# Chicago Building Violations Scraper (`parseforge/chicago-building-violations-scraper`) Actor
Automate building violations research from Chicago official database. Get violation details, inspection results, addresses, and GPS coordinates for 2M+ records updated daily. Filter by status, department, date, and address. Built for real estate investors, property managers, and contractors.
- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/chicago-building-violations-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Real estate, Automation, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 4 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks
- **User rating**: 5.00 out of 5 stars
## Pricing
Pay per event
This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.
Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event
## What's an Apify Actor?
Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".
## How to integrate an Actor?
If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.
- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).
For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.
For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).
# README
## 🏗️ Chicago Building Violations Scraper
Pull structured records from Chicago Building Violations — clean fields ready as CSV, JSON, JSONL, Excel, or XML for downstream pipelines.
##### Copy to your AI assistant
Copy this block into ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, or any LLM to start using this actor.
```
parseforge/chicago-building-violations-scraper on Apify. Call: ApifyClient("TOKEN").actor("parseforge/chicago-building-violations-scraper").call(run_input={...}), then client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).list_items().items for results. Key inputs: ward (integer), violationCode (string), caseDisposition (string), dateFrom (string), dateTo (string), maxItems (integer, default 10). Full actor spec: fetch build via GET https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/parseforge~chicago-building-violations-scraper (Bearer TOKEN). Get token: https://console.apify.com/account/integrations
```
Collect building violation records from Chicago's public database without coding. Download violation data by ward, violation code, or date range. Perfect for real estate researchers, code compliance auditors, and property investment analysts who need to monitor violations in any Chicago neighborhood.
> **The Chicago Building Violations Scraper collects up to 22 fields per violation, including addresses, fines, hearing dates, and case dispositions from the official Chicago Open Data Portal.**
### 📋 How to Use
No technical skills required. Follow these simple steps:
1. **Sign Up**: [Create a free account with $5 credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp)
2. **Find the Tool**: Search for "Chicago Building Violations Scraper" in the Apify Store and configure your input
3. **Run It**: Click "Start" and watch your results appear
That's it. No coding, no setup, no complicated configuration. Now you can export your data in CSV, Excel, or JSON format.
### 📊 Data fields
Each record includes: `address`, `adminCosts`, `caseDisposition`, `communityArea`, `docketNumber`, `hearingDate`, `id`, `imposedFine`, `issuingDepartment`, `lastModifiedDate`, `latitude`, `longitude`, `novNumber`, `respondents`, `streetDirection`, `streetName`, `streetNumber`, `streetType`, `violationCode`, `violationDate`, `violationDescription`, `ward`. All 22 field names come from a real production run, so what you see here is what lands in your dataset.
### 🚀 How to use
1. 📝 **Sign up.** [Create a free account with $5 credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp) (takes 2 minutes).
2. 🌐 **Open the Actor.** Go to the Chicago Building Violations Scraper page on the Apify Store.
3. 🎯 **Set input.** Configure the input fields in the form (or paste a JSON), then set maxItems.
4. 🚀 **Run it.** Click **Start** and let the Actor collect your data.
5. 📥 **Download.** Grab your results in the **Dataset** tab as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML.
> ⏱️ Total time from signup to downloaded dataset: **3-5 minutes.** No coding required.
### 💡 More ParseForge Actors
- [NYC Building Permits Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/nyc-building-permits-scraper) - Collect NYC building permit data
- [Justia Case Law Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/justia-case-law-scraper) - Extract court case information and legal records
- [LiveAuctioneers Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/liveauctioneers-scraper) - Collect auction results and bidding data
- [Revzilla Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/revzilla-scraper) - Extract motorcycle gear and apparel listings
- [Indexmundi Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/indexmundi-scraper) - Gather global economic and commodity data
Browse our complete collection of [data extraction tools](https://apify.com/parseforge) for more.
### ⚠️ Disclaimer
> This Actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the City of Chicago or any of its departments. All trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
### 🔗 Recommended Actors
- [**🔍 Google Search Scraper**](https://apify.com/parseforge/google-search-scraper) - Multi-engine SERP results with country and language targeting
- [**🗺️ Nominatim OSM Scraper**](https://apify.com/parseforge/nominatim-osm-scraper) - Geocode addresses via OpenStreetMap
- [**📊 Indexmundi Scraper**](https://apify.com/parseforge/indexmundi-scraper) - Global demographic and economic indicators
- [**📰 RAG Web Browser**](https://apify.com/parseforge/rag-web-browser) - Crawl and extract clean text from any URL for AI retrieval
- [**🌐 Website Content Crawler**](https://apify.com/parseforge/website-content-crawler) - Crawl entire sites and export structured content
> 💡 **Pro Tip:** browse the complete [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge) for more reference-data scrapers.
### 🆘 Need Help?
If you hit a bug, have questions about setup, or need a scraper we haven't built yet, open our [contact form](https://tally.so/r/BzdKgA) or write to parseforge@protonmail.com. We also take on paid custom data projects.
For faster answers, join our [Discord](https://parseforge.co/discord). It's the best place to get support and suggest new actors.
# Actor input Schema
## `ward` (type: `integer`):
Filter by Chicago ward number (1-50).
## `violationCode` (type: `string`):
Filter by violation code. Example: '190019'
## `caseDisposition` (type: `string`):
Filter by case disposition (for example: Liable, Not Liable, Default).
## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):
Start date for violation date range (YYYY-MM-DD). Example: '2025-01-01'
## `dateTo` (type: `string`):
End date for violation date range (YYYY-MM-DD). Example: '2025-12-31'
## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):
How many building violations to collect per run.
## Actor input object example
```json
{
"maxItems": 10
}
```
# Actor output Schema
## `overview` (type: `string`):
No description
# API
You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.
## JavaScript example
```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';
// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
token: '',
});
// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
"maxItems": 10
};
// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/chicago-building-violations-scraper").call(input);
// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
console.dir(item);
});
// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs
```
## Python example
```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient
# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("")
# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "maxItems": 10 }
# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/chicago-building-violations-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)
# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
print(item)
# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start
```
## CLI example
```bash
echo '{
"maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call parseforge/chicago-building-violations-scraper --silent --output-dataset
```
## MCP server setup
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"apify": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"mcp-remote",
"https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=parseforge/chicago-building-violations-scraper",
"--header",
"Authorization: Bearer "
]
}
}
}
```
## OpenAPI specification
Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/XMy3rOf6t05tMs2nj/builds/kUjaPniGPhDy1Xw0e/openapi.json