The following is a release from Snohomish County:
Snohomish County and MyBuildingPermit (MBP) collaborated to release new permitting functionality that will greatly improve Snohomish County’s service to the building and development community.
“As part of our economic development and reform efforts, we worked hard to find ways to speed building permitting and ultimately construction times,” said Dave Somers, Snohomish County Executive. “Having regional partners means we can tap into expertise and resources to bring the best possible service to our businesses and residents. With these permits now on-line, no one needs to stand in a line or leave their office: easy, cheaper, and quick.”
Economic development is often encouraged or hampered by the local government’s permitting processes for building development. By collaborating with MyBuildingPermit and its member jurisdictions, Snohomish County has greatly enhanced their customers’ ability to establish a Registered Basic Plan and create a Site Specific Permit from a Registered Basic Plan.
Customers appreciate, and in growing numbers expect, online permitting options. Camille Chriest, a Project Manager at Sundquist Homes talked about the cost and time savings that online permitting provides customers like herself. “With hard copy submittals, lack of in-house printing services means trips to the commercial printer, to the engineer’s office, to get all of the application materials together. Then there is the time to drive to the jurisdiction, wait to submit the application, wait while jurisdictional staff processes the application, then drive back to the office. With potential traffic delays, a submittal can take several hours of your workday. Plus, there’s the cost of gas added to the cost of staff time. Online permitting is much more time and cost efficient.”
Customer feedback on the new Registered Basics functionality includes:
“I really like the Interface. Plan submittal is a breeze. Being able to submit basics and permits online will be a huge timesaver,” said Sarah Uplinger of Robinett Homes LLC.
“Super quick, efficient and easy! Thank you for all the work that has gone into setting this up,” said Jennifer Warner, Quadrant Homes.
MyBuildingPermit.com now consists of 16 members, including: Bellevue, Bothell, Burien, Issaquah, Kenmore, Kirkland, Mercer Island, Mill Creek, Newcastle, North Bend, Renton, Sammamish, Snoqualmie, Snohomish County, King County, and Woodinville.
MyBuildingPermit.com is a program with a long history of collaboration in the Puget Sound region. In 1998 the building officials from five Eastside cities began a unified approach to building processes and services. They recognized that many of their building and development customers work in more than one city and the lack of uniformity in building codes and interpretation lead to customer confusion and higher cost of doing business. The building officials began working together to share information and agree upon standards. Their collaboration grew into a large collaboration with the sharing of an online permit portal, best practices, training, and construction tip sheets and guidelines.
For more information go to MyBuildingPermit.com.
