Seattle, public permits
Leads for contractors
What it does
A machine reads every Seattle permit application filed in a 30-day window, worth $204 million in applicant-stated estimated project cost, sorts them by value and trade, and ranks them for one trade.
In the published run it kept 6 of the 478 and set aside 472, including the largest project in the batch: size alone is not the same as a lead this trade can win. Only 3 of the 478 records name a contractor. The other 475 are blank fields, which the findings brief treats as field sparsity, not proof that no contractor is involved.
What I built
- A permit reader that sorts every application by value and trade
- A ranking for one trade that kept 6 of 478 permits
- A findings brief flagging the 475 blank contractor fields as sparsity, not absence
The record
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478 permits, $204,049,568.02 in applicant-stated estimated project cost
City permit data
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The run kept 6 of the 478, setting aside 472 including the largest project
Film transcript
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Only 3 of 478 records name a contractor; a blank field is sparsity, not proof of no contractor
Findings brief
Honest frame
Real city data, frozen 2026-07-28, covering a 30-day window ending that date. The machine runs on any 30-day window.
Watch the film: I Gave an AI Agent $204,000,000 Worth of Building Permits. It Kept 6. ↗