More municipalities in Ontario are choosing Cloudpermit as their e-permitting solution, and we hosted a webinar in November to shed some light on why.
Peter Rotenberg, Manager, North American Sales, was joined by Debbie Anderson, Chief Building Official for the Municipality of Grey Highlands, to share first-hand experience with Cloudpermit.
The Municipality of Grey Highlands located in Grey County, Ontario was one of Canada’s first Cloudpermit users and is experiencing a significant development boom. The municipality has 10,000 residents with a land mass 40 per cent larger than the City of Toronto and will issue approximately 500 permits this year (compared to 340 permits last year).
In 2019, Grey Highlands had 90% of its permits online within the first three months of Cloudpermit’s implementation. Now, 95%+ of its permits are submitted online. Grey Highlands has not had to increase staffing to manage this development boom and are now completely paperless.
What is Cloudpermit?
- World’s leading e-permitting platform for municipal building departments
- Cloud-based, out-of-the-box software that can be easily configured to meet any-sized municipality’s needs
- Cloudpermit is 80%~ functional before implementation and can be implemented 3-4x faster than traditional systems
- Implementations are significantly less risk
- Lower upfront implementation cost and lower ongoing maintenance costs
- Easy-to-use and configurable
New way of working
Cloudpermit allows municipal building departments to work and communicate in one digital space with all those involved in the building permit process – all permit information and communication is accessible in real time.
“There is no ‘he said, she said’,” explained Anderson. “...it's all written down, and it’s all dated which is phenomenal.”
Optimize customer service
Cloudpermit is accessible online at any time – applicants can apply 24/7/365 and no longer need to travel to the municipal office.
“The Mennonite community in our area, they don’t drive so having this online, they can apply 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” shared Anderson. “It saves them multiple trips.”
Easy-to-use and operate
Cloudpermit is easy for municipal building departments and its communities to use.
“The team there [Cloudpermit] has listened to the comments that we’ve made, and they identify the fact that each municipality is slightly different,” shared Anderson.
“So, they listen and with common questions or concerns, you can tell they go to the top of the list.”
Communication
With Cloudpermit, all parties involved in the building permit process can communicate in one space which helps ensure everyone is up to date with the latest permit information.
“People can’t say they were never aware,” revealed Anderson. “It’s all there.”
Reporting and administration
Cloudpermit creates an easy way for municipalities to access reporting and track information.
“One thing that is terrific about it [Cloudpermit], when we’re out on sites doing inspections, reports are done in real time,” explained Anderson.
Doing business during COVID-19
The ongoing pandemic did not create permit issuance delays for Grey Highlands as they were able to work remotely immediately.
“When COVID hit, like most municipal staff, you were told to grab your stuff and go home,” Anderson added. “We were able to grab our laptops and still keep working –permits were still going out.”
Looking forward
Cloudpermit values input and feedback from its community to make the software better.
“...Our wishes and our comments are taken into consideration when you’re [Cloudpermit] doing your upgrades,” said Anderson.
“What kind of customization does Cloudpermit allow for the building department to make on their own (customized forms, orders, approval process and applicable laws that apply in our jurisdiction?)”
“Is bulk application for production builders easy?”
We issue certified models for repeat homes. One certified model is tied to several permits. How are these relationships managed?”
“Are records stored by permit numbering, property roll number or civic address, or can you search with various filters?”
Please reach out to Peter at peter.rotenberg@cloudpermit.com if you want to watch the recording of the entire webinar.
