Citation construction leads

Property owners who have been told to make specific repairs, often by a deadline. We match every repair to your trade and give you the owner's name and mailing address. The need is decided. You just have to be the one who shows up.

39,329Citation leads open now

2,133Added in the last 7 days

6Cities covered

$0Free during early access

The basics

What are citation construction leads?

Citation construction leads are properties whose owners have been formally notified that specific repairs are required, usually with a date to finish them. A failing porch, a leaking roof, broken windows, a dead furnace, crumbling steps, exposed wiring: the repair list is spelled out, and the owner has to act.

That is the difference that matters. Almost every other lead source starts with someone who might want work done. A citation lead starts with work that has to be done. The owner is not shopping for ideas or collecting quotes for a project that may never happen; they need a contractor who can clear the list.

Buildedly finds new cited properties every day, reads each repair list, and sorts every item into the trades that can fix it. You choose your trade and city and get a running list of owners who need exactly what you do, with their name and mailing address attached.

11,034new citation leads in the last 30 days

2.3repair items on the average property

59%need two or more trades

No cost, no catch

Free Citation Construction Leads

Buildedly gives contractors free citation construction leads during early access. Create an account and you see every citation lead in your city and trade, the full property address, the owner's name, the owner's mailing address and the complete repair list. There is no credit card, no per-lead charge, no bidding for leads and no cap on how many you can view.

Why are they free?

We are building the largest set of required-repair leads in the country, city by city, and we want contractors using it and telling us what works. Paying per lead pushes contractors toward volume and away from quality. Free access lets you judge the leads on results: work a few, see how owners respond, and decide for yourself.

What you get with a free account

Every open citation lead in your city, filtered to your trade, newest first.
The owner's name and mailing address on every lead, and whether the owner lives there or rents it out.
The full repair list, written in plain language, with each item matched to the trades that can fix it.
Daily updates. New leads every morning, and resolved properties removed so your list stays current.
Every other Buildedly lead type, including new construction projects with the general contractor named and new subdivisions, at no cost.

How to get free citation construction leads

Create a free account with your name, email, trade and city. It takes under a minute.
Open your lead list and switch to Cited Leads. You will see every property that needs your trade.
Reach out to the owners with a short letter, postcard or visit that names the repair and offers a quote.

If your city isn't covered yet, request it when you sign up. We add the most requested cities first, and you will see the new leads as soon as they are live.

Lead quality

Why citation leads outperform other construction leads

Most contractor leads ask you to create the need, win a race, or both. Citation leads start with the need already decided. Here is how they compare to the lead types contractors use most.

Swipe the table to compare all four

	Citation leads	Shared homeowner leads	Bid boards	Cold lists and door knocking
Is the work required?	Yes. The owner has been told to make specific repairs	Maybe. The owner is interested	Yes, but for a project already being bid	Unknown
Is there a deadline?	Usually	Rarely	Bid date only	No
Do you know the scope?	Yes. The repair list is spelled out	A short form answer	Plans and specs	No
Who you talk to	The property owner, directly	The homeowner, with other contractors calling too	A general contractor or estimator	Whoever answers
How many competitors	Few. Most contractors don't know these leads exist	Often three to five, sold at the same moment	Many bidders on every job	Varies
Cost per lead	$0 during early access	Paid per lead, often whether or not it is real	Subscription	Your time

The need is already sold

The hardest part of most sales is convincing someone the work is worth doing. With a citation lead that question is settled before you arrive. You are not selling the repair, only yourself: your price, your timeline and your reliability.

A deadline creates urgency

Owners with a date to meet don't let quotes sit for months. They tend to decide quickly, which shortens your sales cycle and makes your calendar easier to plan.

The scope is written down

Each lead lists the specific repairs, so you can price the job before you call and show up already knowing what needs to be done. That makes your first conversation more useful to the owner and more credible for you.

You reach the owner first

Shared leads go to several contractors at once, and the winner is usually whoever calls in the first five minutes. A citation lead begins with a required repair, not a form submission, so many owners haven't contacted anyone yet when you reach them.

One property, several jobs

The average property lists 2.3 repair items, and 59% need more than one trade. A general contractor can take the whole list, and specialty trades can team up and refer each other.

Less competition

Citation leads are still new to most of the trades. Most of your competitors are buying the same shared leads or waiting on referrals, which leaves these owners underserved.

Value proposition

The value of a citation lead

A lead is worth what it costs you to turn it into a signed job. Citation leads lower that cost in three ways: you pay nothing for the lead, you spend less time qualifying it because the need is confirmed, and you spend less time chasing because the owner has a reason to decide.

They also keep paying off after the first job. Owners who are told to fix one thing often have more to fix, landlords and investors frequently own several properties, and a contractor who clears a list quickly and fairly gets referred to the owner's neighbors and friends.

For contractors who rely on seasonal or project work, citation leads fill gaps. Required repairs happen year round in every neighborhood, so they are a steady source of small and mid-size jobs between bigger projects.

A simple way to think about it

Take your average repair ticket and your close rate. If a typical repair for your trade is a few thousand dollars and you close even a small share of the owners you contact, each batch of letters can pay for itself many times over, because the leads themselves cost nothing. The math is yours to test; we would rather you measure it than take our word for it.

Who gets the most from them

Roofers, masonry and siding crews, with exterior repairs on almost every list.
Window, door, porch and carpentry contractors, for broken openings, stairs and railings.
Plumbers, electricians and HVAC techs, for leaks, wiring and heat that must work.
General contractors and handymen, who can take the whole list in one visit.

Live examples

Sample citation construction leads

Real citation leads from the last few days, from Chicago, Detroit, New York City, Philadelphia, Austin, Nashville. Your free account unlocks the address and the owner on every one.

Window & DoorCarpentry & PorchElectricalLandlord or investor