Osceola County Issues First Paperless Building Permit

Posted by: Lilsis on: May 18, 2009

• In: News | Osceola County
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Osceola County, Florida – Recently the Osceola County Growth Management Building and Document Management Offices achieved a milestone: a building permit allowing construction of an 11-story 300 room Embassy Suites Hotel with meeting center was submitted, reviewed, and issued completely paperless, except for the permit application. What also makes this project special was that staff was able to electronically stamp each electronic file with a watermark stating the permit number, and the statement the plans were examined by Osceola County Building Office for code compliance. These electronic files were released via e-mail to the contractor and architectural firm for their use and printing as needed.

The project contained well over 700 pages and would have weighed more than 100 lbs. Review time would have taken weeks to perform with paper plans. Since this was electronic, review time was approximately four days because we performed simultaneous reviews versus linear reviews. The stamping and inserting of revised Building-approved drawings would have taken more than a day under the previous method since it required three sets of paper plans. Document Management completed this task in a matter of hours. Having the electronic review process in place saved Osceola County and the applicant time and money.

“Osceola County was the first county in the State of Florida to break through the paper barrier with electronic plan submission, review and tracking in July 2007. As one of a handful of visionaries and early technology adopters nationally, they have been a leader in process innovation ever since,” said Ron Loback, CEO and President of Avolve Software Corporation, which provides ProjectDox ePlan solutions for government agencies. “Working closely with the architect and owner, Osceola County completed a major new project entirely online, a significant achievement and a major hallmark for the future of plan review and approval in the State as well as across the country. We enthusiastically applaud Osceola County and its citizens for their ground-breaking efforts”, he added.

“This innovative and efficient system streamlines the permitting process, is user-friendly, saves time and paper while providing access to the most current project information,” said County Commission Chairman John Quiñones. “It’s one more reason why Osceola County conservation programs make this county a great place to live.”

“This is another step toward making Osceola County a green community by creating less waste and making the permitting process quicker and easier,” said Commissioner Brandon Arrington.

For more information, contact the Osceola County Public Information Office at 407-742-0100.