It’s no secret that the housing supply shortage affects communities across America. What might not be as well-known is how slowdowns in the processing of building permits can be a key factor in addressing this challenge—and how the right community development software can be part of the solution.
A recent report from the National Conference of State Legislatures cited an alarming statistic: There is now a shortage of 1.5 million rental and owner-occupied housing units across the country. While many factors are behind this problem, one key piece is lengthy permitting processes or permitting issues that can delay construction. According to the NCSL, building an apartment building takes an average of nearly 18 months. A small survey of developers found that 97% reported construction delays — and 83% of those developers cited permitting issues as the reason for the delays.
Efforts to accelerate community development are more important than ever, and that’s why it’s essential to evaluate your local government’s current permitting process to find ways to make it more efficient and effective.
Faster Permitting
Time is of the essence for addressing the housing supply shortage and limiting costs. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development and Research, analytical research has shown that slow or burdensome permitting can dramatically impede affordable housing development. Based on the PD&R report, high-cost housing is associated with delays in the permitting process. That’s why it’s essential to find ways to streamline the process and help issue permits as fast as possible once all requirements are met.
Cloudpermit’s community development software requires citizens to provide complete applications before submitting, meaning the process won’t be slowed down by time-consuming back-and-forth interactions with the people you serve. The software automatically shares permit status updates with applicants, keeping them in the loop each step of the way. Because our online building permitting software is configurable, it can be set up to match your local government's workflows and help digitize paper processes. There are many ways that the right software on the market can speed up your permitting process while still giving you the accuracy and transparency you need throughout each step.
On-Site Mobile Inspections
Inspections can be a significant part of slowdowns in the permitting process, and that’s why community development software should enable on-site mobile inspections using your phone, laptop, or tablet. You will no longer have to collect notes and reports and do the whole process again when you return to the office. Instead, you can use our app, Cloudpermit Inspections, to input notes and photos, manage deficiencies, schedule upcoming inspections and re-inspections, and provide timely updates to applicants.
The Cloudpermit Inspections app works whether or not you have Internet access, allowing you to pass inspections without cumbersome paperwork. You can even set your most efficient schedule for the day by relying on our GIS-integrated software, which will help you map out the best inspection route.
Easily Manage Contractor Registrations
Our software enables online contractor registrations, making it easy to know that contractors are up to date on licensing and insurance and ready to work. Our community development software makes it simple for your staff to set up automatic license renewals, quickly view a database of active contractors, and allow builders to select their project’s contractor.
We can also help you automatically notify contractors when their licenses are close to expiring and decide when applications need a contractor before a permit is submitted. This is another way to streamline and simplify the permitting process for citizens, stakeholders, and staff.
Maximize Your Permitting Process
In addition to slowing things down, lengthy and inefficient permitting processes can increase the cost of projects—and that can only worsen the housing shortage. That’s why finding the best solutions for this crucial construction step is so important. The NCSL says streamlining the permitting process can speed up construction while also reducing costs, adding up to a boost to your community development efforts.
Our community development software is designed to maximize your department's potential. Because inspectors can work in the field or from home and not be tied to paperwork, inspections can happen whenever and wherever they need to be. Inspectors can also reduce driving time because they won’t have to go back and forth to and from the office between inspections.
Automatic notifications of critical updates and approvals along the permitting process can help your office by reducing phone calls and front-counter visits. That means your team can focus on what’s essential — safely and effectively monitoring building and approving projects — while freeing up time that was previously spent on re-entering previously gathered reports and data, notifying applicants, and following up on missing details or documents in permit applications.
Easily Accept Payments
Our community development software can be integrated with more than 30 third-party payment systems, so applicants can easily make and manage their payments online. While you can still accept paper permit applications and at-the-counter payments, most citizens, contractors, and builders will choose the security and convenience of online payments. This will free up even more office time while providing applicants with a convenient and effective payment option.
Simplify Permitting for Users and Staff
Users and your staff can access our online software with any computer browser or mobile device connected to the Internet, enabling a new level of convenience that simply doesn’t exist with paper-based systems. You’ll rest easy knowing that all information is stored securely in the cloud while gaining real-time insights into your permitting workflow and the ability to easily keep users informed about updates, requests for additional information, and the inspection schedule.
Each local government is unique, with its own needs and workflows, and that’s why we offer an off-the-shelf software solution that can still be configured to meet your exact needs. New users can quickly learn how to modify workflows, manage application requirements, use templates to create permits, reports, and other documents, and add stakeholders to the process as needed. Even as things change for your local government or new regulations or processes take effect, you can keep the process working exactly how you need it.
Make the Switch to Community Development Software
In addition to prohibitive zoning restrictions and building codes, a slow permitting process can have a ripple effect on an issue as complex as the housing supply crunch. That’s why it’s essential to know where to turn to ensure your permitting system is responsive and timely for citizens while still properly approving new housing projects. At Cloudpermit, our focus is entirely on community development solutions, and our software is designed with this in mind. Our services can level up your permitting and inspection processes for employees and citizens while bringing this important component of housing construction into a modern, secure online system.
Learn how we can help your local government succeed by booking a demo with us today.
