Community development system upgrade helps a city streamline processes

Challenge

A large city in the Western US was using a legacy community development system to support their planning, permitting, inspection, and code enforcement processes. Due to limitations of the system and disparate information tracking, the city relied on manual and paper-based processes to support core business functions. There was also limited applicant self-service functionality and mobile access for city field staff. With an eye toward improving processes and providing better services, the city engaged BerryDunn to help them acquire and implement a replacement community development system to fit its needs.

Solution

BerryDunn led the city through a structured requirements and Request for Proposal (RFP) development process, and provided project oversight during the implementation of the new community development system, including:

• On-site work sessions to develop a list of detailed requirements for a replacement system to fit the city’s needs
• Development of an RFP document
• Assistance with vendor proposal reviews and facilitation of vendor demonstrations
• Facilitation of contract negotiations with the selected vendor
• Participation in biweekly project status calls during the system implementation
• Development of monthly project status reports that tracked project progress, risks, and issues for the duration of the implementation
• Development of test scripts and facilitation of User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
• Point-in-time readiness assessment that identified city and vendor readiness prior to system go-live

Outcome

With a new community development system, the city was able to streamline its processes and take advantage of the online and mobile functionality, including:

• Online planning, permit, and license application and fee payment
• Online code compliant submittal
• Online status inquiry for submitted applications and complaints
• Online inspection request and viewing of results
• Mobile access to inspection details, with real-time tracking of assignments and results

Long-term value:

• The city has moved into a paperless environment, which can promote greater efficiency and better customer services for constituents.
• City residents and contractors are able to interact with the city on a 24x7 basis, and can submit applications and requests without traveling to city hall.