Commercial Alarm and Suppression – Structural Plan Review Fee to Now be Added/Assessed Automatically1/2/2024 Currently, when this record type is created via ACA, no plan review fee is added. In those cases, when plan review is required, a back office staff member has to “Add fee”. When the record is created by back office staff, there is a Yes/No radio button that staff members must set to Yes in order to assess the Structural Plan Review fee. We have heard from several agencies that the structural plan review fee is required in several instances and that people often forget to add it (especially when the application has come in through ACA).
With this update, scripting has been revised so that the Structural Plan Review fee will now assess automatically when the record is created (regardless of whether it's created in the back office or through Citizen Access) and in the case where it is not required, back office users can delete it before invoicing the fees. In conjunction with the scripting change, the Y/N radio button for Structural Plan Review mentioned above will be removed/hidden. Valuation Calculator enabled on Citizen Access: Public users will be able to see all of the Valuation Calculator values that have been added to the record in the back office except the Multiplier and Extra Amount. Public users will be able to navigate to the Valuation Calculator from the "Record Info/Schedule Inspections" dropdown menu.
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Linn County joined Oregon ePermitting in Fall 2023: welcome Linn County!
We’ve added two new statuses to the Hearing task for the Planning Tracking record type:
These changes are now live in production and will be available for previously created Planning Tracking records as well as new records. To find an updated Planning Tracking Workflow Diagram (a diagram showing how each of the statuses moves through/affects the overall Planning Tracking workflow) please click here. When submitting help desk tickets by email to ePermitting, please start only using epermitshelp.bcd@dcbs.oregon.gov and discontinue using [email protected].
We’ve had a lot of questions recently about the Dashboard versus the My Tasks page in Accela. Here is some helpful information to help you decide which view/page is best for you.
Dashboard The Dashboard is the default landing/home page when you first login to Accela each day, it is the upper-most left icon in the blue. When the task cards/list is first displayed at login, it is not accurate – you must first apply a filter to it for the displayed items to be correct. The suggested filter to start with is ‘My Active Tasks’ or ‘My Active Tasks – All Modules’ – either of these specific filters will show you all of your assigned Workflow tasks for your preferred module or for all modules, depending on which you select. All system filters are available in the My Filters dropdown to be applied. Filter results/displayed task cards cannot be further sorted or exported in any way. There are some quick controls available on each task card type (three dots in upper right-hand corner of the card) that can be helpful for resulting inspections or assigning unassigned Workflow tasks. My Tasks My Tasks is a page available from Launchpad > All Pages, you can favorite it here to add it to Your Pages. This page contains all the exact same information as the Dashboard, but is organized into the four functional assignment areas in Accela – Workflow, Inspection, Document Review, and Activities. In this way, all of the displayed tasks are not commingled – and the available Filters for each of the four tabs are also specific to that assignment area. The Workflow tab includes only Workflow-related filters, the Inspection tab includes only Inspection-related filters, and so on. Once data is displayed on any given tab, the data/filter results can be further sorted (by Address, Record Type, Assigned To, Assigned Date, Due Date, Task Type, etc) by clicking the column header. The displayed data/filter results can also be exported to Excel and/or printed if needed. We tend to recommend the My Tasks page over the Dashboard, particularly for newer users as it is more organized into the different assignment areas as are the Filters for each area, requiring much less in-depth knowledge of the system and of the filters which can be very helpful. Also the added functionality of being able to sort and export can be much more efficient when processing the filter results for yourself or for your workgroup. You can set My Tasks as your custom landing/home page, if desired – so the Dashboard would no longer be displayed by default at login – to do this see the Setting a Customer Landing/Home Page in Accela article, article in this months January BLOG. Important Note! Although some user groups might have permissions to do so, never delete any items from the Dashboard or from the My Tasks page – doing so will actually delete these items (tasks/inspections/documents/activities) from the database and from your records. ePermitting has had only mixed success in restoring data that has been deleted in this way, so please be very aware that you aren’t just deleting ‘completed’ items from your task list, you are actually deleting them altogether!
In response to Agency requests, we are moving Code Compliance out of the Planning module and into its own module! This new module will have the exact same record type/design/functionality but will be in its own dedicated module.
Providing Code Compliance as a dedicated module, now allows Code officers and staff to much more easily manage their cases apart from Planning applications and other Planning-specific configuration. User access to Code cases and data can now also be more specifically managed and/or restricted. We are also improving upon existing Code reports and have created a new Code-specific inspection work site report, that include the Code-specific inspection results. For any agency that is already using the Planning Investigation record type for cases will have all its data moved into the new dedicated module. The record type will be renamed from “Planning Investigation” to “Code Compliance.” We will notify agencies in advance of this transition, and work directly with agency staff on the details. Stay tuned! Unfortunately, we cannot cap inspections in the Oregon Model because the only way to cap inspections in Accela is to ‘weight’ each individual inspection type which is not likely something we could standardize across agencies. Additionally, there are many, varying factors that affect inspection loads each day: inspector certifications, drive time to inspections, staffing, and much, much more. Our best-practice recommendation for managing inspection load, is to do the following: Each afternoon, go into MY TASKS page > Inspections tab > run the ‘Tomorrow's Inspections’ filter:
and determine then - a day ahead - if any inspections need to be rescheduled. If they do - PLEASE NOTE, rescheduling does NOT send any email or notification to the Requestor - you will have to reach out to customers to let them know their inspections are being rescheduled to whatever day you determine. You also have an available filter called ‘Inspections Scheduled in the Next Two Weeks’ if you wish to look ahead a little further - but note, new inspections are being scheduled every day - so if you look ahead too soon or too far, then it is very likely that additional new inspections will be scheduled regardless. If you are needing to actively Cancel (versus Rescheduling), then it is most ideal to click in to the individual inspection and actually result it as 'Cancelled' and then send the result email that generates in the back office.   The only downside to this automated email you have the option to send in the back office, is that you cannot include any other text or information, it is a canned email - but does still state that the inspection has been cancelled and includes your agency's contact information. Alternatively, you have the option to checkbox the scheduled inspection - in MY TASKS > Inspections > Manage Inspections > Cancel Inspections from the list level (rather than the individual inspection level) - but this method does NOT send any notification or communication to the Requestor, so like rescheduling - you would have to specifically reach out to the requestor to let them know their inspection can't be completed as scheduled and is being cancelled (versus rescheduled for a different date).  Both of the above methods for cancelling inspections, result in a new pending instance of the cancelled inspection type for further/future scheduling.
When a customer requests – or your agency has too many inspections for the day – you have the option to RESCHEDULE a scheduled inspection. Once an inspection is rescheduled, NO email or notification is sent to the Requestor, so please consider this in your process – placing a call or sending an adhoc email from inside the record to notify the record contacts that the scheduled inspection has been rescheduled and include the reschedule details (reason, new date, etc).
 With the Accela Upgrade, there were some changes to the public facing website(ACA). We have updated the ePermitting Online Training (https://www.oregon.gov/bcd/epermitting/howto/Pages/index.aspx) with updated screenshots.
The training site has a walkthrough of most everything a customer can do on ACA. We have also updated the Online Homeowner Applications document. This is the document you the jurisdiction can give to a home owner. So they can walkthrough an application online using the Owner License. The document has a fresh layout and updated screenshots. We were recently informed that Bluebeam will no longer allow the concurrent licensing model that we are currently providing for electronic document review. ePermitting will continue to provide Bluebeam, but we will be providing a set number of individual licenses to each jurisdiction.
We will be paying for the annual renewal costs of those licenses. We are finalizing our agreement with Bluebeam, so the number of licenses per jurisdiction has not yet been determined. After we execute the agreement, we will be reaching out first to jurisdictions that are currently using Bluebeam, so that they can continue to use it without interruption. Then, we will then be giving licenses to all ePermitting jurisdictions, since everyone will be required to accept electronic plans by January 1, 2025. We will provide updates through emails/GovDelivery as we get more information. Please be sure to read to the bottom of this article for important information regarding the implementation of these changes. We have created an enhancement to allow ACA applicants to declare their additional Energy Measures when applying for dwelling or residential structural record types. Additionally, we are moving where this information is displayed in the back office of Accela. When the Additional Energy Measures fields were originally added to the model, they were included in the building review task. At that time, because of how the Accela back office interface was structured, that made the most sense. Over the years as we have upgraded, changes in Accela have made it more difficult for users to go back and find that information. We’re now adding a new tab to the main menu navigation for residential dwelling and residential structural record types, making it much easier for users to find and/or update. Previously entered in the Building Review workflow task. Once the review was complete, the user would need to navigate to the building review task in Workflow History to once again view and/or update the information.   With this enhancement, the information is now available to be recorded and viewed in it’s own tab within the left hand navigation panel (screenshot below is for the Residential Structural Record type and now allows the user to choose from the correct tables based on the size of an addition):  In ACA, for the DWL record types, there is a single field:  For the Residential Structural record type in ACA, additional energy measures are in their own section in order to provide more context for users to know which table they should be selecting from. We’ve also included a link to the source document (Residential energy additional measure selection (oregon.gov):  Implementation: This enhancement we will be rolled out one agency at a time. As part of the implementation we will be migrating the current energy measure data (for all existing records) from the building review in workflow to the new tab. When we are ready to start implementing this enhancement for your agency, we will reach out to your designated agency contact with the details of the implementation/migration and to answer any questions they may have. Please keep an eye out for these communications as it will be important for you to respond in a timely manner and for you to communicate the changes to your internal users.
To help agencies specifically keep track of the Air Leakage/Sealing Compliance Method on dwelling construction- a new inspection type called 1465 Blower Door has been added to the Model.
When agencies begin their residential plan review, it is recommended that they PEND this inspection to the record when the plans indicate that the dwelling should be tested to demonstrate the blower door result (rather than a declaration that they are meeting the requirements of Table N1104.8). Please note the related citation for your information: N1104.8.2 Sealing required. Exterior joints around window and door frames, between wall cavities and window or door frames, between walls and foundation, between walls and roof, between wall panels, at penetrations or utility services through walls, floors and roofs and all other openings in the exterior envelope shall be sealed in a manner approved by the building official. Sealing for the purpose of creating a continuous air barrier shall be in accordance with the applicable requirements of Table N1104.8 or the dwelling shall be tested to demonstrate a blower door result not greater than 4.0 ACH50.
Production Upgrade Schedule
Production is scheduled to be upgraded the weekend of May 5. Oregon ePermitting will be providing regular updates and more information in the coming weeks as we progress through our testing and the upgrade project. You can look forward to some more GovDelivery emails, as well as updates on our Accela Upgrade Information website which can be found at: https://www.oregon.gov/bcd/epermitting/juris_hub/Pages/upgrade-info.aspx This new training document will walk the user through the collection of payment at Intake (versus at Issuance) and how to further process the application from there. Step-by-step instruction and screenshots are included to assist with this process.
Follow this link for more information: http://orepermittinghelp.kayako.com/Knowledgebase/Article/View/processing-plan-review-payments-intake Deciding how to review and permit for structures with 3 or more units can be complicated - in this new training document you will be provided with code-driven direction on making the distinction between these structure types and then how to review and permit for them.
Follow link to full article: http://orepermittinghelp.kayako.com/Knowledgebase/Article/View/defining-and-permitting-townhouses-and-multifamily-structures The following changes have been made to the expiration batch scripts: All modules:
 Building module:
Building, Planning, and PublicWorks modules:
Previously, the expiration letters for all modules showed all the inspection scheduling methods that are available for the public to use. However, some agencies, particularly for the Onsite module, have elected to not allow inspections to be scheduled by the public so this message was confusing. To address this scenario, we have allowed the display of the inspection scheduling methods to be optional for either Onsite, Planning, or the PublicWorks modules. If your jurisdiction does not allow inspection scheduling by the public, please submit a help desk ticket by emailing [email protected] and we can remove this message on the expiration letters for you. Please note that the inspection scheduling methods will always be available for the Building module and cannot be removed. Example of optional inspection scheduling methods on expiration letters:  We are now receiving routine updates for Land Surveyors, a new license type available to all participating ePermitting agencies, as of March 1, 2023. This license is issued by Oregon State Board of Examiners for Engineering & Land Surveying (OSBEELS) and is generally used within the Planning module. These licensed professionals can now be added to records through the back office. However, Land Surveyors are unable to apply for any new applications through Citizen Access.
We’ve made some changes to the required fields for the 1 & 2 Family Dwelling [DWL] record type. The following fields are now REQUIRED at intake for applicants online and also for staff creating new records in the back office:
These changes were made at the request of agencies who reported that customers were often not entering the necessary information in these fields which impact fees, and that as a result, it was sometimes causing delays in getting permits issued. These changes fall in line with the required fee methodologies for new single-family dwellings. While we recommend using the 1 & 2 Family Dwelling record type as a true and complete combination permit when possible, please note that ‘0’ is a valid value and could be used, for example, if the plumbing contractor had pulled the plumbing permits separately. For those of you that do not have a full program, and therefore only offer the DWL_LTD record type, these changes will not affect what the customer is presented for programs that you do not offer. For example, if you do not have the Electrical program, the customer will not see or be required to complete the ‘Work Includes 600 Amp Service or Greater’ field. The PublicWorks Tracking record type under the "Erosion and Sediment Control" tab has been modified, as of Tues, Feb 28, 2023 to better accommodate DEQ's new MS4 requirements.
BEFORE: The following existing checkboxes have been removed:
AFTER: The following two new fields have been added:
Bluebeam has announced plans to end support for Revu versions from 2019 and older.
We see that some of our Oregon users are using older versions of Revu. Please let your planners or anyone with BlueBeam installed that they will need to upgrade to Revu 20. With ePermitting's concurrent licenses, you can update to the latest version using the latest Product Key. If you need the latest Product Key, please submit a helpdesk ticket by emailing [email protected]. Here are instructions on how to update BlueBeam from an older version: https://support.bluebeam.com/articles/revu-upgrade-to-latest-version/ |
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