Contractors flag legacy-permit number mismatch as Catawba County shifts to ePermits

During the portal demonstration, an attendee asked how to find the "commit number" or legacy permit/inspection number for jobs that predated the new system. The attendee said field technicians need the old inspection numbers to reconcile work done in the field with records in the portal.

"Is this gonna be the new inspection number?" the attendee asked. Alex Hayden, business process manager, explained that "it was given a number in the old system. That number doesn't exist in the new system because of how it was migrated over," and that the county now issues a unique application reference number for new workflows.

Hayden acknowledged the friction for contractors and proposed an immediate mitigation: updating reports to include both the legacy permit number and the new reference number where possible so contractors can match records. He said county staff can also run reports and add a column for the reference number to help bridge the two systems.

County staff also said they will review legacy contractor files and add missing contractor associations so those legacy cases become visible in contractors' portal accounts. Staff advised contractors who cannot see legacy cases to email permitapps@Catawbacountync.gov and to contact Amanda (staff email coordinator) for assistance; the county will continue to accept traditional permit-app methods while the migration completes.

Hayden characterized the migration issue as temporary and said some legacy values will "phase out over time" as staff complete manual attachments and report updates.