Building

Accelerating community development

Eliminate permitting inefficiencies.

Government agencies are often viewed as bottlenecks when it comes to permitting. Delivering quick turnarounds for applications, plan reviews and approvals, and building inspections can get out of hand quickly with paper-based or semi-automated processes that require in-person visits to the office.

What would it be like to be able to foster community development, instead of hindering it? Fortunately, now there’s a way. The Accela Civic Application for Building is a pre-built solution designed to cut turnaround times with digital permitting processes. You can automate the tracking and management of permit applications from intake to project completion and deliver total visibility throughout the process for agency staff and builders alike.

Features

Process automation
Automate the steps needed for permit processing including the assignment of tasks, tracking of reviews and sending notifications to keep processes running smoothly and on time.
Online citizen portal
Easily upload documents, submit permit applications, make payments, check for status updates and schedule inspections from a desktop or mobile device 24/7 for better project management.
Electronic document review
Digitally engage with builders on plan reviews. Agencies can easily upload documents, comment and markup plans for revisions, and submit approvals. And then builders can submit changes electronically.
Built-in reporting
Access reports and metrics to measure, track and analyze agency performance for things such as number of permits issued, or visibility into employee productivity, to optimize land management processes.
Platform-wide integrations
APIs, SDKs, and open data allow agencies to integrate information and processes across complementary solutions to meet their unique needs.
GIS mapping
GIS integration provides intuitive visualizations to access land parcel permit history, view code and zoning details, and map and route inspections efficiently.
Code enforcement
Ensure public compliance with city code and regulation by managing complaints and violations to achieve resolution quickly and efficiently.
Mobile inspections
Empower building inspectors and code enforcement officers to manage schedules, rout travel, upload captured information, view agency data real-time, and complete and result inspection all from the field and convenience of a mobile device.

Thanks to our Accela solution, we were able to reduce turnaround times for residential permits from approximately three weeks to three days, and for commercial permits, from two months to 5-10 days.”
Luis Vasquez
Chief Building Official at the office of Building Permits and Inspections, McAllen, TX

Benefits

Improved builder productivity
Being able to interact in the process from a friendly website, instead of standing in line means builders can save time and money. And faster turnaround times means they can schedule jobs more effectively and do at keeping development projects on schedule and on budget.
Faster permitting for increased revenue
Help office staff process more requests in a shorter amount of time with automated workflows, complete data access and an intuitive user interface. Plus, increase inspector speed and effectiveness by providing the right tools to route, complete and result inspections on a mobile device keeping them 100% in the field.
Reduced carbon footprint
Paperless building solutions decrease the volume of phone inquiries, office foot traffic, and paper handling and storage typically required throughout the permitting process. Now agencies can become “greener” while providing an accelerated consumer-like experience.
Improved citizen satisfaction
Making it easier for builders to do business with their local government improves citizen and business satisfaction, attracts new development, and helps communities grow and thrive.