Query Los Angeles open data for grading permit records
domain: data.lacity.org · 4 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
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Steps
Use the City of Los Angeles Open Data Portal (data.lacity.org), a Socrata-based portal, to query LADBS (Department of Building and Safety) permit datasets, which include grading permits alongside other building/safety permit types.
Access data programmatically via the standard Socrata SODA API (filtering, aggregation, CSV/JSON/XML export) rather than manually browsing dataset pages.
Note LA County (data.lacounty.gov) is a separate open-data portal from LA City (data.lacity.org) — confirm which jurisdiction actually issues the grading permit for a given project (city vs. unincorporated county) before querying the wrong portal.
Verify the specific dataset name/ID for grading permits at query time — Socrata dataset IDs on data.lacity.org can be consolidated or renamed over time.
Known gotchas
LA City and LA County maintain separate open-data portals and separate permitting datasets — many 'LA grading permit' queries actually need the city (LADBS) data, or vice versa, depending on project location.
Confirm current dataset identifiers directly on data.lacity.org before building automation — dataset URLs/IDs are not guaranteed stable long-term on Socrata portals.
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