FAQ
We've linked the source name/data next to each setting in the Buildable Area Analysis form.
Our parcel data provider, ReportAll, has nationwide coverage for the U.S. but there are occasionally counties or townships with no coverage or minimal attributes.
ReportAll (our provider) generally has the widest coverage of any parcel data company. There are only 46 counties they don't have coverage (as of April 2022). Most parcel companies lack data in ~300-750 counties. That is why we work with them.
It is pretty rare that other providers have data or attributes that our provider does not. In the rare times that it happens, it's often because certain attributes recently became available and they haven't updated their copy yet.
However, every parcel data company has different data. They set up deals with counties that align on a price, attributes provided, etc. We chose ReportAll because they had the best overall coverage that we've seen, but we can't guarantee there won't be one-offs where it is missing an attribute that's available elsewhere. You'd run into a similar issue more frequently with another service.
Missing a parcel? Turn on the parcels layer (map toolbar > Parcels ) and zoom in close to the map. If no parcel boundaries display then it means that ReportAll does not have parcel data for that area.
Check out their parcel data coverage page and scroll down below the map to view available data by county (they also have percentage of owner name, mailing address, site address, etc. if you click on the county link).
Reach out to your account manager for account changes and pricing - [email protected]
We want to make sure you can see all the data and layers you need in one place. Check out the options below.
If the data is in a KMZ or KML, you can import those files yourself -- check out our KMZ import instructions.
If the files are extremely large files (e.g. all transmission lines in a state), see instructions below for Shapefiles/TAB.
Reach out to your account manager with the files (or we can set up a Google Drive folder if they are too large to email). We can get them integrated (typically about 1 week).
There are lots of great mapping resources available and we can typically integrate in public map layers. Just email us the link to the public layer and we can work with you to get it integrated as a layer.
We would love to add pipelines into the Buildable Area Analysis, however, the broadly available data isn't suitable for constraint analysis.
The publicly available EIA data on pipelines locations ("Pipelines" layer in the U.S. Nationwide Layers section) is only accurate to within +/- 1000 ft of the actual pipeline route and only includes major pipelines. This doesn't make it accurate enough to use in buildable area calculations or setbacks.
PHMSA has more accurate pipeline data available online, but they have very strict terms on exporting/republishing this data outside their system which prevents us from leveraging it for the automated analysis. Given that, we haven't found a broadly available (and accurate) datasource to use. Texas does have a better quality dataset from the Texas Railroad Commission which is available in the Texas layers menu. In the future we hope to offer more state-specific analysis and will likely include this layer, but at this time, the analysis is focused on nationwide datasets.
Assets
Assets represent a specific class of downloaded features, specifically: substations, transmission lines (or distribution lines), and parcels. Assets have special functionality as it relates to creating projects around them and search functionality.
Drawings
Drawings are any other downloaded features that are not a substation, transmission (or distribution line), or substation. These can included shapes you've drawn on the map using the drawing tools, constraint map hazard and buildable area polygons, as well as features copied from layer overlays (e.g. a utility territory polygon copied from a layer showing utility territories).
Layers
Layers are traditional GIS map layers that you can overlay on the map to see features represented geospatially. You can view data in a layer over the map, but it doesn't have the same functionality as assets or drawings do, though you can download data from a layer as an asset or a drawing depending on the type of data. If you have a substation layer overlaid on the map, for example, you can click on a substation and download it as an asset on a project.
Last modified 4mo ago