PermitFocus
Comparison

PermitFocus vs Construction Monitor

Construction Monitor hands you a list of permits to chase. PermitFocus tells you which markets and builders are actually worth your time. CM is a firehose of raw weekly permit leads with contacts; PermitFocus is the intelligence layer on top — scored counties, builder targeting, and where-to-be location analysis — so you stop drowning in undifferentiated leads.

Feature
PermitFocus
Construction Monitor
What you're buying
✓ Intelligence — which markets and builders to prioritize, and where to be
A list — raw building-permit leads with contacts to cold-call
Built for
✓ Operators deciding where to expand and which builders to pursue
Contractors who want a steady feed of permit leads to call
Core deliverable
Scored counties + builder targets ranked by opportunity
Regional permit lists and weekly permit reports
Lead contact details
Builder identification where county/license data supports it
Yes — permit-level contacts is their core strength
Prioritization / ranking
✓ Markets and builders ranked so you know what to chase first
No — undifferentiated list; you sort and qualify it yourself
Typical pricing
$499 – $1,499 / mo, published on the site
Region-based list subscriptions (priced by area, via sales)
Buying motion
Self-serve — sign up online, no sales call
Subscription set up by region, typically sales-assisted
Trial
✓ 7-day free trial, card required, cancel anytime
Sample reports available, no self-serve trial
US coverage
All 50 states, 3,022 counties scored
National — sold region by region
Trade-tilted scoring
✓ Roofing, HVAC, plumbing, concrete, paint, flooring each get tilted weights
No — filter the raw list by permit type yourself
Drive-time catchment analysis
✓ Drop pins, run isochrones, compare candidate sites side-by-side
No — list service, not a location tool
Cross-builder heatmap
✓ Counties colored by distinct-builder count
No — raw permit rows, no market visualization
CRM-lite (notes, calls, follow-ups)
✓ Built in — work your targets in the same tool
No — export the list to your own CRM
Weekly watchlist email digest
✓ Configurable, curated to your watchlist, free on all paid plans
Weekly permit reports — the full firehose, not a curated digest
Public sample report
✓ Live county report, no login required
Sample lists on request
Setup time
Under 2 minutes — sign up, pick trade, pick states, done
Choose regions, set up subscription, receive lists
Score methodology
Transparent — 6-factor blend (permit volume, trajectory, consistency, migration, employment, corridor tier). Drivers shown on every county page.
N/A — delivers raw permit lists, not a scored product
API access
Enterprise tier
Data exports / feeds available
Data sources
US Census BPS, county ArcGIS feeds, FL DBPR licensee, BEA migration, BLS employment
Building-permit records collected from jurisdictions nationwide
Best for
An operator deciding where to expand, which builders to pursue, and how to prioritize — intelligence over raw lists
A contractor who wants raw weekly permit leads to cold-call and is happy to qualify them in-house

Construction Monitor is a solid lead source

If what you need is a steady, nationwide stream of permit leads with contacts to dial, Construction Monitor has done that well for years. Their permit-level contact data is genuinely useful — and for a pure cold-calling motion, it's a real tool. We'll say that plainly.

But a list isn't a strategy

A firehose of raw permits tells you what got pulled — not which county is worth a branch, which builders to pursue first, or where to put your reps. Many CM subscribers drown in undifferentiated leads. PermitFocus scores and ranks the opportunity so you spend your week on the markets that pay.

See the intelligence yourself

Open the live sample report right now — no email gate, no sales call. Compare a scored county report against a raw lead list and decide which one actually moves your number.

See your own markets in 2 minutes.

7-day free trial. Card required, cancel anytime.

Start free trial See sample report

Comparison reflects publicly available product features as of June 2026. Construction Monitor is a trademark of its respective owner; this page is independent and not affiliated with Construction Monitor. Where features overlap meaningfully, both are noted as available; where one platform offers something the other doesn't, that's noted too — including where Construction Monitor's permit-level lead data is stronger than ours. We update this page as both products evolve.