Benefits of ePlan Review in Your Regulatory Program – Two Perspectives

Robert Mathias, Building Official, Bend, OR &Orion Goff, Building Official, Salt Lake City, UT

Webinar for the FIATECH Jurisdictions Committee, Tom Phillips, Salem, OR, Chairman & Robert Wible, FIATECH

January 14, 2010

Benefits of ePlan Review

FIATECH Jurisdictions Committee – Welcome & introduction - Tom Phillips, Salem, OR, Chair

Overview on ePlan Reivew – Robert Wible Successful Approaches – Two Perspectives

– City of Bend, OR - Robert Mathias– Salt Lake City, UT – Orion Goff– How you can apply in your jurisdiction

Next Committee Webinar – Improving Client Relations with Building Department

Looking Ahead

FIATECH Presentation at AGC BIMForum

FIATECH ePlan / BIM Project in 2010

ICC SMARTcodes project

Helping jurisdictions identify and obtain Federal grants to fund IT

Overview – Development and Growth of ePlan Review

The Technology Arrives & Grows – 2002-Present

- Surveys on use with ICC

- Development of Guides

- Current Status – Demands caused by customers and recession

Looking Ahead – Efforts with ICC, AGC BIMForum - BIM biggest change in 100 yrs.

Federal Grants to State and Local Governments for Streamlining and Information Technology Robert Wible & Associates/Alliance for Building Regulatory Reform in the Digital Age

Available on websites:

www.fiatech.org

www.avolvesoftware.com

www.natlpartnerstreamline.org

Potential Federal Grants as Partial Funding Sources

Two Jurisdictions Experiences – Bend, OR & Salt Lake City, UT

Origin of their ePlan review IT program Stakeholder Support – Internal & External Working with their elected officials Acquisition Implementation Status of program today Challenges, opportunities & benefits of

ePlan Reviews

City of Bend ePlans

What if the City of Bend…

could save 250 trees per year? could save our customers $25,000 in annual

fuel costs? could eliminate 2 tons of hydrocarbons from

our air?

With ePlans, we can!

Our Goal: To provide an easy, efficient way to allow the public to submit plans for review and corrections, while maintaining short turnaround times and improving efficiency of revisions and inter-departmental reviews.

City of Bend ePlans

ePlans – What is it?

• Electronic Plans Submission– Versioning controls built-in– PDF, DWG, DWF, 50+ other formats

• Electronic Plan Review– Markup tools– Embedded stamps / layers

• Electronic Workflow for review processes– Departmental Reviews– Tracking / Status

PDF, DWG, DWF, 50+ other formats– Allows great flexibility from

submitters Versioning controls built-in

– Keeps track of timestamp for same

filename– Detects if changes are present

andmarks as a new revision

– Prevents over-writing of files– Uploads, views, markups

all tracked bylogin/timestamp

Electronic Plans Submission

Electronic Plan Review

You can perform a graphical

comparison of two file versions. A

variety of options are available from

the toolbar including overlay

differences and side by side view. Deleted geometry displays red, while added geometry is green. Unchanged areas are grey. An alignment tool and transparency slider

are available.

Electronic Plan Review

Reviewers are easily able to make notes or revision requests with

the built-in Markup tools, then send

notice to the Submitter to come

view their corrections online and upload their own revised

drawings.

Review Process Workflow

The Permit Tech is the project’s “Owner,”

following the Workflow to completion, and can check

its status at any time.

The Routing Slip can be viewed by any user

involved in the workflow.The Workflow view allows the Permit Tech to

easily view status, jump to

any step, and allows for user

changes.

Reviewers from each specified

Department have rights to view

others’ notes and approval status, but can change only their own.

Departmental Reviewers can also attach direct links

to their corrections for the Project.

The Submitter gets this same form

with direct links to the pages needing

revision

Review Process Workflow

Final Approval

Once reviewed, the Plans Examiner

“Batch Stamps” the plans and publishes them to the ‘Finals’

folder in the Project.

All markups and stamps are

embedded in a PDF file for security.

When the Project is complete, the

Submitter is given access to download

and print from the ‘Finals’ folder.

Field Inspections

Inspectors can use ePlans to view the approved plan sets if in doubt of field set’s authenticity, or if a given plan sheet is missing or damaged.

ePlans and the Future

Upcoming Plans:• Planning division Land Use Applications

– Live for selected customers NOW

• PUW Engineering in development (Q1-2010)– Right-of-Way, Fire Flow, Construction Drawings

• Access to local Public Safety staff– Fire & Rescue, Police emergencies

• Electronically Archiving prior Paper Plans– Eliminate Off-Site storage

Interface to current Building Permits database– Currently, a read-only process for our system

Submittal requirements (formats, naming, etc.)

Restructuring paper processes to electronic Legality of electronic documentation (wet seals)

Copy protection of approved plans Resistance to electronic process Providing documentation/support to public

users

Challenges

Fast, efficient way to provide plans submittals, reviews, and permit issuance

Reduces/eliminates paper waste (GREEN!) Ensures authenticity of altered documents Maintains consistent revision history Customizable eForms & Workflows Allows self-serve access to submitters’ own

plans while securing others’ access Archiving

Advantages

High Profile Clients

Kohl’s Olive Garden Les Schwab Tires - National HQ Jack in the Box Toyota Dealership Bend Memorial Hospital (multiple TI’s) Upcoming Wal-Mart SuperCenter

Meeting the Challenge:

In 2009, ePlans saved… 1,100 pounds of hydrocarbons from our air, Our customers $30,000 in fuel costs, Over 10,000 pounds of Carbon Monoxide

from being released, 150 trees from being harvested for paper!

* estimates based on actual permit count for 2009

Electronic Plan ReviewDevelopment Services DepartmentSalt Lake City, Utah

FIATECHJanuary, 2010, Salt Lake City UT

Salt Lake City, UT Goal: centralize the development review process into a

single database to support a true One-Stop-Shop for construction and development.

Accomplishments: Accela Automation & ProjectDox

Today an applicant can apply for all building permit types from our website https://aca.slcgov.com/citizen/, pay fees and submit plans for review, from any where in the world.

Salt Lake City - Success Stories

- City Creek Project- Macy’s Tenant Improvements

Feedback from a recent customer survey:

“I love the electronic review process; electronic submission and project management are GREAT to be working with as a city.  I am now requiring electrical contractors to provide all the submittals as Adobe PDF documents; which has been extremely helpful and streamlined the process of submittal review. The industry is definitely getting more electronic and it’s really helping us in the construction field.” Brian Hicks, RCDD Senior Associate BNA Consulting

Salt Lake City – Where are we going? We now have the basics covered:

• Online applications and submissions, • Electronic reviews• Applicants are becoming familiar with the changes in the

process

Next: Planning Workflows

Salt Lake City – Where could we go?

Teaching “old dogs new tricks”• We could develop a process which integrates

with the IPD processes• Would need to develop a IPD or project

management team• BIM Technology – we are ready for the transition

The Project Dox software system allows for a project management site where all the players in the process could view the same information, communications, and progress.

Summary of Lessons Learned

Questions and Discussion

FIATECH Jurisdictions Committee

Membership open to jurisdictions all sizes with fee based on population ($200-$800)

Monthly webinars/conference calls on topics of immediate concern to local and state building and land use/zoning departments

For registration form and more information visit: www.fiatech.org

Next Jurisdiction Committee Webinar – Mid-February, 2010 on “Successful Strategies for Preparing your Staff for IT”