DBI deals with Qmatic rollout problems as commissioners order a follow‑up review

Multiple permit applicants and industry representatives told the Building Inspection Commission that DBI’s new Qmatic permit‑queue system created longer waits, confusing routing across multiple floors and dropped numbers after the June 11 activation.

Permit applicants including Henry Kunderloitz and architect Bobbie Sue Hood said the kiosk and ticketing process routed people to the wrong counters and forced customers to hold multiple numbers while waiting across floors. "There's no flexibility in the system...it's created a lot of gridlock," Kunderloitz said, summarizing examples of long waits and misrouting.

DBI staff acknowledged early problems, saying the system was experiencing "growing pains" and that some queue behaviors (for example, customers taking multiple tickets or moving between first‑ and fifth‑floor counters) had jammed routing. Tom Huey, deputy director for plan review, and other staff said they have added staff to busy stations, opened suggestion boxes and are working with MIS to tune configurations. They estimated persistent average delays in peak periods of roughly 30–45 minutes while adjustments continue.

Commissioners asked for a timebound operational review. President McCarthy and commissioners requested DBI return with data on wait times, fairness (e.g., whether repeat professional applicants can gain an unfair advantage), and proposals to make the system more transparent and equitable for homeowners and small applicants. Staff agreed to bring a comprehensive report after a stabilization period and to pursue short-term measures to better guide customers at the information desks and to limit ticket misuse.

DBI also said the broader permit‑tracking and citizen‑access project continues toward a November 2013 milestone and that lessons from Qmatic will inform the larger deployment.