MHUG ConferenceCommunities across the country differ substantially, but most have one thing in common: their municipal offices are among the busiest places in town. Handling queries from residents and businesses, dealing with construction permitting, and reviewing licensing applications are just a few examples of the tasks local government agencies deal with.
With such busy days, it is not surprising that work can feel like trying to juggle a series of balls at once. Help is available through electronic plan review systems. Here is what your team needs to know.
What is an Electronic Plan Review (EPR) System?
Electronic plan review puts the entire municipal construction planning and permitting process online, making it widely available and easily accessible to all stakeholders. Traditionally, construction permitting required contractors to check documents at the municipality, request forms, draft plans, collect supporting documentation and set up meetings with relevant team members to submit applications.
Within the municipality, complex projects would normally require input from more than one department. Bringing different departments together may sound easy, but with everyone’s full schedules, it could take weeks or more to collect the required information, documentation, and signatures. Applicants had to hand in their submissions during office hours, potentially delaying entire projects.
As municipalities are moving more of their work online, construction planning and permitting are two of the first areas that can benefit from increased use of technology. Electronic plan review software makes it possible for the entire planning and permitting process to be handled online, using cloud storage and minimizing the need for in-person meetings and appointments.
How Communities Can Benefit From EPR
More and more organizations are reaping the benefits of integrating technology into their daily routines, an efficient and rewarding transition.
Attract More Businesses
A municipality that makes planning applications and permitting easy, soon gains a reputation for being a great place to do business. Implementing EPR can help your town attract new businesses and convince existing business owners to expand.
Contractors benefit by being able to submit applications and documentation anytime. Municipality working hours can be restrictive, especially for small business owners. With access to online submissions, applications can be logged exactly when they are ready.
Increase Productivity
Municipality employees can use their working hours more effectively. Rather than scheduling meetings to receive applications, hand out forms, or work through incomplete submissions, they access the latest submissions just as soon as they start their working day. That means local government reviewers can spend most of their day considering aspects of actual submissions, and contacting applicants directly if they need further information.
Use Space More Effectively
Local governments not only save time by embracing electronic plan review systems, but they are also able to use their space more effectively. Traditional submissions for complex projects required large amounts of storage space, especially if submissions included several iterations or projects went through various stages.
Track Progress in Real Time
Tracking the status of large building projects and their components could be challenging, especially when multiple contractors and municipal departments become involved. EPR makes it easy to manage revisions, make updates, and retrieve information. Cloud-based EPR also limits the chances of documents becoming damaged or getting lost.
Improve Workflows
Internally, municipalities will notice faster, more efficient workflows. Rather than trying to synchronize schedules across different departments, employees can access the same application simultaneously and process it faster.
The Next Step
EPR systems transform how your team handles every aspect of a challenging construction project. These systems can become part of your overall digital transformation. How can you start or continue the process? Why not see for yourself what FastTrackGov® (FTG) and seamlessly integrated EPR software can do for your municipality? Explore the benefits now.