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100% Paperless 100% Online Building Department

Is your Building Department 100% Online and 100% Paperless?

  • YES

    Votes: 5 41.7%

  • NO

    Votes: 7 58.3%
  • Total voters
    12
1) Have you an ordinance supporting your request that allows paper only submittals? You do not need an ordinance to allow electronic submittals as long as you will still accept paper copies if drawn that way. The vast majority of drawings are done electronically and after 4 years no one has ever insisted on providing paper copies.

2) Do the projects have a set of approved paper plans at the site to view? We have the approved plans on our i-pads which the inspector can access in the field and if the worker in the field does not have them onsite the inspector can e-mail them to him directly while standing next to him. The i-pads have a data plan for internet access at all times

3) Are you seeing or not seeing plan addendums and change orders on projects? How's that handled? They are submitted electronically and placed into the approved drawings after review

 
Pcinspector1 said:
No and No.

Still require two full sets, stamped, signed and dated plans. One set gets returned and required to be at the job site. We have requested PDF's for our electronic files but we have no legal authority to do so until I change the ordinance. We use to require a Mylar, but not any more.

1) Have you an ordinance supporting your request that allows paper only submittals?
2) Do the projects have a set of approved paper plans at the site to view?
3) Are you seeing or not seeing plan addendums and change orders on projects? How's that handled?

I think budgets have a lot to do with this modernization for some jurisdictions.

Just curious, I thought I could get out before this.
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1) No, the FBC covers this in the Administration section so we don't rely on a local ordinance.
2) Yes, always, they download and print the approved drawings from their account on the website.
3) Revisions are submitted as a child permit to the original permit and follow the same plan review process.

Honestly, after having the Building Department closed to the public for the past almost 9 months and the fact that we are 100% paperless, I am in absolutely no rush nor do I want to open up the doors again because it will just reduce our efficiency and take more time and effort on our part. We will still be 100% paperless but we will have to scan stuff in. (the sizes we can scan anyway). I am hoping we open but still only take online submittals.
 
Thanks for the valuable information, any minor or major issues with your processes?
 
Electronic plan submission has been in the I-Codes since 2003. So basically the BO can determine what is acceptable and what is not when submitting electronically

2003 IBC

106.1.1 Information on construction documents.
Construction documents shall be dimensioned and drawn upon suitable material. Electronic media documents are permitted to be submitted when approved by the building official. Construction documents shall be of sufficient clarity to indicate the location, nature and extent of the work proposed and show in detail that it will conform to the provisions of this code and relevant laws, ordinances, rules and regulations, as determined by the building official.
 
We still legally need paper for the legal record but we can work digital, just have to get it in the budget....Software and hardware...
 
jar546 said:
Honestly, after having the Building Department closed to the public for the past almost 9 months and the fact that we are 100% paperless, I am in absolutely no rush nor do I want to open up the doors again because it will just reduce our efficiency and take more time and effort on our part. We will still be 100% paperless but we will have to scan stuff in. (the sizes we can scan anyway). I am hoping we open but still only take online submittals.
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We are in the middle of doing this now as we have been open to the public for about 4 months. It's not that bad, but we always scanned everything in anyway, so we just changed the process from scanning everything in at the end to scanning everything right away.

We also have a large format scanner to get those pesky physical drawings that are not available in digital format for whatever reason, but most people are more than happy to save the cost of printing a set and sending it in digitally.
 
Keystone said:
Jar or any of ya that are mostly online,, How many people actually input all the info correctly for plan review and fee calculator??
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Fortunately, with TRAKiT, we are able to have custom screens that you can select type of construction, occupancy type, SQ foot, which calculates valuation, then formulas to calculate plan review fees, permit fees and sales tax. Also Development Impact Fees for new construction. In answer for the next question, our permit tech still verifies valuations/fees before the system will allow the submittal.
 
fatboy said:
Fortunately, with TRAKiT, we are able to have custom screens that you can select type of construction, occupancy type, SQ foot, which calculates valuation, then formulas to calculate plan review fees, permit fees and sales tax. Also Development Impact Fees for new construction. In answer for the next question, our permit tech still verifies valuations/fees before the system will allow the submittal.
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And, we started electronic plane review in February 2018, in preparation for the launch of TRAKiT in June, 2018.

Paper copies are supposed to be on site, but frankly, they don't get looked at, with the iPads the inspector can look at the smallest of details easily. All addendums, engineering, reports etc. are also in the electronic file.

It is always an evolving process, we found that the time savings could pay for a new Business Analyst position that works solely on TRAKiT, electronic processes, etc.

All in all, very happy with it, would do it again in a heartbeat, wish I had pushed harder back in the day to get it launched sooner! That was the worst of it, the initial budget outlay for the system, the process mapping, etc. to forever to get it going, probably three plus years.

If you are thinking about it, start whatever wheels moving, ASAP!
 
Actually my commercial plans examiner has a 70" and a 42" tv for monitors. Fire sprinkler and fire alarm plans examiner has a 60" tv and two 17" monitors every one else in our department have 60" tv's for monitor's. All the public works employees use 60" tv's as monitors along with a 17" monitor for a dual setup.
 
Our State librarian needs to step it up....Microfiche and laserfiche are the only things we can use instead of paper for lifetime retention documents...

jar546 said:
Digital record is widely accepted as legal across the US. In Florida we have compliance rules for digital media.
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We do most of the residential fully electronic and most if not all of the builders like it, so do we. Commercial a different animal. A lot of it has to do with the amount of data our system can handle. That is an IT thing which is a constant battle. Individual homeowner projects like additions accessories and decks usually come in paper. We like the 21st century, but we are stuck in a 19th century mentality from the powers that be....
 
What would you say is the estimated cost from a plan review screen, review software, permitting software, field I-pads etc.?
 
One of the factors that you haver to look at is the cost of paper records retention, storage facilities, degradation of paper, space and labor costs for records requests. The world is moving forward with technology whether we like it or not and paper is slowly becoming a thing of the past. Look at the costs of office supplies. My budget was $12,500 per year for all of the paper, writing utensils, toner, copier leases, folders/jackets, permit cards, etc. and we are now less than half of that, coming in just over $5,000 per year. I just had to transfer $17,000 to the Clerks office so they could manually scan all of our old records and place them into Laserfische. Now that we are paperless, I don't have any expenses like that anymore. Storage of full size blueprints and being able to find them has always been more expensive than anyone wants to admit.

Whatever the cost is to work towards electronic, it is worth it and part of doing business in today's world. Once you realize the benefits and ease of operations, not to mention the detailed records, you will never, ever look back. Architects, Engineers and contractors love the new process because they only have to print 1 copy to keep on the jobsite. Some jobsites are even more advanced on large projects because I get there and they hand me a large tablet on a shoulder harness and I have access to the prints in PDF right at my fingertips and can zoom right in as far as I need to.

Another benefit is our inspectors can use our SmartGov app and bring up any document if they need to. The level that we are working at now vs the level I worked at in the past with paper only has benefits that outweigh any of the costs. It is what it is and you just have to move forward without excuses.If yoiu want to make it happen, you will.
 
And I am guessing
There is a backup to the backup to the backup storage ?

Somewhere in Alaska, protected by Bears.
 
mtlogcabin said:
2) Do the projects have a set of approved paper plans at the site to view? We have the approved plans on our i-pads which the inspector can access in the field and if the worker in the field does not have them onsite the inspector can e-mail them to him directly while standing next to him. The i-pads have a data plan for internet access at all times
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Our system restricts who can view documents and plans to persons that the applicant has entered into the application for a permit. If your email address is not there, you can't see anything.
 
cda said:
And I am guessing
There is a backup to the backup to the backup storage ?

Somewhere in Alaska, protected by Bears.
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Ours is a web based program that meets the records requirements of the State of Florida. Those companies that have web-based programs have redundancy that meet today's standards. Some systems require a local, in-house server and those have to be backed up to a compliant records retention company such as Laserfische which is a web-based system anyway.
 
Pcinspector1 said:
What would you say is the estimated cost from a plan review screen, review software, permitting software, field I-pads etc.?
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It will vary wildly.

We are in in at as the entire Community Development Department level, Inspections, Development Review, and Code Compliance.

We have moved every process we had under it, so you need to think about the various other software licenses that you can dump. The cost of storing all the paper files/plans.

Bottom line, we are probably in it for $3-400K, all said and done. Plus as stated, the ongoing cost of maintaining the system, equipment.

But there are so many variables and options. Electronic plan review as a start would be way \cheaper, easier to start, plus it is out of the way when you can get into a system.
 
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