Where the data comes from
- Building permits, filtered to electrical scope: City of Chicago building permits (Socrata, dataset ydr8-5enu) — 455 of 1,205 sampled commercial permits carry electrical scope (37.8%)
- Open electrical code violations: City of Chicago building code violations, electrical category (Socrata, dataset 22u3-xenr) — 10,059 OPEN electrical violations citywide, 956 opened since 2025-01-01 — classifier measured 100.0% precision / 100.0% recall
Source platform: Chicago Open Data (Socrata). Numbers above are measured, not estimated — see docs/audits/electrician-age-badges.md; docs/audits/electrical-capex.md.
Open violations are forced-repair leads — a building owner under an open electrical citation, not a discretionary upgrade.
What you get
A feed of commercial electrical opportunities in Chicago, IL — service and amperage upgrades, switchgear and panelboard replacements, EV charging installs, tenant fit-out power, and forced-repair leads from open electrical code violations — each with the full street address, a link back to the public record, and a plain-language reason it qualified. This feed is not exclusive: seats in Cook County are shared across subscribers.
Why a permit beats a shared lead
Most electrical lead services resell the same homeowner service call to several shops at once, and almost none of it is commercial. A permit filing or open code violation is a public, dated, address-specific signal that real electrical scope is in motion — filed by a licensed electrician or logged by a code inspector — so you see it early enough to reach the owner or general contractor before a bid list forms, and it carries a public source you can verify yourself.
Chicago, IL commercial electrical leads, common questions
What public records does Electrician Scout watch in Chicago, IL?
Building permits, filtered to electrical scope (City of Chicago building permits (Socrata, dataset ydr8-5enu)); Open electrical code violations (City of Chicago building code violations, electrical category (Socrata, dataset 22u3-xenr)).
What kinds of jobs show up in the Chicago, IL feed?
Service and amperage upgrades, switchgear and panelboard replacements, EV charging installs, tenant fit-out power, and forced-repair leads from open electrical code violations — the same commercial scope a licensed electrician bids on, not residential service calls.
Is Chicago, IL coverage live yet?
Not yet activated. The public data pipeline is verified and ready — 37.8% of sampled commercial building permits carry electrical scope (455 of 1,205 sampled) (verified 2026-07-04) — so once Cook County goes live, this feed starts surfacing opportunities the same day.
How fresh is the data?
Pulled directly from Chicago Open Data (Socrata), the same public portal the city or county itself publishes to — not a resold or scraped list. Each opportunity carries the record it came from so you can verify it yourself.
Is my seat in Chicago, IL exclusive to me?
No — Electrician Scout coverage is shared, not exclusive. Multiple subscribers in the same county see the same feed; pricing reflects that.
Data verified against public records · non-exclusive, shared coverage · activates when Cook County goes live.