with no key: permit types containing Demolition in Dallas, and PERMIT - WRECKING/DEMOLITION in Chicago.

Dallas stores its issue date as text (MM/DD/YY), so a month is matched as text rather than as a date range. Both return JSON with the address; Chicago's also lists the contacts on each permit.

## Working demolition leads

- Act soon after the issue date; hauling and site work are booked around the demolition.
- Call the contractor of record where the city lists one; for owner-pulled permits, mail the property owner.
- Watch the same address for the new-construction permit, which signals the next set of trades.
- If you contact owners by phone or text, follow Do-Not-Call and TCPA rules. This is not legal advice.

## Paid options and Permit Weekly

PingPermit sells a "Demolition & Debris Box" trade, described as teardowns, gut remodels and hauling, at $15 a month, with 19 markets covered (checked 29 October 2026). Permit Weekly can deliver demolition permits for your ZIP codes as a weekly list, and confirms coverage for your ZIP codes by email before you pay.

## FAQ

### Are demolition permits public record?

Generally yes in the US, and cities that publish permit data include demolitions in the same dataset. This is not legal advice.

### How long after a demolition permit does construction start?

In Dallas, residential demolitions issued January–June 2026 that were followed by a new-home permit at the same address saw a median gap of 44 days between the two permits, by our count.

### Do demolition permits list the contractor?

It depends on the city. In October 2026, Philadelphia and Miami-Dade County named one on every demolition permit, Chicago listed a general contractor among the contacts on all 53, and Austin named one on 78 of 85; Seattle named none, and Los Angeles has no contractor column.

### How many demolition permits does a big city issue in a month?

From a few dozen to about 150. For 1–28 October 2026 we counted 150 in Dallas, 96 in Los Angeles, 88 in Miami-Dade County, 85 in Austin and 53 in Chicago.

## Sources

- Dallas open data: Building Permits https://www.dallasopendata.com/d/e7gq-4sah
- Chicago open data: Building Permits https://data.cityofchicago.org/d/ydr8-5enu
- Los Angeles open data: Building Permits Issued from 2020 to Present https://data.lacity.org/d/pi9x-tg5x
- Austin open data: Issued Construction Permits https://data.austintexas.gov/d/3syk-w9eu
- Miami-Dade County: permit feed (ArcGIS item) https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=6db5f56e886446df88313ca279e59120
- Seattle open data: Building Permits https://data.seattle.gov/d/76t5-zqzr
- OpenDataPhilly: L&I Building and Zoning Permits https://opendataphilly.org/datasets/licenses-and-inspections-building-and-zoning-permits/
- PingPermit: trades and pricing https://pingpermit.com/
- FTC: National Do Not Call Registry https://www.donotcall.gov/

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Rotomal · https://rotomal.com/permit-leads/demolition-permit-leads/ · hello@rotomal.com