Electronic Document Review Workflow

This simplified example demonstrates one way that an agency can incorporate the EDR feature into a permit processing workflow.

Roles

  • Public User (homeowners, contractors, or architects)

    Members of the public can submit supporting documentation needed for their projects using Citizen Access. Documents saved in PDF format can be submitted singly or in batches. After submittal, the individual can identify his documents and enter relevant comments for each document. Agencies can configure Civic Platform to send the submittor an email when action occurs on his documents or when the submittor must take further action. The submittor can also log in to Citizen Access at any time to check the status of his project, including his documents.

  • Document Intake Personnel (Permit Technician, Document Intake Clerk)

    In many agencies, it is the job of one or more individuals to receive documents, record their receipt, assign control numbers, and then date the documents so that users can track them throughout the life cycle of a project/permit process. This person then routes the appropriate documents to the appropriate staff for review. In some agencies, an intake clerk might break up PDF documents into several smaller files so that relevant pages can go to the proper destinations. Users can accomplish all of these tasks with Electronic Document Review.

  • Plan Reviewer (Building Inspectors, Fire Code Inspectors, Engineers)

    Depending the nature and scope of the agency, this individual’s role in the Electronic Document Review process is to interact directly with documents via a review process. This person can make comments, insert annotations, perform measurements, and save his commentary to Civic Platform as part of the electronic project file.

  • Processor (Plans processor)

    This individual’s role in the Electronic Document Review process may vary by agency, but typically, this person reviews the annotations from the plan reviewers, and then ensures that the proper stamps exist. This person then uses the Check-in Revision button in the Accela Add-on toolbar to merge the original PDF and the annotations into a new document. Civic Platform stores this new document in the record along with the original PDF.