Overcoming Municipal Building Permit Challenges with Digital Reviews & Automation
Issuing building permits within their laws and regulations is a challenging task for municipalities as they act as a filter and monitor gate. therfore Planning reviews can be overcrowded, and municipalities must contend with staff shortages. Regardless of the situation, it is important to involve building code experts.
The complexity and variety of plans received by municipalities required a thorough understanding of building codes. A lack of standardized compliance reporting and minimal submission of reported information or errors creates a program backlog, reducing the resources available to review eligible programs. This can be likened to a denial of service attack, where the process is delayed due to insufficient planning requiring further investigation. Since municipalities operate on a first-in, first-out basis, uncertain compliance reporting slows down the process for everyone involved.
Backlogs have a negative economic impact on local governments. The delay could make companies less competitive for large development projects. A delay of six to eight months in the permitting process could prompt developers to move their projects elsewhere with a smaller backlog.
Municipalities often struggle to introduce new processes and increase productivity due to budget constraints. Digital assessments help to optimize the use of existing resources, thereby increasing efficiency. Digital checks can reduce municipal approval backlogs by:
1. Standardized Reports
A standardized report structure enhances reviewer familiarity, allowing them to find information quickly and arrive at an informed decision. Familiarity with the report structure increases confidence that each aspect of the project has been verified, resulting in elevated safety levels. Assessing the permit becomes a quick and straightforward process once the reviewer has become familiar with the report structure.
2. Reduced plan rejection rates
Reduced plan rejection rates The high rejection rate of initial plan submissions is often due to the designer’s lack of knowledge about the complexity of the IBC or using the municipality as the initial plan reviewer. The rejection rate of plan reviews is usually above 50%, resulting in significant delays across all projects.
3. Extensive coverage
A comprehensive report detailing compliance with international building codes enables plan reviewers to quickly understand how a project complies with codes. By explaining why each provision of the code was met, examiners can bridge the gap between design intent and construction specifications, speeding up the approval process.
Want to learn how we can help you to improve your Building Permit challenges with digital reviews and automated processes to reduce the consuming time and reduce errors? Book a free call for a demo or contact us to get started.