The Top Five Reasons Why You Need a Permitting Solution

What Are Permitting Solutions, and Why Are They Important?

Permitting solutions let you review applications, process payments, print permits, conduct inspections, issue certificates, and validate contractor credentials electronically.

Here are the top five reasons why having a permitting solution is essential for optimal efficiency and resident satisfaction.

1. Trouble-Free Compliance With Regulations

A permitting solution helps ensure local, state, and federal compliance. Occasionally, builders skip the application process because it is too cumbersome, time-consuming, and misunderstood. However, taking this process online provides an incredibly efficient system that changes the way residents look at obtaining a permit. With 24/7 access and quicker approvals, you give builders precisely what they need when they need it, while ensuring safety regulations and contractor insurance requirements are in place.  Online permitting provides a simple and efficient way for requirements to be met during plan review and during the inspection process.

2. Added Efficiency and Time-Savings With Streamlined Systems

Permitting solutions streamline processes to give you and your team additional time for more meaningful tasks to enhance civic engagement and pride directly. Going digital removes much of the monotonous manual work associated with permitting. For example, a permitting solution lets your residents and business owners submit permit applications online via a template you can customize, giving you exactly what you need without time-consuming administrative interactions or manual procedures. Even though this cuts out an initial personal exchange, it better serves your residents by quickly getting them what they need while allowing for total customer visibility into the status of their application. Personal interactions can now happen as you seamlessly track contractors, manage and respond to project inquiries, and keep track of permit-related points of contact, allowing you to provide personalized interactions at a more appropriate time.

3. Increased Transparency and Accountability

Utilizing a permitting solution creates transparency for your organization and the clients you serve. When you give your customers visibility into your processes and methods, you gain trust and eliminate misunderstandings about requirements. Customers are able to access their applications, permits, inspections, and payments online, making it easier for clients to answer their own questions and be fully informed. Additionally, online systems allow customers to proactively manage and renew their business licenses, registrations, and insurance requirements online to ensure that projects continue to move forward.

4. Improved Communication and Collaboration

Utilizing a digital permit solution creates a central location to manage all of the details for permits that might be issued in many departments across the organization. Collaboration can be increased by having all departmental permit records linked to a central property records system, which makes it easy to align with property conditions such as zoning, historical areas, and previously approved variances. Communication is enhanced as colleagues can share notes and comments amongst themselves within the digital permit record as reviews are conducted. Additionally, reviewers can communicate online with clients by delivering notes, requests, and supporting documents directly to the client’s mobile device. Clients are able to respond to the agency easily requests online from their mobile devices, which increases the speed of the review and inspection cycles.

5. Cost Savings

Digital permitting solutions have the capability to manage complex processes more efficiently, which results in time savings for the agency. Systems that allow customers to complete the permit process online save time translating data and documents that might have otherwise been provided in hardcopy. Digital systems directly add application data and documents directly to the database and save time that would have previously required a manual entry. Because inspections can be done in the field from a mobile device, inspectors can enter status and comments, create notes, add photos, cite codes, and create inspection devices while at the job site. Inspection results are delivered in real-time to customers, allowing them to make corrections quickly, reschedule inspections, and keep the job moving forward on time and on budget.

Permitting Solutions Are Essential for Optimum Efficiency and Proper Regulation

Providing clear communication and a maximized workflow gives your residents the tools needed to make their homes and businesses something to be proud of, which leads to increased civic engagement and pride. When your staff can do their job in a way that makes their day easier and lets them better serve their community, your team will love what they do and have higher job satisfaction.