# Electronic Permitting Software



## jeffc

Many Cities and Counties are embracing electronic permitting. We are in preliminary stages and are curious if you could share information on what brand of permit tracking software you selected, does it fit your needs, would you recommend the permit tracking software to others and any other things we should consider? Thanks


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## fatboy

We are currently in the late stages of onboarding TRAKiT permitting system software. We are excited about the final product, struggling with some testing issues right now.

Go-live dates are June 5-7th......hopefully everything gets worked out and fixed well before that.

We soft-started electronic plan review first of February in anticipation of the TRAKiT system. We are using Adobe Pro for the mark-up software, could not afford to go with Blue Beam at this time. It is actually going pretty good, we should be fully comfortable with it well before go-live dates.


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## my250r11

We had Iworqs in my last AHJ, Was pretty good once learned and inputted all the inspection lists.

Bigger AHJ i'm in now still in the stone age of pen & paper . Maybe some day!


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## Darren Emery

We have used an in-house developed system based upon Filemaker Pro platform since roughly 1996.  We are very happy with the results, and the functionality.  One move we are considering making this year is to implement fully mobile, paperless construction inspections.   Would really like to hear from anyone that currently conducts full construction inspections digitally.  Pros / cons?  Equipment concerns?  Time savings realized?


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## fatboy

TRAKiT is completely digital, it looks like it will be a HUGE time savings. You receive the daily inspections electronically, you can push them out to another inspector if needed, you result live from the field, contractor can find out immediately, you email a correction notice.

It is going to be great when we go live in June.


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## my250r11

When I was using Iworqs it was a great time saver. Used tablet in the field, could attach pics. Send email and contractor could log-in and see pics. The only real complaint was some of the insurance on re-roofs wanted paper corrections because the were afraid the digital ones could be fabricated.


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## jpranch

If you want to click 100 times and go through 100 screens to do the same task you used to do with 3 clicks on other software Tyler Munis is the way to go. NOT!


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## mark handler

Trackit is web based. You need a secure and reliable Internet access.
It is a pain in my a55.


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## McShan

MYGOV.US is really good and easy to use and Highly customizable. Been using it for 10 years. I went through three others and this is the best I've used.


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## MikeB

Based on y'all's experience, how significantly do electronic permit systems actually speed up turnaround / approval times for plan review vs. hiring additional reviewers & inspectors to help spread the workload?


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## steveray

MikeB said:


> Based on y'all's experience, how significantly do electronic permit systems actually speed up turnaround / approval times for plan review vs. hiring additional reviewers & inspectors to help spread the workload?



If you have a person that can monitor it every day and turn around the easy stuff same day,it is great...Plus the contractors can apply at midnight in their underwear..Thank God there is no video function....Large projects I do not believe there is a speed benefit for us, but you and the customer do gain the ability to see where an approval might be hung up at a glance as far as which department has not approved it...


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## Code Neophyte

fatboy said:


> TRAKiT is completely digital, it looks like it will be a HUGE time savings. You receive the daily inspections electronically, you can push them out to another inspector if needed, you result live from the field, contractor can find out immediately, you email a correction notice.
> 
> It is going to be great when we go live in June.



I'm looking at this one, too, and just wondering if you made your 'go live' schedule and how you like it, Fatboy?


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## fatboy

We did keep to the schedule. We went with Version 17 which launched just a week before go-live.

It has been a bumpy road, we are still waiting for Superion to fix eTRAKiT, it is completely off line.

Which would be the huge time savings, especially having been hit by two hailstorms in 4 weeks, three total in the last year, the roofs are killing us!

I'll let you know when it is fully operational.


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## Code Neophyte

Thanks - I'm interested to hear the final verdict!


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## my250r11

fatboy said:


> the roofs are killing us!



I feel you, still playing catch up from last year.


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## fatboy

I still think it will be a great program, once they get the bugs fixed in Version 17.XX


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## Rays197

In Norfolk Virginia we chose a cloud based permitting and inspection software. BasicGov which is based on the salesforce platform. Other localities around us went with a different software. To me BasicGov has a more user friendly platform. All of our field inspectors use their ipads to conduct inspections. Yes I would recommend the software to any locality. http://www.basicgov.com/


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## fatboy

fatboy said:


> I still think it will be a great program, once they get the bugs fixed in Version 17.XX



We are worlds away from when I wrote this post. Still have one of my guys working about 1/2 of the time on workinng out little fixes here and there, but is is fully operational. Contractors love it, inspectors love it. We are launching version 18.2 next week, it fixes even more bugs.


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## archer

We are in the process of designing a software package that will be linked to the GIS system. We are anticipating that we will be able to track ALL permits including building inspections, public works, planning and tax records and any other record that is attached to that property with just one click. We hope to roll it out in a few weeks.


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## jar546

I am currently using SmartGov in one of the communities and so far I am happy with it but told there are others that are superior.  I need to find out which ones they are talking about.


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## archer

We are using MyGov and it is a disaster. We finally convinced those upstairs to let us design what we need. We currently are in the process of having it designed by a private company and from what we have seen so far, its going to be awesome. One click and we will have all the info we need for a piece of property.


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## archer

We are currently using MyGov and it is horrible.


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## Richard Kimball CBO CFM

jeffc said:


> Many Cities and Counties are embracing electronic permitting. We are in preliminary stages and are curious if you could share information on what brand of permit tracking software you selected, does it fit your needs, would you recommend the permit tracking software to others and any other things we should consider? Thanks


I have used several electronic permitting and inspection tracking software packages.  MyGov wasn't bad but had glitches the software developer simply could not fix and said we had to live with it or work around it.  I used to work for IBTS, they were using BluePrince at first and it was so bad they worked with a software developer to create Praesus.  It was a lot better but still lacked some things so they have now developed their own software and hardware platform using FIT (Field Information Tablets, essentially rugged tablets).  I also used MyPermitsNow and Inspection Anywhere which was developed by South Central Planning and Development Commission in Louisiana.  It has been improved and evolved into MyGovernmentOnline and I am implementing it for my department.  MyGovernmentOnline is active in ten states now and has some great features, it will run on most any platform.  I'm running it on my desktop and on a Samsung Galaxy Tab A with S Pen tablet that I can take photos on the jobsite and mark them up on the tablet with the S Pen and upload to the file or send to the contractor or owner as an attachment to the inspection results.  We are the first jurisdiction to adopt MyGovernmentOnline in Colorado so I am working with the developers to tailor it specifically for Colorado.


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## Richard Kimball CBO CFM

archer said:


> We are currently using MyGov and it is horrible.


Yep, I used it in North Dakota.  There were several issues that they couldn't fix and said "We just had to live with it."  Not acceptable!


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## Richard Kimball CBO CFM

Darren Emery said:


> We have used an in-house developed system based upon Filemaker Pro platform since roughly 1996.  We are very happy with the results, and the functionality.  One move we are considering making this year is to implement fully mobile, paperless construction inspections.   Would really like to hear from anyone that currently conducts full construction inspections digitally.  Pros / cons?  Equipment concerns?  Time savings realized?


I used to use Filemaker Pro many years ago.  It was a great database program.  I thought it was no longer being released?


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## jar546

Currently using SmartGov in one of the communities I work in and really like it.  I think it can be improved on but it does a lot.


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## Darren Emery

Richard Kimball CBO CFM said:


> I used to use Filemaker Pro many years ago.  It was a great database program.  I thought it was no longer being released?


A few years back, Apple decided to pour some resources  (ie - money!) into further development of Filemaker, and it is stronger than ever.  We're on version 17 now, and I have seen dramatic improvements over the last 3-4 years with each new version.  It's growing strong, and serving us very well these days.


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## fatboy

Update.........my guy that was devoting half his time to TRAKiT, is now our Business Annalist full time. He is writing custom reports, redesigning workflows, it has been going great. Seems like every day, he refines something. 

Advice, if you go to a new system, you need one FTE fully devoted to it, and NOT in your IT department. They need to be somebody who knows the workflows, and the end results. Our position still resides in our department, thankfully.


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## Darren Emery

fatboy said:


> Update.........my guy that was devoting half his time to TRAKiT, is now our Business Annalist full time. He is writing custom reports, redesigning workflows, it has been going great. Seems like every day, he refines something.
> 
> Advice, if you go to a new system, you need one FTE fully devoted to it, and NOT in your IT department. They need to be somebody who knows the workflows, and the end results. Our position still resides in our department, thankfully.



Great advice.  By default, I have become that "FTE" for our division.  I spend well over 1/2 of my time developing new features, tweaking current features, and maintaining our system.  I have been lobbying for about 5 years now to hire a dedicated FTE for this work.  We've found a fantastic outside consultant who has helped us take our system to a whole 'nother level, but it would still be great to have someone in house, that does nothing but focus on our system. 

We have also found that even when you buy an "off the shelf" product, you'll be much better off if you have someone on staff that knows the system like nobody's business, and can "speak the language" with the vendor. 

Just wait until AI, machine learning, drones and microsensors make their way into code enforcement.  Before all of this replaces all of us...we're going to need some VERY tech savvy people on our teams!


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## steveray

Most of the departments here have a hard time getting money for software, nevermind a FTE to implement and tweak it...Falls on the BO...


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## tmurray

Richard Kimball CBO CFM said:


> Yep, I used it in North Dakota.  There were several issues that they couldn't fix and said "We just had to live with it."  Not acceptable!


We've been using it for 9 years and never had an issue. Even some of our feature requests have been completed for free.



fatboy said:


> Advice, if you go to a new system, you need one FTE fully devoted to it, and NOT in your IT department. They need to be somebody who knows the workflows, and the end results. Our position still resides in our department, thankfully.


I completely agree with this. obviously, based on the size of your department, it does not need to be a full time devotion to the software, but having an internal project champion can help create creative solutions to problems you did not know you had. Simply the fact that they know the nuts and bolts of the software can get you using things that you would have never thought to ask a developer for.


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## my250r11

We are finally getting permit software. not sure if it is good or bad. Energov thru tyler. we stared last week with the building processes and work flows. said would be about a year to go live. Going to be better than stone tablet and hammer we use now. lol


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## steveray

You may eat those words.....Never seen a good thing out of Tyler.....I'll take the hammer....


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## my250r11

Had Incode in my previous AHJ till we switched to Iworqs. From what I've seen so far it is way better than Incode.

The city is using Tyler for most of our needs. Finally trying to get into the 20th century, good or bad lol.


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## Rick18071

For inspections only we are using a App on out cell phone called Mi-Apps which was designed for our inspections. Starting in the morning we just go on the App to see a list of inspections to do. We can click pass or fail and put in comments while doing the inspection. Then it automatically emails the inspection report to the permit holder or anyone else you want it to. It also emails it to the inspector who can file it on their laptop later at the office or home. It's pretty cool except for my fat fingers but you can use voice too.


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## ADAguy

CA - DSA went live with Bluebeam/Cloud Oct 1 statewide. Yes we are "big" and therefore have budget but it took 2 years to impliment.
We lack "touch" screens which would be a big help. This grey hair is in the twilight zone with the transition but it does work. Yes, DPs, Contractors and IORs like it given the time savings. Warning! it allows the bean counters to do metrics reviews on performance. Every keystroke is time stamped. Imagine how many comments on 638 sheets of dwgs? You can do backchecks & permit signoffs electronically. Submittal procedures are critical as are hyperlinking of dwgs and details.
Yes, it is a far cry from ink on linen.
Tree huggers love the paper saving.
Small older subs may have a difficulty adjusting.


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## EStanicki

We have been using EG for about a year and a half now and honestly...... EnerGov is what you make it. The setups can be a bear, keep it simple, rethink your whole process dont just copy your old way of doing things into EG.... it wont work. Getting some solid tech support can be tough. Struggling with a few things i think that should be able to complete with some simple IO's but cannot get it 100%


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## jar546

Right now I use IDTPlans and it works in conjunction with Bluebeam which is fantastic as the comments you put in BB goes right back into IDTPlans.  I just had a demo from iWorQ and it was good for many things, but I did not like the plan review aspect.


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## steveray

my250r11 said:


> Had Incode in my previous AHJ till we switched to Iworqs. From what I've seen so far it is way better than Incode.
> 
> The city is using Tyler for most of our needs. Finally trying to get into the 20th century, good or bad lol.



How's EG working out for you 250?...IT is making me demo it on Thursday....


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## my250r11

EStanicki said:


> The setups can be a bear,



I would have to agree with this. We are still in the set up & configuration stages right now. Will hopefully go live before next spring. Other departments are using other Tyler products and seem to be mostly good feelings so far. As previously stated tho this AHJ was mostly still pen & paper, pretty sad for around 50000 population. My last AHJ was about 14000 and been on some kind of software since 2004.


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