New planning application technology adopted by Building Control Partnership ... Based in Easingwold, York, it provides a
“iApply helps us hit our targets and improve the customer experience. Receiving building submissions electronically means that we can turn them around in less than 24 hours.” LES CHAPMAN, HEAD OF BUILDING CONTROL AT NYBCP
Case study North Yorkshire Building Control Partnership (NYBCP) New planning application technology adopted by Building Control Partnership
Who is NYBCP? NYBCP was the first Local Authority Building Control Partnership established in the UK. Initially formed in 2001 from the building control services of Ryedale and Selby District Councils, NYBCP was created to meet the challenges posed by ‘Best Value’ and emerging private sector competition. The partnership was joined in 2007 by Hambleton District Council, in 2008 by Scarborough Borough Council, and ultimately by Richmondshire District Council in April 2010. Based in Easingwold, York, it provides a flexible, modern building control service on behalf of the five local authorities, covering an area greater than 2,000 square miles and with a population approaching 400,000. NYBCP manages the building control function, dealing with the health and safety of people in and around the buildings. It checks plans and applications, and applies the building regulations. The partnership’s online application submission facility allows customers to submit full plans, building notices or regularisation applications.
The challenge: Preparing for paperless With 12 building control officers continuously working remotely, visiting buildings at various stages during the work, there is a focus on ensuring the NYBCP ‘office’ is paperless. Back in 2013, NYBCP worked with Idox to introduce a single, fully-integrated and hosted system which was accessible via a sole login, from any location and on any digital device (PC, tablet or smartphone). This helped the business considerably in meeting its paperless target. However, many customers were still sending in hardcopy applications and those that were submitting digitally had to upload applications, sending multiple emails with attachments.
“I am excited about this new, improved service for our customers. I am happy to recommend iApply. It has been designed by the end user and the back office.” MARIA PODGORSKI, SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICER AT NYBCP
The opportunity: Back office input into final design Idox invited NYBCP to support the testing and development of the new system it was developing – iApply. Over a period of several months NYBCP trialled the product and helped to identify any challenges or issues within the system. Maria Podgorski, Senior Administration Officer at NYBCP, was heavily involved with the testing: “Having the opportunity to test iApply in a real environment was really important. By using our knowledge of what both we and our customers need to ensure we can work effectively and efficiently, we were able to provide valuable feedback which Idox was then able to integrate into the final version. This has allowed Idox to build iApply around what we were looking for and for us to have confidence in the system from its launch.”
The solution: Planning permission and building control from a single source iApply is the UK's first combined planning and building control online submission service. Launched in late 2015 as the first of its kind, the system is designed to considerably simplify the submission and real-time tracking of planning and building control applications. iApply brings fluidity to the process and transforms the way customers interact with local government. iApply provides a single-source for all online submissions and, when compared to existing methods, offers time and efficiency savings to both applicants and local authorities. The system uses a modern, user-friendly interface, with data sharing made simpler by its compatibility. File sizes permit bulk documentation uploads, which allow for detailed, large documents to be submitted with ease. Les Chapman, Head of Building Control at NYBCP explains: “iApply is simple to use, and it streamlines the back office process. In fact we are encouraging everyone to submit their applications online, as it integrates seamlessly with our back office, which means we don’t need to double handle and we have cut down on the time spent processing applications. It also means we don’t need to scan in plans, because the system is integrated with our document management system. This leads to cost savings and time savings. Our customers are confident using iApply and so are we.”
Key features and benefits iApply offers a step-change for the planning and building control sectors. It provides: • • • • • • • • •
a single-source for all online submissions a cloud-based and mobile-friendly solution time and efficiency savings unrestricted file sizes improved validation and transparency access to submission details enhanced application tracking and notification opportunities to collaborate a national register of planning applications.
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