Permitting has long been one of the biggest bottlenecks in the construction process. While essential for ensuring buildings meet safety and code requirements, the process can drag on for months, leaving developers in limbo. Now, a growing number of states are offering an alternative: allowing private companies to conduct plan reviews in an effort to clear permitting backlogs.
“Is what you’re building to code? Is it safe? Is it code compliant? It’s a critical, important function,” Ben Allen, chief operating officer and co-founder of GreenLite, told GlobeSt. The firm provides permit management, private plan review, and code compliance services using artificial intelligence technologies, including machine learning and large language models.
Developers increasingly see the value of such an option given the delays baked into many jurisdictions. In its third-quarter survey, the National Multifamily Housing Council found that 75% of builders reported permitting delays, with 58% told that approvals would take anywhere from five to nine months—or longer.
Allen described the traditional process as cumbersome. “Your plans go in between 20 different people: the electrician, the plumber, the mechanical engineer, the structural engineer, all putting on their comments, sitting in people’s inboxes, just wasting time,” he said. GreenLite’s technology is designed to streamline that process through prevention, detection, and resolution workflows.
The challenge, however, isn’t just code compliance. Each municipality has its own requirements and preferences for how data must be submitted, and even small deviations can lead to major delays. GreenLite’s system is built to recognize both building code standards and local documentation quirks. “We can rapidly tell that you’re missing this level of insurance, or the general contractor is not named on the application,” Allen explained, noting that the platform can identify gaps in both applications and design drawings. The company then works iteratively with clients to prepare materials in a format government officials will accept.
The shift toward allowing private review has precedent. Florida adopted the framework years ago, largely out of necessity after hurricanes left building departments inundated with reconstruction approvals. The state authorized private firms with the right credentials, licenses, and insurance to handle overflow work from local agencies, a model that has since gained traction elsewhere.
“It’s not just useful in emergencies,” Allen said, pointing to the massive Tesla Gigafactory lithium-ion battery facility underway in Austin. “The entire building department is going to focus, probably for a long time, on that project. But what they’re not going to work on are home applications and everything else.”
Other states, including Georgia, Arkansas, Washington, D.C., and New Hampshire, have either enacted or are considering similar private permitting laws. For developers, the result can mean shaving months off project timelines. In an industry where time is money, Allen noted, earlier approvals can translate into faster completion schedules and stronger returns on investment—often easily offsetting the cost of private review.
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