Leaders in Los Angeles are introducing software that is expected to speed up rebuilding after wildfires tore through the region earlier this year.
The AI software, by property technology company Archistar, 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 a statement the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services shared this week.
The tool will be available to local governments and residents in LA City and LA County at no charge, officials said.
The largest of January’s fires, the Palisades and Eaton blazes, destroyed about $29.7 billion in single-family housing. In all, the two blazes wiped out about 11,000 homes across 18 neighborhoods.
Months after the initial destruction, residents are eager to rebuild their homes. But the notoriously difficult building process in California is now even more bogged down, and it's holding up the rebuild, according to locals.
In the Pacific Palisades, construction is underway on two homes, with 10 other plans approved and 100 in permitting, locals and developers said. County data shows that in Altadena, five permits have been issued, and 73 building plans are under review.
“The current pace of issuing permits locally is not meeting the magnitude of the challenge we face,” Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “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.”
Tool could make permitting 25% faster, advocates say
Local government officials and non-profit leaders have said the software will save residents time and money.
Steadfast LA, one of the groups responsible for funding the new program, said the tool could lead to 25% faster permitting, in turn generating 33% more housing.
“Permitting delays are not just bureaucratic headaches — they cost families their homes and communities their future,” the group said in a LinkedIn post. “Every month of delay adds $10,000 to a home and nearly $550,000 to multifamily projects. The system is broken. eCheck changes everything.”
Steadfast LA chairman Rick Caruso, a real estate developer, said in a statement that AI could “[turn] a process that can take weeks and months into one that can happen in hours or days.”
More than 25 municipalities around the world are already using the Archistar tool. In the United States, those cities include Houston, New York and Seattle, as well as some areas in Colorado.