Everett unveils AI program to speed up ADU permits

The city of Everett unveiled a pilot program to support permit applications for accessory dwelling units on Monday that city officials hope can help cut down on lengthy approval timelines.

The new program, developed by a Seattle startup named Govstream.ai, serves as an intake system for permits, helping applicants figure out which documents they need to submit for a specific project and checking to make sure required information is included.

Everett officials hope that the new system will help catch mistakes in permit filings early, as permit applications typically go through multiple review cycles to correct simple mistakes.

According to the city, about 95% of permit applications between January 2023 and June 2026 required at least one correction from permitting staff; the average permit goes through about four review cycles.

Everett got some funding, about $130,000, to start development of the project from Challenge Seattle, an organization made up of the CEOs of some of the largest companies in the state and led by former Washington Governor Christine Gregoire.

The city chipped in about $70,000.

At a press conference announcing the new program on Monday, Gregoire said that although other market factors are affecting the construction costs of housing, including high interest rates and supply chain problems, lengthy permit times are one area where the state and its cities can take action.

The idea here is to really go after what we can,” she said. “And if you talk to the developers, as we have considerably, they will say this is one of the biggest barriers for them, because time is money.”

The new system is expected to launch to the public in spring 2027, officials said during the press conference.

It will initially only be available for permits to build accessory dwelling units, small homes intended to be built on existing residential lots where excess space allows.

City officials said they would expand the program to cover more permit types by 2028.

In a demonstration Monday, Saf Rabah, the founder and CEO of Govstream.ai, said that the program would show users exactly which permits they would need to file for a specific project, based on their own property and city regulations.

It also translates many of the city codes and checklists into plain wording, he said, and can also translate into eight different languages.

On the city’s side, it also includes a pre-application screening that flags minor mistakes and typos, allowing permitting staff to flag errors in applications before they are officially submitted, saving time on reviews.

Rabah said that the AI systems used by the program would only be able to make suggestions; humans would still need to make all of the decisions in the process.

He also added that the program includes guardrails against the AI chat system unwittingly providing incorrect information by limiting its sources to the city’s own data, including building codes and checklists, rather than opening it up to the broader internet.

It’s not a probabilistic model, it just executes the city’s rules,” Rabah said. “And that’s a very, very important distinction if we’re going to use these systems in something as important as permitting.”

Everett would still maintain the same number of staff in its permitting department after the program is implemented, mayor Cassie Franklin said during the press conference.

Human input is still required for reviewing complex permits and designs, but the system will help catch smaller mistakes sooner to make the process simpler for both permit reviewers and applicants, she said.

Having this program, with the right guardrails and systems and work in place, will really just allow our team of experts to use that expertise where it can be most productive,” Franklin said.

Everett began accepting pre-approved designs for accessory dwelling units earlier this year as part of another attempt to speed up the permitting process for the small homes.