What Business and Public Records Data Does Seattle DJC.com Offer?

Updated

Seattle DJC.com (the Daily Journal of Commerce) publishes four main categories of business and public records data: building permits from around the Northwest, an archive of Washington business licenses, real estate and credit records (top property sales, foreclosures, liens, and contract acceptances), and legal and public notices. Most of this sits behind a subscription or sign-in, so treat the site as a paid records and leads service rather than a free public database. The free weekly newsletter is the main no-cost entry point.

Building Permits

The site maintains a building permits section described as "listings of building permits from around the Northwest." For contractors, suppliers, and developers, this is the most actionable dataset: a permit listing signals a project that has cleared the local approval stage and is likely to need labor and materials soon.

What to expect:

  • Permit listings organized as a browsable section rather than a single searchable public register.
  • Coverage framed as regional (Northwest), not limited to the city of Seattle.
  • Practical use: scan for project type and location, then cross-reference the firm or owner through the site's firm directory or bid center.

Washington Business Licenses

DJC.com offers "complete archives of WA Business Licenses." This is a historical archive, which matters for how you use it:

  • Good for: verifying that a firm exists, checking when a business appears in state records, and backgrounding a subcontractor or competitor.
  • Not good for: confirming current license status in real time. An archive shows what was published, not necessarily today's standing. For active status, verify with the state licensing authority.

Real Estate and Credit Records

Under its Real Estate/Credit section, the site lists:

Record type What it typically tells you
Top property sales Notable transactions, useful for market tracking and spotting active buyers
Foreclosures Distressed properties and the parties involved
Liens Claims filed against property or contractors
Contract acceptances Formal acceptance of contract terms on public work

These records are most useful as signals. A foreclosure or lien entry tells you something happened; it does not by itself establish the full legal picture. Confirm details against the underlying county or court record before relying on them for a business decision.

Legal and Public Notices

The site publishes legal notices, government notices, and city notices, and also lets firms place a notice in the DJC. Public notices are often the first formal signal of a project, a hearing, or a bid opportunity, so they pair naturally with the bid and RFP sections.

How to Access the Data

The homepage shows a sign-in prompt with a subscribe option, and the site runs a separate subscription page for the online edition, the newspaper, and plancenter.com. Access conditions:

  • Free: the weekly newsletter, subscribed to via the site's sign-up link.
  • Paid or account-based: the records sections and archives. The site does not publish prices on the pages reviewed, so confirm current terms on the subscription page before budgeting.
  • Plancenter.com: a related service for plans and specifications on Pacific Northwest projects, with a function to add your firm as a planholder and upload plans.

Practical Limits to Keep in Mind

  • Records are published for the journal's readership, not as an official government register. For permits, licenses, liens, and foreclosures, the county, state, or court record is the authoritative source.
  • The archive framing on business licenses means currency is not guaranteed.
  • Coverage is regional; a project outside the Northwest may not appear.

If your goal is finding bid opportunities rather than records, the permits, notices, and bid center sections overlap heavily, and starting with the bid calendar and today's bid results will usually be faster than working backward from permits.