City shows plan for integrated permit tracking; vendor demos scheduled

Sam Quang, project manager for the Permit and Project Tracking System (PPTS) at the Department of Building Inspection, briefed commissioners on the objectives and near-term schedule for an integrated tracking system. Quang said the system will provide transparency, reduce processing time, create a master calendar for inspections across departments, and allow project-based rollups where users can drill into all permits and approvals tied to an address.

Quang walked through sample use cases: scheduling inspections using a master calendar, drilling down from project to permit to plan-check comments and surfacing conditions of approval to all reviewers in real time. He said the RFP process is at the vendor-demo stage, with vendor demonstrations scheduled and an expected vendor award by the end of the fiscal year. After contract finalization, Quang said a project kickoff could occur by year-end and full implementation was targeted within 24 months.

Commissioners asked about cloud deployment, GIS mapping, web-based interfaces, e-signatures and record security. Quang said web-based and GIS features were requested in the RFP, that shortlisted vendors have decades of experience, and that public access and privacy rules will be determined during implementation. Planning staff said dataset-by-dataset access controls will be established so some documents can be public and others restricted.

Public commenters welcomed the plan but warned that technology alone is not enough; they urged political will and consistent staff use to ensure the system closes existing routing gaps.