Regulatory approval automation: getting approvals with an AI worker
Last checked 2026-11-13
Permits, licences, development consent and environmental approvals all follow the same broad pattern. Most of the effort is in finding the right documents, checking nothing is missing and keeping track of what the authority asked for. That is the part an AI worker can take on.
The approval lifecycle, step by step
Whatever the authority, an approval usually moves through six steps. The table shows what an AI worker can reasonably do at each one, and what stays with you.
| Step | What an AI worker can do | What stays with you |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Prepare | Find the current drawings, reports, certificates and correspondence in SharePoint, OneDrive and email. Collect them into one folder and list what is there. | Deciding what to apply for, and engaging the consultants who write the technical reports. |
| 2. Check | Compare the folder against the authority's published checklist or lodgement requirements and list gaps, out-of-date versions and inconsistent details, such as a lot number that differs between documents. | Confirming the checklist is the right one and current, and resolving every gap. |
| 3. Lodge | Draft the cover letter and a document schedule, and prepare the files in the order the portal expects. | Signing declarations, paying fees and submitting through the portal or to the authority. The AI does not lodge. |
| 4. Respond to RFIs | Log each request for information with its due date, find the material that answers it, ask the right consultant for anything missing and draft a response for review. | Approving the response, and any technical or legal position it takes. |
| 5. Meet conditions | Turn the approval's conditions into a register with owners, trigger events and due dates, and send reminders in Teams. | Doing the work each condition requires, and certifying that it was done. |
| 6. Keep evidence | File what was submitted, when and by whom, with each version, and keep the record of RFIs and condition sign-offs together. | Deciding what your record must contain and how long you keep it. |
Each step has its own guide: permit and licence applications, environmental approvals, development approvals, internal change approvals and approval evidence packs.
Who this is for
This site is for businesses that have to get approvals: builders and developers, environmental and civil contractors, manufacturers, energy businesses, health-adjacent operators and licensed trades. The approvals come from councils, state agencies, federal regulators and licensing bodies, and sometimes from your own engineering or quality team before a change goes ahead.
It is not about running compliance after the approval is granted, such as registers, audits and regular reporting. That is covered on our sister site about ongoing compliance.
Why completeness checking matters
Many authorities check an application is complete before they assess it, and an incomplete one costs you time. One example from New South Wales, Australia: the NSW Planning Portal guidance says applications "must be reviewed for completeness before they can be lodged", and that a council can reject an application "within 14 days of lodgement", "only… for the reasons outlined in section 39 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021".
Checking a folder against a list is exactly the kind of careful, repetitive work an AI worker does well. It reads every document rather than skimming the file names, and it flags what it cannot find instead of assuming it is there. A person still decides whether the application is ready. See development approvals for more on the NSW process.
How The Everything does this
The Everything, made by SG1 Consulting (the publisher of this site), is an AI worker for small businesses on Microsoft 365. It lives in Microsoft Teams and works with Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint, SharePoint Lists, Excel, Word, Planner and Outlook Calendar. It does tasks rather than only giving advice: it collects the files, writes the draft and sets the reminder.
- It runs against your own Microsoft 365 tenant with tightly scoped permissions.
- It asks before anything important goes out, and when something looks off, it stops and shows you what it thinks is wrong.
- In Word, it drafts and edits in your document, with each change approved.
- It costs $400 AUD a month plus GST per company, not per user, with unlimited team members. There is a 14-day free trial with no credit card.
You tell it what the authority requires, usually by giving it the published checklist or guidance. It works from that, not from its own idea of the law.
What stays with a person
An AI worker prepares; people decide. These stay with the applicant or responsible person every time:
- Signing applications, declarations and statutory forms.
- Lodging with the authority and paying fees.
- Legal, planning, environmental and engineering advice, which comes from qualified advisers.
- Approving every response to an authority before it is sent.
- Accepting conditions and certifying that they have been met.
Before you start
Approval files hold drawings, site details, personal information about neighbours and staff, and sometimes commercially sensitive designs. Before you point any AI tool at them, check your own obligations:
- Privacy and data location. The Everything runs against your own Microsoft 365 tenant, but its AI processing uses Microsoft Azure OpenAI and OpenAI, and its privacy policy says those providers may process information outside your country. If a contract, a client or a regulator restricts where your data goes, settle that first.
- Record keeping. Some approvals, conditions and industries carry their own rules on what you must keep and for how long. The AI helps you keep the record; it does not decide what the law requires you to keep.
- Certifications. The Everything does not claim SOC 2, ISO 27001 or any other certification. If your procurement or quality system requires one, it is not a fit for that requirement.
Your data is not used to train AI models, and if you cancel, your files stay where they always were, in your Microsoft account.
Questions people ask
Can an AI submit a regulatory application for me?
It should not, and The Everything does not lodge applications on its own. It prepares the files and drafts, and the applicant or responsible person signs and submits them.
Does the AI know what my council or regulator requires?
Do not rely on it to know. Give it the authority's current published checklist or lodgement requirements and it checks your application against that. Confirming you have the right, current checklist is your job.
Is this legal or engineering advice?
No. The AI organises documents and drafts text for review. Legal, planning, environmental and engineering judgements come from qualified people.
How is this different from regulatory workflow automation?
This site covers getting an approval. Running compliance afterwards, such as registers, audits and periodic reporting, is covered at regulatoryworkflowautomation.com.
What does The Everything cost?
$400 AUD a month plus GST per company, with unlimited team members, billed monthly. There is a 14-day free trial with no credit card.
Try an AI worker on your next application
The Everything works inside your Microsoft 365 and Teams. It gathers, checks and drafts; you approve, sign and lodge. $400 AUD a month plus GST per company, with a 14-day free trial and no credit card.
See how The Everything works