Photo Credits: The above image is modified from an image generated by DALL-E with prompting to "create a blog post header image about comparing two permitting solutions using data".
So, you want to make permitting faster in your city! That’s a goal many municipalities share, yet the path to achieving it can be challenging. At CivCheck, we’ve worked with cities across North America who are leading the charge in transforming their permitting processes.
Through these partnerships, we’ve learned that while every city is unique, the starting point for meaningful change is the same: a thorough, unbiased understanding of the problem. In this post, we’ll walk through how to gain that understanding and how to use it to guide effective, data-driven improvements.
Many cities assume that city operations are the root cause of permitting delays. While there’s usually room for improvement in internal processes, this assumption can result in a biased assessment of the real challenges.
Instead, we advocate for a compassionate, data-driven approach to identifying the root causes of permitting delays. To begin, conduct a data-driven root cause analysis. This doesn’t have to involve months of consulting work; even a focused, day-long workshop with key stakeholders can yield powerful insights.
Key pieces of data to gather include:
Once you’ve collected the data, you can start to diagnose the problem and evaluate potential solutions. Let’s walk through a couple of examples to illustrate how you might evaluate your options.
Imagine your city’s "Underwater Castle" review group takes 8 hours to review one permit, has 200 permits in the backlog, and receives six new permits each week.
Data:
With three reviewers available, we can calculate that 15 permits are completed weekly.
Why? Each reviewer completes 1 review each day. That means, 3 reviews are completed (1 by each plan reviewer) each day. In a 5 day business week, this amounts to 15 reviews completed.
However, 6 new permits are added every week. This means the backlog shrinks by 9 permits per week. At this rate, it will take approximately 20 weeks (5 months) to clear the 200 permit backlog.
Now consider potential solutions:
Now let’s suppose you’re evaluating three different pre-screening solutions for applicants:
Scenario 1: All Corrections Are Within the Top 10 Issues
In this scenario, 50% of applications that go through multiple review rounds receive only comments within the top 10 common issues. Here’s how each solution performs:
Scenario 2: Additional Issues Beyond the Top 10
Now suppose every application in the 50% group has at least one additional issue that isn’t within the top 10 common issues. Here’s how each solution fares:
Applications with fewer corrections might take less time to review. To evaluate the overall impact, you would need data on:
With these examples in mind, it’s clear that no single solution fits every situation. Depending on the specific challenges your city faces, you may need a combination of process improvements, new tools, or additional resources to make permitting faster and more streamlined.
This is where CivCheck comes in. We specialize in helping cities streamline their permitting processes with a mix of advanced technology and a human-centric approach.
Our Guided AI Plan Review platform:
Every city’s permitting process is unique, and it’s understandable to feel unsure about the right first steps. With a measured, data-driven approach—and the right tools—meaningful change is possible.
At CivCheck, we don’t just hand you a product; we help you understand your unique situation and identify the best solutions for your city, from reducing review times to training new staff and minimizing errors. If you’re ready to see how our platform can support your goals, schedule a demo today and let’s explore a practical path forward together!
