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OSM Changes from Last Month

1/9/2020

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  1. Corrected Minimum Fee functions so that they don't void and reassess the Minimum Fees when ASI is updated through the Accela Inspector App
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OSM Changes from Last Month

12/5/2019

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  1. Building Module: Building permit  - updated report so that the Conditions of Approval can be formatted using html tags. (11/20/2019)
  2. Public Works Module: Public Works Certificate of Satisfactory Completion report - updated report so that the Conditions of Approval can be formatted using html tags. (11/20/2019)
  3. Public Works Module: Public Works Permit  - updated report so that the Conditions of Approval can be formatted using html tags. (11/20/2019)
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OSM Changes from Last Month

11/5/2019

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  1. Public Works module: Corrected an issue where users were unable to add/update Custom Lists (tables) on Investigation, Inquiry and Project record types because of scripting requirements to complete some specific application specific information (which wasn't available to those record types). Scripting now only requires a service to be selected when it's a PW Tracking record. (9/23/19)
  2. Onsite: Added Payment History to menu navigation for OnsiteReadOnly user group. (9/24/19)
  3. Building module: Updated the code edition for Oregon Structural Code and Oregon Mechanical Specialty Code (both only apply to commercial) to include (and default to) 2019. (10/1/19)
  4. All Modules: Added parcel attribute template to record search form so that users can search by parcel attribute (where applicable). (10/1/19)
  5. Building module: Updated the Write It/Cite It standard comments due to new code editions. (10/3/19)
  6. Building module: Updated scripting for new 1 & 2 Family dwellings so that the '6050 Final Erosion Control' inspection cannot be resulted if there are other outstanding erosion control inspections. (10/21/19)
  7. Building module: Added a new user group to the building module: "BuildingReviewerLimited". This user group can update "review" workflow tasks only. (10/21/19)
  8. Planning module: Document Type, "Other Planning Document" in the PLANNING DOCUMENTS group is now visible and downloadable by all ACA Users. (10/21/19)
  9. Building module: Update CETv3 report to include 'Restore Payment' payment method. The 'Restore Payment' payment method is included with the 'ACH', 'Cash', 'Check', 'Credit Card'. 'Fund Transfer', 'Internal Transfer', 'Journal Entry', 'Refund Check' totals. (10/22/19)
  10. Building module: Update Affordable Housing Worksheet to include 'Restore Payment' payment method. In the report the payment methods 'Billed', 'Credit Memo', 'Fee Waiver', 'Write Off' will appear in Red and be grouped into Non-revenue type payments. (10/22/19)
  11. Building module: Set the 'Unit Cost' in the Valuation Calculator to read only. Previously it was editable but should not have been. (10/24/19)
  12. Building module: Added a new value of "Non Participating School District" to the CET - Exemptions dropdown. (10/24/19)
  13. Building module: Update Metro Excise Report to include 'Restore Payment' The report was modified to include the payment method in the detail list. Additionally another section was added to the report footer that shows total amount of Metro share and Admin share paid using each payment method. (10/25/19)
  14. All modules: Added the following contact types to all OSM agencies: Complainant, Property Manager, General Contractor, Tenant, Bank, Attorney, Trustee. (10/28/19)
  15. All modules: Systems Requiring Maintenance is a new report that can be used to identify ATT, Holding Tank, Bottomless Sand Filter, Sand Filter and Pressure Distribution Systems that have a completed Certificate of Satisfactory Completion. The report lists the permit number, county, parcel number, site address, directions to the site, system type and date the CoSC was issued. There are no visible parameters - all records that meet the report requirement regardless of issue date are included. The report output is an Excel spreadsheet. (10/28/19)
  16. All modules: The receipt has been updated. The page orientation has been changed from landscape to portrait. Also when the receipt is for a permit or record the IVR number appears just below the record number. It will also accommodate the new payment method ‘Restore Payment’. The new receipt will be available on November 18.
  17. Building module: Add two new user groups to the building module: "BuildingCashierTechnician" and "BuildingCashierSupervisorTechnician". These user groups have the same permissions as BuildingCashier and BuildingCashierSupervisor but can also result workflow. The purpose is to allow those agencies that have a centralized cashiering office to not have to send the customers back to the Building Department to issue the permit once they have paid the fees. (11/4/19)
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To see your current agency user group assignments, run the User Configuration report, located under Building Reports >Admin>User Configuration.

Note: There are ePermitting staff and other scripted users that appear on the report that need to remain active for daily system functionally.

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OSM changes from last month

10/1/2019

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  1. Building module: Added workflow email task specific information to Ag-Equine review task. (8/27/19)
  2. DEQ/Onsite: A new standard choice was added to each agency that uses the Onsite module.  The standard choice contains the name and address of the person at DEQ who receives the DEQ surcharge report and payment.  The standard choice was created because this information could change and we do not want to have to modify the report when it changes. (8/27/19)
  3. DEQ/Onsite: A new version of the DEQ Surcharge report has been installed. This version corrects the error in counting when an activity has surcharge reported in a previous report, but the activity is backed out in the current report. The version also includes Void and Withdrawn records. (8/27/19)
  4. Public Works module: Added scripting to exempt Public Works Investigation records from the requirement of permit issuance prior to inspections. (9/12/19)
  5. All Modules: Revised the "Reference Contact List" form so that it includes the "Reference Contact ID".  This field always has a value and is a hyperlink, in addition to the "Last Name" field, so that a user can click on it and see the details of the contact if there is no Last Name.  (9/17/19)
  6. All Modules: Adjusted the Record Inspection List form (the list of inspections viewed from within a record) to have a contracted length of 100 inspection records and an expanded length of 200 inspection records. (9/19/19)
  7. Public Works module: Updated scripting to only require a service (ASI "app types") when it's a Planning Tracking record type. (9/23/19)
  8. All Modules: The expiration process now includes Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO) records.  Now, they will be included in the expiration Sets, they will receive a letter, and they will be automatically expired, if your agency elects to use these pieces of the expiration process.  TCO records were removed from the expiration process altogether in April 2019 but based on agencys' needs, we added them back in. (9/25/19)
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OSM Changes from Last Few Months

8/8/2019

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  1. ​Added the email TSI to the Investigation Process task for Planning Investigation records and an expression to populate the fields. (7-8-19)
  2. Updated the text for Set ID to include information that special characters should not be use. ( 7-1-19)
  3. Additional scripting added to uncheck the "Allow Inspections Prior to Permit Issuance" when the record status is Closed, Expired, Finaled, Void, or Withdrawn. (7-8-19)
  4. Added 3410 Rain Drain as an available inspection for autopending to 1 & 2 Family Dwelling record types. (7-8-19)
  5. Fixed an issue where the values for Park - Manufactured Home for Class B and Class C were reversed for 11 and 12 spaces/acre in the valuation calculator. (7-9-19)
  6. Install Code Violations Activity Report to all Planning Tracking Activity. (7-31-19)
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OSM Changes from Last Few Months

6/7/2019

 
  1. Added Erosion Control Inspections. (4-8-19)
  2. Added an additional switch agencies can elect to enable that will prevent users from submitting planning payments on ACA - "ACAPaymentPlanning." (4-15-19)
  3. The dropdown label and value was updated for the Residential Mechanical code edition. The applicable code for a residential mechanical permit should be the ORSC NOT the Mechanical Specialty Code. (4-16-19)
  4. Fixed an issue where licensed professionals and owners were not being carried over to newly created records from their parent record. (4-17-19)
  5. Updated all user groups to show GIS button. (4-18-19)
  6. Added texting option message (SelecTXT)  to reports. (5-6-19)
  7. New Notification Templates & Scripting to execute templates so that all Citizen Access emails are saved under “Communications” on the record. (5-7-19)
  8. The Building permit has been modified so that agencies can add a custom comment that will appear on each permit.  The comment will appear above the state wording on the permit.  To add or remove an agency custom comment please submit a help desk ticket. (5-14-19)
  9. Updated user permissions were updated to prevent users from deleting/replacing the workflow on a record. (5-17-19)
  10. Fixed an issue where online payments were sending the permit/receipt, no matter the status. (5-17-19)
  11. Updated the scripting for New Affordable Housing CET Scripting to give agencies more flexibility regarding accounts for commercial affordable housing CET. (5-23-19)
  12. Updates to Temporary C of O workflow statuses and functionality: New filters, Denied and Expired statuses added, TCO report is now also saved to the parent record. (6-3-19)
  13. ACA Admin Setting, "Allow multiple inspections" was turned off for some child agencies for the Onsite module. This has been resolved so that public users can always schedule any inspection even when it already exists on the record. (6-5-19)

OSM Changes

8/6/2018

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1. Added New Checkbox: “Work Being Performed in Floodplain” (Live May 3)
A new checkbox field was added called, “Work Being Performed in Floodplain”.

2. Revised “Inspection Trips Completed” Report (Live June 8)
The “Inspection Trips Completed” report has been modified to include three new parameters:  Module, Discipline (inspector discipline) and Inspector.  The Module and Discipline parameters selected from drop down lists.  One or more selection can be made for each drop down list.  To make multiple selections – hold down the Control [CTRL] key and click to make your selections.  The Inspector parameter allows the user to enter an inspector name (first name, space, last name).

This report shows inspections events that were a trip.  An inspection trip is defined to be an inspection that has status  'Insp Completed' with a Result of 'Accepted', 'Approved', 'Approved with Conditions' or 'Not Required' OR status must be 'Insp Cancelled' with a Result of 'Denied', 'Information Only', 'No Access' 'Not Ready', or 'Partial'.  
The report data is output as an Excel spreadsheet so that the user can sort the data as needed.

3. New “Fee Summary by Account” Report (Live June 27)
The “Fee Summary by Account” report shows a list of each fee type and amount of funds applied to an account code. The list is sorted by account code. 

Parameters: 
1. Start and End Dates:  
  • The date span for records to include in the report.
2. Module:
  • ‘-All-‘ will include every payment received during the date span.  
  • One or more modules will include only payments for records or POS transactions that occurred in the selected modules.  Note that if a set includes records from multiple modules and some of the records are not in the selected modules the set payment amount will not match the sum of the individual records listed in the set.
3. Account_code: 
  • Options are ‘1’,’2’ or ‘3’.  For most jurisdictions use Account code 1 to get the General Ledger account code totals.  For jurisdictions that share fees with other entities running the report for Account code 3 may be helpful.
4. Account_id: 
  • -All- is the default
  • A specific general ledger account id can be entered so the report will show only that account.  If the account id has fees from multiple modules and some of the modules are not included the total will only include fees that are both in the modules and in the account id.
4. New “Fee Summary by Module” Report (Live June 28)
The “Fee Summary by Module” report shows a list of each fee type and amount of funds applied to an account code. The list is grouped and sorted by module then account code. 

Parameters: 
1. Start and End Dates:  
  • The date span for records to include in the report.
2. Module:
  • ‘-All-‘ will include every payment received during the date span.  
  • One or more modules will include only payments for records or POS transactions that occurred in the selected modules.  Note that if a set includes records from multiple modules and some of the records are not in the selected modules the set payment amount will not match the sum of the individual records listed in the set.
3. Account_code: 
  • Options are ‘1’,’2’ or ‘3’.  For most jurisdictions use Account code 1 to get the General Ledger account code totals.  For jurisdictions that share fees with other entities running the report for Account code 3 may be helpful.
4. Account_id: 
  • -All- is the default
  • A specific general ledger account id can be entered so the report will show only that account.  If the account id has fees from multiple modules and some of the modules are not included the total will only include fees that are both in the modules and in the account id.

5. New “C of SCs Issued” Report (Live June 29)
The “C of SCs Issued” report lists Building records that have an application status of ‘Finaled’ and at least one copy of the Certificate of Satisfactory Completion report document attached.  Records must have an application status date with in the reporting period dates.  The report is designed to be output as an Excel spreadsheet.

6. New “Onsite C of SCs Issued” Report (Live June 29)
The “Onsite C of SCs Issued” report lists Onsite records that have a workflow status of ‘CoSC Issued’.  Records must have an workflow status date with in the reporting period dates.  The report is designed to be output as an Excel spreadsheet.  The report lists the type of permit application and the system type. 

7. New “Inspection History” Report (Live July 2)
The purpose of this report is to provide an overall view of the inspections that have been resulted, scheduled, or placed on a record. This report will exclude deleted inspections.  There are two parameter options to select from. The report will sort first by one, and second by the other, depending on in which order they are selected in the prompt page.
  • Inspection Type
  • Inspection Date

8. New “Detailed Scheduled Inspection” Report (Live July 2)
  • The report name has been updated to “Detailed Scheduled Inspection Report”.
  • There are now three separate versions that will show the exact same information, but they are sorted differently. The three versions are:
                   o Detailed Scheduled Inspection Report by Address
                   o Detailed Scheduled Inspection Report by Discipline
                   o Detailed Scheduled Inspection Report by Insp Type
  • All previous parameters have been removed and replaced with the following:
                   o Scheduled Inspection Date
                   o Select Discipline
                   o Select Module
                   o Select Inspector
                   o View Conditions of Approval
                               • Yes/No options
                   o View Standard Conditions
                               • Yes/No options
                   o View Additional Contacts
                               ​• Yes/No options
                   o View Related Record Inspections
                               • Yes/No options
                   ​o View Related Records
                               • Yes/No options
  • The agency contact information has been removed from the header with the exception of the agency logo.
  • The username of who ran the report will now be displayed on the bottom left of the report header.
  • The Lot/Block/Subdivision parcel information will now no longer individually display if it has no value
  • In the “Request Info” section the field named “Inspection date” has been renamed “Scheduled date”.
  • If the inspector name is empty it will now say “Not assigned” instead of remaining blank.
  • Standard conditions are now an option to view. If this option is selected and there are no conditions a message “No conditions on record.” will be displayed.
  • Pending inspections have been removed.
  • CET and SDC fee schedules will no longer be shown. 
  • The price of fees has been removed from the report. The report will now say “Unpaid balance” if there is a balance due or “Paid in full” if all fees have been paid.
  • Related records are now an option to view. If this option is selected it will show records that are open at that same address.
  • Due to the exceptionally long run-time of this report, the date range option has been removed and the report can now only be run for one specific day at a time.
  • The owner has been added to the contacts when the “View Additional Contacts” option is selected.
  • Only surcharge eligible fee items for both DEQ and Building will now be shown. All Public Works fees will be displayed.

9. New “Scheduled Inspections List” Report (Live July 10)
The purpose of this report is to provide a very simplistic scheduled inspection list that can be run either for all inspectors, multiple different inspectors, or simply one inspector alone. There is no date parameter option for this report and it will only pull inspections that are scheduled for the day that the report is being run.

10. Revised “Structural Exemption Certificate” Report (Live July 17)
The “Structural Exemption Certificate” report will now automatically save a copy of the PDF to the Documents page on a record.

11. Revised “Work Site Result Request” Report (Live July 19)
There are now three reports that are going to be replacing the “Work Site Result Report By Record” and “Work Site Result Report For Today reports”. They are as follows:
  1. Inspection Result – Batch
  2. Inspection Result – Record
  3. Mobile Inspection Result
The purpose of these reports is to provide a printed or digital copy of the result of the inspection or alternatively provide a printed copy for the inspector to take out into the field and leave at the job site. This report can be run as a batch by date range (Inspection Result – Batch report) or at the record level (Inspection Result – Record report). This can also be run on a single inspection; this can be done from inside the inspection itself using the “Mobile Inspection Result” report from the reports button.  Finally, the Mobile Inspection Result can also be sent from the Accela Inspector app as well to be e-mailed.

12. Revised “Invoice” Report (Live July 19)
The new version of the invoice has a header that reflects the module that the record type is associated with.  For POS transactions the invoice header is determined by the module that the user is using when doing the POS transaction.

13. Additional Records Table Now Requires “Description” (Live July 19)
The Additional Records table that is used to automatically created additional related records now requires the “Description” column to populate the Description of Work for the new records.

14. New Onsite Permit Workflow Status “Pre-Cover Waived” (Live July 23)
A new workflow status was added to Onsite Permit records called, “Pre-Cover Waived”.  When selected, the workflow will advance to the next task, “Certificate of Satisfactory Completion”.
 
15. New “Open Records Review Status” Report (Live July 24)
This report is available for the Building and Onsite modules.  The report creates a spreadsheet that shows each open record .  For each of these records:
  • The current permit application status and date the application status was updated
  • The review status, the date the review was started, the date the review status was updated, and the reviewer.

16. Added “Allow Inspections Prior to Permit Issuance” to Public Works (Live July 25)
The “Allow Inspections Prior to Permit Issuance” checkbox was added to the Public Works Tracking and Public Works Investigation records.

17. Added “Closed Date” to Public Works (Live July 25)
The “Closed Date” field was added to the Public Works module records.  It will automatically populate when the workflow closes.

18. Added “Work Category” to Public Works and Onsite (Live July 25)
The “Work Category” column was added to the Professionals page for both the Public Works and Onsite modules.  This column will automatically populate the work categories selected in the LP details screen.

19. Added “Due Date” to Workflow Task Assignment Screen (Live July 25)
The “Due Date” field was added to the Workflow Task Assignment screen.

20. Revised Logic for Populating Workflow Emails Dropdowns (Live July 25)
The logic for populating the workflow email dropdown values for internal staff has been revised with the following changes:
  • Removes users from previous department when they move departments.
  • Accommodates an Engineering Department.
  • Removes the user called “Delegate User Delegate User” that was available from the Building dropdown.

21. Corrected an Issue with Fees Being Assessed on DWL Records (Live July 26)
There was an issue for a short period of time when fees were not automatically assessed at intake on DWL records (Plan Review, Permit, State Surcharge).  This was only happening for a few agencies.  This is now corrected.

22. New “Work Performed by Contractor” Report (Live July 26)
This report will pull in the work that is being performed by each contractor. This information can be found in the Professionals page (within the record) in the Work Category column. To add the work being done, this is achieved by clicking on the license number, and selecting Yes to the applicable radio buttons according to which work the contractor is performing at the job.

The report provided will contain the following fields and data:
  • Record number
  • Record type
  • Record status
  • Category of construction
  • Description of work
  • Owner
  • Parcel
  • Worksite address
  • Date the contractor was added to the record
  • Licensed professional
  • License number
  • License type
  • Work being performed

23. New “Planning Application Status” Report (Live July 27)
This report shows Planning Tracking records that were initiated  within the specified start and end date parameters.

The report is output as a spreadsheet.  Each planning tracking record shows:
  • the application type
  • the parcel number and address (if available)
  • the project name and work description
  • the initiated date
  • the application status and date the status was updated
  • the workflow step, status,  date the status was updated, the  assigned planner and any work flow comments.

24. Revised My Tasks Filter “Assigned Building Reviews” (Live July 31)
The “Assigned Building Reviews” filter on the My Tasks pages was revised with the following changes:
  • Shows all building-related review tasks with the following names:
                 o ​Building Review
                 o Electrical Review
                 o Fire Review
                 o Mechanical Review
                 o Plumbing Review
  • Available for the whole Building module.

25. Revised Subject Line for Emailed Reports (Live August 1)
The subject line for emailed reports was revised to include the record number at the beginning.

26. Corrected Scripting for School CET Fees (Live August 1)
There was an issue with the scripting that calculates the School CET fees where the Admin fee would include any Credited fees.  This has been corrected for all agencies assessing School CET fees.

27. New “Inspection Type Search” Report (Live August 7)
This report will allow you to search for any inspection type done within the date range selected from the parameter page. The report searches the inspection name for the value entered in the search parameter. So for example searching for “final” will pull in any inspections completed that contain the word “final” in the name within the date range provided. This will only show an inspection if it is considered an inspection trip. An inspection is considered a trip if the inspection status is Completed with a Result of Accepted, Approved, Approved with Conditions, or Not Required. Or if the inspection status is Cancelled with a Result of Denied, Information Only, No Access, Not Ready, or Partial. The report is automatically exported into MS Excel format.
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OSM Changes from Last Month

5/24/2018

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​1. Revised Transactions Applied Report (Live April 12)
The reports have been rewritten because we have several jurisdictions that have multiple offices and/or use multiple Accela modules.

There are 3 Transactions Applied reports: 
  • Transactions Applied by Account – there is a group and sub-total for each account
  • Transactions Applied by Module – there is a group and subtotal for each module and within each module there is a group and sub-total for each account
  • Transactions Applied by Office – there is a group and subtotal for each office and within each office there is a group and sub-total for each account

Each Transactions Applied report can also be filtered by specific offices and modules.  For jurisdictions that use account code 3 the reports can be run with account code 3 as well as account code 1.

If your agency does not have offices and only uses one module, select ‘-All-‘ from the Offices and Module dropdowns and use Transactions Applied by Account to get the new versions of the old reports.

The reports have been reorganized so that the summary appears first and the details follow.  
The header has been changed – the agency contact information has been replaced with the name, phone and email for the user that ran the report.

2. Revised Payments Received Report (Live April 12)
There are 4 Payments Received reports: 
  • Payments Received by Payment Method – there is a group and a sub-total for each payment method
  • Payments Received by Office – there is a group and subtotal for each office and within each office there is a group and sub-total for each payment method
  • Payments Received by Module – there is a group and subtotal for each module and within each module there is a group and sub-total for each payment method
  • Payments Received by Cashier – there is a group and subtotal for each cashier and within each cashier there is a group and sub-total for each payment method

To increase the flexibility of each Payment Received report, the user can select one or more payment methods, offices, or modules from drop down lists.  Individual cashier names can be listed to generate a report of a cashier’s activity.  Payments received through ACA can be filtered by using ‘Online’ for an office or ‘Public User’ for the cashier.

If your agency does not have offices and only uses one module, select ‘-All-‘ from the Offices and Module dropdowns and use Payments Received by Method to get the new versions of the old reports.

The reports have been reorganized so that the summary appears first and the details follow.  
The header has been changed – the agency contact information has been replaced with the name, phone and email for the user that ran the report.

3. Corrected Payments Received by Cashier, Office, Method, and Module (Live April 19)
  • The Payments Received by Module, Payments Received by Office, Payments Received by Cashier, and Payments Received by Payment Method reports have been updated.  
  • The summary section of the report has been revised. 
  • Here are the changes: 
  • A note appears at the bottom of the summary reminding users that Void Payments, Refunds and Void Refund payment actions may be performed on Payments from days before the reporting period.
  • If the parameter Separate_online is completed with ‘Yes’ the Payments Received by Module and Payments Received by Payment Method Summary section will have a total for Credit Card, but have subtotals for Credit Card – Online and Credit Card – Office (as applicable) for each payment action.
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4. New Report: Daily Acct Financial Summary (Live April 30)
The Daily Acct Financial Summary report is almost the same as the Daily Financial Summary, the report heading has changed and some of the titles for the columns have changed.

5. New Report: Daily Module Financial Summary (Live April 30)
The Daily Module Financial Summary report creates a summary section for each module.

6. New Report: Daily Office Financial Summary (Live April 30)
While the Daily Office Financial Summary creates a summary section for each office.
  • All three reports can be run for specific modules and/or offices.  
  • Online payments can be separated from other credit card payments.  
  • For those agencies that have offices, the No Office section indicates when payments/refunds/voids were processed but no choice was made in the office drop down.
  • The Online office is available to filter for just payments processed through ACA.

7. New custom list (custom table) for floodplain information (Live May 9)
A new custom list/table has been added across modules to capture floodplain information. It is available to be added to most record types in the Building, Planning, Public Works and Onsite modules. In the near future we will be adding a custom field (checkbox) to Building record types to indicate that the work is being performed in the floodplain as well as a floodplain report.
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OSM Changes from Last Month

4/12/2018

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1. Updated Transaction Receipt (Live March 6)
The Transaction Receipt was updated.  Please see the Kayako Knowledgebase article for the new features:
http://orepermittinghelp.kayako.com/Knowledgebase/Article/View/44/2/sample-reports-with-instructions

2. Corrected Onsite Permit Workflow (Live March 8)
An error was displaying intermittently when updating the Onsite Permit workflow on any of the Review tasks.  This error was corrected.

3. Corrected Cut Off Time for Canceling & Rescheduling Inspections Online (Live March 9)
Previously, inspections could be Canceled or Rescheduled after the Same Day, 7:00 AM cut off time through Citizen Access.  This has been corrected so that inspections cannot be scheduled, canceled, or rescheduled Same Day after 7:00 AM.

4. Corrected Building RV/Manufactured Home Parks Workflow (Live March 21)
Previously on the RV/Manufactured Home Parks workflow, when the “Ready to Issue” status was selected, no tasks were left activated so users would have to use the Supervisor feature to activate the Permit Issuance task.  This has been corrected where “Ready to Issue” will automatically activate the Permit Issuance task without using the Supervisor feature.
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OSM Changes from Last Month

3/8/2018

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1. New Document Types for Building & Planning Modules (Live Feb 2)
The following document types have been added:
Building Module:
  • Inspection Report
Planning Module:
  • Plans-Plot Plans
  • Plans-Other
  • General Correspondence
  • Notice
  • Staff Report
  • Internal Only
  • Incomplete letter
  • Comments & Submittals-Public
  • Comments & Submittals – Agencies
  • Evaluations and Drawings
  • Appeal

2. Added ‘Inspection Seq #’ Field (Live Feb 6)
The ‘Inspection Seq #’ field was added to the Inspection List, Record Inspection List, Inspection Detail for Supervisor, Inspection New Detail, and the Inspection Detail form.  Each inspection is assigned an Inspection Sequence # value and it can help you troubleshoot inspection scheduling issues when it is matched up to entries in the Inspection Log. 

3. Modified ‘Record Search’ Screen (Live Feb 7)
The ‘Record Search’ screen has been modified for the following modules:
Building Module:
  • Added search by ‘Custom Lists’ values
  • Added search by a variety of Activity values
  • Added search by ‘Set Name’ and ‘Set ID’
Licensing Module:
  • Added search by ‘Custom Lists’ values
  • Added search by a variety of Activity values
  • Added search by ‘Set Name’ and ‘Set ID’
Onsite Module:
  • Added search by ‘Custom Lists’ values
Planning Module:
  • Added search by ‘Custom Lists’ values
PublicWorks Module:
  • Added search by ‘Custom Lists’ values

4. Modified Standard Language for Onsite Reports (Live Feb 7)
In the Onsite module, the standard language that automatically appears on the Site Evaluation and Authorization reports has been modified based on the request of DEQ.

5. Revised Default Email Language (Live Feb 15)
When a report is generated and emailed from any of the OSM modules, there is default language in the body of the email.  The language was more specific for the Building module but has been revised to be much more generic across all modules.
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OSM Changes from Last Month

2/1/2018

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1. Corrected a typo in the Payment screen (Live Jan 5)
We corrected a typo that displays on the Payment screen when a user belongs to a user group that cannot process the payment using exceptional payment methods (Journal Entry, Billed, Credit Memo, Fee Waiver, or Write Off).

2. Removed ‘County’ field for Non-DEQ Onsite agencies (Live Jan 10)
Removed the “County” custom field in the Onsite module for all non-DEQ agencies.  This field was intended to be available only for DEQ agencies since they provide services for multiple counties.
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OSM Changes from Last Month

1/2/2018

 
 1. New Planning Reports
Application Type Summary List
This is a summary report for Planning Tracking records. The report is defaulted to group the records by the Application Type.
This report will pull the following additional data for the records:
  • All custom fields that are populated
  • All Activities (NOTE: These are Activities entered in the Activities page ONLY)
  • All Communications (NOTE: These are Communications sent through the Communications page ONLY)
  • All Inspections
  • All Workflow steps
  • All Fees
Below is the methodology of what qualifies a record to be included:
  • Only records in Planning Tracking
  • Records that are not in the status of Void or Withdrawn
  • Date range is determined by the date that the record was created
Assigned Active Case List
This report will provide a summary list of how many active records are assigned, and to whom. The subsequent pages will provide a high level overview of the records that are assigned to each individual. This report is defaulted to group the records by the assigned user
Below are the fields displayed for each assigned record:
  • Record number
  • Date assigned
  • Application type
  • Project name
Below is the methodology of what qualifies a record to be included:
  • Must be active
  • Must be in Planning Tracking
  • Date range is determined by the date that the record was created
  • Cannot be in any of these statuses:
                     o Void
                     o Withdrawn
                     o Expired
                     o Final Approval
                     o Final Denial
                     o Closed
Farm or Forest Use
This report will pull all records that have the “Farm or Forest Use” box checked. This will display all of the custom fields that are filled out.
Below is the methodology of what qualifies a record to be included:
  • Farm or Forest Use box MUST be checked
  • Must be active
  • Date range is determined by the date the record was created
Planning Investigation Caseload
This report is automatically exported to Microsoft Excel. It provides a high level overview of all active planning investigation records.

Below are the fields displayed for each record:
  • Record number
  • Project name
  • Description
  • Site address
  • Parcel number
  • Status
  • Opened date
  • Expiry date
  • Balance of fees
  • Assigned user
  • Date assigned
Below is the methodology of what qualifies a record to be included:
  • Must be an Investigation
  • Must be active
  • The status cannot be in Void, Invalid, or Closed
  • Date range is determined by the date the record was created
  • Must be assigned to the user selected in the Assigned User parameter (All is an option as well)
Investigation Detail Report
This report will run for only one record entered as a parameter. It will show all of the custom fields that are populated. 

This report will pull the following additional data for the entered record:
  • All custom fields that are populated
  • All Activities (NOTE: These are Activities entered in the Activities page ONLY)
  • All Communications (NOTE: These are Communications sent through the Communications page ONLY)
  • All Inspections
  • All Workflow steps
  • All Fees
Below is the methodology of what qualifies a record to be included:
  • Must be the record number that is entered in the parameter

2. Corrected Invoice 
The new version removes duplicate lines and corrects errors in the invoice fees total and balance due.

Along with the corrections 3 changes were made:
  • In the header there is a new data item called ‘Invoice modified on:’ which has a date and time for the last action (voided fee item, a payment applied to a fee item or a voided payment applied to a fee item) that occurred on any fee item.
  • The reason that a fee item was voided appears next to the voided fee item.
  • The primary or first owner attached to the record appears on the invoice.

3. New ‘Inspection Calendar Block Out Dates’ and ‘Inspection Holiday Block Out Dates’ Report
Agencies will want to pull both this report and the “Inspection Calendar Block Out Dates” report when looking for holiday block outs as some holiday’s like New Years Eve are listed with Block Out instead of the holiday name and they will not show on the Holiday Block Out report.
 
4. Update ‘Inspection Results' report for email to attach All Record Contacts
The new version will now have all record contacts listed verses only able to select a single contact.

OSM Changes from Last Month

12/1/2017

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1. Change in Documents ‘File Name’ Column (Live Nov 13)
The way in which the “File Name” column displays in the Documents page was changed so that it includes both the File Name and the Document Name, separated by a slash (/).  This was done to patch together inconsistencies between different views in Accela.

2. New Report: Assigned Planner (Live Nov 13)
A new report called “Assigned Planner” shows all open Planning records that are assigned to a user.  A parameter for Open After Date is used to filter records opened after a specific date.  The report lists details about each record assigned to the Planner and is grouped by assigned Planner.  The report also includes a summary with the number of assigned records, per Planner.  Unassigned records will not appear in the report - a record list My Filter can be used to locate unassigned records.

3. Revised Report: Bldg Program Data Request (Live Nov 13)
The Bldg Program Data Request report which can be used to complete the Building Program Data Request Form that must be submitted to Building Codes Division has been corrected for the FY 15-16.

The report has been modified to include Residential Sign, Residential Phased Project, and Commercial Phased Project record types.  

The inspection portion has been modified to include Inspections with a status of ‘Insp Cancelled’ and results of ‘No Access’, ‘Not Ready’ or ‘Information Only’.  

The last page of the report describes the contents of the report.

4. New Report: Contractor NonContractor Permits (Live Nov 13)
A new report has been installed called “Contractor NonContractor Permits”. 

With this report you can gather information for a specified time frame, the report lists record types and the number of permits issued to licensed professionals and to property owners or other applicants with percentages. 

You can find a sample of this report and other sample reports like this by going to the Knowledgebase and selecting the “Reports” category and the “Sample Reports with Instructions” article. You can access the knowledgebase at: http://orepermittinghelp.kayako.com/Core/Default/Index

5. Department Picker (Live Nov 13)
In the Planning module, the Record Search screen was updated so that the Assigned to Department and Assigned to Staff fields are dropdowns instead of “picker” icons.

6. Revised Report: Contractor NonContractor Permits (Live Nov 20)
Three changes were made to the new Contractor NonContractor Permits report (referenced in #4 above):
  1. Because the Commercial and Residential Site Development and Driveway Access record types differ in use from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, those record types were removed from the list.
  2. The Fence Record type is predominantly set up to allow a jurisdiction to do a review/inspection and work is frequently done by the property owner, it was removed.
  3. When a jurisdiction uses the Owner (Property) Licensed Professional type when the owner is doing his own work, those records will appear in a separate column.

7. Revised Report: Bldg Program Data Request (Live Nov 28)
A bug was found in the Bldg Program Data Request Report (referenced in #3 above).

Near the end of 2014, as the result of clarification fro the BCD Building Official, we switched from classifying Category of Construction = ‘Multi-family’  from Residential Structural to Commercial Structural.  The result of this is some agencies may have both Residential Structural with Category of Construction = ‘Multi-family’  and Commercial Structural with Category of Construction = ‘Multi-family’ showing in the reporting period of FY 15-16 that is currently being requested by Tyler Larson from the Building Codes Policy Team.  

Previously, if the Category of Construction equaled ‘Multi-family’, the report was only counting the Commercial Structural permits  in the ‘Multi-family’ category and putting the Residential Structural in the Residential ‘Other’ category.

If an agency had Multi-family permits during this reporting period (FY 15-16), the report should be rerun and resubmitted to Tyler Larson.

8. New Filter: ACA permits opened in the last 180 days but not issued (Live Nov 30)
This new filter is now being rolled out to Production. It's called "ACA permits opened in the last 180 days but not issued". It will show up in the Record List for the Building module. It includes all record types that have come in through ACA but are still in the status of “App Submitted”. It should help you catch anything that might have been missed or might need some follow-up work.
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OSM Changes from Last Month

11/8/2017

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1. Three New Reports: Inspections by Inspector, Address, or Record (Live Oct 6)
  • Purpose
    To provide a very simple summarized view of scheduled inspections with different grouping and sorts applied as described below.  All three reports can be found under the “Inspections” report category.
  • Parameters
    There is only one parameter that needs to be entered and that is the “Scheduled Inspection Date”. This report will pull all inspections that are scheduled for the date that is selected.
  • Three Different Reports
    The data shown is all exactly the same, just grouped and sorted differently; see the descriptions below to find out what the differences are between the three reports.
  • Inspections by Address
    This report will show all inspections scheduled for each address. All inspections and each inspector that is assigned to each inspection are displayed.
  • Inspections by Inspector
    This report will show all inspections assigned to each inspector.
  • Inspections by Record
    This report will show all inspections scheduled for each record. All inspections are displayed with the assigned inspector.
We will be improving these over the next few weeks based on your feedback.

2. Add “Conditions of Approval” for BuildingSupervisorAdminDaily (Live Oct 5)
The “Conditions of Approval” was added for users in the BuildingSupervisorAdminDaily usergroup.

3. PM License Holders (Live Oct 11)
Plumbing Business and Limited Maintenance Specialty Contractor (PM) license holders can now apply for both Residential and Commercial Plumbing permits online.

4. New Report: Withdrawn Void Records (Live Oct 12)
A new report called “Withdrawn Void Records” can be found in the “Activity” category of the Reports page. The report shows records that were set to the application status ‘Withdrawn’ or ‘Void’ on a day that falls within the report start date and end date.  The report can be run for a single department or multiple departments.  For each record in the report, the address, parcel, work description, status, status date, balance, and balance date are displayed if available.  The status comment displays if a comment was made.  All fees associated with the record are also displayed.

5. Revised Report: CETv3 Corrections (Live Oct 18)
CETv3 has been corrected so that it uses the school district name in the CET fee to determine which school district receives the fee.  Also, permits and fees are included in the report based on the date the fee was paid rather than the date the permit was issued.

6. Expanded Phone Fields (Live Oct 19)
The Phone fields were expanded so that the whole field value can be seen when in the New UI.

7. Comment Group Dropdown Now Visible (Live Oct 26)
When adding Standard Comments, the Comment Group dropdown was missing for some user groups.  This has been corrected for all user groups.

8. Expose Two New AdHoc Report Views (Live Oct 27)
Two new AdHoc Report views were exposed.  They are called V_CONDITION_RECORD and V_PARCEL_CONDITION.  Both views will display conditions.
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OSM Changes from Last Month

10/2/2017

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1. Revised Record Search Screen (Live Sept 12)
Zip Code search field was added to the Record Search screen and ASI was changed to Custom Fields.

2. 1 & 2 Family Dwelling – Type of Work (Live Sept 12)
The Type of Work field now defaults to New.

3. New Report: Phased Project Summary (Live Sept 19)
Purpose

The purpose of this report is to provide a high level summary view of a Phased parent record and all of its related child record.

Report header
Information in the report header contains the parent permit number, parent project construction type, parent site address, and the parent project name.

Sorting
Each report section is displayed with the phased (parent) record always on top, followed by the structural permits, and then each trade thereafter in alphabetical order.
Project Permit Summary Section
This section displays each child record that is related to the parent record, including the record status, valuation type, valuation amount, invoiced fee amount and description of work. At the end of this section the sum of the child record valuation amounts are compared to the parent record valuation amount, and if there is any difference, the valuation difference field will be highlighted in red and display the difference. Fees are also summarized at the end of this section.

Project Fee Summary by Permit Section
This section only shows what has been invoiced on the record and does not do any further financial checks beyond that (i.e. verify payment, refunds etc...). If a record does not have any fees it will say “none invoiced” in the fee item category field. Fees are summarized at the end of this section again.

4. CET Changes (Live for every agency by Sept 26)
We revised the display of the CET fields so that they are shown on their own tab called, “Construction Excise Tax” but the fields and selections haven’t changed.  Each agency who assesses CET fees was contacted individually throughout the month of September by ePermitting staff to announce the changes were completed in Production.  All agencies should now see the new Construction Excise Tax tab.
Picture
0 Comments

OSM Changes

9/1/2017

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1. Revised Report: Inspections Completed (Live 8/8)
A new parameter was added to this report to select the Inspector Name to generate the data for.  The parameter is a dynamic dropdown list where “All” inspectors within an agency can be selected or an individual inspector.

2. New Licensed Professional Work Categories (Live 8/8)
Five additional work category fields have been added to the Licensed Professionals, listed below.  The work category is a way to note the type of work each LP is doing on an individual permit.
  • Insulation
  • Limited Energy
  • Plumbing – Exterior/Site Utilities
  • Sheetrock
  • Solar/Renewable Energy

3. New Report: Structural Exemption Certificate (Live 8/8)
A Structural Exemption Certificate report has been created for the Commercial Agricultural Equine record type.  This report will contain all of the application specific questions and entered answers, comments placed by the jurisdiction, worksite address, and the Address/Parcel/Owner information. This report can be found under the “Permit Specific” reports section with the title “Structural Exempt Certificate”. The purpose of this report is to provide a document showing that an exemption review has been done and then whether it was approved as exempt or denied and requiring permit(s).

Things to keep in mind:
  • Comments entered in the “Comments and Conditions” box in the specific workflow task “Exemption Review” will be displayed on the report. If there are no comments, then the comments section will not appear.
  • “Certificate not issued – review of application not complete” message will appear if the workflow task status for the “Exemption Review” has not been resulted to “Approved” or “Denied” through the workflow task.

4. Revised Report: Detailed Inspection Report (Live 8/10)
As requested and prioritized from multiple agencies, a variety of changes were made to the Detailed Inspection Report.  Please see last page for a detailed list of parameter selections and the layout of the data.

5. Prevent Payments on EST or TMP Records (Live 8/11)
Previously and through a very convoluted path, Accela would incidentally allow a payment to be submitted on both EST and TMP records but the payment was no longer visible once the record was submitted and became a real record.  A script was put in place so that payments can no longer be submitted on EST or TMP records.

6. Updated Message for Applicant on the Intake Form (Live 8/25)
A red message displays for the Applicant section on the Intake Form as a reminder to enter a name in either the Full Name, Last Name, or Organization Name fields.  This message was mistaken very often for an error message.  The message has been revised to say it is not an error.

7. Resolved Issue: Schedule or Result Inspections for any Status on Onsite Records (Live 8/25)
Now, inspections can be scheduled and/or resulted on Onsite records regardless of the record status when “Allow Inspections Prior to Permit Issuance” in the custom fields tab is checked.

8. Inspection Result Email Includes Result Date (Live 8/28)
The inspection result date was added to the optional email that can be sent out to the customer from the back office when inspections are resulted.  The result date was inadvertently missing from the email content.

9. CET Changes
We revised the display of the CET fields so that they are shown on their own tab called, “Construction Excise Tax” but the fields and selections haven’t changed.  These changes go along with revisions made to the complex scripting that goes on behind the scenes to assess and calculate the CET fees.  Because of the complexity of the changes and the custom school districts for each agency, we are pushing these changes out individually to each agency.  You will be contacted by ePermitting staff when it is your agency’s turn to move to the new CET display and revised scripting.
0 Comments

OSM Changes

8/1/2017

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1. Revised Report: Building Permit (Live Aug 17th)
The main goal with re-writing the Building Permit was to improve the efficiency of the report so that it generates faster. Other goals included slight layout changes and basic cleanup of the permit.  You can see an example of the new Building Permit appended to the end of this newsletter.

Is anything new with the Building Permit?
Yes! The following are new additions/features with the Building Permit:
1. Conditions of Approval:
These are shown in the “Additional Information/Requirements” section, when displayed on the permit, on the last page. If no Conditions of Approval exist then nothing will be displayed. The ability to toggle a Condition of Approval to display on the permit can also be controlled by checking/unchecking the “Display on ACA” check-box option (defaults as checked) when creating or editing the Condition of Approval.

2. Inspections:
The inspection section has now been split into two sections. The section that will display the pended inspections is named “PENDING INSPECTIONS”. This section will display only if a pending inspection exists. If no pending inspection is on the record, then it will not be displayed on the permit. The second section is named “SCHEDULING INSPECTIONS”. This section will always be displayed and contains the verbiage about inspections (see the verbiage change section below).

3. IVR Number:
The IVR phone and tracking number is now displayed in two places on the permit. It has now been added beneath the permit number at the top of the Building Permit for quick reference.

4. Licensed Professionals:

The primary contractor will now always be displayed on the top of the list if there are multiple contractors associated to the record and performing work.
There have also been changes with certain verbiage within the Building Permit.  They are as follows:
  1. Inspections section header:
    Before: “INSPECTIONS – Additional inspections may be required through the life of the project.”
    After: “PENDING INSPECTIONS” and “SCHEDULING INSPECTIONS” separately.
  2. Inspection section scheduling information:
    Before: ​   
Picture
​           After (now displayed in the SCHEDULING INSPECTIONS section)
Picture
3. Permit Fees section header:
Before:  “PERMIT FEES – Permit fees may change after staff review”
After: “PERMIT FEES”

Will there be training on the new Building Permit?
There will be a training to outline how to toggle the display of a Condition of Approval on/off, how to ensure pending inspections are displayed on the permit, and that when the home owner is the one performing work that important information displays properly on the permit.

2. Revised Report: Certificate of Satisfactory Completion (Live Aug 17th)
The Certificate of Satisfactory Completion report has been completely re-written. It has a more similar look and feel to the new permit. Type of Work with Valuation, Job Site information, Services (fees), Contractor Information and completed inspections are on the Certificate.  While these have always been displayed, the lay out now matches that of the new Permit.  The biggest change with the Certificate is that a red banner with white text will display in the first section indicating that the Certificate has not actually been issued if it meets any of the following criteria. There are two different notifications on this note:

“Certificate Not Issued Due to Insufficient Information” will display if one more of these is true:
  • Category of Construction is blank
  • Type of Work is blank
  • Description of Work is blank
  • There is no Owner on the record
​
“Certificate Not Issued – Permit Not Finaled” will display if the following is true:
  • Permit does not show as “Finaled” in the record status
You can see an example of the new Certificate of Satisfactory Completion appended to the end of this newsletter. 

3. Revised Report: Building Placard (Available Now)
The Building Placard was not re-written but did have minor design corrections and changes that may have prevented the Placard from being used. The changes are as follows:
  • Watermark has been resized
  • Lines will no longer be cut off by the watermarks
  • Owner / Builder can now grow in size instead of cutting off the names if they were too long
  • Fonts now appropriately sized to fit on the page
You can see an example of the new Building Placard appended to the end of this newsletter.

4. New Report: Lookup by Invoice (Available Now)
Accela doesn’t provide an easy way to search by Invoice Number so a new report was developed as a simple searching tool to find what record an Invoice Number belongs to.  The report is available in all modules under Financial Reports v3 and is called Lookup by Invoice #.

5. New Report: C of Os Issued (Available Now)
A new building report is available under the Monthly category named C of Os Issued. This report shows the details of all Certificates of Occupancy issued in the specified timeframe so you can review the information quickly, as requested from our last Focus Training on Reconciling Exceptional Payment Methods.
0 Comments

OSM Changes

7/5/2017

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1. Affordable Housing CET
We built a new feature in OSM to accommodate agencies who are charging for Affordable Housing CET fees.  Please submit an email to [email protected]v if your agency will implement this fee.

2. Resolved Global Search
We worked closely with Accela to resolve an issue with Global Search so now your search results should be accurate.

3. New OSM Inspector Route Sheet Report
The report will show the scheduled inspections for a specified time frame for a particular inspector (or inspectors) or all inspectors within an agency.  The report lists the inspections in route number order, if route numbers have been assigned.  If no route numbers have been assigned the order is by permit number then inspection.
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