The City of Everett, in partnership with Challenge Seattle, is expanding a permitting modernization pilot with Govstream.ai to reduce delays, make it easier to build housing, and develop a new approach to streamlining permitting that other communities across the region can adopt.
As Everett works to increase its housing supply, speeding up permitting is an important part of getting more homes built. Yet too often, housing projects get caught in repeated rounds of corrections and resubmissions, adding months to the process. Many of these delays can be traced back to issues that could have been addressed before an application was submitted, from failing to apply for all required permits to missing documents and incomplete plans.
The pilot began with accessory dwelling units (ADUs), where these challenges are particularly evident. An analysis of 281 historical Everett ADU and detached accessory dwelling unit (DADU) applications submitted between January 2023 and June 2026 found that 95% received at least one correction letter. The median application took 252 days to reach permit issuance and went through four review rounds, each lasting a median of 45 days.
To reduce unnecessary corrections, Everett is testing an intelligent permit intake system that helps applicants understand what’s required for their specific property and project before submitting. In retrospective testing, the system would have identified missing required documents in 89% of applications previously returned for that reason. It also helps applicants identify permits they might otherwise overlook and checks uploaded documents for missing information, addressing common issues that can lead to additional review cycles. More details are available in the Everett permitting pilot case study (everettwa.gov/aducasestudy).
The city’s new goal is to cut the median number of review cycles in half (from four to two), and reduce the median time to permit ADUs to 90 days.
Building on these findings, Everett will expand the pilot to additional residential building permit types, including single-family homes, townhomes, and duplexes, with continued support from Challenge Seattle. The technology is expected to be available to the public for ADU permitting in spring 2027, with additional residential permit types to follow.
The project is supported by a $130,000 grant from Challenge Seattle and $70,000 committed by the City of Everett.
“We can and must do more to make housing more affordable in Everett,” said Mayor Cassie Franklin. “Our city is growing, and our goal is to make our city the easiest place to build housing in the Pacific Northwest. These early results of our pilot are encouraging, and with this project, homeowners and builders will have faster access to permits for new middle housing in our community.”
As permitting has moved online, applicants have gained more convenience, but often have fewer opportunities to receive immediate feedback on their plans. The partnership with Govstream.ai brings personalized, real-time guidance directly into the application process, helping applicants understand what’s required for their specific property and project, identify missing information, and assess whether their application is ready for review before submitting. This approach aims to reduce routine administrative work while keeping technical reviews and permitting decisions in the hands of city staff.
“Every unnecessary correction means more time and money spent waiting instead of building,” said Safouen (Saf) Rabah, founder and CEO of Govstream.ai. “We have an opportunity to change that by addressing problems before they slow a project down. That’s how we help builders get to yes faster and make it easier to deliver the housing our communities need.”
For Challenge Seattle, the partnership offers a practical way to address regional housing challenges and share what Everett learns with other jurisdictions.
“We need more homes, built faster, at prices families can afford,” said Chris Gregoire, former Washington Governor and CEO of Challenge Seattle. “Time is money, and every unnecessary delay makes it harder and more expensive to build, rent, or buy. I want to thank Mayor Franklin and the City of Everett for their leadership in stepping forward to tackle this challenge and demonstrating what’s possible when we work together. Challenge Seattle is proud to make this our first investment in what we hope will become a broader regional effort to make permitting faster, more predictable, and more efficient.”
Read the Everett permitting pilot case study (www.everettwa.gov/