# Track your Accela Citizen Access permits from code

> Search permits, read a permit's status, inspections and fees due, and schedule an inspection in Accela Citizen Access with one API call each. Or have a workflow check your open permits each morning and email you those whose status or inspections changed.

Page: https://fous.com/automate/accela-citizen-access
Updated: 2026-11-12

Works with your own Accela Citizen Access account. Fous is an independent product.

## What you can build on Citizen Access

### Search permits

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

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

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

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](/product/workflows) 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

Starts: Every weekday at 7:00

1. For each permit number on your list, check the permit's status and inspections.
2. Keep the permits whose status or inspection results changed since the last run.
3. Email you the changes, one line per permit with its new status and latest result.

### New permits filed under your contractor name

Starts: Every Monday at 8:00

1. Search permits by your Contractor Name for the last 7 days in each agency you work with.
2. Keep the permits that were not there on the last run.
3. Post each one, with its type, status and address, to your project system's webhook.

### Permits with fees still due

Starts: Every weekday at 9:00

1. For each permit on your list, get the fees due.
2. Keep the permits with a balance due above zero.
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](/product/methods), 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.

Example request:

```
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"
    }
  }'
```

Example response:

```
{
  "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.

| Option | What it covers | What it takes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Construct API, citizen app | Your records, a record's fees, payments and documents, inspection availability and scheduling, and paying fees. | A registered citizen app on the Developer Portal; it works only as far as the agency's Civic Platform configuration allows. |
| Construct API, Citizen Access account endpoints | Your Citizen Access profile and contacts, delegates, invitations and trust accounts. | An access token from the citizen's sign-in; Civic Platform 7.3.3.4 or 7.3.3.5 depending on the endpoint. |
| Citizen Access by hand | Search, apply, check status, schedule inspections and pay online, one agency's site at a time. | An account registered on each agency's site. On Clark County's site, anyone can view information and check status without one. |

Read on November 12, 2026: [Accela API reference](https://developer.accela.com/docs/api_reference/api-index.html), [The app development process](https://developer.accela.com/docs/construct-appDevelopment.html), [Citizen Access APIs](https://developer.accela.com/docs/construct-api-citizenAccess.html).

## 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.

## More in Government: US courts, records, permits and licensing

- [Sunshine 811](https://fous.com/automate/sunshine-811.md)
- [Texas811 Portal](https://fous.com/automate/texas811-portal.md)
- [USA North 811](https://fous.com/automate/usa-north-811.md)
- [DOB NOW](https://fous.com/automate/dob-now.md)
- [Metrc](https://fous.com/automate/metrc.md)
- [webDEALER](https://fous.com/automate/webdealer.md)
- [The Compliance Engine](https://fous.com/automate/the-compliance-engine.md)
- [eFileIL](https://fous.com/automate/efileil.md)
- [eFileTexas](https://fous.com/automate/efiletexas.md)
- [Florida Courts E-Filing Portal](https://fous.com/automate/florida-courts-e-filing-portal.md)
- [Odyssey File & Serve](https://fous.com/automate/odyssey-file-and-serve.md)
- [LOOP](https://fous.com/automate/loop.md)

Other industries: [Desktop Underwriter](/automate/desktop-underwriter), [USPS Business Customer Gateway](/automate/usps-business-customer-gateway), [Bonfire](/automate/bonfire), [Colorado Revenue Online](/automate/colorado-revenue-online), [DIR Public Works eCPR](/automate/dir-public-works-ecpr), [Sonepar Onlineshop](/automate/sonepar-onlineshop).

## Frequently asked questions

### Does Accela Citizen Access have an API?

Yes, through Accela's Construct API. A citizen app registered on the Developer Portal can read your records, fees and documents, schedule inspections and pay, but what it can do depends on each agency's Civic Platform configuration. Accela's developer pages state no price.

### Do I need an account to check a permit's status?

No, not on Clark County's site: anonymous users there can view information and check status. Registering for an account opens all services, such as applying and paying online. Each agency decides what its own site offers.

### How do I schedule an inspection on a sub-permit?

Search for the sub-permit on its own and schedule its inspection from there. Clark County's site asks this for Mechanical, Plumbing and Electrical sub-permits under a parent permit.

### Can one workflow cover permits in several agencies?

Yes. Each agency runs its own Citizen Access site, so a method takes the agency as an input, and a workflow can loop over your agencies and permit numbers, then email you or post the result to a webhook.

### Is Fous affiliated with Accela?

No. Fous is an independent product. You use it with your own Citizen Access account, and a method reads and does only what that account can.

Fous is an independent product: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the operator of Accela Citizen Access (Accela). The name is used only to say which system this page is about. Something here wrong or out of date? Write to legal@fous.com.