LTC 076-2009 Initiatives to Expedite Walk-thru Plan Review ProcessP. F (: ~ I'~J ~ ~~~
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OFFICE OF THE CITY nhANAGER
NO. LTC # 076-2009 LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City Commission
FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager^~
DATE: March 24, 2009 -
SUBJECT: Initiatives to Expedite Walk-thru Plan Review Process
The Building Development Process Task Force, in its effort to continually optimize plan
review process, will be implementing two initiatives to better serve our customer. These
initiatives are: the 24 hr walk-thru and a new queuing system for plan review walk-thru.
24 hr Walk-Thru Process
Currently, our customers have two options on how to get their plans review through the
Building Development Process, the Drop-Off and the Walk-Thru systems.
The plans that qualify for the walk-thru system are for small jobs and revisions to larger job
thatwilltake less than 15 minutes to review per each trade. All otherjobs are required to be
Drop-Off.
We are looking to implement a third altemative to provide a different service option to our
customers. The new alternative, that we are calling the "24 hr walk-thru process will allow
customers, whose permits qualify for awalk-thru, the option to drop-0ff their plans and pick-
them up the following day.
This program is intended to provide an expedited service for small jobs. We will be testing
this program during a pilot phase starting on March 30, 2009.
Phase 1-Pilot Phase
We will first start with a pilot phase that has the following restrictions:
• Homeowners - We will initially accept only permit applications from homeowners, as
per the guidelines currently in effect to grant homeowners priority in the afternoon
hours.
• Maximum of 5 drop-offs per day will be accepted
• Drop-off time: Before 1:30pm; (if after 1:30 pm they can pick it up in 2 business
days)
• Pick up time: after 3 pm the following business day
• 2 copies of the plans will be required
We are imposing these limitations on the pilot program to ensure we can deliver on our
promise to deliver the plans in 24 hours. We will run the pilot phase for approximately two
months.
Phase II- Implementation of 24hr walk-thru
Based on the results of the pilot phase, we will adapt the parameters for the permanent 24hr
walk-thru process. We will evaluate options such as increasing the number of plans
accepted per day, expanding the program to accept small projects, varying drop off and pick
up times, etc.
New Queulna Svstem : QMB
The current queuing system utilized for managing the walk-thru process is very rigid and
does not provide for a transparent process as to where you are in the process. It does not
show all customers that are still pending for each discipline's plan review, it does not provide
the information for the section Chiefs to adjust staff levels depending on work load, nor does
it allow for an individual to be in multiple queues at the same time.
Understanding these limitations, during our meeting with the professional Plans Expediters,
they recommended that we look at the system utilized by the City of Miami. We have
assessed their system and will be modifying to meet the City's security requirements.
As part of this system, we will place large monitors in the lobby area showing the different
queues. This will make the process more transparent for customers, and avoid having
customers wondering where they stand in the queue.
Both initiatives will reduce the amount of time the customerwaits, and allow departments to
more effectively manage time and available resources. This, in tum, will improve tum
around time and ultimately make the City of Miami Beach more of business friendly.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
JMG/AR
F:lcmgrsSALL+LTC-09~LTC-Initiatives to Expedite Plan Reviex Process v7.doc