Governments share common concerns like long response times, but how they approach and solve these issues tends to vary.
Officials in the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) wanted to avoid using AI in a way that would automate everything in their state permitting systems, or simply provide yes-or-no answers to contractors, according to Dawn Takeuchi Apuna, its director. They worked to educate applicants on how to develop the best building permitting plans on their own — and to resolve service delays.
“We examined all the backlogs, such as those in our stormwater quality reviews, which are part of the building permit process,” Takeuchi Apuna said. “It became evident that the time a reviewer typically took to process a residential permit application was quite substantial.”
Enter the CLARITI system, which the city began piloting back in February. CLARITI expedites permit processing inspections and enforcement via online customer portals and integrated land management tools; and its app is optimized for mobile devices. Since the pilot began, Takeuchi Apuna said times to complete residential permits have been cut by 70 percent.
DPP is now analyzing how it will integrate CivCheck, a new AI-powered component, into CLARITI. Takeuchi Apuna said it should work on the front end of the application process, not unlike TurboTax, to ensure permit applications meet all necessary requirements before being transferred into CLARITI for completion.
“I think that for more than 50 percent of the building permit plans that come in, the quality is not good,” Takeuchi Apuna said. “The AI component on the front end, through CivCheck, is going to help streamline services and help us have better quality plans early on, which has been a major issue.”
In Virginia, when leaders needed to reform their permitting process, they stood up a new system.
Reeve Bull, director of Virginia’s Office of Regulatory Management (ORM), said a key issue here was application status. Once applications were submitted, applicants often couldn’t see their progress. To resolve it, ORM created the Virginia Permit Transparency platform (VPT), a website that lets users track their application’s daily status and the timeline of critical permit steps. VPT shows each step and who owns it, whether that’s a state agency or the applicant. It also shows the targeted timeline — and the actual timeline for each step to be completed, using a series of Gantt charts.
The system launched in January 2024, serving three state agencies, and by the end of June had expanded to include three additional agencies.
“VPT offers features that essentially demystify the permitting process for users, providing key pieces of information, including a full acronym library to ensure users have understanding across government levels,” Bull said. Since VPT arrived, average processing times for permits it handles have fallen by more than 70 percent.
When they launched PAyback late last year, officials in Pennsylvania took aim at fee refunds and worked to shorten long permit processing times. Their site allows residents, businesses, charities and schools to check eligibility for a refund of their permit, license, or certification application fee, and lets them request it if processing an application review goes too long.
“Before this system, there were issues of unpredictability and long wait times,” said Dan Egan, director of communications in the Governor’s Office of Administration. “PAyback was created to address these delays directly and establish transparency and accountability in the process.”
In Maricopa County, Ariz., the nation’s fourth most populous county, leaders brought the Permit Center online in June, consolidating existing permitting systems from other departments into a central platform for permit reviews, inspections and payments.
The system utilizes Tyler Technologies’ EPL platform in the cloud, with GIS integrated. It also uses OnBase, with a dashboard feature where customers can get overviews of their permit activity including status, outstanding invoices and inspections. An integrated tool called Application Helper walks users through questions to get them to the right service location using GIS mapping. The system also translates information on the platform into several languages.
Officials wanted to put power back into residents’ hands with this system, Maricopa County Strategic Communications Division Manager Traci Ruth said via email.
“Prior to launching Permit Center, residents shared with us that they wanted a one-stop shop for all county permits, real-time updates on information and streamlined access in obtaining permits, so this became the foundation of the project,” she said.
The Permit Center offers better transparency, with visibility into applications, fees and reviewer comments throughout the process. Residents can also pay fees online, schedule inspections and see what plan modifications are needed. Next up, Ruth said, officials will add reporting, workflows and automation, and expand the customer request module.
