Track your Accela Citizen Access permits from code

What you can build on Citizen Access

• Search permits

  Build this

  Runs General Search on an agency's Building tab by permit number, project name, contractor name, parcel number, address or date range.

  Takes

  Agency, then optional permit number, contractor name, project name, parcel or address, date range

  Returns

  Permit number, permit type, status, project name, address, date

• Check a permit's status and inspections

  Build this

  Opens one permit from search and reads its current status and the inspections scheduled and done, with their results.

  Takes

  Agency, permit number

  Returns

  Permit number, type, status, inspections with type, date and result

• Get fees due on a permit

  Build this

  Opens one permit signed in with your account and reads its fees: what is paid and what is still due.

  Takes

  Agency, permit number

  Returns

  Permit number, fee description, amount, paid or due, total balance due

• Schedule an inspection

  Build this

  Uses Schedule an Inspection on a permit to pick an inspection type and an open date, and confirms the request.

  Takes

  Agency, permit number, inspection type, preferred date

  Returns

  Permit number, inspection type, scheduled date, confirmation

Automate Citizen Access with a workflow

A workflow runs your methods as one process, with nobody at the screen. A schedule or a call from your own system starts it, the steps run in order, and the result arrives in your inbox or in the systems you already use.

• Permit status and inspection results, every open permit

  Build this

  Starts

  Every weekday at 7:00

  Step 1

  For each permit number on your list, check the permit's status and inspections.

  Step 2

  Keep the permits whose status or inspection results changed since the last run.

  Step 3

  Email you the changes, one line per permit with its new status and latest result.

• New permits filed under your contractor name

  Build this

  Starts

  Every Monday at 8:00

  Step 1

  Search permits by your Contractor Name for the last 7 days in each agency you work with.

  Step 2

  Keep the permits that were not there on the last run.

  Step 3

  Post each one, with its type, status and address, to your project system's webhook.

• Permits with fees still due

  Build this

  Starts

  Every weekday at 9:00

  Step 1

  For each permit on your list, get the fees due.

  Step 2

  Keep the permits with a balance due above zero.

  Step 3

  Email you the list with each fee and the total due.

You can run a workflow by hand on every plan, Free included. Schedules and webhook triggers come with the paid plans, from $29 a month.

Once built, one call from your code

Once you have built a method, it is one POST to /v1/runs from your backend, or a tool an AI agent calls over MCP. This is what “Search permits” would look like.

curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "method": "aca-prod.accela.com/search_permits",
    "input": {
      "agency": "CLARKCO",
      "contractor_name": "Northwind Builders",
      "start_date": "2026-11-02",
      "end_date": "2026-11-11"
    }
  }'

{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "agency": "CLARKCO",
    "permits": [
      {
        "permit_number": "BD26-48213",
        "permit_type": "Building Residential Addition",
        "status": "Plan Review",
        "project_name": "Acme Residence rear addition",
        "address": "1420 Example Ridge Ave",
        "date": "2026-11-09"
      }
    ],
    "count": 1
  }
}

An example with invented data, not a ready-made endpoint. The method exists in your organization once you build it, and its name, inputs and fields follow your request.

Citizen Access’s own options

Accela publishes the Construct API (V4), and a developer can register a citizen app on Accela's Developer Portal. It covers a signed-in user's records, fees, payments, documents and inspection scheduling, but what an app can do depends on how each agency's Civic Platform is configured. Accela's developer pages state no price. Without an app, you use each agency's Citizen Access site by hand.

Read on November 12, 2026: Accela API reference, The app development process, Citizen Access APIs.

Signing in to Citizen Access

Each agency's Citizen Access site asks for your user name and password, and a forgotten password is reset with a temporary one. Clark County documents no second step. With Fous you sign in once through the agency's own sign-in with your own account: the login is sealed with AES-256, never shown to code or AI agents, and an expired session is signed back in.

Worth knowing

Each agency sets up its own site

Tabs and actions differ by agency. Clark County's site has Building, Comprehensive Planning, Fire Prevention and Public Works, and Public Works offers Request an Inspection instead of Schedule an Inspection.

Sub-permits are searched on their own

Clark County asks that Mechanical, Plumbing and Electrical sub-permits under a parent permit be searched for separately and their inspections scheduled from there, so a method takes the sub-permit's number.

A locked account needs the agency

On Clark County's site a password reset does not reopen a locked account: you email the county's support. A new password needs at least 8 characters, one capital letter, one number and one special character.

Searching needs no account

On Clark County's site, anonymous users can view information and check status. Registering for an account opens all services, such as applying and paying online.

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