Every morning, we scan city building permits and match them to your trade. You get the GC's contact info before they've hired anyone — so you can bid first.
The verification email comes from verify@trestleclub.com. Check your spam folder if you don't see it within 2 minutes.
| Trade | Claim Cost |
|---|---|
| Painting | 1 credit |
| Tile | 1 credit |
| Landscaping | 1 credit |
| Drywalling | 1 credit |
| Framing | 1 credit |
| Electrical (Panel) | 1 credit |
| Plumbing (Rough) | 1 credit |
| HVAC | 1 credit |
| Roofing | 1 credit |
| Pools & Spa | 1 credit |
| Excavation | 1 credit |
| Concrete | 1 credit |
| Masonry | 1 credit |
All trades cost the same — 1 credit per claim, no exceptions. You can register for multiple trades if your company does more than one.
Every lead card in your feed represents a real city-issued building permit where your trade is likely to be hired. Here's how to read them.
Each badge is calculated for your specific trade based on how many days have passed since the permit was issued. Different trades get hired at different stages of construction.
If you're registered for multiple trades, click a pill to filter the feed to just that trade. Click "All" to see everything. The filter is instant — no page reload.
In "All" view, leads are grouped by trade. Click a trade section header to collapse it and focus on another trade. The collapsed state is remembered until you close the tab.
The feed shows 25 leads per group at a time. Click "Load More" to expand. Each trade group paginates independently — scrolling through Drywalling won't hide Painting.
New permits are scraped at 6 AM daily. If you have a ZIP Lock, you get an email alert immediately. Otherwise, new leads appear in your feed after a 24-hour visibility window.
Claiming a lead deducts credits from your wallet and unlocks the full lead details — the GC's exact address, phone number, email, and website.
Browse your trade feed. Look at the freshness badge to gauge timing. Every lead costs 1 credit to claim — all trades, same price.
A confirmation modal shows the lead address, cost in credits, and your current balance. Review and confirm. The deduction is immediate.
You must have enough credits before claiming. If balance is too low, you'll be prompted to recharge.
The lead card expands to show: street address, GC's phone number, email address, and website. You can now contact the GC directly.
Call, email, or visit their website. Reference the specific permit address and project type — it shows you did your homework. Introduce yourself, offer a bid, and follow up.
Most GCs respond faster to phone calls than emails on active permits.
A lead with drywalling, framing, and painting in its trades can be claimed by a drywall sub, a framer, and a painter independently. You're not competing with other trades — only with other subs in your same trade for that lead.
Some leads get flagged as Rescue Bid — this means the city has recorded 2 or more consecutive failed inspections on the permit. The GC is in trouble. They need a qualified trade sub to come in fast and correct the work.
These leads are high-urgency and high-value. The GC is motivated to hire quickly and may be willing to pay premium rates to get back on track. If you see a rescue-bid lead in your trade, act fast.
Some permits list the homeowner as their own General Contractor — labeled Owner-Builder (Direct-to-Homeowner) in the GC field. This means no separate GC is involved; the homeowner is managing the project directly.
Federal TCPA regulations restrict unsolicited cold calls to residential homeowners, so the platform blocks direct phone outreach on these leads. Instead, you can reach the homeowner with a physical USPS postcard sent to their permit address.
Same as any other lead. After claiming, the workspace opens and shows the permit address. A notice confirms this is an Owner-Builder permit with direct-call restrictions.
A customization modal opens pre-filled with a headline, body message, and bullet points based on your trade and the permit address. Edit any field — a live preview shows exactly how the front and back of the postcard will look.
The postcard is dispatched via Lob.com and mailed through USPS. Estimated delivery is 3–5 business days. The postcard includes your name, trade, phone number, and a call-to-action for a free estimate. The button changes to "✅ Postcard Sent" once dispatched.
The back side of the postcard is restricted to the left half — the right half is reserved for the USPS address block. An opt-out notice is included per mailing regulations.
Lock a ZIP code for your trade and get first-look access on every new lead that comes in — before any other sub can see it.
In your account sidebar, click ZIP Territory. You'll see a map of available ZIP codes in the Austin metro and their lock status.
Click any available ZIP (shown in green). Locked ZIPs are shown in amber with the lock holder's tier indicated. Click Lock This ZIP and complete the Stripe subscription checkout.
From the next scraper run onward, you'll get an email alert the moment any lead in your ZIP is ingested. The alert arrives before the 6 AM digest that goes to standard members.
We protect your credits. If a permit gets cancelled after you've claimed it, your credits are automatically returned. No need to ask.
Every 4 hours, we check the city's permit database. If a permit you've claimed has been cancelled or withdrawn by the city, your exact credits are automatically returned to your wallet. You'll see the refund in your credit ledger — no action needed on your part.
If a permit wasn't cancelled by the city but you believe the lead was low-quality, inaccurate, or should be refunded for another reason, you can submit a manual refund request with evidence. Admin reviews it and notifies you by email with the decision.
Credits never expire. Unused credits carry forward indefinitely.
sub_tasks don't include your trade — meaning our system determined that trade isn't needed on that permit, or the GC already self-performs your trade in-house.Still have questions?
Email us at support@trestleclub.com
We typically respond within one business day.