Ichi
AI platform that automates building-code research, plan review, permit intake and QA/QC by scanning project documents and citing exact code sections.
Ichi (Ichiplan) is an AI platform that automates building-code research, plan review, permit intake and QA/QC by scanning project documents and citing exact code sections -- a genuinely different category of tool than a design or BIM-modeling application, focused specifically on the code-compliance and permitting side of a project.
The platform's core value proposition is grounding its answers in citations: rather than producing a generic summary of applicable code requirements, Ichi cites the exact, specific code section behind each answer, drawing on a licensed database of more than 1 million code sections spanning 199 code groups across 28 US states -- a genuinely substantial, structured code-content foundation for an AI compliance tool.
Beyond answering code questions, Ichi supports multi-phase project intake and parallel review across multiple concurrent projects, positioning it for use by teams (whether at a design firm, a permitting agency, or a plan-review consultancy) managing code review and QA/QC across many projects simultaneously rather than one at a time.
The platform also automates permit intake and RFI (request for information) handling specifically, aiming to compress the often slow, paperwork-heavy administrative side of the permitting process alongside the code-research function itself.
At $20/month for its Starter plan (1,000 credits/month), Ichi is priced accessibly relative to enterprise compliance software, though firms with heavier usage needs should verify how the credit-based pricing scales for their specific project volume before assuming the entry-level plan covers ongoing, firm-wide use.
Editor’s takeBIM•STACK editor's take: Ichi targets a specific, high-value niche -- citation-grounded, code-specific AI research across a genuinely large licensed code database (1M+ sections, 199 code groups, 28 states) -- distinct from the design-ideation or BIM-modeling tools that dominate the AI-tools category in this catalog. Firms doing frequent code research, plan review or permit-intake work across multiple US jurisdictions are the clearest fit; firms outside its current 28-state code coverage should verify their specific jurisdiction is supported before committing.
Ichi's core workflow -- asking a code question or submitting a project document for review and receiving a cited, code-section-specific answer -- is designed to be approachable for anyone doing code research, without requiring specialized AI-prompting skill, since the interaction resembles asking a knowledgeable colleague a specific code question rather than crafting a generative-AI prompt.
Teams adopting the multi-phase project-intake and parallel-review features for managing several concurrent projects face a modest additional workflow-configuration step, setting up project structures and phases to match a firm's own internal review process.
Firms new to AI-assisted code research generally benefit from cross-checking Ichi's cited answers against the actual code text for their first several uses, building calibrated trust in the tool's citation accuracy for their specific jurisdiction and code type before relying on it unsupervised for critical compliance decisions.
- Design firms and consultancies doing frequent multi-jurisdiction code researchCitation-grounded answers across 199 code groups and 28 states support that recurring workflow directly.
- Teams managing plan review and QA/QC across many concurrent projectsMulti-phase intake and parallel review are built for that scale of workload.
- Firms wanting to compress permit-intake and RFI administrative overheadAutomated intake and RFI handling targets that specific administrative burden.
- Your projects are outside Ichi's current 28-state code coverageVerify jurisdictional coverage directly with the vendor before committing, or use a more general compliance-research approach for unsupported states.
- You need design or BIM-modeling automation, not code researchIchi doesn't address design or modeling workflows -- look to other AI tools in this catalog for that need.
- You need a more established, longer-track-record compliance toolCompare against tools with a longer public history and more verified named customers.
What is Ichi used for?
Automating building-code research, plan review, permit intake and QA/QC by scanning project documents and citing exact code sections.
How much does Ichi cost?
$20/month (Starter plan, 1,000 credits/month).
Does Ichi cite its code answers?
Yes -- it cites the exact code section behind each answer, drawing on a database of over 1 million licensed code sections.
What jurisdictions does Ichi cover?
199 code groups across 28 US states, as currently documented.
Is Ichi a design or BIM tool?
No -- it's focused specifically on code compliance research, plan review, permit intake and QA/QC, not design or modeling.