Accela to automate Salt Lake City permits

Accela Inc. has won a $1.4 million contract from Salt Lake City to move its permitting process online so that builders and developers can purchase permits through a single portal.

Under the contract, the company will install its Accela Automation software solution to simplify the process through which applicants submit plans for review.

Accela will build the portal and create a centralized database of land-use information that can be shared across different city departments and with the public.

Seven city departments will move online. They are building services, business licensing, planning and zoning, fire, engineering, public utilities and transportation.

The city issues more than 8,500 permits, renews more than 12,000 licenses and processes more than 2,500 new licenses annually.

Accela of San Ramon, Calif., provides enterprise software solutions to the government to automate workflow, track information and manage data from a centralized database.