Communities often use paper, phone calls, emails, and office visits for building permits. Switching to online community development software eliminates these methods by moving the entire building permit process online.
The Town of Cobourg moved its building permits to the cloud in 2022. Since then, they have enjoyed constructive changes in their community development and relationships with online building permitting.
The lakeside town sought cloud-based software that provided them with real-time access to their data.
Cloudpermit was the right software choice for the Town of Cobourg,” says Dave Hancock, Chief Building Official for the Town of Cobourg. “It stood out from other options because it allows users to do everything in real time with ease. One of its main advantages is that it's ready out-of-the-box without significant demand on IT resources, but their input from the beginning adds to the implementation success.”
Hancock notes the software provider’s ties to Ontario’s governing agencies were also a substantial benefit.
Cloudpermit’s alignment with the OBOA, AMO [Association of Municipalities of Ontario], and MPAC [Municipal Property Assessment Corporation] played a crucial role in our decision. It also boosted confidence among our senior leaders.”
Now, Cobourg benefits from access to real-time information from anywhere.
Online software can empower governments to work more efficiently, and this was the case in Cobourg.
Cloudpermit was the main factor in boosting our issued permits by an impressive 60 per cent. We achieved this growth, and the increased permit volume with minimal impact on existing staff because of this software. It has transformed how we review and issue permits, talk with applicants and perform inspections. Our operational efficiency has taken a big step forward as a result.”
He illustrated an example of how the software influenced this surge. The town had a major project with 182 lots. The builder for the project proposed a streamlined pre-construction plan review using basic models and a numbering system.
This efficient approach considerably sped up the review process.
The builder submitted their applications online instead of needing to travel to the office for each permit.
Then, staff easily tracked and worked on the permits in the same, digital place.
Our builders quickly learned how to apply for a permit and could do it again with ease. We received many permit applications automatically and reviewed them much faster than we could with our old system. Cloudpermit made it possible for us to efficiently handle the increased permit volume with our current staff.”
Now, the Town benefits from optimized workflows for enhanced permit management.
Cobourg’s building department staff had to consider the community demographics ensuring the technology remained accessible to all residents and the development community.
We set up a workstation in our lobby to help guide our community through the application process,” Hancock explains. “We used the workstation less than expected because Cloudpermit is so easy to use.”
Applicants can log into their Cloudpermit account to ask questions from anywhere and at any time with any mobile device.
Residents use the software's chat function to ask questions instead of visiting our office, and we help them online,” Hancock explains.
Conversations are time-stamped and easily accessible. Any staff member can join a chat to reply to applicants. This ultimately improves service levels.
The frequency of emails, phone calls, and office traffic has dramatically dropped because we communicate with our applicants online. It can take a day or two to respond to applicants over email or the phone. Cloudpermit's chat feature allows us to respond almost immediately,” Hancock says.
Staff also direct applicants to their website to watch Cloudpermit’s how-to videos for using the software. Empowering residents to learn on their own further reduces phone calls and emails to the office.
The town’s building department now uses that saved time for more impactful work.
Cobourg's inspectors save valuable time by avoiding repetitive tasks in the field and at the office.
Inspectors use tablets in the field to complete real-time inspections. This eliminates the need to take notes on-site and re-enter the same information back at the office.
They add photos, send notifications to applicants with status updates, and include notes.
Pictures are an effective way to illustrate deficiencies to a builder and keep other inspectors informed,” said Hancock. “An inspector can perform an initial inspection and add pictures that help another inspector take over the project later. Online data creates a seamless transition between inspectors.”
The chief building official emphasized that cloud-based software keeps projects collaborative, accurate, and accessible:
I use my tablet and phone to mark issues directly on pictures to make communication easy. Detailed and clear inspection reports reduce confusion between inspectors and builders.”
Cobourg’s inspectors, builders, architects, and applicants simply log into their Cloudpermit account to get up to speed on projects. This creates stronger continuity and more effective information sharing than using paper files.
While researching, Hancock read multiple customer testimonials to learn more about other government experiences on Cloudpermit’s website. Then, he reached out to some municipalities to discover more.
Hearing positive feedback from other communities and colleagues was a significant factor in reinforcing our decision. Since then, we have reciprocated by talking with other governments about our own positive experiences with Cloudpermit. This has helped build a shared system across Ontario.”
Cobourg can contribute to building a shared system – not just in Ontario – but across Canada in other ways too.
Cloudpermit updates its software every few weeks for all communities. The software updates apply any significant changes made by one government to all other users.
When authorities request changes, we all benefit from the improvements other governments have suggested and implemented,” he concludes. “There is a collective advantage in using Cloudpermit. Being part of a larger network adds to its value.”
To learn more, visit cloudpermit.com.
This article was originally published in the OBOA Journal and can be viewed here.