bristol9238
REGISTERED
Makes sense. Do applicants react well to instant plan review comments? Need to know if that pisses them off. As long as those "AI" comments are spot on, I don't see reasons why my applicants would hate it.
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Application Pre-Screening Software
- Thread starter bristol9238
- Start date
Yeah, imagine you're trying to submit plans for a small residential deck, and it tells you that you need an energy report, a soils report, structural calculations, smoke alarm affidavit, and a grease interceptor. Not a happy applicant. It's almost impossible to create a system that's going to catch everything based on yes/no questions. There is no one-sized-fits-all for building permits.
Yankee Chronicler
REGISTERED
Artificial intelligence ... isn't.
Sifu
SAWHORSE
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2011
- Messages
- 3,389
My two cents, and maybe a little more thread creep. Been around the block with a lot of different software. Frankly I guess I don't know exactly what "pre-screening" software is, or why it is needed. IMHO pre-screening is a function of human interaction. Whether it is a face to face across a desk interaction, or a critical reading of a permit application, making a determination of what is missing or needed for a given scope of work.
Maybe there are some programs that are better than some people. Maybe there are some people better than the programs. I think a competent person using junk software will usually have better results than an incompetent person relying on a great program. As they say, junk in=junk out.
So very often, I get a plan review for a project that has been going through the program for a week or two. Apparently, in all that time, no human or program ever once flagged missing seals, missing reports, sometimes missing plans altogether. I have seen new buildings show up as furnace replacement permits. I have seen risqué pictures uploaded instead of contract documents. Whether its purposeful, opportunistic, or ignorance (or all 3), everything seems to get a pass until it bumps up against a diligent review, or inspection. But sometimes it just gets a pass all the way through. In the old days (old being just a few years ago) if someone came to an actual counter, the actual permit tech would be able to tell them in that first interaction what they need, send them away and tell them what they would need to be successful upon their return. The applicant would take notes, ask questions and get a full understanding of what it would take for a successful submittal. They even got a name to go with the interaction, and a face. It seems like retaining that information had a higher success rate than we have now. Sometimes they even developed a business casual relationship with the staff. Many times I watched as a permit tech flipped every page of a plan set, called out missing seals, or asked why there were no MEP pages. When the push for online everything started I raised this issue more than once. I was told, "it will be the same", with the only difference being that the initial interaction would be via email or online, and the Q & A would take place over the phone. They lied.
My preferred "pre-screening" software is flesh and bone, not zeros and ones (or whatever makes up A/I). Maybe that will change, but I haven't seen anything yet that leads me to believe that a program can pick up the slack for a human...competent or otherwise.
Competent permit techs, with strong work ethics and critical thinking skills are one of the most important parts of the process (if not THE most important part). But maybe they are a dying breed. For sure they are a rare occurrence in my world, but that may be more a result of pay and management. Much of what we do can and should be done electronically, and is faster and more efficient. But not the first part. (Pre-screening?)
JMHO.
Maybe there are some programs that are better than some people. Maybe there are some people better than the programs. I think a competent person using junk software will usually have better results than an incompetent person relying on a great program. As they say, junk in=junk out.
So very often, I get a plan review for a project that has been going through the program for a week or two. Apparently, in all that time, no human or program ever once flagged missing seals, missing reports, sometimes missing plans altogether. I have seen new buildings show up as furnace replacement permits. I have seen risqué pictures uploaded instead of contract documents. Whether its purposeful, opportunistic, or ignorance (or all 3), everything seems to get a pass until it bumps up against a diligent review, or inspection. But sometimes it just gets a pass all the way through. In the old days (old being just a few years ago) if someone came to an actual counter, the actual permit tech would be able to tell them in that first interaction what they need, send them away and tell them what they would need to be successful upon their return. The applicant would take notes, ask questions and get a full understanding of what it would take for a successful submittal. They even got a name to go with the interaction, and a face. It seems like retaining that information had a higher success rate than we have now. Sometimes they even developed a business casual relationship with the staff. Many times I watched as a permit tech flipped every page of a plan set, called out missing seals, or asked why there were no MEP pages. When the push for online everything started I raised this issue more than once. I was told, "it will be the same", with the only difference being that the initial interaction would be via email or online, and the Q & A would take place over the phone. They lied.
My preferred "pre-screening" software is flesh and bone, not zeros and ones (or whatever makes up A/I). Maybe that will change, but I haven't seen anything yet that leads me to believe that a program can pick up the slack for a human...competent or otherwise.
Competent permit techs, with strong work ethics and critical thinking skills are one of the most important parts of the process (if not THE most important part). But maybe they are a dying breed. For sure they are a rare occurrence in my world, but that may be more a result of pay and management. Much of what we do can and should be done electronically, and is faster and more efficient. But not the first part. (Pre-screening?)
JMHO.
bristol9238
REGISTERED
Ha agreed. That's why we're starting with ADUs only. Intake alone can take weeks for us, and ADU applications are more or less the same.