As Building Safety Month draws to a close, the vital work of ensuring the safety of your residents, visitors, and taxpayers will continue for the rest of the year.
That’s why this week’s theme for this annual awareness month, “Going into Overtime,” is all about the need to modernize building safety practices and keep up with changing tools to get this important work done.
Emerging technology, including the buzzworthy growth of artificial intelligence and the rise of cloud-based software for local governments, is already reshaping the future of community development.
Throughout May, we’ve discussed important topics like supporting local building safety programs, how building safety impacts the daily lives of residents, and ways that municipalities can be ready to deal with natural disasters.
Now, let’s turn toward the future for a look at what’s ahead for building safety.
The Future of Building Safety
The future of enacting and enforcing building codes is being shaped by GovTech trends that are changing every aspect of how local governments get their work done.
Artificial intelligence continues to make headlines as it’s adopted in new and innovative ways, and the rise of AI has also led to major changes in permitting, planning, enforcement, and inspections. In 2024, about half of the surveyed local government professionals were already using AI daily to summarize information, brainstorm, and streamline workflows.
Integrating information in every way possible is a major trend, and community development professionals take advantage of these new possibilities with things like planning and inspections that are directly integrated with their local GIS or real-time access to adopted building codes.
Building safety has also gone digital. Many local governments have realized they need to adopt online community development software to keep up with the growing demand for services while dealing with slim budgets and staff.
In addition to these technological trends, an increasing number of communities are modifying their codes to account for the rising threat of natural disasters and extreme weather events. Preventative mitigation efforts are more common than ever, saving lives and preventing damage when the unexpected happens.
What Local Governments Need to Keep Up
The way that building safety is enforced is changing rapidly, driven by the evolution of technology, but this progress doesn’t just happen on its own. For many municipalities, the potential of modern technology is limited by legacy systems, manual processes, and a reduced staff — slowing things down every step of the way.
Local governments in this situation are at risk of falling behind, leading to longer permitting, missed inspections, and frustrated residents.
More than ever, flexible, future-proof technology is necessary for local governments to keep up with this modern world.
By investing in the right community development platform, municipalities can improve how they deliver services to residents and be better able to handle the day-to-day challenges of promoting building safety.
Building departments, planners, inspectors, and city managers don’t need to wait to see what’s next — they can start now by adopting modern digital tools for today’s building safety needs.
How Technology Can Get You Ready to Embrace the Future
The best modern software for local governments can offer incredible new features that directly support your work to keep a community’s buildings safe.
With Cloudpermit, municipalities can make the most of their work with features like:
- Mobile inspections that work even if you’re offline.
- GIS-integrated workflows for accurate, up-to-date property information.
- Public portals to increase transparency and provide real-time updates.
- Exciting software integrations that can access your community’s adopted building codes wherever you are.
- Automation of things like application updates and renewal reminders to reduce staff workload and speed up the turnaround time.
- Scalable software that is ready to grow with your community’s needs.
The future of building safety is all about empowering local building and community development officials with the right tools to get their work done.
Software like Cloudpermit doesn’t replace people — it enables municipal staff to focus on making the best decisions and providing excellent service, rather than spending time on paperwork or redundant tasks.
Better data, faster access to information, and collaboration among departments can help communities keep up with the challenge of building safety. As things change in the future, they can be ready to embrace the new reality around them.
Learn more about what Cloudpermit can do to support building safety in your community by booking a demo with us.
