Why CommunityCore?
In every city or county building department, there are bottlenecks that make the job harder than it needs to be. Budget overruns, lost paperwork, missed deadlines, and mounting frustration are just a few of the daily stresses that are all too familiar when your manual processes or outdated software just aren’t working.
Overcome Your Unique Challenges
It’s time to consider an automated solution designed to help your department function more efficiently, reduce waste, and communicate better inside and outside the department. Created by people who have worked in building departments like yours, CommunityCore Solutions are simple, yet flexible enough to handle the work you and your team do every day.
Rely on Unmatched Support
When questions or issues do arise, our Customer Support team is second to none. We offer a truly unique combination—large company strength and stability together with small company personalized and responsive support.
Work Anywhere
Your work takes you out of the office, so why rely on technology that keeps you chained to your desk? Our mobile app lets you view workloads, write notes, take pictures, and communicate easily while in the field, even without an internet connection.
Key Strengths
Offline capabilities in a mobile app
Simple to navigate permitting system
Uniquely personal customer support
MORE USABLE
- Access inspection tools designed for ease of use anywhere, in or out of the office.
- Use fewer clicks to get work done.
- Easily find the tools to accomplish tasks thanks to a clean look and feel.
- Quickly share information wherever it’s needed.
MORE FLEXIBLE
- Use jurisdiction-defined workflows and inspection lists.
- Easily mold a workflow to meet a specific permit’s needs.
- Adjust inspection list for an individual permit as needed.
MORE ORGANIZED
- Effortlessly see activity at any given address.
- Receive automatic notifications when key events occur.
- Easily manage, organize, and track a variety of information.
- Reduce the need for paper.
MADE FOR YOU
- Designed and tested by permit techs, inspectors, building officials, and plans examiners.
- Created specifically to meet the needs of local governments.
Case Studies
The City of Powder Springs had many neighborhoods impacted by the floodwaters. SAFEbuilt and Powder Springs used the Meritage Permitting to capture all flood damage assessments as flood inspections under a specially created Flood Permit. Assessment forms were scanned into the system and attached to these permits. As property owners came to the city to pull permits, these flood permits were issued for any repair work. If the owner took this opportunity to upgrade or add on to the building, the flood permit was closed out and the information was cloned to create a new building permit.
This allowed City and SAFEbuilt staff to track the progress of rebuilding efforts and identify abandoned structures that required more City involvement. The result was that every structure was rehabilitated or demolished in a timely, efficient and owner-friendly manner.
The Town needed a building department solution to help them manage the volume and complexity of their development activity. By implementing Meritage Permitting in 2009, Firestone has been able to generate, track and report building permit activity, permit fees, and inspection results with precision and confidence.
Some of the features they have found most useful include the ability to have access to all files and records in one, easy to find place; look at the permit history from submittal date to closing date; follow the inspection history; and breakdown fees, permits, and CO’s issued for their monthly reports and for balancing their general ledger.
They have also found it fast and straight fowarded to add new permit types or fees.
Firestone has also seen the benefit sharing permit information with several of their departments – the Water Department is able to verify that a permit has been issued before setting a meter; the Public Works Department verifies that a permit has been issued prior to releasing a water tap; Administration can manage contractor registration, business licenses, and sales tax licenses in the same program; and Code Enforcement officers have the ability to search the permit database from the field, allowing them to know immediately whether a construction project has been permitted.
In 2010, they implemented the on-line permitting module, which has allowed residents and contractors to apply and pay for permits on-line for those projects that don’t require a plan review (e.g., water heater replacement, A/C installation, siding, re-roof, etc.).
One of the special needs Meritage met was to define a custom workflow allowing the town to track public information requests and information delivered pursuant to the Colorado Open Records Act.