Going digital was just the start of transforming how the Municipality of North Perth, Ontario, oversees community development.
The goal, then and now, remained the same: Delivering fast responses, fair decisions, and responsive customer service to citizens, contractors, and property owners.
The big change happened when staff saw the need to use their time to better serve the specific needs of individual people — instead of frequently completing repetitive tasks — as they issued about 400 building permits each year.
North Perth’s building department adopted Cloudpermit as its permitting software in 2021 and benefited instantly from things like improved recordkeeping and opportunities to streamline processes. Still, the biggest upgrades only became possible when the Municipality fully embraced the possibilities of modern software.
Building and Development Supervisor and Chief Building Official Sally McMullen took over the role a couple of years ago, when department staff were using Cloudpermit’s permitting software for basic interactions and tracking of applications.
Things like addressing, lot grading considerations, and service connections that impact other departments and services were handled outside the program — and they were sometimes missed until later in the review or construction process.
The public had partially embraced Cloudpermit but still spent considerable time calling and visiting the department to try to catch up with busy plans examiners and inspectors who were out on inspections.
The situation was frustrating for the public and the department, so McMullen decided to go all-in with the software, getting everyone — staff and the public alike — used to what they could do online to improve their user experience and speed things up.
Fully committing to setting the software up how you want to work is key to making the most of your investment in the product. We also held firm on applicants applying online and decided that helping them to do it themselves was better than doing it for them,” McMullen said.
Making Things Better
McMullen worked with administrative staff on the project to make the most out of their platform. Lianne Slichter learned how the Municipality’s software could help employees keep up with the volume of permits while making things better for applicants and employees. At the same time, Olivia Haines met with applicants and frequent users, including contractors, to help them learn the program and communicate with officials.
You have to choose to invest the time and energy into figuring out how do we want to use this, how do we want to communicate with people, and what does the software provide us to do that,” she said.
Slichter dedicated herself to configuring the platform to do exactly what they needed in the community. She created review opportunities for other departments, scripted text for repetitive instructions and messaging (such as invoicing and permit issuance), and set up default inspection types based on the type of construction.
New opportunities became possible, such as a “changes requested” function to easily message applicants and ask for specific additional information or new drawings.
McMullen said this staff effort has paid off with a better permitting process for everyone, reduced administrative burden on employees, and automated updates for applicants.
Still, she said it’s important to understand that software doesn’t replace the vital human element of community development oversight.
It’s not that we’re doing less work; it’s that we’re doing different work,” she said.
Refocusing Priorities for Modern Municipal Work
When community development professionals spend less time on tasks like sending the same instructions or contacting applicants with updates, they can focus on in-depth review of submissions and finding answers to more challenging questions.
McMullen said this shift has led to continuous drops in the average number of days a permit application is in review, bringing them closer to statutory requirements each quarter, including the time that applicants are making revisions or corrections.
It automates repetitive tasks, it automates filing, and it frees your staff with time to do more thorough work on the technical part,” she said.
She said it all comes down to prioritizing how a modern local government should work.
Do we want admin folks in our team digging deep and understanding a complete application and reviewing it thoroughly before it gets to the plans examiner, or do we want them continually typing out the same instructions to assist someone uploading documents?” she said. “They’re going to do both, but let’s reduce the time on the second one and increase the time on the first.”
Focusing on What’s Important
McMullen said it’s been a transformative change that is starting to help meet the needs of multiple departments in North Perth.
Staff get to a deeper understanding of the process and are able to help people more thoroughly,” she said.
Gaining new efficiency with automated handling of repetitive tasks and options for messaging applicants has helped municipal staff prepare and have additional time so they’re more available to help community members who need assistance online, by phone, or in person.
Everybody else is away to the races now in Cloudpermit, booking their inspections and getting answers to their questions and moving things along without the drive here or trying to play phone tag.”
- Sally McMullen, Building and Development Supervisor and Chief Building Official for the Municipality of North Perth
New software is an investment for local governments, but McMullen said it’s easy to see ways those costs pay off in enhanced efficiency and the opportunity to focus on important work, not just administrative tasks. North Perth is now rolling out Cloudpermit’s planning module, and McMullen said she’s looking forward to changing the dynamic of how the public and staff interact during these important planning decisions.
She said embracing the potential of modern tools has helped North Perth’s staff work smarter as they respond to local needs.
There are many ways that we have found savings on time, and adopting this technology allows you to spend your time doing different things,” she said.
Learn more about Cloudpermit’s modern software for building, planning, and community development by booking a demo today.
This article was originally published in the Ontario Building Officials Association’s Journal issue 147.
