Improve Slow Review And Approval Process With Document Management Solution

The planning office receives requests for all kinds of physical planning, including requests to install signage, changing the use of properties, amending rooflines, making additions to buildings and dwellings, undertaking demolition, and performing tree surgeries. Currently the Planning department receives approximately 2500 proposals each year for land and properties in their area. When a customer makes a request, six copies of each set of plans (which are often oversized) must be provided in order that they can be put on public display so that consultation with statutory agencies can take place. Each request is either approved, denied, or amendments are requested. Every time that a change is made, all of the papers must be re-submitted. In addition, all parties involved or affected by the change must be notified; the new plans must be drawn up on paper and reviewed on site at the planning office.

Until the recent implementation with OITUK and the DocFinity suite of electronic document management solutions, the review and approval process at the planning office was slow and painstaking. The awkward nature of oversized paper plans and blueprints, coupled with the time needed to pull, copy, change, approve, and re-file plans, resulted in long waiting times. The handling time before a plan could be used for consultation was considerable, leading to delays in the architect or member of the public receiving a response.

After implementing Optical Image Technology's DocFinity® suite of document management software, people no longer need to wait for weeks to access proposals. The plans are scanned, indexed and made available on the web site within days of their arrival in the Planning office and this means that the public and statutory agencies have more time to view them and input their comments.