LA County taps Accela for permit software

Accela Inc. won a $7 million contract from Los Angeles County to provide software for permit management at four departments, the company announced today.

Under the contract, Accela of Dublin, Calif., will implement its Kiva DMS software solution to give more than 3,000 county employees a centralized approach to permit management for the departments of public works, fire, regional planning and environmental health.

The new solution will feature a centralized database for all participating departments, interconnecting their employees and allowing them to operate more efficiently, according to the company.

The solution streamline all of the processes these departments handle, including plan review, permit issuance, building inspection, code enforcement, permit tracking and complaint management.

As part of its e-government initiative, the county also will be implementing a citizen access portal, powered by Accela's technology that provides real-time, direct access to the county's central database and its permit and land management activities.

Nearly 2,500 desktop users will implement the system to automate their workflow, and 500 mobile inspectors will use the product's wireless capability to approve inspections from the field. All users will be able to take advantage of its interactive mapping capabilities.

Accela, a provider of government enterprise management solutions, develops enterprise systems for asset management, bioterrorism alert, emergency response, licensing, permitting, planning, public health and other processes for government agencies.