Land Management Central Permitting System

Development of Customer Self Service Portal - Phase 2


Orange County recently implemented a new permit tracking/management software system, commonly referred to as the Land Management Central Permitting System (hereafter ‘the Project’) designed to allow all County Departments to utilize the same, basic, property and applicant data in an effort to:

  • Streamline the permit and inspection(s) process for our customers,
  • Eliminate the need for applicants to complete multiple, redundant, permit applications, and
  • Improve field inspectors’ access to permit data and allow them to enter inspection data on site in real time.

The Project ‘went live’ on Wednesday February 13, 2019 at 12:00 p.m.

As indicated in previous posts, the implementation of the Project includes multiple phases/components, all designed to achieve the ultimate goal of creating true “central permitting” for Orange County residents. With the successful launch of Phase 1 of the Project, Orange County staff are now embarking on the next exciting phase, development and testing of the Customer Self Service Portal (CSS).

Customer Self Service Portal (CSS):

The needs of our customer base are changing rapidly. Customers are looking to save time with their permit reviews, avoid unnecessary costs associated with production/printing of hard copies of document(s) in favor of electronic submittals, receive ‘real time’ responses to inspection queries to ensure faster resolution of issues, and benefit from the cooperative atmosphere that already exists between the various County review agencies.

CSS (hereafter ‘the Portal’) is, ultimately, designed to provide a single point of access for submittal of permit requests and payment of application fees; permit issuance/review ; and scheduling of related inspections. Once completed and fully implemented, the Portal will become an all-in-one electronic solution designed to allow the public to:

  • Apply for building permits and uploading plans for review;
  • Respond to staff comments and requests for additional information on a given project;
  • Check the status of permits under review;
  • Pay for permit applications;
  • Schedule and review inspection results;
  • Apply for/renew contractor licenses;
  • Submit inquiries/complaints to County staff for review and processing;

The CSS Portal is the County’s response to the changing needs of our clients, in order to continue to provide the best possible customer service experience and maintain development within Orange County as a partnership, rather than just a “review process”.

The development of the Portal will, eventually, allow for members of the general public and development community to create personal accounts, each with a unique customer username and password, to access information for personal research. Data available online will include: details about the specific account, past history of submittals and inquiries, case outcomes, and the ability to query any open/outstanding issues associated with a permit and/or property.

SCHEDULE:

Full development and implementation of the Portal is scheduled to take approximately one year, with final/full rollout by June 2020.

County staff is initiating a pilot project for the Portal, which will adhere to the following schedule:

  • June through September 2019 – Continued design and testing of the Portal by County staff.
  • September through December 2019 – Initiation of a pilot project that will include:
    • View-only access to the general public (i.e. the general public will be able to view permit records, status of project review, inspection results, etc. BUT will not be permitted to submit electronic applications, schedule inspections, respond to staff comments, etc.)
    • AND
    • Full access (i.e. request inspections, pay for permits, etc.) to a limited number of applicants during testing for limited number/types of permits.

A final rollout schedule for the Portal will be handled in Phase 3 of the Project and shall be based on lessons learned in this pilot.