1 Contents
Best Practice Checklist ... 2
Electronic Plan Submission ... 3
Standards ... 3
Required Files ... 3
Border Standards ... 4
File Naming Standards – Development Plans ... 4
File Naming Standards – Building Plans (Residential & Commercial) ... 6
Document Naming Standards ... 7
File Type Standards... 7
Folder Structure and Content ... 7
File Layout & Scale ... 7
Login to City of Vancouver’s Electronic Review System ... 9
Electronic Review Invitation ... 9
New Users ... 9
Existing Users ... 12
Uploading Files ... 12
Security Timeout ... 15
Prescreening ... 16
Approved ... 19
Review Correction Notification and Plan Resubmit ... 19
Review Changemarks ... 22
Approval ... 26
Print Approved Plans ... 26
File Retention ... 27
2
Best Practice Checklist
To help ensure acceptance of your drawings the first time:
Please use Internet Explorer when uploading documents.
All drawing files shall be submitted in vector PDF, DWG, DWF, DGN, or DXF. Ensure layers can be turned on and off by the reviewer.
For optimum performance clean and purge all extraneous layers from drawings, minimize the amount of hatching and/or convert to a less
processor-intensive format type. Minimize the number of layers included in the drawings (100 or less is recommended).
Save drawing calibration settings to each drawing sheet. Drawings shall be saved and submitted in landscape view.
All plan files shall be single page files. No multi-page plan files will be accepted.
All non-drawing documents can be submitted as multi-page PDF, Word, Excel or other.
A reference scale or scale bar is required on all drawings. Review and follow the City’s plan file naming conventions
Name files exactly the same as the original file name when uploading revisions. The system automatically versions files so users should not version. Please name the layers using a clear and intuitive method.
Review and follow the border standards. The bottom right corner of all plan sheets must be blank, reserved for the City of Vancouver’s electronic approval stamp.
3 Electronic Plan Submission
Electronic Plan Review (ePlans) is a web-based solution that allows plans to be
submitted electronically. ePlans improves plan review efficiency, reduces costs, as well as supports green initiatives.
Please complete the following prior to getting started: 1. Download and complete:
a. The required application form(s) which can be found at
http://www.cityofvancouver.us/ced/page/permit-and-development-applications.
b. The Account Request Form for Dynamic Portal located at
https://epermits.cityofvancouver.us/CDR/ .
Dynamic Portal is our online payment portal that allows you to pay fees online. If you do not already have a Dynamic Portal account set-up please submit the request form to receive a log-in. (Dynamic Portal accepts VISA or MasterCard payments only.)
c. E-mail completed Engineering Application and Dynamic Portal Account Request Form (if applicable) to [email protected] . Permit Center Staff will input your application and will send you your application number so that you can log into Dynamic Portal to pay the associated review fees. If you would like to pay with cash or check you may do so in person at the City of Vancouver’s Permit Center located at:
415 W 6th St
Vancouver, WA 98660
2. Review the standards in this guide, including file naming standards, acceptable file formats and borders/spacing. Please note that plans that do not meet the required standards will not be accepted for review.
Standards
Standards allow for easy identification of drawing by naming convention, vector file types in order to facilitate the most efficient review, color coding of comments for visual identification of departments and so on.
Required Files
1. Plans – all required drawings as well as an index page following City standards for submission (along with other information required by the City’s checklist). Each page of the plan shall be uploaded as a separate single page file into the “Plans” folder.
2. Supporting Documents – all other files that are required as part of the application submission but are not drawing files (ie. Drainage Report, Geotech Report, Traffic Study, etc.) Each document shall be uploaded as a separate file into the
4 Border Standards
All Plan Files:
The bottom right corner of all drawings must be reserved for the City of Vancouver’s electronic approval stamps. The following area on the coversheet and all
subsequent sheets must be left completelyblank. 22” x 34”, 24” x 36” or 36” x 48” Plan Files:
3” width x 3” height (4.75” from right edge of sheet and 1.5” from bottom of sheet)
Ex.
8” ½” x 11”, 8” ½” x 14” or 11” x 17” Plan Files:
2” width x 2” height (0.4” from the right edge of the sheet and 0.4” from the bottom of the sheet)
Ex.
File Naming Standards – Development Plans
File names for plans submitted through ePlans should include the first character of the discipline name, followed by a 3-digit sheet number, a hyphen and then the drawing name. File names for both plans and documents shall remain the same for all
submittals. The system automatically versions your files based on file name so please do not version files yourself when uploading revisions.
5 • Discipline – First character(s) in the file name represents the discipline area
followed by the page number and type of drawing, ex. A002 – Elevations. Ensure that all plans, including the associated details, are submitted under the correct discipline characters to use.
• Character – The City follows the national AIA character naming conventions. • Sheet Number – Must be a 3 digit number with leading zeros. Note: if decimals
are needed, place decimal after the 3rd digit, ex. P001.99
• File Names – File names should be concise. Please limit file names to 10-20 characters maximum.
Drawing Type Discipline Character Sheet Number
Example File Names
Civil CIVIL C 001-999
Cover CIVIL C 001-999 C001 - COVER
Site Layout CIVIL C 001-999 C002 – SITE
Drainage/Grading CIVIL C 001-999 COO3 –GRADING
Utility Plan CIVIL C 001-999 C004 – UTILITY
Details CIVIL C 001-999 C005 - DETAILS
Erosion Control CIVIL C 001-999 C006 – EC
Lighting CIVIL C 001-999 C007 - LIGHTING
Striping CIVIL C 001-999 C008 - STRIPING
Signage CIVIL C 001-999 C009 - SIGNAGE
Street Design CIVIL C 001-999 C010 - STREET
Symbol Legend/
General Notes General
G 001-999
G001- LEGEND
Landscape Plan LANDSCAPE L 001-999 L001– LANDSCP
Irrigation Plan LANDSCAPE L 001-999 L002 - IRRIG
Tree Plan LANDSCAPE L 001-999 L003 - TREE PLAN
Survey/Existing
Conditions Plan SURVEY
V 001-999
6 File Naming Standards – Building Plans (Residential & Commercial)
Filenames for drawings submitted through the City of Vancouver ePlans system should include the first character of the discipline name, followed by a 3-digit sheet number a hyphen and then the drawing name. File names for both drawings and documents shall remain the same for all submittals. The system automatically versions your file based on the file name so please do not version files when uploading re-submitted files.
• Discipline – First character(s) in the file name represents the discipline area
followed by the page number and type of drawing, i.e. A002 – Elevations. Ensure that all plans, including the associated details, are submitted under the correct discipline characters to use.
• Character – The City follows the national AIA character naming conventions. • Sheet Number – Must be a 3 digit number with leading zeros. Note: if decimals
are needed, place decimal after the 3rd digit, ex. P001.99
• File Names – File names should be concise. Please limit file names to 10-20 characters maximum.
Drawing Type Discipline Character Sheet Number
Example File Names
Architectural ARCHITECTURAL A 000-999
Cover Sheet ARCHITECTURAL A 000-999 A000 – COVER
Details ARCHITECTURAL A 000-999 A004 - DETAILS
Elevations ARCHITECTURAL A 000-999 A003 - ELEV
Floor Plan ARCHITECTURAL A 000-999 A001 – FLOOR PLAN
Foundation ARCHITECTURAL A 000-999 A002 - FDN
Electrical ELECTRIC E 001-999 E001 - ELEC
Fire Protection FIRE F 001-999 F001 – FIRE
Symbol Legend/ General Notes
GENERAL
G 001-999 G001 - LEGEND
Landscape LANDSCAPE L 001-999 L001 – IRRIG
Mechanical MECHANICAL M 001-999 M001 - MECH
Plumbing PLUMBING P 001-999 P001 - PLUMB
7 Structural and related plans including details STRUCTURAL
S 001-999 S001 – STEEL BLDG
Survey SURVEY V 001-999 V001 - SURVEY
Document Naming Standards
The City does not have specific file naming standards for documents. Pleases name your documents intuitively – e.g. Hydrology Report, Traffic Study, Narrative, Application. Document file names should also be concise, not to exceed 20 characters.
File Type Standards
Plan Files:
Vector PDF plan files are preferred. Raster based PDF’s will not be accepted from design professionals. DWG, DWF, DGN, DXF files can also be accepted.
Files must be 2D DWF file “print ready”, i.e., set up properly for printing with title block, no extra data outside the print page area, etc. ePlans does not support 3D DWF files at this time.
For optimum performance clean and purge all extraneous layers from drawings, minimize the amount of hatching and/or convert to a less processor-intensive format type. Minimize the number of layers included in the drawings (100 or less is
recommended).
Document Files:
Supporting document files may be in the following formats: PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPS, PPTX, TIF, TIFF, JPG, PNG, IMG, or BMP. Please submit searchable PDF files for calculations, reports and other supporting documentation (non-drawing files).
Folder Structure and Content
• Plans folder: Drawing files only should be uploaded to the “Plans” folder for each
project.
• Documents folder: All supporting documentation (any non-drawing files, traffic
study, geotechnical reports, etc.) should be uploaded into the “Documents” folder for each project.
• Approved folder: Batch stamped (approved) plans will be stored here after the
project has received approval. File Layout & Scale
Plan files must be oriented in landscape view.
Plans should be drawn to scale and the scale should be clearly marked on each plan sheet. Do not rescale plans between review cycles.
8 Corrections or “Markup” Color Standards
• Reviewers will make their comments and changemarks (“redlines”) using the markup tool.
• Standard names and colors will be used for each reviewing discipline for easy identification.
• A markup can have one or more “changemarks.”
• Corrected files should always be re-submitted with the SAME FILE NAME as the original submittal.
MARKUP NAME MARKUP COLOR
Planning (PLNG) Plum (23)
Building (BLDG) Medium Blue (6)
Fire (FIRE) Red (9)
Water (WATER) Dark Blue (37)
Sewer (SEWER) Dark Green (27)
Storm (STORM) Orange( 26)
Transportation (TRANS) Teal (45)
Traffic (TRAFF) Brown (34)
Urban Forestry (URBFO) Neon Green (19)
CED Engineering (CED ENG) Light Purple (15)
Construction (CONST) Army Green (42)
9 Login to City of Vancouver’s Electronic Review System
Electronic Review Invitation
When your application is processed and input into the City of Vancouver’s online ePlans system, a City of Vancouver Electronic Review invitation will be sent to your e-mail address. The e-e-mail will contain your login information and information about your project, including a link to the project. The site address for the City of Vancouver’s online ePlans system is: https://eplans.cityofvancouver.us .
New Users
1. We recommend that you use Internet Explorer to access the City of Vancouver’s ePlans system. The City’s ePlans system does support Chrome, Firefox and Safari browsers but utilizes a HTML5 viewer with these browsers which provides a more limited tool set.
2. Prior to logging into the City of Vancouver’s ePlans system, the following actions must be completed:
• You will need to add the City of Vancouver’s ePlans site
(https://eplans.cityofvancouver.us ) to your trusted sites and will need to be in compatibility mode. (IE > Tools > Compatibility View Settings). Additional actions are required to enable IE 10 and 11 to work with ePlans. Users with IE 10 and 11 may follow this link below to view a detailed help document -
https://eplans.cityofvancouver.us/projectdox/custom/ie10_11_avolve_guide.pdf .
• If your computer has up blockers installed, you will need to disable pop-up blocking for the City of Vancouver ePlan review system web address (https://eplans.cityofvancouver.us). (IE > Pop-up Blocker > Pop-up Blocker Settings) It is not uncommon to have more than one pop-up blocker installed (Internet Explorer, Google Task Bar, etc). Once the ProjectDox site is allowed, you will be able to utilize the application.
10 • If you are using Internet Explorer for your browser the login page has a MSI
(Microsoft Silent Install) component required to install all the necessary ProjectDox components. The component installation will only need to be done once; if you utilize a different computer it will require another installation for each unique computer. The link to the component install is shown on the following page.
3. The login page also provides a shortcut that you can drag and drop onto your desk top as well as a link to save the ProjectDox web address to your favorites.
11 4. To sign in, enter your e-mail address and temporary password (first time use) and
click the Login button, as shown below:
5. Enter your new password, confirm the new password, complete the secret question and answer section and add personal account information. Yellow highlighted fields are required but a full Profile record is ideal, then click the Save button in the middle of the screen. Remember passwords are case sensitive and must be 8 to 10 characters is length with at least one number and no special characters. This Profile Information can be accessed at any time by selecting the “Profile” button at the top of the Home page.
12 Existing Users
If you are a returning user, login to ePlans Review with your full e-mail address and password. If you have forgotten your password, click on the “Forgot Password” button so that it can be e-mailed to you. This will work only if you have logged in once and added a security question and answer.
Uploading Files
1. When you have successfully logged into ePlans (ProjectDox) for the first time the projects screen will display. Any projects for which you have access will display in the list.
Upon subsequent logins the most recent applications that you have opened will display (up to a max of 15). To access a full list of applications that you have access to click on the “All Applications” button in the upper tool bar as shown on the following page.
Any outstanding tasks that require your action are displayed in the “Active Task List” below the “Active Projects List” on the left-hand side of the display. Select the application number that corresponds to the plans you will be uploading. The projects are listed in order by Application number but can be sorted by clicking on any header field name.
2. Click on your application number, then click the “Plans” folder to upload your plan drawings or “Documents” folder to upload supporting project documents.
13 3. Upon entering either folder, you will be presented with two buttons, View Folders
and Upload Files.
4. Click the “Upload Files” button. An “Upload Files” pop-up will automatically display. To browse for files on your network select “Browse”, locate and select or highlight files you want to upload; multiple files can be selected by using your Shift or Ctrl keys. When done selecting files click the “Open” button and the files selected will then be copied to the upload window. You can also drag and drop files into the upload window list.
5. Click the “Upload” button to begin the upload. If upload performance is slow, restrict the number of files and/or size not to exceed 100MB per upload. (Note: The names of the selected sample files on the following page do not
meet the requirements of the City’s File Naming Standards and would be rejected. See pages 5 and 6 of this document for the file naming standards.)
14 6. The Upload files box above will be replaced by a box that lists all files uploaded
with a note indicating that your files have been uploaded. Close that window. The folder list will be replaced by thumbnail images of each file contained in the folder. Next to each thumbnail, the file name, author, date uploaded, file size, and History icon displays as shown on the page to follow.
If you realize that you uploaded the wrong file, misnamed a file, etc. and you need it deleted contact the Permit Center staff at
360-487-7802 or via e-mail at [email protected] for assistance.
7. Once completing upload of files to an ENG, LUF, SDP, CMI, RES or FRI application you need to sign off on a task to notify City Staff that the upload is complete.
Please Note: This action is not required for preliminary land use (LUP) and preliminary information request (PIR) uploads.
15 Your task list will appear. Click on the “ApplicantUpload” hyperlink in the Task column.
An eForm will open. Click on the “Upload Complete – Notify Jurisdiction” button.To complete this task. The task will be removed from your task list. Note: If you accept the task and realize that you have more items to upload click on the “Save And Close” button to close the task without signing it off. The task will remain on your task list until you choose “Upload Complete – Notify Jurisdiction.”
8. Congratulations! You have successfully finished part one of submitting your plans electronically. Please logout after your session is complete. A notification has been sent to the File Management Teams to start the prescreening process to determine if the submittal requirements have been met.
Security Timeout
Due to security and resource concerns, the system will automatically sign you out after 4 hours of inactivity. When you are ready to resume working with the system, click any button on the screen. The system automatically loads the login page for you. You can also close the web browser window and reload the login page manually in a new browser window.
16 Prescreening
Prescreening is a cursory review of your uploaded documents in preparation for formal review. This may be performed by the File Management Teams or Engineering
Technicians for most review types. If there are questions or missing items from your submittal, you will receive a “Prescreening Corrections Request” e-mail with instructions on the changes requested and how to resubmit.
Please note that you are able to login to ePlans at any time to check the status of your submittal.
17 1. Click the link in the e-mail to access the ePlans Center. The CorrectionComplete
task will appear at the bottom of the Projects screen (Home Page). Click on this task to accept it, view a checklist of needed, items markups and comments.
2. Review the Permit Specialists or Engineering Technicians comments to identify which requirements were noted as missing. You can click on “VIEW INTAKE CHECKLIST” to provide a written response to the checklist items if any were added as shown on the following page.
18 Save and close to return to the eForm.
3. Directly from this eForm you can click on the Folder List to access the
application’s Plans and Documents folders to upload necessary items. If they are not readily available you can “Save And Close” this task. You will return to the home screen where you can later access the project, upload files, reaccept your task and indicate that corrections are complete.
19 4. To complete this task place a checkmark in the box next to “I have uploaded
the corrected…” and the Corrections Complete button will display for you to click to complete your task. Upon completion, the City will be notified that the files have been completed or corrected and will continue with the Prescreening process.
Approved
If your submittal is approved, it will immediately move into the formal review process. Review Correction Notification and Plan Resubmit
If corrections are requested following the formal review cycle(s) of your drawings, follow the steps below: You will receive an e-mail notification from the File Management Team requesting revised documents.
1. Login to ProjectDox. The Applicant Resubmit task will display in your Active Task List at the bottom of the home page with your application number (ie.
20 2. The eForm and drawing markups provide a complete correction package from
all reviewing departments –changemarks, checklist items and notes on department reviews. (See a-f below.)
a
21 a. Consolidated Department Checklist
(a.) One or more departments may use the Checklist feature in the eForm. A consolidated list of all feedback not related to a red line are available for the applicant’s review. You can sort to find the “Not Met” items by clicking on the “Status” column. All checklist items will be reviewed again in the subsequent cycle(s).
You can view the comments by Met, Not Met, by department, or by all comments all departments, all cycles.
22 b. Consolidated Review Markups
(a.) Click on the markup name to be taken directly to the marked up file.
c. Review Cycle & Department Review Information
(a.) The Review Cycle drop-down allows the user to toggle
between review cycles to view any review cycle information. d. Checkboxes 1 and 2 are confirmation that you have read and corrected
the issues.
e. Checkbox 3 is confirmation that you have uploaded all new and/or corrected files.
f. Resubmit Complete Button
(a.) Once all three checkboxes have been checked this box will no longer be grayed out. Clicking on it will complete your resubmit task.
Review Changemarks
To view a plan markup, click on the icon next to the drawing as shown below.
All changemarks will display in the right hand pane and as you review, click on each changemark and you will zoom directly into the red line from the reviewer.
23 Select the Copy Changemarks button.
Check all boxes and change image size for larger thumbnails of markups.
24 The first page will show:
List of Comments
Address required
(Chad Lawry Monday, November 24, 2014 8:58:46 AM)
Application Number
(Leo Kuzmin Monday, November 24, 2014 9:26:36 AM)
Approval Block
(Leo Kuzmin Monday, November 24, 2014 9:27:25 AM)
Need sheet numbers
(Jen Patrick Monday, November 24, 2014 9:02:44 AM)
Quantities
(Jen Patrick Monday, November 24, 2014 9:03:51 AM)
Stamp
(Leo Kuzmin Monday, November 24, 2014 9:24:49 AM)
Scale
(Jen Patrick Monday, November 24, 2014 9:04:48 AM)
Each additional page will show details of one markup:
Application Number
(Back to List)
Created by: Leo Kuzmin
On: Monday, November 24, 2014 9:26:36 AM
Update to project number - ENG-37427
--- 0 Replies ---
25 To Print the markups in the original drawing format (24x 36) Click Publish.
Select Publish to PDF Select OK.
In the Publish option screen check burn in change marks, check mark the “Append Changemarks Notes” and click Publish. Then choose Save to File, click OK and select the location to save the file on your computer. Then you can print from the new PDF file.
1. Checkbox 1, 2 & 3
Checkbox 1 asks for confirmation that the checklist and the comments in the eForm have been reviewed. Checkbox 2 asks for confirmation that you have reviewed all the changemarks (red lines) attached to the drawings. Checkbox 3 confirms that you have uploaded revised drawings and/or documents using the SAME FILE NAMES.
2. Upload Files
Checkbox 3 asks for confirmation that you have corrected the plans and/or documents per the reviewer’s request and that you have uploaded them into the appropriate folder. The Upload dialog is identical to your initial upload.
26 The file will display the version number, V2 for example, because the correction was uploaded with the SAME FILE NAME as the original file name.
3. Resubmit Complete
When you are ready to complete the task and exit the form, click the “Complete” button.
Please Note: To complete this task you must check all three boxes and then click the “Complete” button. The button will be grayed out until the boxes are checked. Save
and close does not complete the task. It saves it so that you can come back to it and
complete it later.
Approval
When the plan review is approved by all reviewers, you will be notified by email. Print Approved Plans
After approval has been granted the plans will be electronically stamped by the City. The e-mail that you receive notifying you of approval will contain instructions on how to download and print your files. Approved drawing and/or document files will be in the “Approved” folder and available for download.
If you will be required to print, sign, seal and deliver an approved plan set to the Permit Center you will be notified by e-mail. In all circumstances you will be required to print and have available on the jobsite one copy of the approved plan for all inspections.
27 File Retention
The City follows a state mandated document retention schedule. The City purges files per that schedule. All files will not be retained indefinitely. You can contact the Permit Center to inquire about the retention requirements for your project. You may want to download and save your projects approved plans on your network for long-term or permanent retention.
Questions? : Phone:
360-487-7800 - Permit Center Reception Desk
360-487-7802 - Permit Specialists – Review Submittal Requirements 360-487-7803 - Planning Staff – Land Use and Development
360-487-7804 - Engineering Staff – Sewer, Water, Storm, Transportation
E-mail: [email protected] - ePlans questions
[email protected] – general permitting questions Address: City of Vancouver ~ Permit Center
415 W 6th St, 1st Floor Vancouver, WA 98660
