Latest news with #Archistar
Yahoo
29-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Australian Business Archistar Powers LA Wildfire Rebuild with Groundbreaking AI Technology
SYDNEY, July 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Sydney-based property technology company Archistar has officially launched its award-winning eCheck platform in partnership with the City of Los Angeles, LA County and City of Malibu, delivering a cutting-edge AI solution to fast-track rebuilding efforts in the wake of California's devastating wildfires. This milestone comes on the heels of a strategic partnership with the International Code Council (ICC), reinforcing eCheck's role as a trusted global solution for modernizing building approvals. This landmark collaboration with Los Angeles - unveiled by Governor Gavin Newsom - sees Archistar join forces with LA's city and county governments to deploy artificial intelligence at scale for the first time in California's disaster recovery history. "The current pace of issuing permits locally is not meeting the magnitude of the challenge we face," said Governor Newsom. "To help boost local progress, California is partnering with the tech sector and community leaders to give local governments more tools to rebuild faster and more effectively." A California First with Global Impact With thousands of homes and structures lost across Los Angeles, the eCheck platform is enabling homeowners, builders, and architects to pre-validate building designs against local codes before submission - ensuring faster, more accurate, and less error-prone applications. Using generative AI, computer vision, and machine learning, Archistar's technology reduces the need for manual assessments, eliminating delays caused by incomplete or non-compliant plans. By automating code compliance, local governments can now process permits with unprecedented speed and confidence. "We are proud to be at the forefront of California's wildfire recovery," said Dr. Benjamin Coorey, Founder & CEO of Archistar. "This partnership with Los Angeles demonstrates what's possible when governments embrace smart technology to serve their communities better. eCheck helps cut through red tape and gets families rebuilding faster — when they need it most." Transforming Cities Across the Globe The City of Los Angeles, LA County and City of Malibu now join a network of over 30 global municipalities and local governments using Archistar's AI solutions to streamline compliance and building approvals. These include Vancouver, Austin, New York, and state departments across Colorado and British Columbia. Strengthening this global footprint, Archistar recently announced a strategic partnership with the International Code Council (ICC). Through this collaboration, eCheck is now seamlessly integrated with ICC's Code Connect API®, allowing cities to automate code compliance checks with greater speed, consistency, and trust. The move follows a successful pilot with 11 U.S. jurisdictions and reinforces Archistar's role as a leader in the next generation of digital permitting. By embracing innovative tools like eCheck, these governments are creating smarter, more transparent approval systems that deliver better outcomes for residents, planners, and city staff - and help address urgent housing supply and resilience challenges worldwide. Built in Australia, Built for the World Headquartered in Sydney, Archistar is a world leader in AI-driven planning and compliance solutions. The company's eCheck technology is trusted by city governments, planning departments, and property professionals to digitize complex codes, accelerate approvals, and power smarter development. The LA launch was made possible through the combined efforts of Archistar, Autodesk, Amazon, Steadfast LA, and the LA Rises initiative — showcasing how public and private sectors can collaborate to deliver real-world impact. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Archistar
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Municipalities tap AI for permitting
This story was originally published on Construction Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Construction Dive newsletter. In order to cut down on long wait times for environmental and building permits, the cities of Los Angeles, Austin, Texas, and Honolulu have turned to artificial intelligence to give their planning departments a boost over the past year, according to the cities. Austin and Los Angeles are using Australia-based Archistar to help expedite permit review, according to official announcements. Austin officially adopted the technology in October 2024 following a three-month pilot, and the city and county of Los Angeles launched the service on April 30, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom's office, following wildfires that devastated the region. In addition, the city of Honolulu plans to speed up the permitting process with the help of these AI-based technical upgrades starting later this year, Mayor Rick Blangiardi told the Honolulu Civil Beat during a June 4 event. These changes come as the federal government, at the behest of President Donald Trump, seeks to change its environmental and federal permitting process with the help of technologies such as artificial intelligence. Austin has begun using Archistar for residential permits, with plans to expand into other areas. There haven't been critical errors or unexpected behaviors from Archistar, a common concern when adopting AI, Stephanie Sanchez, senior public information specialist for the city of Austin, told Construction Dive. At this time, it has only been tested within the residential building plan review permitting process, Sanchez said. In California, Archistar's technology uses computer vision, machine learning and automated rulesets to instantly check designs against local zoning and building codes in the assessment process for building permits, according to the Newsom's office. With it, property owners can pre-check plans before submission to ensure validity and prevent delays. 'We see AI as a powerful support tool that can improve both speed and customer service in our permitting process,' Sanchez wrote in an email to Construction Dive. Newsome signed an executive order on Jan. 12 to expedite the rebuilding process for homes and businesses destroyed by the fires. 'The current pace of issuing permits locally is not meeting the magnitude of the challenge we face,' Newsom said in the news release. Honolulu will use technology developed by Vancouver-based Clariti to guide owners through the permitting process and replace the city's 1990's-era software system, according to the Civil Beat, which pegged the median wait for a commercial job permit at 393 days during the first quarter. Honolulu is also using Chicago-based CivCheck, which will use AI to scan building plans and make sure they're code-compliant. Recommended Reading The time is now to protect your firm from ransomware attacks Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AI is coming soon to speed up sluggish permitting for fire rebuilds, officials say.
When survivors from January's wildfires in Los Angeles County apply to rebuild their homes, their first interaction might be with a robot. Artificial intelligence will aid city and county building officials in reviewing permit requests, an effort to speed up a process already being criticized as too slow. 'The current pace of issuing permits locally is not meeting the magnitude of the challenge we face,' Gov. Gavin Newsom said when announcing the AI deal in late April. Some 13,000 homes were lost or severely damaged in the Eaton and Palisades fires, and many families are eager to return as fast as they can. Just eight days after the fire began and while it was still burning, the city received its first home rebuilding application in Pacific Palisades. Wildfire recovery foundations purchased the AI permitting software, developed by Australian tech firm Archistar, and donated it to the city and county. When property owners submit applications, the software first will examine them for basic compliance with zoning and building codes, suggest corrections and provide a standardized report on the submission for human plan checkers to review. Read more: Real estate losses from fires may top $30 billion, from old mobile homes to $23-million mansions L.A. County officials hope the software — believed to be the first large-scale use of such permitting technology nationwide after a natural disaster — will slice the time its employees now spend performing menial tasks, such as measuring building heights, counting parking spaces and calculating setbacks, said Mitch Glaser, an assistant deputy director in the county's planning department. 'We see our planners doing things that are more impactful for our fire survivors,' Glaser said. Disaster relief and government technology experts said they're encouraged by the initiative. Municipal permitting is the type of highly technical, repetitive and time-consuming process that AI software could make more efficient, they said, especially as residents are expected to flood local building departments with applications to rebuild. Still, they warned that for the AI software to be effective, the city and county would have to integrate the technology into its existing systems and quickly correct any errors in implementation. If not, the software could add more bureaucratic hurdles or narrow property owners' options through overly rigid or incorrect code interpretations. 'This could be fabulously successful and I hope it is,' said Andrew Rumbach, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Urban Institute, where he studies disaster response. 'But experimenting with technology in the context of people who've lost a lot is risky.' Immediately after the fires, leaders at all levels of government pledged to waive and streamline rules for property owners to rebuild, promising that regulatory processes wouldn't hold up residents' return. Noting the pace of ongoing debris removal, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass has called the region's recovery 'on track to be the fastest in modern California history.' A mayoral spokesperson said that the building department is completing initial permitting reviews twice as fast as before the fire. More than 200 Pacific Palisades property owners have submitted applications to rebuild or repair their homes, according to a Times analysis of city permitting data, with 11% approved. Last week, 24 property owners submitted applications, the highest amount since the disaster, the analysis shows. L.A. County, which is responsible for permitting in Altadena and other unincorporated areas, has a separate system for tracking permits which the Times has not been able to independently verify. On Monday, the county listed 476 applications for zoning reviews on its data dashboard, with eight building permits approved. By Tuesday, the number of zoning reviews listed had increased to 486 while the number of building permit approvals dropped to seven. Besides Newsom, architects, builders and homeowners have grumbled about the permitting process, expressing frustrations at what they say are confusing and inconsistent interpretations of regulations. Last week, actress Mandy Moore, whose family had multiple homes damaged or destroyed in the Eaton fire, blasted the county for 'nonsensical red tape' that is making it difficult for her to rebuild. Read more: In milestone, L.A. approves first permits for rebuilding homes after Palisades fire The wildfire recovery nonprofit Steadfast LA, started by developer and former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso, took the lead on securing the Archistar software and is covering much of the up to $2-million tab for its implementation. LA Rises, the foundation started by Newsom after the fires, will pay Archistar's $200 fee per application. Caruso, who declined an interview request from The Times, has said that turning to AI was a no-brainer. 'Bringing AI into permitting will allow us to rebuild faster and safer, reducing costs and turning a process that can take weeks and months into one that can happen in hours or days,' Caruso said in the news release announcing the deal. Archistar's AI permitting software has been in development since 2018. The company has contracts with municipalities in Australia and Canada and is expanding to the United States. In the fall, after a successful pilot program in Austin, Texas, Archistar signed an agreement with the city to perform initial assessments of building projects, similar to its intended use in Los Angeles. Austin has not implemented the software yet, but city officials said they believe it could cut preliminary reviews there to one business day from 15. Once Archistar's program is online in L.A. County, Glaser said, officials hope it will reduce the first analysis for rebuilding projects to two or three business days from five. It could save additional time for projects by minimizing revisions and corrections, said Zach Seidl, a Bass spokesperson. 'The biggest potential for reducing permitting time comes from improving the quality of initial plans that homeowners submit to the city,' Seidl said. Land use consultants and architects in Los Angeles said they were happy with any technology that could hasten approvals of their projects. But they said that AI wouldn't ease the hardest parts of the permitting process. Architect Ken Ungar, who is working with roughly two dozen Palisades property owners who are rebuilding, said his biggest headaches come from needing multiple city departments, such as those that oversee fire safety and utilities, to sign off on a project. Applications can get stuck, he said, and even worse sometimes one department requires changes that conflict with another's rules. Artificial intelligence, Ungar said, 'sounds great. But unless the city of L.A. changes its whole M.O. on how you get building permits, it's not super helpful.' The state's Archistar deal allows the city of Malibu, where the Palisades fire destroyed more than 1,000 homes, to receive the donated software as well. Malibu officials say they're still deciding on it, noting that the community has specialized building codes addressing development on coastal, hillside and other environmentally sensitive habitats. Read more: More than six years after wildfires destroyed their Malibu homes, many still struggle to rebuild Governments are right to look to technology for help in speeding up disaster permitting, Rumbach said, but they also should ensure that human plan checkers provide oversight to account for nuances in zoning and building codes. 'I hope there are people more seasoned in communicating with disaster survivors who are the face of this,' he said. 'A lot of people could be frustrated because they don't want to deal with AI. They want to deal with a person.' Although L.A. city and county might be the first to use AI for permitting after a major disaster, experts expect the technology to become mainstream soon. 'I'm confident there is no way back,' said Sara Bertran de Lis, director of research and analytics at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence. L.A. County expects to implement the Archistar software within six weeks after programming and testing, Glaser said. At a recent disaster recovery panel, Bass said the city will do so 'in the next couple of months.' Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
14-05-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
AI is coming soon to speed up sluggish permitting for fire rebuilds, officials say.
When survivors from January's wildfires in Los Angeles County apply to rebuild their homes, their first interaction might be with a robot. Artificial intelligence will aid city and county building officials in reviewing permit requests, an effort to speed up a process already being criticized as too slow. 'The current pace of issuing permits locally is not meeting the magnitude of the challenge we face,' Gov. Gavin Newsom said when announcing the AI deal in late April. Some 13,000 homes were lost or severely damaged in the Eaton and Palisades fires, and many families are eager to return as fast as they can. Just eight days after the fire began and while it was still burning, the city received its first home rebuilding application in Pacific Palisades. Wildfire recovery foundations purchased the AI permitting software, developed by Australian tech firm Archistar, and donated it to the city and county. When property owners submit applications, the software first will examine them for basic compliance with zoning and building codes, suggest corrections and provide a standardized report on the submission for human plan checkers to review. L.A. County officials hope the software — believed to be the first large-scale use of such permitting technology nationwide after a natural disaster — will slice the time its employees now spend performing menial tasks, such as measuring building heights, counting parking spaces and calculating setbacks, said Mitch Glaser, an assistant deputy director in the county's planning department. 'We see our planners doing things that are more impactful for our fire survivors,' Glaser said. Disaster relief and government technology experts said they're encouraged by the initiative. Municipal permitting is the type of highly technical, repetitive and time-consuming process that AI software could make more efficient, they said, especially as residents are expected to flood local building departments with applications to rebuild. Still, they warned that for the AI software to be effective, the city and county would have to integrate the technology into its existing systems and quickly correct any errors in implementation. If not, the software could add more bureaucratic hurdles or narrow property owners' options through overly rigid or incorrect code interpretations. 'This could be fabulously successful and I hope it is,' said Andrew Rumbach, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Urban Institute, where he studies disaster response. 'But experimenting with technology in the context of people who've lost a lot is risky.' Immediately after the fires, leaders at all levels of government pledged to waive and streamline rules for property owners to rebuild, promising that regulatory processes wouldn't hold up residents' return. Noting the pace of ongoing debris removal, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass has called the region's recovery 'on track to be the fastest in modern California history.' A mayoral spokesperson said that the building department is completing initial permitting reviews twice as fast as before the fire. More than 200 Pacific Palisades property owners have submitted applications to rebuild or repair their homes, according to a Times analysis of city permitting data, with 11% approved. Last week, 24 property owners submitted applications, the highest amount since the disaster, the analysis shows. L.A. County, which is responsible for permitting in Altadena and other unincorporated areas, has a separate system for tracking permits which the Times has not been able to independently verify. On Monday, the county listed 476 applications for zoning reviews on its data dashboard, with eight building permits approved. By Tuesday, the number of zoning reviews listed had increased to 486 while the number of building permit approvals dropped to seven. Besides Newsom, architects, builders and homeowners have grumbled about the permitting process, expressing frustrations at what they say are confusing and inconsistent interpretations of regulations. Last week, actress Mandy Moore, whose family had multiple homes damaged or destroyed in the Eaton fire, blasted the county for 'nonsensical red tape' that is making it difficult for her to rebuild. The wildfire recovery nonprofit Steadfast LA, started by developer and former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso, took the lead on securing the Archistar software and is covering much of the up to $2-million tab for its implementation. LA Rises, the foundation started by Newsom after the fires, will pay Archistar's $200 fee per application. Caruso, who declined an interview request from The Times, has said that turning to AI was a no-brainer. 'Bringing AI into permitting will allow us to rebuild faster and safer, reducing costs and turning a process that can take weeks and months into one that can happen in hours or days,' Caruso said in the news release announcing the deal. Archistar's AI permitting software has been in development since 2018. The company has contracts with municipalities in Australia and Canada and is expanding to the United States. In the fall, after a successful pilot program in Austin, Texas, Archistar signed an agreement with the city to perform initial assessments of building projects, similar to its intended use in Los Angeles. Austin has not implemented the software yet, but city officials said they believe it could cut preliminary reviews there to one business day from 15. Once Archistar's program is online in L.A. County, Glaser said, officials hope it will reduce the first analysis for rebuilding projects to two or three business days from five. It could save additional time for projects by minimizing revisions and corrections, said Zach Seidl, a Bass spokesperson. 'The biggest potential for reducing permitting time comes from improving the quality of initial plans that homeowners submit to the city,' Seidl said. Land use consultants and architects in Los Angeles said they were happy with any technology that could hasten approvals of their projects. But they said that AI wouldn't ease the hardest parts of the permitting process. Architect Ken Ungar, who is working with roughly two dozen Palisades property owners who are rebuilding, said his biggest headaches come from needing multiple city departments, such as those that oversee fire safety and utilities, to sign off on a project. Applications can get stuck, he said, and even worse sometimes one department requires changes that conflict with another's rules. Artificial intelligence, Ungar said, 'sounds great. But unless the city of L.A. changes its whole M.O. on how you get building permits, it's not super helpful.' The state's Archistar deal allows the city of Malibu, where the Palisades fire destroyed more than 1,000 homes, to receive the donated software as well. Malibu officials say they're still deciding on it, noting that the community has specialized building codes addressing development on coastal, hillside and other environmentally sensitive habitats. Governments are right to look to technology for help in speeding up disaster permitting, Rumbach said, but they also should ensure that human plan checkers provide oversight to account for nuances in zoning and building codes. 'I hope there are people more seasoned in communicating with disaster survivors who are the face of this,' he said. 'A lot of people could be frustrated because they don't want to deal with AI. They want to deal with a person.' Although L.A. city and county might be the first to use AI for permitting after a major disaster, experts expect the technology to become mainstream soon. 'I'm confident there is no way back,' said Sara Bertran de Lis, director of research and analytics at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence. L.A. County expects to implement the Archistar software within six weeks after programming and testing, Glaser said. At a recent disaster recovery panel, Bass said the city will do so 'in the next couple of months.'
Forbes
03-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
California Taps AI To Fast-Track Wildfire Recovery Permits
Archistar AI Fast-tracked online building permit assessment tool, image courtesy office of ... More California Governor Gavin Newsom In a move to expedite recovery from devastating wildfires, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the deployment of a cutting-edge AI tool designed to streamline the building permit approval process. The initiative aims to accelerate reconstruction efforts in Los Angeles County, where over 16,000 structures were destroyed by the recent Eaton and Palisades wildfires. Developed by Australian tech firm Archistar, the AI software employs machine learning and computer vision to automatically assess building plans for compliance with local zoning and safety codes. This technology enables homeowners and developers to pre-validate their designs, significantly reducing the time-consuming back-and-forth typically associated with permit approvals. "The current pace of issuing permits locally is not meeting the magnitude of the challenge we face," Governor Newsom stated. "To help boost local progress, California is partnering with the tech sector and community leaders to give local governments more tools to rebuild faster and more effectively." The AI tool is being provided free of charge to Los Angeles City and County through a collaboration between the state and philanthropic organizations, including LA Rises and Steadfast LA, with contributions from Autodesk and Amazon. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass expressed strong support for the initiative, highlighting its potential to expedite the city's recovery. "Getting residents home quickly and safely is my top priority," she said. "With the announcement of this AI solution, we're infusing new technologies into City Hall processes to ensure nothing stands in the way of families getting home." Los Angeles County has also committed to utilizing the software, with the Board of Supervisors passing a resolution to establish a unified permitting authority for the Altadena One-Stop Recovery Center. Supervisor Kathryn Barger noted, "This AI tool has the potential to save homeowners valuable time by helping them submit code-compliant plans from the start." The introduction of AI into the permitting process comes at a critical time. According to reports, nearly four months after the wildfires, residents have begun the arduous process of rebuilding, with only a few permits approved due to the traditionally slow and intricate permitting process. The deployment of Archistar's AI tool in Los Angeles is part of a broader trend of integrating technology into disaster recovery efforts. The software is already in use in over 25 municipalities across the United States, Canada, and Australia, including cities like Vancouver, Austin, Houston, and Seattle. In addition to California's innovative use of AI for streamlining building permit approvals post-wildfire, several other cities and regions worldwide are making use of AI to enhance their permitting processes. Austin, Texas, has adopted AI-driven building permit software to expedite the permitting process for single-family homes. The software y interprets zoning codes and implements regulations accordingly during reviews of residential projects. Similarly, the City of Hamilton in Ontario, Canada, is utilizing AI to reduce building permit approval times. The Honolulu, Hawaii city's Department of Planning and Permitting has likewise cut the time to complete residential permits by 70% through the use of AI, demonstrating the technology's potential to enhance governmental efficiency. Experts suggest that such technological innovations could serve as a model for future disaster responses, potentially reducing the time and cost associated with rebuilding efforts. David Waite, a partner at Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP, who chaired the permitting reform workstream at this year's Luskin Summit, highlighted the benefits of expedited permitting, citing Santa Rosa's recovery after the 2017 Tubbs Fire, where the Coffee Park neighborhood was 85% rebuilt within three years partly due to streamlined processes. As California continues to grapple with the aftermath of its most destructive wildfires, the integration of AI into the rebuilding process represents a significant step toward resilience and efficiency. By leveraging technology and fostering public-private partnerships, the state aims to not only rebuild but also set a precedent for innovative disaster recovery strategies nationwide.
