2015 Desk Manual Last Updated: 9/29/2015 1

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2015 Desk Manual

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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 Please do not print out or save this manual to your hard drive, because it may go out of date quickly.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 or in Quicklinks in 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

 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.

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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 5 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.

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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. More information on sets can be found here.

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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:

 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:

 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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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.

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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:

 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:

 Payments Received - only includes payment method of Cash, Check, Credit Card, and Credit Card Other (optional)

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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 non-sufficient 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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29 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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40 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

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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. Ifyou 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 changes occurring on a professional’s license will not show in Accela’s data until the next day. 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

 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

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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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47 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 – Cloning and Sets

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 as well as by customers through ACA. In ePermitting you are able to clone records, run reports from records, create record sets, and relate records to one another. 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.

Record Sets

Records can be grouped into sets. Sets of records can be helpful when you want to take the same action with multiple records, such as applying a single payment to three different permits that an electrical contractor is trying to pull. If a customer brings in one check for a group of permits, you can make them into a set and then apply the payment to the set, rather than having to access each permit’s payment portlet separately to transfer the portion of the payment to each permit.

There are a few ways to create a set:

1. From the record list portlet, check the boxes next to the permits you want in the set. Then click on the ‘Create a Set’ button. This will give you two choices, create a set and select all and create a set. If you are using Quickqueries to filter the record list, the select all and create a set option can save you the time of checking each box.

2. From the Record Sets portlet page, click on the ‘New’ button to create a new set. After you type in a set name, click ‘Submit.’ Now the set has been created but no records have been added to the set. To add records to the set, click on the second tab from the left marked “Set Member.” From there you can type record number in to add records to the set.

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After you have created your set using the above methods, you can take an action on the set. To make apayment on a set, go the Record Sets portlet page, select the set and go to the payment tab. From there you can click on the ‘Pay’ button to enter the payment information for the group of payments.

To expire a group of permits, select the set from the Record Sets portlet page, and click on the ‘Execute Script’ button. By simply clicking on the option to Expire Records in Set, each record will now show a status of expired.

The Record Sets portlet page will retain up to one hundred sets. After you have made more than one hundred sets, sets will be deleted as new ones are created. You are also able to delete sets by checking the box next to the set and clicking the ‘Delete’ button.

When a set is deleted, the entries for the set are deleted from the portlet page and the set details tables. If a set had a payment made on it, and the set was then deleted, the receipt for the set can be regenerated by running the report titled Set Receipt, which can be found in Financial Reports v3. A set payment cannot be voided or refunded at the set level. Voids and refunds must be done for the set member records individually. If the set payment receipt is regenerated, it will show the actions taken in the set Payment tab for each of the set members.

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