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DBI says Accela/Exela rollout delayed after data‑migration and UAT problems
Summary
DBI project manager reported completion of user training but said two rounds of user‑acceptance testing uncovered configuration and migration errors — 71 issues in wave 1 and 98 in wave 2 — and that mapping problems from an Oct. 31 migration left thousands of records with missing comments; a firm go‑live date will be reported to DBI management on Dec. 19.
Henry Bartley, the project manager for DBI's Exela/Accela implementation, told the Building Inspection Commission on Dec. 17 that the project has completed specialized user training and two waves of user‑acceptance testing but remains unable to set a final go‑live date until outstanding issues are fixed and retested. "We had 71 items that were raised" in the first functional testing wave, Bartley said, and "98 issues" emerged during the second wave of testing, which the project team is fixing on a scheduled timeline.
Bartley said a full data migration run the weekend of Oct. 31 showed mapping errors that caused many inspection and complaint records to arrive in Accela without their comments or in the wrong database fields. "We had many thousands of inspection records from PTS that came over without their comments," he said, and that those mapping corrections must be made by DBI's MIS team before Accela's migration scripts can be re‑run.
Bartley described the upcoming steps as focused on correcting and retesting UAT items and running a business‑simulation pilot (a conference‑room pilot) to measure transaction times across divisions. He said the project team will present a committed go‑live date to Director Tom Huey and DBI management on Dec. 19. "Until all the testing was complete, not knowing what issues would be found, completing the testing basically gives us our concise set of here are all the issues that need to be fixed before we can launch the system," Bartley said.
DBI staff asked for and described additional refresher training and friendly contractor testing that has already begun. Bartley said a set of 18 contractors across building, plumbing and electrical trades were invited to try the new Accela Citizen Access portal and exercise common tasks such as pulling permits and scheduling inspections.
What happens next: DBI staff will finalize timelines with Accela/Exela and report a committed go‑live date to the director’s office on Dec. 19. The Commission was told that fixing and retesting shown UAT issues is the determinative activity for launch timing.
