Comparison
A modern alternative to Accela for municipal permit review
Legacy permit systems were built to record what a reviewer already decided. Datum is built to help the reviewer decide — automated completeness extraction at intake, source-linked findings inside the original document, and an append-only decision trail for export. This page is for permit and air-quality teams evaluating whether to replace or supplement a legacy stack.
What's different
Accela, iWorQ, and similar municipal platforms are records-of-decision. The reviewer does the triage; the system stores the outcome. Datum moves the triage step into software so reviewers spend their time on the decision, not on re-reading complete packets to confirm they're complete.
| Capability | Datum | Legacy permit systems |
|---|---|---|
| Completeness check on intake | Automated extraction from PDFs and forms with source-linked findings | Manual checklist entered by staff after intake is received |
| Reviewer evidence trail | Every finding cites the source page and bounding region in the original document | Reviewer notes attached to the record; original document opened separately |
| Tenant model | Municipality-scoped roles and RLS; reviewers see only their tenant's records | Configurable, typically requires implementation services to scope |
| Time to first determination | Triage view ranks deficient vs. ready packets within the same session | Queues processed by staff in order received; triage is a manual step |
| Audit export | Append-only decision log with reviewer identity and override reason captured per record | Activity log per record; export depends on configured reports |
| Implementation surface | Hosted; reviewer accounts and tenant scope live the same day | Implementation engagement; rollouts typically measured in quarters |
When Datum is the right fit
- High intake volume, narrow reviewer bench. Completeness triage is the bottleneck, not the determination itself.
- Document-heavy permit types.Site plans, GI-01 air-quality forms, environmental packets where the answer is "buried on page 14."
- Audit pressure. A clean, append-only record of who decided what, and why, on every packet.
When Datum is not the fit
If you need full citizen-facing licensing, code enforcement, and field inspection in a single platform, a legacy suite is still the broader product. Datum is focused on the review and determination loop for permits and environmental compliance — and integrates alongside the system of record.
See it on a real packet
The fastest way to evaluate Datum is to run it on one of your own packets. Pilot tenants get a reviewer account, source-linked findings, and an exportable decision trail in the same day.