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Shovels updates data monthly, adding 5-10 million new permit records and 1-5 million status updates nationwide with each refresh. IDs are generally stable across updates but can occasionally change as underlying data evolves.

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Update Schedule

Data is refreshed monthly. The underlying database is updated first, then made available through the API and Shovels Online. This process can take up to a week after the initial database refresh.

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Monthly Volume

Nationwide, each month we add:
  • 5-10 million new records to the dataset
  • 1-5 million status updates to existing records

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How Updates Work

When a permit status or other data field changes:
  1. The jurisdiction updates it in their platform
  2. We access the updated information
  3. We clean up and standardize the data
  4. Updates are released on the 1st and 15th

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ID Stability

Shovels IDs are generated by hashing key attributes of each record. This means IDs are deterministic and stable as long as the underlying attributes remain the same. However, IDs can change when those attributes are updated:
  • Permit IDs can change if the jurisdiction updates metadata that feeds into the hash (e.g., corrected permit details or jurisdiction boundary changes)
  • Address IDs can change if jurisdiction boundaries shift or address attributes are corrected
  • Contractor IDs can change as we discover new permit data that reveals additional details about a contractor (see why contractor IDs can change)
In practice, these changes are infrequent. Most IDs remain stable across monthly refreshes.
If you cache IDs and encounter not-found responses, use other record attributes (permit number, address, business name) to look up the updated ID. We maintain changelogs — contact support@shovels.ai if ID changes affect your workflow.