Culpeper, VA: Saves Time With CivicPlus® Software

The gem that is Culpeper County, Virginia, is situated in the borderlands of the northern and central regions of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Over the last 30 years, it has emerged from its rural roots to become a destination community. With a historic downtown that honors the history of our country’s Civil War, and a bustling Main Street with shops and restaurants, it’s emerging as an ideal suburb for those who need to commute frequently to nearby Washington, D.C.

With evolution and growth comes retail and residential development, construction, and the need for new infrastructure. To manage the County’s complex online permits and payments, Culpeper County relies on CivicPlus technology.

Before CivicPlus

Before implementing CivicPlus’ Community Development software, Culpeper County’s Building and Zoning Department used AS/400, a rugged, basic, greenscreen database solution to manage code enforcement and permitting-related documentation; however, the system did not allow for document storage or photo attachments.

In 2018, the County implemented CivicPlus’ software (formerly Civicgov by Wagsys).

After CivicPlus

For Bob Orr, CBO, Culpeper County Building Official, switching to CivicPlus meant gaining the software’s advanced functionality and saving money.

“The software has more of what we needed,” said Orr. “Many other software options are modules within finance software designed for building and zoning management. We wanted something designed for our needs that was more flexible.”

After implementing the new software, the County’s permit technicians quickly learned how to navigate the system and leverage the more advanced capabilities while taking advantage of the more robust reporting options.

“With the AS/400 system, if you needed a report outside the standard options, you had to create a query report in the database,” said Orr. “The CivicPlus software allows for both canned and customized reports — which is what our team needed.”

Leveraging the New Public Portal

CivicPlus’ Community Development system includes a public portal to empower easy access to submit inquiries and requests by residents, contractors, and businesses. It includes functionality to make it easy for communities to manage online applications, document and plan uploads, resident and contractor communications, credit card payments, and the digital distribution of documents like permits, licenses, and certificates. In addition, users can submit code enforcement complaints.

“Before the addition of the public portal, we were getting inspections sent to us by phone and email,” said Orr. “Now, people can schedule inspections and submit permit requests directly to our CivicPlus software through the portal. Our inspectors regularly access the portal from the field, which has been a time saver for them and us.”

Today, Orr says, 80 – 85% of plans are submitted for review digitally through the portal.

“We’ve had lots of positive feedback about the real-time email inspection reports from our customers,” said Orr.