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2015 Desk Manual
Last Updated: 5/29/2015
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Table of Contents
Accela Basics ................................................................................................................................................. 3
An Introduction to ePermitting................................................................................................................. 3
Terminology & Acronym List ..................................................................................................................... 4
Navigation - AA ......................................................................................................................................... 5
Processes – AA ............................................................................................................................................ 13
Accounting & Fees .................................................................................................................................. 13
Addresses ................................................................................................................................................ 28
Applications............................................................................................................................................. 29
Citizen Access (ACA) ................................................................................................................................ 31
Comma Separated Values (CSV’s) Export ............................................................................................... 39
Inspections .............................................................................................................................................. 39
IVR (Interactive Voice Response) Phone System .................................................................................... 41
My QuickQueries..................................................................................................................................... 43
Planning Module ..................................................................................................................................... 44
Professionals and Contacts ..................................................................................................................... 45
Records ................................................................................................................................................... 47
Reports .................................................................................................................................................... 49
Workflow................................................................................................................................................. 50
Reference Materials & Index ..................................................................................................................... 53
ePermitting Terminology ........................................................................................................................ 53
Frequently Asked Questions ................................................................................................................... 63
Inspection Choices .................................................................................................................................. 69
Plan Revisions/Deferred Submittals/Phased Projects ............................................................................ 70
Certificates of Occupancy/Satisfactory Completion ............................................................................... 71
Record Types List .................................................................................................................................... 72
Helpful Links ............................................................................................................................................ 74
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Accela Basics
An Introduction to ePermitting
Welcome to Oregon ePermitting! First introduced in 2011, full service ePermitting is a statewide
initiative that allows contractors to submit building permits online for multiple jurisdictions through
one centralized system. Our goal is to create consistency for the contractors who purchase permits
in Oregon and to assist Oregon cities and counties in providing efficient services through
ePermitting’s web based system.
This manual is for the various jurisdictions that are pioneering the use of full service ePermitting. It
contains information about navigating the website, step-by-step processes, and it contains an FAQ
section to assist with troubleshooting. It is a living document and will be updated frequently. Please
do not print out or save this manual to your hard drive, because it may go out of date quickly. By
accessing this manual through the link on the log in page for the back office, you can ensure that
you will be using the most recent version.
Our office, a section of the Building Codes Division, provides support for the website through a
helpdesk ticket system and through our helpdesk phone line. If you have a question about options
for changing settings, creating user accounts, or suggestions for improvements, please submit a
helpdesk ticket. If you need immediate assistance, please call our helpdesk at 503-373-7396.
The Service Provider: Accela
Accela, Inc. develops systems and services for government agencies. Accela has provided our office
with the platform for ePermitting, saving the State of Oregon the cost of having to develop a system
from the ground up.
Using Accela’s foundation, our team here at the Building Codes Division creates the walls and roof
that complete the structure that is ePermitting, such as the coding that connects a permit item to a
fee. You, as the jurisdiction, assist in creating and maintaining everything inside the structure, such
as records and addresses.
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Terminology & Acronym List
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AA- Accela Automation, also known as the “Back Office,” is the web based portal that
jurisdictions use to access Accela.
ACA- Accela Citizens Access is the web based portal available to the public.
AMO- Accela Mobile Office is software that can be downloaded to a laptop for use in the
field to get inspection results and search for permit information.
APO- Address, Parcel and Owner. These three items are the key pieces of information tied
to the property for which the permit is being purchased. APO is usually obtained on a
regular basis from the County Assessors Office.
ASI- Application Specific Information. This is the information that will be unique to each
permit. For example, APO is a standard part of each permit, but the fees for a mechanical
permit would be specific to that type of permit, so fees would be considered ASI.
CSV- Comma Separated Values are groups of information that can be transferred to an Excel
spreadsheet and used for a variety of report or mailing tasks.
EDR- Electronic Document Review is software from Adobe Acrobat Pro and Compara that is
integrated into Accela. It allows Building Officials to review and add notes to plans that have
been submitted online.
Inspector App- This is a mobile application that inspectors can download to their phone or
tablet so that they can update inspection statuses or obtain permit information in the field.
Portlet- A section of the webpage dedicated to display specific information and perform
specific tasks. Portlets make up the console layout seen on the screen. ‘My Navigation’ and
‘Record List’ are examples of portlets.
SPEAR form- This is the same thing as an application intake form. The SPEAR form is where
the customer will provide information needed for their permit.
TSI- Task Specific Information fields comprise of information that is needed before a
particular task can be completed.
UAT- User Acceptance Testing is the testing done by the jurisdiction’s project team to
confirm that the system is working correctly. This is especially important to ensure that fees,
converted (historical) permits, and inspections work correctly once the system is in
production.
Workflow- The workflow is what we call the process that each permit goes through from
start to finish as it moves through the system from the permit technician, to plan reviewers,
and finally to inspectors.
An expanded terminology list is available in Reference Materials & Index, located here.
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Navigation - AA
This section will give you a general sense of how ePermitting’s web-based system is organized and
where to locate certain features.
The website is organized using portlets. Portlets are like portals to
groups of information. For example, the reports portlet (shown to the
left) would allow you to access report information. In the upper right
hand corner of each portlet is this menu:
This allows
you to refresh, minimize, or maximize the portlet. When you find that
a portlet is not displaying updated information, click refresh on the
portlet, rather than refresh on your web browser. The refresh button
is on the left hand side of that bar and looks like two arrows in a circle.
Portlets sometimes have page numbers that allow you to browse
through additional information. You can also see more records in a
portlet by selecting Expand List from the portlet menu, though if there
is enough information, you may still need to look through pages.
The website uses SPEAR forms to collect information. These will often
be in pop up windows and will be comprised of the fields that form an
application.
The first screen you will see after you log in is the Home Screen. In the Home Screen you will see
links along the top of the page and two columns of portlets below the links.
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The User Info portlet, shown in this example to the left, with the
jurisdiction’s logo is the top portlet on the left side.
Your user information will also be displayed in the top right hand
corner of the webpage. Included in this information is your user
level, full name, a shortcut to the Alerts portlet, and the link to sign
out.
If you have multiple user levels, such as when a person works in
planning as well as building in a department, the user level
information will also be a drop down menu. If you are a user in
multiple jurisdictions, you may have a drop down menu to change
your jurisdiction as well. This allows you to access records in
various agencies without logging out and back in again.
The Alerts portlet is
located directly to the
right of the User Info
portlet, and is the first
main portlet on the page.
The title of each portlet is
in the upper left hand
corner of the portlet.
You will receive an alert
message in the Alerts
portlet when applications
are submitted, payments
are made, and when
documents are uploaded
in ACA.
You can delete an alert by clicking the checkbox next to the message and then clicking ‘Delete.’ If
an alert is not deleted, it will disappear after 90 days.
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The next portlet as your scroll down is the Record portlet, which displays the five most recent
records. This portlet is where all the information is stored for records that have been created. In the
building module, these will likely be building permits, or temporary building records, such as a fee
estimate. You can search for records in three ways:
1) By using the ‘Search’ button, which will bring up search option fields. This will allow you to
search by a variety of options such as address, project name, or permit type.
2) By using the ‘My QuickQueries’ dropdown menu, which allows you to search for permits
using predetermined filters, such as permits with a balance due. You can create your own
quick query filters. Click here for directions on creating a QuickQueries list.
3) By using the links to sort the permit list. Text in the Records portlet that is underlined
denotes a hyperlink. Click on any hyperlink to sort the permits by that category. In this
screenshot, you can see the two hyperlinks that are underlined, and you can see that
‘Description’ is not underlined; therefore you could not sort using the ‘Description’ field.
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The Record ID portlet is an
extension of the Record portlet and
will display information for the
record that is highlighted in the
Record portlet above. To highlight a
permit, simply click on the record in
the Record portlet, and it will
highlight the permit in blue. This
will bring up the record summary in
the Record ID portlet below.
As you can see that the first
permit in the list is highlighted
in blue. This is the permit for
which the Record ID portlet
will display information.
Once a record is highlighted,
you can also use the ‘Go To’
drop down menu to pull up
additional information on the
selected permit, such as the
APO, inspections, or comments.
Under Record Detail, you can access the permit expiration information and
make changes to the expiration date.
You can also access the status of the permit under Record Detail in the Go To
menu. It will allow some users to change the permit status, though the status
should only be changed under certain circumstances, such as when a permit
needs to be manually expired. Since the status of the permit will automatically
update as it goes through workflow, changing the status in this section should
rarely happen.
Changing the status in this section is not the same as changing the workflow
status. Directions on changing the workflow status are located here.
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This is the My Navigation portlet, which allows you to work with the
permit that has been highlighted in the Record List portlet.
From this menu, you can add fees to a permit, update the workflow of
a permit, view parcel information, and more.
Try selecting a permit and clicking through a few of the options
available in My Navigation to get a sense for how the system allows
you to manage a record.
You are also able to access the features
that are in the My Navigation portlet from
the Record ID portlet itself.
To the right you can see the ‘Go To’ drop
down menu in the Record ID portlet. From
this menu, you can access all of the
information and features that are listed in
the My Navigation portlet, as well as
three other less commonly used
functions:
1) Expiration allows you to adjust the expiration date of a record.
2) Status allows you to change the status of a permit. This function should only be used in
cases where the status cannot be changed using the normal process in workflow.
3) Access Fee History allows you to view the fee details for each payment associated with the
record.
This is the Reports portlet. The reports available are tools to help
you balance your transactions, manage permits, track records,
and much more. You can also create permit related documents
through reports, such as a certificate of occupancy. The reports
are grouped by type and are simple to select and run.
More information about reports is available here.
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This is the Quicklinks portlet. It has links to the customer-facing
website for ePermitting, the Building Codes Division website, the
Construction Contractor’s Board (CCB) website for license look-ups,
and more.
This menu displays at the top of your browser. Though this example says ‘Omega’ at the top, your
browser will show the name of your city or county. The links in this section will vary depending on
your jurisdiction and user level. If you click on Navigation, it will bring up a drop down menu that
shows the most recently viewed permits. By clicking on one of these permits, the records portlet
will populate with that permit’s information. This is the fastest way to find a permit you have
recently worked on.
If you click on Create New, you will be able to create a
new permit, schedule an inspection, and create a new
contact, task, or set. When we say ‘create a permit in the
back office,’ it is through this link that you can begin that
process. Click on Maps to access the GIS system.
The menu underneath the one in the dark blue bar allows
you to access different pages of portlets. These links will
vary depending on the user level of the person logged in.
Clicking Home will take you back to the Alerts and Records
portlets. By clicking Property, you can add, update, or
correct an address in your jurisdiction.
The image to the right is an example of what you would
see after clicking Property. APO is a common term you
will see in this manual. It is the acronym for address,
parcel, and owner. The portlets to edit these key pieces of
information can be found on this page. If a customer is
trying to purchase a permit from your jurisdiction, but
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does not see services for a specific address, and you know the address has been added to the
system, you may need to add the “address type” to that property.
Adding the address type connects your jurisdiction and your services to that address.
Another important link on the second
menu bar from the top is Inspections.
This is where you will manage
inspections, print route sheets, schedule
inspections, and more. You are also able
to use this page to search for inspections
themselves. So you could perform a
search for all of the temporary electrical
service inspections, and the search
would bring up all of the permits with
that inspection type.
This is the Records Sets page.
When you are working with a
group of permits and you need
to take the same action with the
entire group, you can make them
into a set. An example of when
creating a set would be helpful is
when you have a group of
permits that have reached their
expiration date. By making the
group into a set, you can expire
the group rather than going into
each permit and expiring them
individually.
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This is the Point of Sale page. From the
Point of Sale portlet page, you are able to
take in fees that are not associated to a
record, such as the sale of a map or
charge for copies.
Until certain modules become available
in ePermitting, the Point of Sale page is
also where you can assess charges for
right of way permits, utility permits, and
other transactions that your department
may handle.
You are able to get help directly from our website by clicking the ‘Help’ button
in any portlet you have questions about. The information that will pop up in a
new window will be specific to the portlet you are in. For example, if you click ‘Help’ in the
Professionals portlet, it will bring up information on using that portlet. Similar to this manual,
the ‘Help’ section provides screen shots, step-by-step processes, and general navigation
information. This is an example of the help window for the Professionals portlet.
Hyperlinks are used throughout this manual. They will guide you to additional information and
will be text that is colored blue and underlined.
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Processes – AA
This section of the manual will guide you through step by step processes that you will be using on a
regular basis, such as the workflow process or the processes for fee related tasks.
Accounting & Fees
This section includes information on fees, payments, processing refunds, and other tasks that are
associated with permit fees and balancing daily receipts.
There are three types of fees in the system: new fees, invoiced fees, and credited fees. New fees
are fees that have been added to a permit but not invoiced. Invoiced fees are fees that have been
added to a payable invoice. Credited fees are fees that have had the payment credited back to the
permit.
When you invoice fees, you are grouping those fees for payment. When a customer makes a
payment, they are paying an invoice. If your jurisdiction takes in a plan review fee at the time of
application, you would invoice just the plan review fee which would make that fee payable with its
own receipt and invoice number. Then, when the permit is completed, the permit fees, state
surcharge, and any other fees would be invoiced into their own invoice group which will also have
its own receipt and invoice number. If fees are recalculated due to items being added or voided
from the permit, then fees may become “Credited.” For example, when fees are recalculated, the
state surcharge will always be credited back to the permit and a new state surcharge applied.
New fees:
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Are not visible to customers on ACA
Can be deleted in one step by selecting the fee and clicking delete
Allows for recalculation of the state surcharge and fee items
Will block the closing of the permit until the new fee has been invoiced or deleted
Invoiced Fees:
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Are visible to customers on ACA
Must be voided rather than deleted
Will block the closing of a permit if they are not paid or voided
Credited Fees:
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Will show as “Credited” in the Status column
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This example shows new fees, invoiced fees, and credited fees. By clicking Status, you can group fee
items by their status to clearly see which still need to be invoiced. You are also able to sort fee
items by the other underlined categories in the portlet, but when you are adding fees it is helpful to
see the items sorted by Status to ensure that quantities and items are correct before invoicing.
Adding & Invoicing New Fees
To add a new fee to a permit, first pull the permit up in the Record portlet and click on Invoice Fees.
From the Invoice Fees portlet, click on the ‘Add’ button. Below is an example of what you would see
if you selected the ‘Add’ button in the Invoice Fees portlet.
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In this example, the permit is a mechanical permit, so the line items that are brought up are all
mechanical items. These fields will always correlate to the type of permit you have selected in the
Record portlet. You are able to change the fee schedule using the drop down menu to add any type
of fee. To add a fee here, all you need to do is enter the quantity needed in the blank field under
‘Qty,’ and then click the ‘Submit’ button at the top of the portlet. The unit column will tell you how
to enter the quantity of the item.
When you are adding fees to a permit, notice
the drop down menu for Fee Schedule.
This allows you to add a line item from a
different fee schedule.
This is most often used to add Point of Sale
(POS) fees to a permit, such as a fee for
making photocopies of plans or printing a map.
After clicking on ‘Submit’ to add the fee, the portlet will refresh to the Invoice Fees section. The
added fees will show as ‘New’ along with all of the fees previously assessed. After you confirm that
the new fees are correct, check the checkbox next to each new fee and click on the ‘Invoice’
button.
After clicking on the ‘Invoice’ button, the fees that you have selected will be assigned an invoice
number. If you go the Payment portlet, you will see the fees totaled under their invoice number.
The example below shows the Payment portlet. The unpaid amount will show in the Balance
column. It will also show an ‘N’ under the Paid in Full column.
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This example shows new fees, invoiced fees, and credited fees. By clicking on Status, you can group
fee items by their status to clearly see which still need to be invoiced. You are also able to sort fee
items by the other underlined categories in the portlet, but when you are adding fees it is helpful to
see the items sorted by Status to ensure that quantities and items are correct before invoicing.
Adding Payment Information
This is an example of what the payment
portlet will look like after you click on the
‘Pay’ button from the Invoice portlet.
If you change the payment method to
credit card, the payment portlet will bring
up the payment fields for a credit card.
After entering the payment information,
click on ‘Save.’
Here is more information about each of the payment methods in the drop down menu:
Cash: Use when the payment is in cash or coins.
Check: Paper checks will require you to record the check number.
Credit Card: Use for all credit card transactions.
Internal Transfer: Use for transfers between departments within your agency.
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Refund Check: Use only when doing refunds.
Write Off: Use when recording bad debts to remove them from active balances.
Credit Memo: Use to keep track of pre-payment reduced fees.
Fee Waiver: Use to record instances when fees are waived.
Journal Entry: Use to adjust excess fees on converted or historic records, for example, a customer
needs to add a branch circuit to a permit from an old fee schedule which charged $5 for the circuit,
but the new fee schedule has assigned an $8 charge to the permit since that is the new fee for the
branch circuit. Use a “Journal Entry” payment of $3 to account for the difference from what the
customer was charged.
Billed: Use only when the customer will be billed externally through your accounting system.
Note: Partial payments are entered the same as regular payments. Though once they are entered,
the money needs to be applied to the specific fees they were paid for.
Adjusting Fees
If a permit has been created and you need to add a new permit item, use the process for adding
fees. If, however, a customer is adjusting the items on their permit, such as when there are three
dishwashers on a permit but it only needs two, you will need to adjust the fees.
To adjust the fees on a permit, go to Invoice Fees. Since permit items are grouped together by type,
you will need to select the checkbox next to the item and entire delete the group. So if the fee item
says three dishwashers, you will delete all three. Then you will add the necessary number of items
back onto the permit, two dishwashers in our example.
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After you add the correct fees back onto the permit, the state surcharge will be credited back to the
permit and then recalculated. If the permit had a minimum permit balance fee applied to it, the
minimum permit balance will be credited back to the permit and recalculated also. The new fee
items, the minimum permit fee, and the state surcharge will have a new status, and can then be
invoiced and paid by going to the Payment portlet. In this example, you can see the credited fees
from the original calculation, and the new fees assessed from adding two dishwashers back to the
permit. Select the checkboxes for the new fees and click ‘Invoice.’ Then reapply the payment
information and follow the steps for a refund, or collect a payment if there were additional fees.
Balancing
To balance daily transactions, follow these steps:
Total the transactions by type:
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Cash - total the amount and subtract the starting cash amount
Checks - confirm receipts show the correct payer and payment amount
Credit by signed slips/unsettled transactions - settle only those transactions you posted
payments for (note: this is an elective with Virtual Merchant at the time of account setup;
can elect to manually settle or auto-settle - if auto-settling, you will have to ‘refund’ any
payments that were not posted or accurate)
Run the following reports:
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Payments Received - only includes payment method of Cash, Check, Credit Card, and Credit
Card Other (optional)
Out of Balance - shows any records that are out of balance
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Unapplied Funds - only audit this nightly to assure staff are applying payments appropriately
as per business rules - or that fees did not become ‘unapplied’ due to fee adjustments on
records as these should always be reapplied immediately at the time of adjustment – if this
is the case, corrections should be made in the same day if possible.
Transactions Applied - this report shows any adjustments that could affect your GL codes
Use your jurisdiction’s policies for reporting this information to your treasurer. If the reports do not
match the totals you arrived at, check your numbers again. If you still do not balance, use the
reports to identify the discrepancy and follow your jurisdiction’s policies on correcting transactions.
If the credit card totals are out of balance, you can also run the Credit Card Detail report to help you
identify which transaction is not lining up with the credit card totals.
Collecting the Plan Review Fee
Often, a jurisdiction takes in a plan review fee prior to reviewing plans, collecting the fee at the time
the plans are submitted to their department.
To charge a customer for only the plan review fee, go to Invoice Fees. Select only the plan review
fee checkbox and click on ‘Invoice.’ This will create an invoice that can now be found in the
Payment portlet.
Go to the Payment portlet now. You will see the invoice for just the plan review fee. Take the
customer’s payment for that amount and apply the customer’s payment to the invoice containing
the plan review fee.
Fee Estimates
You are able to create a temporary record through the back office when a customer would like a fee
estimate for their permit. The temporary record will be deleted after 90 days. If the customer
returns within 90 days of the creation of the fee estimate, you can create their permit application
from that temporary record.
The first few steps in creating a fee estimate are
the same as if you were creating a new permit
record. Begin by clicking the ‘New’ button in the
Record portlet. Select the record type you need.
In our example, we will use the record type for a
residential one and two family dwelling. Enter as
much of the permit information as you would
like to. The information you enter now will stay
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with the temp record,
which could save you
from entering
information twice if the
customer returns for the
permit.
After you have entered
the permit details, click
the ‘Estimate Fee’ button,
which can be found on both the top and bottom of the SPEAR form. Below is the screen you will see
after you click on ‘Estimate Fee.’ In this screen, you will add fees and change the valuation
calculator to either the calculated value or the contractor value. The fees you enter here will be the
basis for your estimate. For a new one and two family dwelling, first you will add the fees from the
residential structural fee schedule, such as the structural plan review fee and the building permit
fee.
To add these fees, click on the ‘Add’ button. After adding the necessary building permit fees, you
will need to click the ‘Submit’ button.
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Next, change to fee schedule using the fee schedule drop down menu. This is how you will add fee
items for the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing components of the new dwelling.
Once you have added fee items from a specific fee schedule, be sure to click ‘Submit’ before going
to the next fee schedule. Then click ‘Add’ to continue adding fees from different schedules.
Often, when permit offices give a customer a fee estimate for a new dwelling, they will include fees
for electrical, mechanical, plumbing, site development, driveway, and site utilities.
To turn a fee estimate into a permit, click on the existing fee estimate’s temporary record number.
The SPEAR form will give you the same button options that you had when you originally opened the
record, such as ‘Submit,’ ‘Save Without Submit,’ and ‘Estimate Fee.’ To make a permanent record
from the estimate, you will click the ‘Submit’ button instead of ‘Estimate Fee,’ and a permanent
record number will be assigned.
Fund Transfers
Fund Transfers occur when all or part of a payment needs to be applied to a different record than
the one it had been previously recorded to.
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Follow these steps to complete a fund transfer:
First, void the paid fees on the permit with the payment to be transferred. This will create an
unapplied credit.
In this example, a contractor pulls one permit for two services, but the permit was supposed to be
for two different locations. Realizing the error, the contractor contacts the agency to set up a new
permit and requests that the credited fees be transferred to the new record. So in this scenario, on
the original permit, you would first adjust the fees to correct the number of services. This will create
a credited fee equal to the cost of one service.
Next, go to the permit that the newly credited payment will be transferred to.
From that permit, go to Payment in
the My Navigation portlet and click
on the ‘Fund Transfer’ button.
Now you will be able to search for
the permit that has the credited
payment on it. The search fields
available are the same ones that
you will find in the Record portlet
search, so you are able to search by
address, record number, project
name, and more. Check the box
next to the permit you want to
transfer a payment from, and click
‘Select.’
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After you select the record, the Payment
portlet will take you to the fund transfer
fields.
In the method drop down menu, select
Fund Transfer. In the transfer amount
field be sure you input the correct
amount to be transferred.
As a best practice, we do not recommend
that you transfer any excess payments
that would need to be refunded to the
new record. If a refund is due in addition
to the fund transfer, you would want to
issue the refund from the permit that the excess fees were paid to.
After entering the amount in the transfer amount
field, enter your comments, and then click ‘Submit.’
The payment will transfer over, and will be added as
unapplied fees. You should get a message that the
fund transfer completed successfully.
Apply the fees and confirm that the original permit
has a zero balance for fees not applied.
Non-Sufficient Fund (NSF) Checks
When a check is returned to your office for nonsufficient funds, the payment will need to be
voided. This situation is an example of when you
would void a payment for a transaction that did not
occur on the same day.
To void the payment, go to the Payment portlet.
The payments will be listed under transactions.
Check the box for the payment that came back
NSF, and click on ‘Void.’
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A pop-up window will
appear that requests a
reason for the voided
payment and a comment.
Select NSF check from
the list, enter your
comment, and click
‘Submit.’
You should then receive a message confirming that the payment record was voided successfully.
The status for the payment will show voided and the permit will update to reflect the outstanding
balance. If your jurisdiction charges a fee for NSF checks, you will need to go to Add New Fees to
add that fee to the permit. Then the outstanding balance on the record would include the amount
of the NSF check and the NSF check fee.
Voiding the payment will affect your end of day balancing. Follow your department’s procedures for
the end of day balancing in this scenario.
Refunds
First, void the fees that need to be
refunded. You will be voiding the fee item
itself, such as the branch circuit that the
customer discovered they did not need,
rather than the payment for the fee item.
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When you void a fee, a window will pop up that will as for a reason. You can select “Refund
Requested.” When a fee is voided, the state surcharge will be recalculated. This will credit the
previously assessed state surcharge back to the permit and will assess a new state surcharge based
on the remaining fees.
Unless the entire permit is being withdrawn and you are issuing a full refund, you will need to
invoice the recalculated state surcharge fee and apply the necessary amount from the unapplied
money to the newly recalculated state surcharge.
If your jurisdiction charges a refund fee or a record retention fee, you would then add that fee by
clicking on Add New Fees in My Navigation. Change the fee schedule to assign administrative fees
to the permit. Invoice the administrative fee as well as the recalculated state surcharge. Apply a
payment to the new invoice with money that became unapplied when fees were voided. After the
invoice has been paid in
full, if there is still
unapplied money on the
record, click ‘Refund.”
First confirm that the
amount in the “Total:”
box is the correct refund
amount. If that figure is
correct, then all you need
to do is click ‘Submit.’
You do not need to enter
the refund amount into the fields. In this example, the amount is 19.62. If there were no total to
refund, the ‘Submit’ button would show an error next to the total.
After you click ‘Submit,’ the
portlet will take you to the
fields where you can enter the
refund check information. The
refund amount will be
automatically pulled into the
refund amount field. Enter the
other required information and
click ‘Submit.’
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The refund will show in the transactions list with a status
of “Refund” and the amount in parenthesis to indicate
that the amount is a credit.
If you are issuing a refund for a credit card payment back to the credit card, you will need to also
issue the refund with the credit card service company. Recording the refund in ePermitting only
keeps a record of the transaction; it does not issue a credit card refund. The website for the credit
card service company, such as Converge, will have procedures for crediting payments.
Voiding Fees
You would void a fee from the Invoice Fees portlet when a fee item was mistakenly entered on a
permit and invoiced or if the customer realizes that they do not need that item to be on their
permit. Check the box next to the item you want to void, and click ‘Void.’ Select a reason from the
pop-up window and enter a comment if necessary. Click ‘Submit’ and then the item will then have a
status of “Credited,” even if the invoice for it had not been paid.
Voiding Payments
The system will allow you to void payments from any date, however, as an accounting practice,
payments should only be voided on the same day the money was received. One of the few times
you would void a payment that was taken in on a prior date is when a check is returned as NSF.
Important: Credit card payments need to be voided in the payment portlet AND with the credit
card service provider. Voiding a payment in Accela will not return the money to the customer’s
card. For example, if you use Converge to process credit card payments, you will need to void the
payment in the back office AND you will need to log into Converge to void the payment in their
system.
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To void a payment, select the
payment you need to void, and
click the ‘Void’ button. This is
an example of the pop up box
that will appear. Select the
reason for from the drop down
menu and enter a comment
about the voided payment. Click
‘Submit’ after entering your
comment.
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Addresses
Each agency maintains the addresses in their jurisdiction. Initially, addresses are loaded into the
system based on data received from the County Assessor’s office. If a new address is issued or if an
address was missing in the data from the Assessor’s office, a jurisdiction can add or correct
addresses through the back office. Addresses can be stored in Accela in two different ways:
Reference Data: This is information that has been stored in reference tables. From the reference
tables, the data can be searched for and added to records.
Transactional Data: This is information that is only added within the data of a record or permit.
Adding information to a record itself, such as an address or homeowner information, does not add
that information to reference tables, which means it would not be available in other places in
ePermitting. For example, an address is changed during the construction of a new house, so the
permit technician goes into the SPEAR form for the dwelling permit to correct the address. This
updated the address for that record, but if another contractor tries to pull a permit through ACA,
that address will not be available in their search. By changing the address in the reference tables, it
saves the information for current and future use. When reference data is changed, all of the records
that are pulling the information from the reference tables will be updated as well.
Adding an Address
To add an address, first go to the Property page
from the portlet page menu. In the Parcel portlet
of the Property page, search for the parcel. If the
parcel does not exist in the system, click on ‘New’
to create a new one. You will not be able to see
the ‘New’ button until after you have performed a
search. This prevents duplicate information from
being entered. All addresses must be tied to a parcel. Add the parcel information into the new
parcel fields. If your jurisdiction uses districts, add an inspection district under the district tabs.
In the Parcels portlet, you can click on the owners tab to look up the owner information. If no
information is found in the reference data for the owner, you will need to create a new owner. You
are able to add multiple owners to a parcel. From the Parcels portlet, use the address tab to add the
address. Again, search for the address before adding the new one, and if it does not exist, create a
new one using the ‘New’ button. Click ‘Submit’ after entering the new address information.
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Then go to the address type tab and add your
jurisdiction to add the address type. This step is very
important. Adding the address type is what connects
that address to your jurisdiction’s services. When a
customer cannot see an address in ACA but the
address shows in the back office, the address type
not being marked is often the issue.
The top example to the right shows what the address
field would show if no address type were associated
with the address searched for. The bottom example
shows what it looks like when the address type is
assigned.
Applications
New applications can be created through
the back office. When a customer submits a
paper application, this process is how the
application would be entered into the
system.
To start a new application, click on Create
New in the top menu or click on the ‘New’
button in the Record portlet. Both of these
options will bring up a new window that
will begin by asking for the record type. The
record types available will depend on the
services offered by your jurisdiction. The
boxes next to the record category
containing a plus sign, ‘+’, will bring up the
options available in that menu. In this
example, when you click on ‘+’ next to Building, the menu drops down with the option for
Commercial, Inquiry, Post Disaster, and Residential. By clicking on the ‘+’ next to Residential the
menu drops down with the types of residential building permits.
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Once you have selected your
application type, the SPEAR
form will populate in the
window. This example to the
left shows the beginning fields
for a residential plumbing
permit. The ‘Record Type’ field
is read only at this point. To
change the record type, click
‘Cancel’ and open a new
record. After completing the
application, you have the
option to submit the permit
into the system, save the
application without submitting,
print an estimate the fee for
the permit, or cancel the application.
Clicking ‘Submit’ will create the permit record. After you submit it, a window will pop up that will let
you pend inspections to the permit. Using the arrows in between the available inspection types
field and the selected inspection types field, you can move the appropriate inspections over. Once
you click ‘Pending Inspections,’ the
inspections you selected will be pended
for that permit. Now they will be visible
in ACA for customers to schedule online
and are recorded in the IVR system for
customers who phone in their inspection
requests.
Once created, you can add documents,
payments, new fees, and more. After
submitting the permit, it will become
available in ACA for the customer to pay
online if they are not paying in person.
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Citizen Access (ACA)
The website that customers use to access ePermitting is called Accela Citizen Access, or ACA. Customers
are able to contact our helpdesk by email or phone if they have any problems with the website or their
ePermitting account. Here is some information on the customer experience in ACA:
Registering a New User
The image below is what a user would see at the bottom of the ePermitting home page.
One way to register a new user is by clicking on the lower rectangle that says ‘I want to register for
an ePermitting account.’ Another way to sign up for an account is by using the “New Users” link at
the bottom of the gray box in the image below. Either option will direct customers to the terms and
conditions, and then to the intake form to gather the new user information.
At this time, non-licensed people cannot purchase permits
through ePermitting. They are able to register for an
account, but will not be able to see any of the permit
services offered by jurisdictions. These users are still able
to search for permit information, pay fees, and schedule
inspections.
Not all BCD licenses allow the purchasing of permits
through ePermitting. For example, the Limited Electrical
License (LEA) holders cannot purchase electrical permits
through ePermitting. We hope in the future to expand our
services to these groups.
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This is the new user intake
form. It requires the
customer to create a
unique username, though
they will also be able to
use their email address to
access their account. The
security question field
allows the customer to
type in their own unique
security question. The
customer is able to add
billing information, but
the system will never save
their credit card
information.
Associating a License to a User Account
If a customer is able to see an address in our system, but does not see any services offered for that
address, confirm that the address type has been associated to the address. If the address type has
been marked correctly, the customer may not have a professional license associated to their
account. If a customer needs assistance associating their license to their account, they can call our
helpdesk for assistance.
In this screenshot, you can see the second link from the right is Account Management. From this
link, the customer can view and edit their account information, add contact information, and add a
license to their account. On the right hand side of the License Information bar, there is an ‘Add a
License’ button. This will take customers to a screen where there will be a drop down menu that
allows them to choose the license type and then a field to enter their license number. This will pull
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up their license information. After verifying the license information, the customer needs to click on
Connect on the right hand side of the information.
After clicking on
Connect, a pop up will
appear that asks if the
user wants to associate
that license to their
account.
Now when they search
for the address again,
the services available
for that specific license type will now show under the jurisdiction name. Users are able to add
multiple licenses and license types to their account. For example, if an administrator for an
electrical contracting company creates a user account, they can associate all of their contractor’s
licenses to that one user account.
A licensed professional is only able to purchase permits specific to their license type. If they have
multiple licenses, they will need to add each license to be able to see the full range of permits
available to them through ePermitting. Licensed professional account information is added to our
system on a nightly basis for license types other than Architects and Landscape Contractors. If a
customer is not seeing current information for their license, they may need to contact the licensing
section to have their information updated in their system, since our information is pulled from the
licensing sections’ databases. So if a professional with a CCB license renewed his license yesterday
but the website tells them that the license is expired, they would contact the CCB to inquire about
an update. If a professional with an electrical license does not see updated information, they would
need to contact the BCD to inquire about an update.
Applying for a Permit
Once a licensed professional has registered for an account and has associated their license to the
account, they will be able to purchase permits. They will start by clicking on the Apply link on the
ePermitting website.
From there, the website will ask the customer to agree to
our terms and conditions, which they will need to each
time they begin a new application.
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The next screen is to enter the work site location.
The more information that a customer enters in these fields, the more addresses that will be
filtered out from the search results.
Because of this, it is not necessary to put in very much information, because the system is more
likely to show the address with fewer filters. So if a customer cannot find an address, they can press
the ‘Clear’ button and then re-enter only the street number and the first few letters of the street
name. This may bring up a few addresses, but will be less likely to exclude the address they are
searching for.
If more than one search result comes up, the customer needs to click Select under the action
column and the agency name will populate below. If the customer clicks on the agency name, the
types of
permits will
drop down
with
checkboxes.
Once a
customer
checks a box,
the ‘Continue
Application’
button will
allow the
customer to
go on to the
next step.
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The next screen
will list the
licenses that
are associated
to the
customer’s
account. The
most common
issue that
customers
encounter on
this page is that
they need to
associate a
supervising
electrician to
their electrical license. This can be done by clicking on the license number and then using the
supervising electrician drop down menu to choose a supervising license.
The next page in the permit process is the work site information page, and it contains read-only
information that allows the customer to verify that they are getting the permit for the right
property. Owner information is only updated when ePermitting receives an address load from your
jurisdiction.
The next page is for the applicant and site contact
information. Customers can use the ‘Select from Account’
button to populate contact information from the account
or license.
The next page is additional information, shown in this
example to the right. The Project Name and Cross Street
Directions are not required. In ACA, the project name is a
searchable field, so if the customer uses a distinct project
name, they will able to search for their permits with that
name. For example, if the contractor for Blue Hill Builders
names all of their projects starting with Blue Hill, they will
be able to easily search for their projects.
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This next section is where the customer will select
what they are purchasing the permit for. These
fields will correspond to the permit type the
customer selected at the beginning of the
application.
The text to the right of the fields indicates the
measurement of quantity for that item. For
example, the “Enter total sq ft:” field has “Square
Ft” as the quantity type, but for a service you would
enter the number of services the permit is for.
If a customer is concerned that their permit cost is
unusually high, sometimes it is because they have
entered the quantity wrong, such as entering “200”
for one 200 amp service when the field is only
asking the number of services as opposed to the
number of amps.
The next page is the document page. Each customer
will see this screen even if the permit items they selected do not indicate the need for a plan
review. If a plan review is required, this is where they will upload the electronic documents to be
reviewed by an inspector. There are no required fields on this page, so if a customer has no
document to upload, they can click ‘Continue Application.’
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After the document page, the customer is able to review their permit.
Using the ‘Edit’ button on the right hand side of the gray title bar, the customer can change or
update information on their permit from the review page. If an application requires a plan review,
the application would now be submitted to the jurisdiction without the customer submitting any
fees. If the permit is an “over the counter” permit, the customer will need to submit a payment
before the permit will be sent to the agency.
If it is an “over the counter” permit, then
the next page will preview the fees for the
permit. This preview will show how the
fees were assessed and what the total is
after the state surcharge.
If everything looks correct, the customer
should click ‘Continue to Payment,’ and
the customer will be promoted to enter
their credit card information.
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After submitting the payment, the customer will get a confirmation that the transaction is complete
and will be able to view their receipt and permit. These documents will also be added to the
document history for the permit and will be available to view and download from the record.
Navigating the Application
While customers go through the application process, there are a few features that are helpful to
know about. One is the save button:
This button will allow users to return to their application without having to re-enter information.
Another helpful feature is the navigation bar, which allows customers to move between permit
sections to correct or add to permit information.
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Comma Separated Values (CSV’s) Export
You are able to export data from the back office to use in Excel for tasks like custom reports or
mailing lists.
First go to the portlet that contains the information you want to export and use search or My
QuickQueries if you need specific information. After you have the information sorted out in the
portlet, click on the ‘Menu’ button and select CSV Export. You will see a pop up that asks if you
want the information opened or
saved. For many, the pop up will
be at the bottom of the webpage.
If you open the information, it will
be transferred into a spreadsheet.
You can then use the spreadsheet
program to sort the data and
create your own reports, mailing
lists, and more.
Inspections
In the Inspections portlet page, you can complete any
inspection related task from scheduling inspections to
creating inspector’s route maps. You can access the
Inspections portlet page from the underlined link at the
top of the page. You are also able to access inspection
information for a specific record from Inspections in My
Navigation. This will display the inspection for that record,
and will allow you to schedule inspections, result
inspections, as well as set a preference to either hide or
display inspections for customers in ACA.
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Adding Inspections
Homeowners, contractors, and
others are able to schedule
inspections on the ePermitting
website without logging into the
website or having a user account.
The website will also give details on
the completed inspections to any
user. This allows contractors to track
their inspections and gives
information to real estate
professionals and others who may
inquire about completed permits.
Pended Inspections are inspections
that have been listed as required for
a permit but have not yet taken place. Adding them to the pending list makes them viewable to
customers so they know which inspections to request and in what order to schedule them.
Select the permit in the Record portlet and go to Inspections in the My Navigation portlet. Under
the ‘Manage Inspections’ menu drop
down, select Add/Schedule
Inspections. This will bring up a pop up
window, shown in this example, which
will show the different inspection
types. Use the arrows in the center of
the window to move the required
inspections over. After you have
selected the inspections, click on
‘Pending Inspections’ to add the
inspection to the pending list.
Add/Schedule Inspections if you want
to add the inspection to the scheduled
list with a day and time.
See the Inspection Choices diagram in the appendix for additional information on options available for
resulting inspections.
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IVR (Interactive Voice Response) Phone System
The IVR system allows customers to request inspections through a telephone recording system. The
IVR system will prompt customers through a phone tree that gathers inspection information.
Customers call into the same IVR phone number as the agencies, but go through different menu
options to be able to leave their inspection results.
Most of the information from the IVR phone requests will be relayed electronically to the back
office and is then automatically added to the inspection list. If your jurisdiction allows contractors to
leave messages with their inspection requests, then you may need to call into the IVR line to
retrieve those messages.
When you go to the Inspections portlet, the scheduled inspections will automatically populate.
Under the Request Comment column, there will be notes from the customer. If the inspection was
scheduled online, this is where the note that the customer typed in will be displayed. If they
scheduled their inspection through the IVR system, and left a message, that information will NOT be
relayed to the back office.
In this example, you
can see that three of
the listed inspections
have “-Msg!” next to
a number in Request
Comment column.
This is the indicator
that the requestor
has left a voice
message with their
IVR inspection request. Your office will need to follow the instructions below in order to retrieve
those voice messages. If that column only shows the number, and is not followed by “-Msg!” then
the requestor did not leave a message and you do not need to call in to the IVR number.
It is important to check these messages prior to the inspector going out to the job site because the
messages can contain vital information, such as gate code numbers.
How to Check Inspection Request Messages
First call the State IVR number: 1-888-299-2821
Then press 9# to access the Inspector menu.
Enter the Inspector ID and press the pound key (#)
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Next, enter the Inspector Pin and press the pound key (#)
Option 2 will play the contractor messages.
The phone system will guide you through the available message options.
Posting Inspection Results in IVR
You are also able to post inspection results through IVR.
First call the State IVR number: 1-888-299-2821
Then press 9# to access the Inspector menu.
Enter the Inspector ID and press the pound key (#)
Next, enter the Inspector Pin and press the pound key (#)
Option 1 will allow you to enter inspection results.
The system can look up permits in two ways:
1) The 8 digit confirmation number or
2) The 12 digit IVR reference number
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My QuickQueries
If you want information in a certain portlet to be displayed in a specific way, you can create your
own My QuickQueries. By selecting an option from the My QuickQueries drop down menu, the
portlet you are in will display information according the parameters set up for the query. For
example, if you want the Records portlet to display permits that were submitted in a certain time
frame, you can use this tool to sort and display those records.
Creating New QuickQueries
The portlets that have the My QuickQueries drop down menu will also
have a My QuickQueries option in the Menu drop down. This is where
you will edit and create QuickQueries. QuickQueries are specific to the
portlet and specific to the user who created it. If you create one under
your profile, a co-worker would not have the same My QuickQueries in
their drop down menu.
After going to My QuickQueries in the Menu drop down, click on ‘New.’
In the below example, the query being created is a list of inspections in
a certain time period. Therefore, under the “Search By” fields, the
option that has been selected is “Scheduled Date” and the dates themselves have been typed into
the corresponding blank fields. The operator drop down in the middle will be automatically set to
the equal sign (=), but this can be changed to greater than, less than, contains, not equal to (!=), and
more. The field after the operator drop down gives you the option of choosing from a menu or
typing content. These fields are case sensitive and your QuickQueries will not work if there are
43
minute differences between your search and the reference data. For example, if you select
“Inspection Type” is “=” (equal to) and then you enter “electrical,” if the reference data lists
inspections under “Electrical,” your QuickQueries will not pull data because of the difference in
capitalization.
Once you have set the parameters, click the ‘Submit’ button, and after you refresh the portlet, you
will be able to select your newly created query from the My QuickQueries drop down menu.
Planning Module
Not every jurisdiction uses the ePermitting system for planning purposes, so this section may or
may not apply to you. If you are a user in multiple modules, such as a person who works in the
building and planning department, you can change your user level in the top right hand corner next
to where it displays your username. To access planning records in the back office, change the
module option in the Record portlet. The module drop down menu is on the right hand side of the
portlet next to MyQuickQueries.
In this example, you can see that
the module has been set to
Planning. The next example
shows the Record portlet set to
the Planning Module. The record
types that are displayed in the
Record list portlet will only be
planning records.
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Professionals and Contacts
ePermitting receives a nightly update of CCB and BCD licenses. This means that the information in
our system for these professionals is very up-to-date. We also load Architects, Engineers, and
Landscape contractors approximately once monthly. MDI (Manufactured Dwelling Installers) and
DEQ (Onsite System Installers) licenses are under review for possible addition to the website.
Portlets that manage people reference data include:


Professionals; and
Contacts
Note: Owners live in the Property reference data as part of APO (Address, Parcel, and Owner)
Professional Portlet
Professional licensing is
validated at the time
the application is
submitted, and again
when the permit is
issued. As a result of
this, you may get an
error that the
contractor license that
is associated to the
application is not valid
when you go to issue the permit. If you get this error, check the licensing website to determine their
current status. If you are able to confirm that their license is active, then you can make an update to
their reference record in the Professional portlet.
To do this, go to People in the portlet pages links at the top of the website, and then in the
Professionals portlet, click ‘Search.’ Input the license number into the appropriate license field and
then select ‘Submit.’ From the returned results, select the record. This will populate the
Professional Detail tab. In this window you can see the status and the license expiration date fields.
45
Before updating, double check that the license number you are updating corresponds to the license
you looked up, not just the contractor name. If you are unsure of a contractor’s license status, do
not make an update to their information. Contact the licensing section or call our office if you have
any questions.
After updating the license status and the license expiration date fields, click ‘Save.’ You can then
submit the application or issue the permit as needed.
As a result of the nightly licensing load, this updated information may be overwritten with the new
information. If the licensing section made the update to that person’s license in their data system,
then the license information on the permit will still show as active. If the licensing section did not
update the license status and information in their system, then your updates will be overwritten. If
this happens, it is recommended that you refer the contractor directly to the licensing section. You
are also able to update the address, primary phone, or email for immediate purposes, such as
printing the permit, but the information will still be updated nightly with the other system’s data.
You can also see the Associated Record List Tab from the Professional Detail window which displays
the records that person is associated to.
Contacts Portlet
Contacts are added manually by the jurisdictions. By adding a contact to the reference data tables
in this portlet, you are able to search for and populate the information in records, saving you the
time of entering contact information multiple times for an individual. The contact reference data is
ideal for adding information for larger contractors, planning consultants, or others you regularly do
business with that do not have a professional license.
Before adding a new contact, search for the contact to ensure you do not create a duplicate record.
If a match is found, select it by highlighting it and under the Contact portlet, a tabbed Contact
Detail window will load and you can make updates here as needed. If no match is found, select
‘New’ and add the new contact information, and then ‘Submit.’
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Licensing Websites
Here are the websites to make ‘favorites’ in your web browser to do license lookups for most of the
applicable license types:






Construction Contractors Board (CCB): http://search.ccb.state.or.us/search/
Board of Examiners for Engineering:
http://www.oregon.gov/Osbeels/Pages/Search_License.aspx
Oregon Board of Architect Examiners: http://orbae.com/search-licensees/
Landscapers Contractors Board (LCB):
http://www.oregonlcb.com/contractorsearch/ContractorSearch.aspx
Building Codes Licensing (BCD) – professional licensing, Plumbing and Electrical (also
includes MDI licensing – for reference only, not included in Professionals batch load at this
time):
http://www4.cbs.state.or.us/ex/all/mylicsearch/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.show_main&gr
oup_id=30
DEQ Onsite System Installer (for reference only, not included in Professionals batch load at
this time): http://www.deq.state.or.us/wq/onsite/sdssearch.asp
Records
A record is a set of data. A record can be a permit, a fee estimate, or an inspection record. A
property that has been added to the reference tables is a record. Records are created and
maintained by jurisdictions. In ePermitting you are able to clone records, run reports from records,
create record sets, and relate records.
Cloning Records
Cloning a record allows you to create a record from
information already entered into a permit. To create a cloned
record, first pull up the record you want to relate in the
Record portlet. From the My Navigation portlet, click on
‘Create Related Recs.’ This is the same place you would create a related record, which is why the
portlet is titled ‘Create Related Recs.’
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The Record ID portlet will fill with the current related records, and, if there are no current records,
will look similar to this example.
If there are already related records listed for the permit, be sure to select the correct permit.
Check the box next to the permit you want to clone and click on the ‘Clone Record’ button.
The screen that populates is in the example to the left. Enter the number of clones you need to
make of the record into the first field, and then select the record type to clone. After you have
selected the correct record type, you can use the arrows between that field and the one to the right
of it to move the record type to the next field.
This example shows what it will look like once you have moved a record type over. As you can see, a
residential electrical permit has been selected.
Then click the ‘Submit’ button. Next, you will select from a checklist which information from the
existing record you want to be moved over to the new cloned record. If the information does not
apply to the permit you
are cloning the
information for, then
you will manually enter
that information after
creating the cloned
record.
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After selecting the appropriate boxes, click ‘Submit’ and the record will be created. A pop-up
window will tell you if any information failed to transfer over and the portlet will go back to the
starting place for cloning records, showing the new record.
Reports
You are able to run a variety of reports in ePermitting. Reports can
be found on the left hand side, in the Reports portlet shown to the
right. The reports are categorized by function, so a report for daily
balancing would be in the Financial Reports section of the portlet.
Select the report you want to run by clicking on the category the
report is in, and then click on the report title. This will bring up a
window that will ask for information pertinent to the report you are
running, such as the date range or which department’s information
you need. This information comprises the report parameters and
will determine which information will be in your report.
How to Generate Reports and Certificates on Converted Records
Because a converted record was not created in Accela, certain data
may be missing in the record. If the information that is missing in the record is used in a report, the
record will not display in the report. As a result, there are some additional steps you need to take
on converted records to successfully generate certain reports, particularly the Certificate of
Occupancy, Certificate of Satisfactory Completion, and the Building Permit.
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On a converted record, ensure the following information is complete in the permit record:








App Info (ASI) - complete ASI, particularly Category of Construction and Type of Work.
Description of Work - review the Description of Work to confirm that this is the statement
of work that you want to appear on the printed certificate or that scope of work is reflected
here.
Inspections - for Certificates, assure that a “final inspection” is indicated and positively
resulted.
Invoice Fees - confirm that all outstanding fees have been paid in full.
Payment - strictly as a check and balance, confirm that there are no unapplied fees
indicated on the record.
Property Owner - assure that a property owner is associated to the record.
Valuation Calculator - for Certificates, even if you are not using the Valuation Calculator to
assess fees, you must add a row(s) and input the Occupancy Group and Construction Type.
Workflow - For the Permit: assure that the Permit Issuance task shows a status of “issued”
For the Certificates: additionally assure that the Inspection Process task shows as
“inspection process complete”, and that the Close Out task shows as “finaled.” The
workflow status and the record status should both show as finaled.
After ensuring these fields are complete in the record, run the report as normal. Then, the
converted record should be included in the reported information.
Workflow
You can access a permit’s workflow through the My
Navigation portlet. Workflow describes the various
stages that the permit will go through. Just like
permits that are submitted to your office in person,
permits submitted on through ePermitting go
through the process of being received, reviewed,
issued, and finaled. As the permit is moved through
these stages, the workflow of the permit in the back
office will need to be updated.
Workflow is divided into “tasks.” In this sample
mechanical permit, the workflow stage is inspection
process. The name of the task that the permit is
currently in is printed in red. The workflow tasks are
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specific to the type of permit. Depending on the record type, there could be different and additional
tasks, such as site review or fire marshall review, or a completely different set of tasks, like you
would see in a Planning record.
The section to the right of the Workflow Tasks contains more information about the workflow
steps. There is additional information on the task status, the date the status was updated, and the
user who updated the task. Below is an example of this information.
Once a record has moved past a specific task, only users with permission can use the ‘Supervisor’
button to go back and correct or add to an already completed task by changing “Task Active?” to
Yes and “Task Completed?” to No.
Upon application intake, the possible permit statuses are:
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


Additional Info Needed
Additional Info Received
Application Accepted (this starts the “clock” on the application, and is used by jurisdictions
with Third Party providers to notify them that the application is ready to be assigned for
plan review)
Application Submitted
Ready for Plan Review
Ready to Issue (used when no plan review is needed)
Void (used only for mistakenly submitted applications)
Withdrawn (used when the applicant cancels the project)
After an application moves past the intake stage, it will go through the review stages. In the review
stage, the possible permit statuses are:

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


Additional Info Needed
Additional Info Received
Approved (moves application forward)
Approved with Conditions (moves application forward but requires entering the conditions
in the workflow)
Awaiting Review
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
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

Not Required (this status allows you to move through the review stage if the review task
was mistakenly assigned)
Revisions Needed
Revisions Received (creates child revision record to track revision)
Withdrawn (used when the applicant cancels the project)
After the review stage, the permit will move into the issuance stage. The possible statuses in this
next stage are:



Permit Issued (when moved into this stage, the permit is generated and is moved into the
Inspection Process stage)
Ready to Issue (this is the default status)
Withdrawn (used when the applicant cancels the project)
Having workflow may feel like an extra step, but it provides valuable information to the customer who
can check on the status through ePermitting rather than calling your jurisdiction. It also gives you a quick
and easy place to identify the permit’s status if it is inquired about.
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Reference Materials & Index
ePermitting Terminology
A•B•C•D•E•F•G•H•I•J•K•L•M•N•O•P•Q•R•S•T•U•V•W
•X•Y•Z
AA (Accela Automation) — The software application used by Oregon ePermitting to provide
a template with a complete set of tools for jurisdictions to manage their building permit
process. The software provides the automation of workflows, forms managements, permit
activity tracking, cashiering functions, reporting, and other critical tasks. Accela offers
supplemental components of the software application for purchase by the jurisdiction to
manage additional services outside the scope of the Oregon ePermitting Program.
 User tip: While AA is the software application itself, you will also hear it referred to as the
“back office” system used by jurisdictions.
ACA (Accela Citizen Access) — The web-based portal that integrates with Accela
Automation to provide online access to permitting services and information utilized by the
contractors and the public, alike. It allows customers to apply for, pay, and track permits
online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Accela Community – A collaboration website provided by Accela where users can browse
the knowledge base, submit ideas and questions, view blogs, find documentation
downloads, and interact with other users or Accela staff. Registration is required, but is
provided free to all Accela product users.
ADS (Accela Document Service) — A database for electronic documents (and reports) that
are associated with each ePermitting record. See EDMS.
Agency – Used to reference a specific jurisdiction’s configuration within the statewide
ePermitting system. This is the first required field when logging in to the back office and is
the jurisdiction’s Service Provider Code. For example, Lane County is an agency, but their
login agency is LANE_CO.
AGIS (Accela Geographic Information System) — An interface that integrates with Accela
Automation to provide automated maps from a central database. This system provides a
geographic representation of all land-use, zoning, and infrastructure information associated
with a parcel, permit, inspection, or plan.
AMO (Accela Mobile Office) — A mobile application that integrates with Accela
Automation to extend inspection resulting capabilities to the field. AMO runs on various
operating systems making it compatible with a variety of mobile devices such as Smart
Phones, Tablet PCs, and laptops.
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Anonymous User - An anonymous user is a public user who utilizes the components of ACA
that do not require a registered ACA account. They can search for and track permits, make
payments, schedule inspections, and upload documents, which allows individuals
associated with a building project to participate without having an ePermitting account. See
Public User and Registered User.
APO (Address, Parcel, Owner)– An acronym for Address, Parcel, and Owner. This
combination of information is vital in being able to identify which property the permit has
been purchased for.
Application - A term identifying the initial application submittal and intake phase of a
record prior to the building permit being issued. The application phase can last through plan
review.
Application Intake Form - An application intake form allows users to provide information
and select services related to their building permit project. It is organized into sections that
correspond to building department processes. Fees will be automatically assessed
depending on the services selected.
Application Accepted – A status indicating that an application was received and has been
accepted by the local city or county building department.
Application Status – The status of the record overall. Though closely related, an application
status is different than a task status. For example, the overall application status may be “In
Review” while the task status for a particular review stop may actually be “Approved”. See
Task Status for more information.
Application Submitted – A status indicating that an application has been submitted to the
local city or county building department and is awaiting processing.
ASI (Application Specific Information) — Consists of fields for collecting information about
a project. The ASI fields are often unique to a record type or to a group of similar record
types. Depending on the information being collected, ASI can include a text description box,
alpha-numeric text fields, numbers, radio (y/n) buttons, checkboxes, or dropdowns. Some
ASI fields are only available at application intake, while other can be used throughout the
permit process. See Record Type.
ATBW (Authorization to Begin Work) — A document that is generated by the system at the
end of some ACA application processes. Issuing an ATBW depends on the jurisdiction and
not only the building permitting services they offer, but also the ePermitting service level
they participate in (Basic or Full Service). A copy of the ATBW is either available for
download after payment or is emailed to the applicant. The ATBW serves as a pre-permit
document allowing work to begin on the jobsite while the jurisdiction reviews the
application and determines the next steps. In Basic Services, the “actual” permit is typically
sent to the applicant 1-2 days later.
 User tip: ATBWs are also referred to as “authorizations.”
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Attribute - A special characteristic included in reference data, such as a parcel. This can
include information such as fire districts, sewer districts, flood plains, etc. that may be
informative or dictate the type of activity that can be conducted on that particular site.
These attributes are in addition to the “template” information included in the reference
data.
AV360 (Accela Vantage360) — Provides configuration tools for administrators to use in
setting up personalized consoles, form layouts, and more. Additionally, provides access to
report settings and manual batch processing.
Back Office – Only available to Full Service jurisdictions, this is the record control-center
where all applications are processed and managed. All aspects of a permit’s lifecycle are
managed from this workspace, including permit application, fee assessment, payment
transactions, plan review, permit issuance, inspection details, and reporting.
Basic Service – A jurisdiction that participates in ePermitting but offers only limited building
permitting services not requiring plan review. A basic service profile has no back office
functionality and provides only ACA permit application capability. Both the contractor and
jurisdiction are emailed an authorization upon completion of the online ACA application
process. Management of the permit process is conducted outside ePermitting and is
completed via the jurisdiction’s existing process.
CAP – The term “Record” replaces CAP; however, some parts of the system still use this
terminology. The term Record now defines a broader range of items or forms that users
manage within Accela Automation, such as an application or permit. See also Record or
Permit.
Cloning - The act of duplicating parts of a record by using an existing record as a template.
When you clone a record, a new duplicate record is created. Cloning allows the use of some
or all of the template record’s information as a starting point for a new record. This
establishes a parent-child relationship between the original record (parent) and the new
duplicated record (child). See Related Records.
Conditions - An indicator that can be placed on records, licensed professionals, and
reference data to help ensure requirements are met before a record can proceed.
Conditions are set based on the severity level selected when applying the condition. The
severities are Hold, Lock, Notice, and Required; each severity functions differently, allowing
or limiting access to pieces of the record as appropriate. A Notice condition, for example, is
a visual reminder only and does not stop record progress.
Configuration – The technical arrangement of system features to make the model function.
A jurisdiction setup typically includes process training and the configuration of jurisdictionspecific fee schedules, logos, contact lists, user profiles, inspection calendars, etc.
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Contact – A person associated with a permit. A contact can range from the applicant to the
owner to a contractor not listed in the state database. Contacts can be saved in reference
data or added transactionally. See Reference Data and Transactional Data
Console - The layout of the workspace in the back office that include the links and portlets
containing all the detailed information the user has access to as established by their user
permissions. Consoles can be different from user group to user group. See User Group/User
Permissions.
Credentials – A unique user ID and password combination assigned to users for each system
environment.
CSV Export — Allows a user to pull information from a list portlet in the system into an
Excel file. This is available in both the back office and for ACA.
CVV (Card Verification Value) — A 3 or 4 digit number on credit cards to provide an extra
measure of security for online transactions. The CVV can be found on the back of most
cards.
Delegate User - An ePermitting user with a single login that has permissions to perform
operations in multiple agencies.
EDMS (Electronic Document Management System) — An automated system supporting the
creation, use, and maintenance of electronically-created documents.
 User Tip: ePermitting uses ADS of our electronic documents, but can interface to some EDMS
systems.
EDR (Electronic Document Review) — A digital plan review process, made available by
Oregon ePermitting, utilizing a locally installed, licensed copy of Adobe Pro X. This tool
allows reviewers to open, review, and mark up electronic plans.
EMSE (Event Manager and Script Engine) — A tool-set automating and simplifying system
processes. Scripts are programmed to run at various points in a permitting process for
managing and controlling specific back office & ACA events.
 User tip: If there errors occur in the system, you may see this term in the pop up window with
the details of the error.
Environment – ePermitting technicians utilize several different work areas for various
pieces of the implementation process. These separate environments are used to conduct
training, develop configurations, test new versions of Accela, and more.
Production: the “live” system used by jurisdictions and the public for permit management.
Staging: closely mirrors production, so that minor changes and updates can be tested to verify
system functionality. This is often where jurisdictions test new functionality, scripting changes,
or enhancements.
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Configuration: used for developing system functionality and configuration, specialized testing,
and is often used to setup an environment for training and user education.
Development: used for specialized system testing. This is where new versions of Accela are first
placed to begin the testing process.
Training: is usually a copy of the configuration environment where jurisdictional users are
required to spend time familiarizing themselves with all phases of the ePermitting model.
Training classes for new users take place in this environment. All class members get a student
profile and credentials allowing them access the training environment.
ePermitting Community – A web-based site, using state software known as GovSpace,
allowing multi-agency and multi-jurisdictional collaboration. It provides a document
repository for sharing files, blogging tools to provide a one-stop information location, a
community board for ongoing discussion threads, and other collaboration efficiency tools.
Fee Item – The price that must be paid for a specific service or permit-related item, as
specified in an agency’s fee schedule. Each individual fee listed is identified in the system as
a fee item.
Fee Schedule – The compilation of all building permit fees for services offered by a
jurisdiction per requirements of the Consistent Form and Fee Methodology found in rule.
FID (Functional Identifier) — A four-digit identification number used to enable specific
fields, security permissions, or functionality. These are divided between Admin and Daily
permissions; however, a combination of both may be required to establish correct
permission settings.
Full Service – A service level option that offers a full range of building permit service
functionality. It has a functional back office system and provides ACA functionality that
includes online permit application and tracking, inspection scheduling, fee payment, and
document upload (plans, forms, affidavits, etc.).
Helpdesk Ticket – A tool used by live jurisdictions to submit trackable help requests to the
Oregon ePermitting helpdesk. Helpdesk requests are assigned a record number and tracked
in a state level back office.
Hosted – A term used to define a contractual maintenance agreement where use of one or
more computer servers is leased, often at an offsite location. For example, the ePermitting
system is located on servers owned and managed by Accela in Utah.
iLinc –An interactive web-meeting service combining integrating video, PC desktop,
application sharing, and other collaborative tools. iLinc is the web-based training tool
selected by “ePermitting University” for presenting trainer-guided classes to jurisdictions
choosing to participate in upcoming implementations.
Inspection Calendar – A setup element that must be created in order to “activate” online
inspection scheduling functionality. It controls the days of the week and the hours per day
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that inspections can be scheduled. Depending upon a jurisdiction’s specific settings, they
may have additional flexibility to schedule inspections in the back office when their
customers cannot. Multiple calendars may be needed for some jurisdictions. Per statewide
standard, same day inspections must be scheduled by 7:00 a.m.
Inspection Discipline- Identifies the scope of an individual inspection and creates a
relationship to an individual inspector’s profile. Each inspection must have a discipline
associated with it.
Inspection Districts – Inspection calendars require at least one district to allow autoassigning inspections to system users. District 0 has been adopted as a default to provide
that functionality. A jurisdiction can add more than one district as required per their
business processes.
Inspector Profile – A special profile-setting in addition to a user profile that connects
inspectors to inspection disciplines (electrical, mechanical, plumbing, structural, etc.),
districts, workload limitations, and the inspection calendar.
Inspection Type - A specific kind of inspection categorized by both trade and inspection
codes. Naming conventions and code numbering are determined by statewide standards
and cannot be altered by jurisdictions. The codes are critical for using the IVR system.
Internal CC Process - A payment process where credit card payment information and
associated billing information is processed through the ePermitting back office. Jurisdiction
staff inputs the credit card number, expiration date, CVV, and billing information, so it can
be sent to the Virtual Merchant (VM). VM returns an approval or denial code to the
ePermitting back office where only the approval code, payment amount, and payer
information is digitally stored.
IVR (Interactive Voice Response System) — A statewide voice recognition system provided
by Selectron Technologies that allows jurisdiction staff and public users to perform tasks
associated with scheduling and resulting inspections over the telephone. A unique 12-digit
IVR number is generated for each record in the system to facilitate the use of this thirdparty interface along with the 4-digit inspection code.
Jurisdictional ID – Each jurisdiction, whether currently participating in the ePermitting
system or not, has a unique code used to identify them in the database. All full service
jurisdictions have a 3-digit code used as a functional prefix to identify all their records,
permits, ATBWs, IVR, reports, etc.
LBDD (Local Building Department Directory) — A web page provided on the Oregon
ePermitting website. It allows all jurisdictions with a building program to list current local
building department information on the state site, including contact information and
services offered.
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Licensed Professional - A licensed contractor, engineer, architect, etc. who is registered
with an enforcement agency that ensures compliance with state and local regulations.
 User tip: Often referred to as “professionals” or “contractors.”
License Types – In the system, license types are used to identify who can purchase specific
services. License types are categorized by licensing agency then by a specific license
classification. For example, specific electrical licenses issued by BCD are limited to the types
of services they are able to purchase; however, this is not confined to BCD licenses and can
include CCB, Architects, and Engineers.
 User tip: Another term for this is “purchasing category.”
List Portlet - A back office area that contains a specific list of items. The data in the lists can
be sorted by the column headers and information can be exported from these portlets.
Lock - A red condition that prevents users from performing nearly all functions on the
particular information to which it is applied. This is the highest severity available for a
condition. See Conditions.
Lookup - Allows a user to search for and view system information. For example, on the
intake form lookup is used to locate a reference address, also bringing back the parcel and
owner if applicable.
See Search and Select.
Main Link - A link on that contains a group of portlets relating to one theme. A console may
contain multiple main links found at the top of each page. Examples: Home, Addresses,
Parcels, My Tasks, etc.
Menu Navigation – The “Go-To” menu is found on most form portlets within a record. Like
My Navigation, it provides a path to various portlets within a building permit record. Menu
Navigation is limited to Out of the Box functionality and cannot be set up as specifically as
other navigation options.
Module – A separate component of a larger system that can interact with other
independent portions of the system. Each module can function independently of the others,
but they easily work together to automate systems. While the scope of the ePermitting
Program is limited to the scope defined in statute and rule, AA software is not limited to just
the management of building permits. Automation offers additional optional components to
supplement services provided by a city or county, such as Code Enforcement, Planning, or
Licensing modules. These are available for purchase from Accela.
Navigation – The process of moving from screen to screen or portlet to portlet using
hyperlinks, tabs, function buttons, and browser tools. Navigation within a record is provided
in two formats in the back office: My Navigation and Menu Navigation (also known as “Goto Menu”). Additionally, other parts of the system can be accessed using the Main Links,
such as the Inspections or My Task pages.
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Notice - A green condition often indicating special instructions related to that specific item.
It could be a parcel condition that serves as a reminder that the property is located in a
flood plain or a condition on a record indicating that a revision has been submitted. This is
the lightest severity available for a condition and provides the most freedom with regards
to changes to that item. See Conditions.
Parameter – Fields that may be required for running a report. For example: Start Date, End
Time, etc.
Parcel Number - A unique designation of a specific parcel also called the map tax lot
number, parcel number, tax account number, or some other unique identifier for the plot of
land.
Permit – A permit is a type of record in ePermitting.
Portal – Also called web portal, it is a web site that brings information together from
multiple sources for a unified purpose. The ePermitting ACA web portal brings together
elements from multiple databases to provide active trade license validation, jurisdiction
specific addresses & fee schedules, payment processing, and record specific report creation.
Portlet - A section of a page dedicated to display specific information and perform specific
tasks. Portlets make up the console layout seen on the screen. Both My Navigation and
Record List are both portlets.
POS (Point of Sale)- For ePermitting POS means a portlet that allows a jurisdiction to take
payment for fees not associated to a record, similar to how a normal cash register functions
(i.e. copies, maps).
Property owner affidavit – Oregon law requires construction permit applicants, who are
not licensed with the Construction Contractors Board, to sign a state form declaring they
are the legal property owner who will abide by the responsibilities listed in the form and
therefore, can be granted legal rights to apply for a building permit to perform work on
their own property.
Part 1: Information Notice to Owners about Construction Responsibilities - ORS 701.325(3).
Part 2: Property Owner Statement Regarding Construction Responsibilities - ORS 701.325 (2).
Online Form:
http://ccbed.ccb.state.or.us/WebPDF/CCB/Publications/property_owner%20adopted%209-23-08.pdf
Public User - Anyone who uses ACA is a public user. Public users include anonymous users,
those without an ACA account, and registered users, those with an ACA account.
Quick Query - A pre-defined search that helps users quickly access specific items with
particular information in list portlets. Examples: ACA Applications, Permits Issued,
Scheduled Inspections, etc.
Record - A term that identifies a specific set of data in the system and is tracked by a unique
jurisdiction identifier.
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Record ID - The unique identification number of a record. All records, with the exception of
historical data, must start with the 3-digit jurisdictional ID. ePermitting uses a standard
format of: 123 – ABC – 13 – NNNN  123(juris id) ABC(record type) YY (record year) NNNN
(sequence #).
Reference Data - Reference data is data that has been added to the reference tables in
ePermitting. Reference data is different from transactional data because you are able to
search for and populate reference data into records. An address added to a permit would
not be reference data, but if it is added in the Address portlet where the reference data is
stored for addresses, then that information becomes searchable and can be pulled into
records.
Reference Database – An information repository that acts like a library, allowing users to
search for stored information. A typical database might include address, parcel, and owner
information stored in the a county records database. Users can search the ePermitting
reference database from within the back office and from ACA. Access to this search
capability is set up by an administrator.
Registered User - A public user who has an ACA account is considered a registered user.
These individuals are either licensed professionals or property owners that can only
purchase permits for those items within their purchasing category. For example, an
electrician could pull electrical permits but not plumbing; and a property owner could pull
permits for their property only.
Report - All documents created by the system are reports.
Report Manager – Reports and their accompanying parameters are set up in this area so
that users can easily run reports. Determining where reports are located is also established
here.
Scripted or Scripting – Many of the automatic processes in the system are controlled by
strings of computer code, or scripts. Scripts can do any number of things, including reducing
the number of steps required to do something, automatically adding fees based on
selections in the system, or restrict a permit from being issued if fees are due. See Standard
Choice.
Set - A function that allows agencies to organize multiple records into a group. Sets can be
used to group fees or simultaneously update the workflow for several permit applications at
a time.
SmartChart - A graphical representation of data bases on a pre-defined query. Examples:
Count of new permits this quarter, The number of permits on Hold this month, Closed
records by month this year, etc.
SPEAR Form (Single Portlet Entry and Review) - See Application Intake Form.
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Standard Choice - Configurations used by administrators to set up feature functionality.
This is where most of the scripting for the model resides. Standard Choices are also used for
the content used for reports that result in a letter being generated.
Status – Identifies where a record is in the process. This can include both workflow and
application statuses, which may indicate whether a plan was approved or that the overall
record is “In Review.”
Standard Comments – Another piece of reference data, they generally include the
commonly used “Write It, Cite It” code citation list used by BCD or a jurisdiction. The
comments are divided into 3 major groups (Inspections, Plan Review, and Jurisdiction),
followed by the ability to select the applicable code. Comments are essentially templates
that can be easily added to a record so that frequently used comments do not have to be
typed every time for correction notices or when resulting an inspection.
Supervisor button – An override button that gives extra permissions to an individual
allowing them to reset a workflow task to a previous state, edit a date field that is normally
read-only, etc.
Task Status – This is the status of the current step the permit is in.
Time Tracking – A record-tracking time counter is controlled by the current task status. If
the task is dependent on someone working on the record in the back office (like plan
review, fee assessment, etc.), the counter is “running”, but if the task is waiting for the
applicant to submit a required document, or pay a fee, etc. the time tracker can be stopped
by setting the appropriate task status.
TSI: Task Specific Information - Custom fields created for use with workflow tasks.
Transactional Data – This is data that is contained within a record, rather than being a
record itself. It is not reference data, so it cannot be searched for or reused in records. Any
data that has potential for reuse should be added as reference data to make it permanent
and searchable for later use.
Third-party Software – An add-on or plug-in product not supplied by Accela Automation.
UAT (User Acceptance Testing) - The phase of implementation where jurisdictional users
process every record type and use all aspects of the system to ensure the program works as
expected, fees are calculating correctly, and each function required to complete the day-today work of the building dept.
UAT Ticket – A record that details a specific issue encountered during user testing, allowing
issues to be tracked and resolved in a timely manner.
Upgrade – As with any software solution, Accela Automation is constantly changing and
evolving to make the system better and more efficient. As technical changes become
available, Oregon ePermitting technicians will compile and eventually apply the changes to
the system at one time, creating a system upgrade.
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User Group – An established set of permissions grouped by specific system tasks so that
users can be assigned to a group with the correct permission for their job– i.e. permit
technician, supervisor, admin.
User Permissions – The controls set by administrators that allow individual users to perform
specific tasks in the system. These controls are set up in user groups and, once established,
each user is associated to one group. These permissions determine what and who has readonly rights vs. those who have rights as a plan reviewer.
User Profile – Individual information for a particular user. The profile determines a user’s
login information, their contact information, and indicates the appropriate user group
permissions.
Valuation Calculator – Calculates the job value for a project based the annual April ICC
Building Valuation Table.
Virtual Merchant - A hosted, second-party, PCI compliant, payment solution managed by
Elavon, that is used for processing all payments for the system.
Wildcard – A special character that can be substituted in a search to represent one or more
unknown characters that may, or may not be, part of the item being searched for. The
ePermitting system uses a percent symbol (%).
Workflow - A set of record-related tasks that must be completed in sequential order to
move a permit application through the system. Workflow functions, much like a processing
checklist, guiding both the jurisdiction and their customers through the required record
processing steps from intake to plan review, issuance, inspection, and on.
Write it Cite it – A reference list of the most recent and common code citations in five
specialty code areas - structural, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and residential. State
rules require the applicable code reference be cited for any violations or necessary
corrections.
A•B•C•D•E•F•G•H•I•J•K•L•M•N•O•P•Q•R•S•T•U•V•W•X•Y•Z
Frequently Asked Questions
If there is a general topic for a question, it will be underlined so you can easily scan through to find the
question you are looking for. Hyperlinks are sometimes used to guide you to additional information
within the manual, and are in bright blue underlined text.
Q: One of the addresses in my jurisdiction has been updated. I want to keep the old address
in the system so customers can look up past permit records under that address, but I don’t want
contractors to be able to pull permits under the old address. How do I accomplish this?
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A: Follow the normal process for adding an address to the system with the newly assigned
address. Remember to assign an address type. Then, search for the old address in the Property
portlet, and delete the address type from the old address. This will allow the address to remain in
the system as a searchable address record but will prevent permits from being purchased for it.
Q: A permit was issued with a different prefix in the permit number. My jurisdiction has a
prefix of 687 but the permit number issued was 233-15-0001-STR.
A: The jurisdiction indicator needs to be corrected in the Parcel tab in the Property portlet
page. To correct this, first void the fees on the permit. Next, delete the parcel from the permit
record. Then, in the Property portlet page, search for the parcel and correct the option under
Jurisdiction Indicator. Now, you can add the corrected parcel and the fees back onto the permit.
Once done, the account code will be correct for that permit.
Q: Occasionally a contractor will tell a homeowner that they can purchase permits online, and then
the homeowner calls us to ask why they can not purchase permits through ePermitting without a
license. What should I tell them? Why is that?
A: As our website grows, we hope to make this a feature. Until then, homeowners are still able to
utilize parts of our website: they can search for permit records, view their permit details and status,
schedule inspections, view inspection results, and more. You as the jurisdiction can create records
that list the homeowner under the licensed professional section. One of the licensed professionals
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in the drop down list is “Owner,” which simply has a description
to obtain homeowner information from the APO section. If you
create the permit this way, listing the professional as the
owner, the permit would be available for the customer to pay
online, saving them from the paper application process, but it
would be up to your jurisdiction to determine if your policies
allow this.
Q: A contractor has forgotten his password for ePermitting. How do I change it?
A: They will have to be referred to our office. Give the customer our phone number: 503-373-7396.
We are able to provide help with confirming usernames, resetting passwords, assistance with
connecting license information, and more.
Q: I’d like to help the contractor update their license in the system rather than have them make
another phone call, how do I do this?
A: First, have them go to Account Management in the upper right hand corner, under the green bar.
License information will be the fourth section down. Ask the contractor if any licenses are showing
in that section. If the license is showing but says that it is ‘Inactive’ or ‘Suspended,’ have them
contact the licensing section at 503-373-1268. If no licenses are showing or if a license needs to be
added, there is an ‘Add a License’ button on the right hand side in the gray bar.
After they look up their license in the next fields, the system will show their license information and
then customer needs to click on “Connect” to the right of the license. Now the license will be
connected to their account and they will be able to pull permit allowed for that license type.
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Q: I am trying to run a report for the Planning Department’s
financial records. The report asks for the department, and I
type in “planning” but no results are returned on the report.
A: The fields in the reports section are case sensitive. If the
department’s data has been titled as “Planning” with a
capital “P,” then the report will only display information if
you type it that way in the department field.
The default for this field is “All Departments.”
Q: A customer has requested to transfer a permit, and our department charges a permit transfer
fee. How can I apply this fee to the record?
A: Go the record and click on ‘Add Fees’ in the
My Navigation portlet. Then, change the fee
schedule at the top to B_POS. For this account
code there is a Permit Transfer Fee that is three
up from the bottom. The unit type for the
Permit Transfer Fee is “Ea” so you would enter
the quanitity based how many instances of the
fee you want to assess to the record, which
would likey be just one. Then click ‘Submit’ and
the fee will be added to that record. Don’t
forget to invoice new fees!
Q: A payment type was entered incorrectly as “Cash” instead of “Check” in yesterday’s transactions.
How can I change the payment type when it is no longer the same day as the transaction?
A: It is up to your jurisdiction to establish a policy for this situation, but our recommendation is to
not change the payment type in the system. Instead, we recommend going to ‘Payment History’ in
the My Navigation portlet and add a note to the comments about the actual payment type.
Rather than simply entering a comment about the correction, you could void the wrong payment
and repost it with the correct payment type, but it will show in the current day’s transactions and
you will be out of balance for the prior day. We also recommend balancing your transactions at the
end of every day in order to avoid situations like this.
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Q: A customer brought in a check that was already filled out to submit with their plans, but the
check was a few dollars off and the customer wants to pay for the difference with cash. How do I
enter the one payment with two payment types?
A: First, make sure your fees are invoiced. Then, go to the Payments in the My Navigation portlet.
Click on the ‘Pay’ button and input the first payment type and payment information but do NOT
click ‘Save,’ instead hit ‘Pay More.’ This will bring up the payment window again which will allow
you to input your second payment type and payment information. After all of the payment types
have been entered, click ‘Save.’ This puts both payment transactions together on one individual
receipt with the same payer, and
you don’t have to do the process
for a ‘partial payment’. Processing
the payments as two separate
payments would result in two
receipts.
Note: Do not use the ‘Pay More’
button when using any of the ‘nonpayment’ payment types,
particularly Credit Memo.
Q: Our office has no way of printing the plans that customers attach to their building permits. Can
you turn off this feature for our jurisdiction?
A: That feature is integrated into the system and cannot be turned off. You can contact customers
once you receive a building application with electronic plans and let the customer know that you
require paper plans submitted per your office policy. If you or your jurisdiction has any questions
about beginning the process of reviewing plans electronically, please contact our office. Accepting
electronic plans is helpful to many contractors and helps to keep the ePermitting process
standardized for contractors.
Q: We’ve assigned an address to an existing parcel because of the construction of a new home. How
do I add an address when the parcel already exists in the ePermitting system?
A: You will need to add the address to the parcel itself instead of creating a new address. First go to
the Property page, and in the Parcel portlet, search for the parcel. Once the system has brought up
the parcel record, you should see an Address tab seven tabs over from the left hand side.
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Click on the Address tab, and click on the ‘Look Up’ button. Before entering a new address, always
search for the address first to ensure that you are not duplicating the address in the system. If no
address if found, click on the ‘New’ button.
Fill in the address fields with all caps other than the county field.
Q: My credit card totals do not balance when I am trying to complete the nightly balancing. My
jurisdiction uses Converge (formerly Virtual Merchant) in the back office.
A: Run the “Credit Card Detail” report from Financial Reports. Check this report against the
Converge daily batch to ensure that no payments were processed twice or that a payment did not
process at all. By comparing these, you should be able to identify the discrepancy. Once identified,
take the action necessary to correct the issue. If you still do not see a discrepancy but you do not
balance for credit cards, consider having another person take a look at the list. Sometimes a fresh
pair of eyes can be helpful.
Q: My credit card totals do not balance when I am trying to complete the nightly balancing, but my
jurisdiction does NOT use Converge (formerly Virtual Merchant) in the back office.
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A: Run the “Credit Card Detail” report from Financial Reports. Compare this report to your signed
credit card slips and to your credit card vendor’s daily batch list. Confirm the payment amounts for
each line item in order to locate which item to correct. Usually in this situation, the payment
amount was keyed incorrectly in the credit card amount field. If the wrong amount was entered
into ePermitting and it is the same day that the payment was entered, you will need to void the
payment and re-post the correct amount.
Inspection Choices
Automation
(Back Office)
Database Web site
accessed by computer
Inspector or Permit Tech
AMO-software
downloaded to a laptop
Inspector
Inspector App
(android or iOS)
downloaded to smartphone
or tablet
Inspector
Requires Internet
Connection to Result
Inspections
Requires Internet
Connection to Search for
Information
Toggle directly to related
permits and inspections
(you can see the inspection
history on a permit, but
this is if you want to see
what inspections have
been done on other permits
at the site)
Integration to
jurisdiction’s GIS
mapping features
Display scheduled
inspections on map
Save “Favorite”
Comments
Mobile Printers
Y
N
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
N (you have to search by
address or permit number
to find the related permits
and inspections)
Y
Y
N
Y
Y
Y
N
N
Y
Available
Available
Email Inspection Reports
Y
Y
“Brother” thermal printer
can be used
Y
Who enters results
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Plan Revisions/Deferred Submittals/Phased Projects
Uses:
Begin Process From:
Process:
Tracking Plan
Revisions
Organizing Plan
Amendments
Building Review
Workflow Status
Two Options:
-Additional Info Needed
-Revisions Needed
Additional Info
Needed
Communicates to
customer through ACA,
(and internal staff) that
the plans need/are being
altered. The versions are
tracked manually until
the plans get finalized
Revisions Needed
Creates a revision
record with:
Same permit number as
parent record
Workflow
Documents
Comments
Create multiple
revisions records by
moving parent permit
into revisions needed
status
Deferred Submittals
Phased Projects
Tracking, and charging
for, deferred portions of
projects (trusses,
engineered stairs)
Related Records
Large projects broken
into distinct portions.
“Clone Record”
Pick Deferred Submittal
from application picker
Deferred submittal
record attaches as child
of parent record.
Start Phased Permit as
Parent Record.
Add job valuation
through “submitted job
value” or the valuation
calculator for that
portion of job value.
Add Fees
Process like any other
permit
New Record Picker
Put full project value
on the “phased” permit.
You must create all the
structural phases of the
project at this time, by
adding them as
additional records at the
bottom of the SPEAR
form- they should be
structural PHASED
permits
Add phase valuation to
each of the phases
(guesstimate if
necessary, you can
always correct later)
The permit fee will be
on the Phased record
The plan review and
phasing fees will be on
the children structural
phased records
You can create
electrical, plumbing,
mechanical children
permits for each of the
structural phased
permits.
Revision records close
when parent record is
closed
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Certificates of Occupancy/Satisfactory Completion
Temp Certificate of
Occupancy
Certificate of
Occupancy
Uses
Structural Permits
Structural Permits
Begin Process
from:
Process
WorkflowInspection Process
Status
Temp C of O Requested
WorkflowCert. of Occupancy
For Occupancy Group
and Construction Type
to print on C of O, they
must be entered in
Valuation Calculator
To populate Areas of
Responsibility, you must
1st add licensees to the
“Professionals” on the
structural permit. Write
down the license numbers!
Application Table
Select ‘Table Subgroup’
Responsible Party
”Add” responsible
parties by picking “Area
of Responsibility” and
adding license number
(you have to know the #,
there’s no look up
function)
 Workflow,
Change status to
“C of O Issued”
(all inspections must be
completed and fees paid)
This creates a TCO child
permit with same
number as parent
TCO permit workflow
“Request Accepted”
Enter TCO Comments
and # days before
expiration in workflow
comment boxes
Move workflow through
to
“TCO Issued”
Certificate of
Satisfactory
Completion
Alterations, Additions,
Electrical, Mechanical,
Plumbing (provides
contractors or homeowners
with proof that work was
permitted and passed final
inspection)
Reports“Permit Specific”
Report can be run after
Final Inspection is
Resulted.
TCO child permit opens
notice condition on parent
permit
You can do multiple
TCOs.
Closing parent permit
automatically closes TCO
permits.
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Record Types List

Building
o 1 & 2 Fam Dwelling (New Only)/Comprehensive(R)
 Combination Permit for a new one and two
family dwelling. This type of permit will
automaticallyy assess fees based on the
valuation and specified ASI.
o 1 & 2 Family Dwelling (New Only)/Limited(R)
o Agricultural Equine(C)
 This record type is not a permit. It is a permit exemption which confirms that
the proposed structure has been reviewed and it has been determind that there
is no permit required. Many agencies charge a fee associated with the site
review that confirms compliance of the zoning ordinances.
o Alarm or Suppression Systems(C)
o Building Appeal
o Deferred Submittal(C/R)
 This record type is not a permit. Deferred Submittals are essentially a plan
review of the proposed structure. Because this record type will not be the
permit, it will always be a “child record.”
 You can create a deferred submittal by selecting “Deferred Submital” as your
permit type.
o Demolition(C/R)
 Fees are automatically assessed for this record type.
o Driveway
o Electrical(C/R)
o Fence
o Inquiry
 This record type can be used to track inquiry charges from research requests.
o Investigation(C/R)
 This record type is used to track building code violation fees.
 If the investigation results in a required permit, you can relate the permit record
to the investigation record.
o Manufactured Dwelling(R)
o Mechanical(C/R)
o Phased Project(C/R)
 The permit for this record type will be issued from the Phased Project record.
Authorizations will be issued for each for each phase after it’s review has been
completed.
o Plumbing(C/R)
o Post Disaster
o Research(C/R)
 This record type allows you to assess a fee for reviewing already completed
work that was done without a permit, but now needs to be permitted. This
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

might happen in a case where someone has built an addition and the bank
financing the loan requires that the work now be considered permitted.
o Revision(C/R)
 This record type will always be the child record of another permit because it is
for revisions submitted on another record.
 It is created from the workflow of the parent record.
 Fees for revisions should be attached to the parent record.
o RV Park or Manuf Home Park(C)
 The fees for this record type are based on the valutaion submitted by the
contractor.
o Septic – DEQ(C/R/OS)
o Site Development(C/R)
o Structural(C/R)
o Structural Phased(C/R)
o Temporary C of O(C/R)
o Manufactured Dwelling(R)
Licensing
o Business License(OS)
o Regulatory(OS)
Planning
o Tracking(OS)
o Investigation (OS)
o Inquiry
o Revision
o Project – Inlcuded in full Planning Module only
o Pre-Application – Included in full Planning Module only
o Type 1 (County/City) – Included in full Planning Module only
o Type 2 (County/City) – Included in full Planning Module only
o Type 3 (County/City) – Included in full Planning Module only
o Type 4 (County/City) – Included in full Planning Module only
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Helpful Links
Accela Community: http://community.accela.com/default.aspx
Building Codes Division (BCD): http://www.bcd.oregon.gov/
Minor Label Program: https://minorlabels.dcbs.oregon.gov/
Sample Plans from BCD: http://www.bcd.oregon.gov/accela/documents.html
Search Page for Licensing (BCD):
http://www4.cbs.state.or.us/ex/all/mylicsearch/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.show_main&group
_id=30
Board of Architect Examiners: http://orbae.com/search-licensees/
Board of Examiners for Engineering:
http://www.oregon.gov/Osbeels/Pages/Search_License.aspx
Construction Contractors Board (CCB): http://search.ccb.state.or.us/search/
Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS): http://www.oregon.gov/DCBS
DEQ Onsite System Installer: (for reference only, not included in Professionals batch load at this time):
http://www.deq.state.or.us/wq/onsite/sdssearch.asp
Landscapers Contractors Board (LCB):
http://www.oregonlcb.com/contractorsearch/ContractorSearch.aspx
Permits Protect: http://www.permitsprotect.info/index.htm
PDX Maps: http://www.portlandmaps.com/
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