AI Plan Check for Cities & Counties
Approve more housing
with the staff you have.
CrossBeam Permits is AI plan check software that cities, counties and other permitting agencies set up around their own staff, rules and workflow, covering both the applicant pre-check before submittal and the agency’s own intake screening, building and planning plan review, corrections letters, backchecks and staff questions.
The City of Laguna Beach and the City of Buena Park use it today. How they use it
The Squeeze
The state has passed 25+ ADU bills since 2016. Cities and counties want to comply. The volume arrived; the staff didn’t. The routine 60% of plan check (stamps present? codes listed? fire rating correct?) is the same work, repeated thousands of times.
The Clock Is Running
States are putting deadlines on local review. Miss the window and the permit can be approved automatically. An AI review that drafts the reading and writing helps your team meet the clock with the staff you have.
What each law requires: California ADU 60-day timeline · California post-entitlement permits · Washington SB 5290
Unincorporated Areas, Too
Outside city limits, the county is the planning and building authority for about one in six Californians. CrossBeam is available to every California city and county, and already has local rules loaded for unincorporated Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, and San Bernardino.
Population: California Department of Finance, E-1 estimates, January 2026
A Submittal’s Day at the Counter
- 1
Before submittal
An agency can offer a free or paid pre-check, branded as its own program, that runs the same review engine its staff use. The City of Buena Park funds one for every applicant: “Buena Park Plan PreCheck by CrossBeam” is free, voluntary and advisory, and City plan check staff still review every submittal. How Buena Park set it up.
Who decides: The applicant decides what to fix; the agency still reviews every submittal
- 2
Intake
CrossBeam Permits compares the package against the agency’s own submittal requirements and lists what is required, what is present and what is missing. It then drafts the applicant notice in the agency’s voice, with links to the agency’s own forms. A permit technician reviews and edits the notice before it is sent.
This matters most where state law sets a completeness clock. In California, ADU and post-entitlement housing permits carry a 15-business-day completeness deadline. See ADU 60-day timeline and post-entitlement permits.
Who decides: Permit technician or planner
Screener - 3
Review
CrossBeam Permits reads the full plan set, sheet by sheet, and checks it against the state building code and the agency’s adopted local amendments, and on the planning side against the zoning code and objective standards. Each finding names the code section it rests on and the sheet where the evidence is. A finding that cannot point to both is flagged for a person to look at instead of being stated as a correction.
Who decides: Plan reviewer or planner
Pre-Check - 4
The letter
The draft letter uses the agency’s letterhead, numbering, phrasing and format, so applicants receive the department’s letter, not a software report. Staff can promote, demote, edit or dismiss any item before signing. Nothing reaches an applicant without staff approval.
Who decides: Plan reviewer signs
- 5
Resubmittal
When plans come back, CrossBeam Permits checks the new set against the prior letter item by item and reports which items appear resolved and which do not. It also flags changes elsewhere in the set that were not part of the response, so the reviewer does not start the review over from scratch.
Who decides: Plan reviewer
Corrections Response - 6
The phone keeps ringing
The CrossBeam Permit Assistant answers code and process questions for staff and, where the agency chooses, for residents. Answers are grounded in state code and the agency’s local rules and include their sources.
Who decides: Staff choose where it is offered
Permit Assistant
Both Departments Read Plans
Permit types are not limited to one kind of project. Agencies use it for any submittal with an architectural construction-document set, including single-family homes, ADUs, additions and remodels, multi-unit housing and commercial tenant improvements.
How We Work
One AI Platform. Engineers at Your Counter.
CrossBeam is our own plan review platform, deployed by the people who built it. A forward-deployed engineer works beside your plan checkers and permit techs, learns how the work really moves, and shapes the system around your team.
How an Agency Gets Started
Every agency gets its own setup. A typical start looks like this:
Nothing needs to be installed or migrated. CrossBeam Permits works alongside the agency’s existing permitting system of record.
For Agency Staff and Buyers
CrossBeam Permits builds AI plan check around each agency’s own team, rules and workflow. It covers both sides of the counter. Applicant-facing tools check plans before they are submitted. Internal tools handle intake screening, building and planning plan review, corrections letters on the agency’s letterhead, backchecks and staff questions. Your staff edits, approves, and decides.
CrossBeam works with cities, counties and agencies anywhere in the country. CrossBeam is available to every California city and county, and most California jurisdictions already have their local rules loaded. Beyond California, CrossBeam already runs reviews on local code in the Greater Seattle, Las Vegas, Denver and Kansas City areas.
The City of Laguna Beach and the City of Buena Park use it today. The Laguna Beach City Council unanimously approved a 12-month agreement with CrossBeam Permits on August 4, 2026. The City’s staff report lists the cost as $99,600. The City of Buena Park funds a free, voluntary applicant pre-check, “Buena Park Plan PreCheck by CrossBeam”, launched October 5, 2026.
No. Staff make every decision. CrossBeam prepares findings with evidence. A reviewer accepts, edits, or dismisses each one. Nothing from a review goes to an applicant until your staff sends it.
CrossBeam loads the agency’s public rules before day one, then adds the checklists and judgment calls only staff know. Each agency gets its own setup. The rule set starts from your local code, handouts, and standard details, on top of state law, and your staff’s rulings are folded back in as we work with you, so the review matches how your counter works.
CrossBeam runs alongside your permit system. Nothing has to be replaced. For Bluebeam, you download a PDF with every finding placed as a markup, and you work in Bluebeam as usual. Upload the marked-up PDF, and CrossBeam reads your markups back into the findings and the letter.
Pricing depends on your permit volume and how you take submittals. Talk to us and we will scope it with you.
AI answers from CrossBeam’s own product information. For a code question, use the Permit Assistant.
Bring CrossBeam to Your Counter
Cities and counties can’t self-serve into CrossBeam, and shouldn’t have to. Onboarding wires in your local code, your forms, your letterhead, and your writing style. Tell us about your counter and we’ll scope a start that fits your team.