Permit Watch · pilot
Commercial jobs worth a call, every week.
For small electrical, HVAC and refrigeration contractors. We read every commercial permit the city publishes and send you the handful a shop your size can actually win.
The problem it solves
By the time a tenant improvement shows up on a bid board, the general contractor already has a short list of subs. The earliest public sign is the building permit, but city permit systems are built for inspectors, not for sales. There are thousands of entries a month, most of them residential or too small or too big for a 3-to-30-person shop.
What we do
- Capture everything daily. Every San Francisco and San José building permit, every business day, with status changes tracked.
- Keep only your kind of job. Commercial and tenant-improvement work, roughly $150,000 to $2.5 million. No houses, no data centers.
- Flag what matters to a sub. Whether electrical and mechanical are still to be permitted, which general contractor is on the job, kitchen and refrigeration work, and the earliest-stage filings.
- Send a short weekly list. Plain English, one email, readable on a phone between jobs.
What's in every lead
- Project and tenant, where listed
- Street address and city
- Estimated value and square footage
- Scope: building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical
- Stage: filed, issued, or trades still to be permitted
- General contractor, where the city lists one (San José does; San Francisco doesn't)
- Permit number, so you can check it at the source
- Trades openOffice build-out, 9th floor · 88 Spear St, San FranciscoPermit says mechanical, electrical and plumbing will be permitted separately.
- Trades openOffice build-out from shell, Suite 200 · 201 California St, San FranciscoLighting, outlets and switches in scope; MEP and fire safety deferred.
- GC namedLogitech tenant improvement · 3930 N 1st St, San JoseBuilding permit only; electrical and mechanical aren't on it yet.
- No GC yetCBRE office tenant improvement, Suite 1200 · 225 W Santa Clara St, San JoseNo contractor listed on the permit yet.
- Just filedBuilding generator replacement · 201 Mission St, San FranciscoElectrical-heavy scope at the earliest stage.
- KitchenFreezer installation · 540 Dado St, San JoseRefrigeration work; building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical approved.
How to use it
- Trades open: call the general contractor or owner's rep before the electrical or mechanical permit is pulled.
- GC named: get on that contractor's bid list for this job and the next one.
- Just filed: these are the earliest stage; worth a note in your follow-up calendar.
- Kitchen: refrigeration, hoods and walk-ins, often outside the main electrical scope.
Coverage and pricing
The pilot covers San Francisco and San José, where the cities publish complete permit data every day. We're adding more Bay Area cities as they make their records available. The pilot is free while we test it with a small group of contractors. After that, Permit Watch is $49 a month for founding members, locked for as long as you stay subscribed; the standard price will be $79 a month. One won job pays for years of it. Compare plans.
Join the pilot
Get a sample built for your trade.
Tell us your trade and where you work. We'll send a Permit Watch sample filtered to jobs like yours, then ask what's useful and what's noise. Free during the pilot; pilot contractors lock in $49 a month afterward.
- One confirmation email, then a sample for your trade
- No sales calls, unsubscribe anytime
- San Francisco and San José now; tell us if you work elsewhere