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DBI outlines permit-tracking and Qmatic rollout; public and commissioners complain about fees and inspection delays
Summary
DBI Director Vivian Day said the permit-tracking RFP is under review and Qmatic queueing hardware is nearly installed; commissioners and public urged clearer timelines and called out long inspection waits and high Planning Department fees.
Vivian Day, director of the Department of Building Inspection, updated the commission on two related initiatives intended to speed permitting and improve coordination between DBI and other departments.
Day said the DBI permit-tracking system RFP is currently under review by the city attorney and other agencies and is expected to be published before the end of the month. "We did get our RFP out to the city attorney and other city agencies that are reviewing it," she said. On the Qmatic customer-queuing system, Day said "all of the hardware has been installed. We're waiting for one more piece of equipment to be installed on the Fifth Floor before we actually put it into production, which hopefully will be around the November 1." The Qmatic demonstration will be shown at the upcoming PAC meeting, Day said.
Day described immediate operational steps: DBI now sends submitted plan sets to all reviewing departments on receipt (to meet their internal review cycles), and PUC plan-check responses are returning within 30 days for non-rush cases. The department is also preparing an electronic plan-check RFP (targeted for January) to tie into the enterprise permit-tracking system and reduce paper handling.
Public commenters and several commissioners reported real-world bottlenecks. John Kilgan (San Francisco Coalition for Responsible Growth) described a recent permit case in which an electrical contractor obtained an online permit but was offered an inspection date 10 days out and asked DBI to investigate the cause. Senator Kanellowitz said curb-cut permits were experiencing five-week waits. Luke O'Brien urged DBI to publish a clear schedule of RFP deliverables and milestones so applicants can track progress.
On permit fees, DBI staff clarified that the Planning Department sets planning fee amounts via its own nexus studies; DBI only collects those fees and charges Planning an internal administrative assessment. Commissioner Lee and multiple public commenters said some planning fees appear disproportionate to the planning work performed; the commission requested Planning Department staff be invited to a future meeting to explain fee calculations and the nexus study that underlies them.
Next steps: DBI will present the Qmatic demo at PAC and the department will invite Planning Department representatives to explain fee-setting methodology at a future commission meeting; staff also said they will review MOUs and work orders with partner departments to formalize cost-sharing and maintenance responsibilities for the enterprise system.
