Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Permit Improvement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Marin Builders Association and county report net-promoter score gains after permit improvement work
Summary
Phase 3 of the Marin Builders Association's Permit Improvement Program showed measurable customer-service gains: net promoter score improved from -55.4 to -21.9; key recommendations include staff development, technology consolidation (ProjectDocs fixes), and a single project manager point-of-contact.
County staff and the Marin Builders Association presented Phase 3 results on the multi-year Permit Improvement Program (PIP), reporting measurable improvement in customer experience and laying out next steps to increase permitted construction and reduce unpermitted work.
Rick Wells and Casey Mazzoni of the Marin Builders Association summarized outreach and data collection for Phase 3: 133 online surveys, focus groups, one-on-one interviews and in-person feedback. The program's net promoter score — a measure of customer willingness to recommend the permitting process — improved from negative 55.4 in Phase 2 to negative 21.9 in Phase 3, attributed to better centralized communication (a permit ombudsperson and consolidated phone/email routing), assignment of a single project manager contact per project and process changes to reduce hold times.
Remaining hurdles include ProjectDocs usability (users reported they must upload plan pages one at a time) and limited transparency on project status. The program recommended immediate technology changes (multi-page PDF upload and automated status emails), structured career pathways and retention incentives for building-department staff, and creation of simple tutorials for homeowners and owners-builders.
CDA staff said they had already implemented some short-term fixes (ProjectDocs multipage PDFs support) and planned quarterly breakfasts with the industry to maintain dialog. The board praised modest early results and directed staff to return in 2026 with next-phase recommendations and to coordinate PIP actions with a forthcoming organizational-excellence implementation plan.
