Permits & Licenses

Slimming down permit procedures

public sector — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000

At Mandaue City in the Philippines, processing a business permit will now take 25 minutes instead of 45 days. City Hall has reduced the work flow for business permit applications from 17 steps, after staff underwent a seminar on streamlining business processes. Only four steps were retained: application, assessment, payment and releasing. Once all requirements are submitted, business applicants can just wait for their names to be called instead of hopping from one office to another. The streamlining has cut down processing time from 45 days. Plans are underway to use application forms that can be downloaded from a website by January next year. Up-to-date permit billing software should support such streamlining.

Using Google Earth to check on what’s permitted

public sector — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 23:57:00 +0000

Stories are beginning to pop up in the media about US municipal governments using online tools such as Google Earth to snoop on their residents. It seems Google Earth is useful for identifying properties that have a swimming pool, which can then be cross-checked against the relevant permit application in the city’s permit billing software. With Web 2.0 and up-to-date permit billing software, cities may find they can semi-automate such checks. It will certainly mean a change to those cities that up until now have used an annual, blanket, aerial photography operation to monitor such things as swimming pools and, for those who use their water billing software to bill for stormwater, whether a property has an impervious area or not.

All power corrupts

public sector — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 03:04:00 +0000

Even the best permitting software cannot be foolproof against the determined fraudster. However as a recent story from Chicago (where else?) illustrates, fraudsters can be caught

Jose Hernandez, a City of Chicago building inspector, was convicted of federal bribery charges for accepting two $1,000 cash bribes from a cooperating contractor and demanding two $2,000 cash bribes from developers to approve inspections at residential and commercial construction sites. Evidence at the trial, showed that defendant, solicited or obtained cash bribes totaling tens of thousands of dollars from contractors, developers, and homeowners since at least 2005

The trial evidence showed that Hernandez had a corrupt relationship with a permit expediter since approximately late 2005, and with a contractor since 2007, both of whom have been cooperating in the investigation. Hernandez accepted a $1,000 bribe from the cooperating contractor on Aug. 21, 2008, when Hernandez performed what’s known as a rough inspection – an inspection of the framing, electrical wiring, plumbing, and ventilation ducts before the interior walls are sealed. At the time of the inspection, the interior walls were covered with drywall, rendering a legitimate inspection impossible, but Hernandez signed the building permit, saying rough frame approved

A permit expediter. That phrase says it all. With timeframes, KPIs and alerts properly maintained, such people should not be necessary

A lengthy process

public sector — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 03:40:00 +0000

Permit applications in Gainesville, FL are taking too long, according to applicants. the Gainesville Sun reports. After the Peaceful Paths Domestic Abuse Network waited eight months for city approval to rebuild its fire-damaged office, board President Brian Scarborough told Gainesville officials they needed to speed up the process.

He said his concern was not so much for the nonprofit, which has a lot of support, but for businesses that might not survive such delays. "I’m in the insurance business and have a lot of clients who could not withstand an eight-month break," he said. The nonprofit agency’s situation involved complex zoning and fire-damage issues that took longer than most permit applications to resolve, but other contractors and businesspeople say they also face much longer delays in Gainesville’s permitting and planning process than in other municipalities. That adds to the time it takes to open or expand businesses, renovate homes and put people in the building trades to work, they say.

A contractor who asked not to be named said that of the 13 counties he works in – each with a handful of cities – Gainesville has the slowest permitting process but is otherwise easy to deal with and clear in what is expected of applicants. Many permits can be issued over the counter at the time of application, such as electrical, mechanical and plumbing work. Others require review by a certified plans examiner – as well as utilities, public works, fire and planning staff – to see if they meet zoning and other requirements. Construction that adds space takes longer to review than internal remodels.

Does the problem lie in Gainesville’s permit billing software or their business processes?

Social costs

public sector — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:49:00 +0000

New technology, or practices that are deemed worthy of encouragement, often result in the associated permit cost being discounted in the permit billing software. However councils can sometimes decide that that has gone too far. In San Diego this month the cost of getting a solar installation plan approved and the system inspected has risen to $565 from $93. The increase reflects a policy change by the city to quit subsidizing solar installations and adjust fees to reflect what it costs to issue the permits, officials say. This comes six months after proudly announcing that San Diego leads the state in the number of rooftop solar systems.

Solar advocates and installers say the fee increase is unjustified and may hurt efforts to cut carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense,” said Daniel Sullivan, whose San Diego installation business has grown from two employees to 28 in the past five years. “You don’t start taxing the industry that’s growing the fastest just because your general fund is hurting.”

Fees are needed if the industry is to grow, said San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders. “The fees, it’s a part of life,” Sanders said. “We wouldn’t have the people up there to process (applications) if we can’t have the fee structure that allows them to support themselves.”

Getting the permit before gaining the contract

public sector — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 23:15:00 +0000

In Texas an enterprising contractor has been deemed to be too enterprising. A Wells contractor has been arrested on a charge of fraud after allegedly taking advantage of tornado victims in Lufkin. Police charged Jason Lynn McKnight, 42, for allegedly trying to obtain building permits for jobs on houses for which he did not have a contract. He also allegedly underquoted the price to get cheaper permit fees before jacking up the price to homeowners, according to information from Lufkin Police Lt. David Young as filed in a police report.

His attorney, Ryan Deaton, of Lufkin, said his client hadn’t done anything wrong, and was being persecuted for doing his job too well. He snapped up around 90 percent of the business in the Englewood neighborhood before anyone else, and was suffering retaliation for it, Deaton said.

The tornado struck Lufkin two days before Christmas, with winds of more than 150 mph damaging well over 200 homes and businesses, more than 50 severely. The day after the storm, on Christmas Eve, McKnight is alleged to have begun marking properties with signs for his company, Wells Siding and Roofing, despite not having contracts or permits on some of them, in order to discourage other contractors from attempting to reach those property owners, Young said. "He put tarps on a lot of roofs and then started trying to get permits on those houses, in many cases without contract to do any work or repairs. He is also accused of falsifying the amount of the repairs. Because it’s cheaper, he lowballed the amount of the city permit over what he was telling (homeowners) what he was doing it for, which thereby would allow him to get a lower-priced permit."

Wisconsin town goes paperless

public sector — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:11:00 +0000

Applying for building permits soon will be much easier for contractors and Wisconsin Rapids residents, city leaders say. New permit billing software will allow building inspectors and city staff members to switch to a paperless system of issuing and reviewing contractor credentials, said Michael Ostrowski, city planning and economic development director. "Currently, the department uses paper copies, which is difficult for reporting and conducive to errors," Ostrowski said. "We really need a software system to better serve our clients and the city."

The new system will improve greatly the efficiency of the permitting process, also providing an online backup of all files and the convenience of residents being able to apply for, track the progress of and approve permits entirely online, he said. Members of the Wisconsin Rapids Common Council unanimously approved the software purchase from MyGov, the Oklahoma-based company.

Another one-stop-shop

public sector — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:09:00 +0000

In San Antonio, Texas Bandera County has established a new department to streamline its development process, consolidate records and oversee new regulatory duties on the horizon. The new four-person Permits and Inspections Department officially began operations in January 2010. Coinciding with its creation, the county ended its contract with the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District to issue permits and inspect septic tanks. The county resumed responsibility for septic issues after declining river authority requests last year to raise the permit fee to $250 from $210. “We were actually losing money on it. That’s why we wanted to raise the fee,” said David Jeffery, the authority’s general manager. Bringing that function back inhouse allows the county to offer its constituents one-stop service on development projects. Permit billing software will be used to manage the activities.

False permits

public sector — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 21:15:00 +0000

The entrepreneurial will sometimes try to exploit loopholes. However out-and-out forgery is something else altogether. A recent scam in Calcutta was detected when local officials started cross-referencing the paperwork. A computerised permit billing system should have found it out much earlier

Parking permits

public sector — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:40:00 +0000

In some municipalities, parking revenue has translated into badly needed cash to plough into the municipal budget, without turning to already overburdened taxpayer. In Point Pleasant Beach (NJ), for example, officials count on earnings from parking meter revenue, a form of permit billing, to off set taxes every year, said Christine Riehl, borough administrator. She said that, through November, $1.5 million has been collected in parking revenues this year. Parking on an expired meter is an infringement, resulting in even more revenue.

Officials in another NJ community, Red Bank, have used parking utility surpluses in past years to reduce the municipal tax rate, until the recession hit. But industry experts and business people said there is a fine line between making money and driving people away from downtown business districts, if customers believe parking rates are too high or enforcement too strict

Nationally, parking has been seen as a revenue source for municipalities, but what the market will bear depends on the town and what attracts people, such as a shopping district or a beach, experts said.