Initial sample dataset + card

README.md

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+---
+license: cc-by-4.0
+language:
+  - en
+  - fr
+size_categories:
+  - 1K<n<10K
+tags:
+  - canada
+  - construction
+  - real-estate
+  - permits
+  - building-permits
+  - municipal
+  - rag
+  - llm-training
+pretty_name: BuildData — Canadian Construction Records (Sample)
+configs:
+  - config_name: default
+    data_files:
+      - split: train
+        path: builddata_sample.jsonl
+---
+
+# BuildData — Canadian Construction Records (Sample)
+
+**Sample of 5,000 Canadian municipal construction records across 54 cities.**
+Mix of building permits, business licences, development permits, planning
+applications, and inspections. Last 3 months of data from the full
+[BuildData API](https://builddata.ca).
+
+> **Want the full dataset?** 8.6M+ records across 60 cities, normalized + geocoded,
+> daily refresh, query by city / address / value / type / date.
+> **[Get an API key →](https://builddata.ca/pricing)**
+
+## What's in here
+
+| Field | Type | Description |
+|---|---|---|
+| `source_id` | string | Originating system (city's open-data portal) |
+| `entity_type` | string | `permit`, `licence`, `development_permit`, `planning_application`, `inspection` |
+| `record_id` | string | Stable per-record identifier from the source |
+| `municipality` | string | City name |
+| `event_date` | string (ISO date) | Issue date for permits/licences, application date for planning |
+| `category` | string | Permit type / licence type / planning stage |
+| `data` | object | Full raw record from the source (JSON) — addresses, values, descriptions, GIS data |
+
+## Composition (sample)
+
+| entity_type | rows |
+|---|---|
+| permit | 2,500 |
+| licence | 700 |
+| development_permit | 700 |
+| planning_application | 700 |
+| inspection | 400 |
+
+54 unique municipalities represented. The full dataset spans 60 cities including
+Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Québec City,
+Halifax, Saint John, plus 50 more.
+
+## Use cases
+
+- **RAG / agents** — ground LLM responses in real Canadian construction activity
+- **Domain fine-tuning** — train models on construction vocabulary, NOC codes, GIS schemas
+- **Real-estate intelligence** — track building permits as a leading indicator of property changes
+- **Construction lead generation** — discover contractors, developers, suppliers active in a market
+- **Insurance underwriting** — property age, renovation history, code compliance signals
+- **Schema exploration** before committing to API integration
+
+## Limitations of this sample
+
+- **Snapshot only** — frozen 2026-02-25 to 2026-05-25. New permits issued daily; this sample will not reflect them.
+- **5K rows** — full dataset is 8.6M+. Sample is enough to test schema, prompts, prototypes; not enough for production analytics.
+- **No querying** — can't filter by city, value range, address, or date. Use the API for that.
+- **No geocoded coordinates surfaced** — the full API returns `latitude`/`longitude`; sample omits them to keep payload small (still inside `data` for some sources).
+
+## Production access
+
+- **Docs:** https://builddata.ca/docs
+- **Pricing:** https://builddata.ca/pricing — free tier 25 req/day, Pro $49/mo 1K req/day
+- **Quickstart:**
+  ```bash
+  curl "https://api.builddata.ca/permit?municipality=Toronto&limit=10" \
+    -H "x-api-key: YOUR_KEY"
+  ```
+- **Export:** `https://api.builddata.ca/permit/export?format=csv&limit=1000` (no key, JSON/CSV/XLSX)
+
+## License & attribution
+
+Data sourced from Canadian municipal open-data portals (Toronto CKAN, Vancouver
+Opendatasoft, Calgary Socrata, Edmonton Socrata, etc.). All source data is
+under open government / municipal licences. Sample redistribution is permitted
+under CC-BY-4.0.
+
+## Contact
+
+- API and enterprise inquiries: nicolas@builddata.ca
+- Bug reports: https://github.com/NicolasPrimeau/Nimbus (or via the contact link on builddata.ca)