Situation Assessment
A person or business looking to complete a construction project needs to provide the City of Chicago numerous forms and supporting documentation in order to obtain approval for their project. In the past, this meant navigating several City departments to get the proper information and approvals to move the project forward. To streamline permitting for the City's constituents, Mayor Daley created the Department of Construction and Permits - a one-stop-shop for obtaining approvals for projects.
One of the key issues that this new department recognized was the need to inform constituents of all of the necessary applications they must complete, special conditions based on the location of the project, costs and supporting documentation specific to the unique project and location. Often times, constituents would have to make numerous trips to City Hall to complete the process. The Department of Construction and Permits needed to better inform applicants based on their unique needs, but also recognized that providing better information would reduce costs for the department as well.
Solution Overview
Risetime created the Permit Wizard, a simple tool that allows applicants to respond to a series of questions about the project they are looking to complete. Based on the responses, a custom document repository is created. The simple questionnaire results in a comprehensive set of documentation to prepare the applicant for the application process. This includes all of the forms that a applicant has to complete, information to help them understand the process, documentation on special holds based on address or project type, an explanation of what must be brought with them to apply for a permit, and other relevant information. In addition, where e-Permitting exists, the applicant can complete the permitting process online.
Risetime worked with the Department to gather and categorize all content that is required and then establish appropriate questions or groupings of questions to allow a user to describe their unique set of conditions. A content management process was established using web-based content management tools to allow the Department to administer questions and content to ensure that as policies or processes changed, the system reflected new requirements.