New AI tool to streamline residential building permits in PO
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, March 3, 2026
The Port Orchard City Council unanimously approved a resolution creating an artificial intelligence pilot program to help expedite the single-family residential building permit process at its Feb. 24 meeting.
PermittableAI is a newly-developed private company that uses an AI tool for pre-screening building permit plans prior to submitting them to the city for review. The program is designed for single-family building permits only.
The city approved an agreement with PermittableAI for a one-year pilot program, free of charge to members of the community. Council shared that this program would save time and money for both applicants and city staff in reviewing building permits. The program is completely voluntary and only available for residential plans, not commercial.
The private company uses an online AI tool that scans permits and takes anywhere from a few hours to a day to flag issues in the permit. The city will use this pilot program to collect data to determine whether the system is reducing plan review cycles and the number of corrections identified.
Before the launch of the program, the city shared that they will be uploading past building permits and city records to test and compare corrections identified by PermittableAI in comparison with those of the city’s plan reviewers.
“Long term, the company would like to see a TSA Pre-check style permit track where pre-screened permits could be given fast track review and a more cursory review by city staff,” shared community development director Nick Bond. “It is too early to know whether this type of framework is viable, but staff will utilize the pilot program to evaluate the system to determine its usefulness to consider a longer-term partnership.”
The tool was first brought to the city from McCormick Communities, which has been privately using PermittableAI as part of their development. McCormick Communities reported that the system is currently catching about 85% of comments that were being made by city staff. “McCormick’s use of the tool has likely already had the effect of calibrating the system such that it is close to being ready for wider use in Port Orchard,” shared Bond.
The PermittableAI pilot program is at no cost to the city other than the use of existing staff to get the program up and running. If successful, the program should result in a cost-savings to the city in reduced permit review effort and timelines.
