Well-planned urban areas are a boon for economic development. They attract investment, support local businesses, and create a vibrant local economy.

City building departments play a crucial role in planning and executing city infrastructure development projects, thereby driving the local economy. 

Their work and decisions shape our cities and fulfill the growing needs of our communities—be it new residential units, retail areas, community roads, utilities, or public spaces such as parks and community halls. 

City building departments don't just support urban development; they also safeguard the well-being of residents, ensuring that buildings meet safety standards, align with sustainability initiatives, and comply with safety requirements. 

In doing so, they deal with a heavy burden of documentation, from processing permits and approving building plans to giving out licenses and overseeing compliance. Often, they must collaborate with other government entities, developers, and service providers. 

Given that most government offices carry a legacy of old building plans and documents that are in paper format, they face the many challenges of dealing with paper—slow and time-consuming manual processes, difficulties in sharing documents, and struggles with finding and retrieving a specific document from among thousands stored in the archives.

In this article, we discuss why city building departments must embrace digitization and how scanning building plans is the first step toward a digital transformation for city building departments.

RDS offers digitization services, including large-format building plan scanning, to transform city building department offices into highly productive and resource-efficient paperless offices.

The need for digital transformation

City building departments have document-intensive workflows. 

Apart from approving building plans and overseeing infrastructure projects to adhere to various construction norms and regulations, city building departments must also drive green initiatives, sustainable waste management programs, and promote energy-efficient building designs to align with the broader vision of community planning and reflect the values and preferences of the residents.

Their offices often overflow with building blueprints, layout sketches, and city department permits awaiting approvals. And then there are vast storage areas containing archives of building plans, layouts, and other records of the city's buildings, public utilities, and other public structures.

With physical paper documents and manual workflows, these departments face massive workloads and a daily struggle to find and retrieve a specific record from thousands of filed papers and dozens of cabinets or drawers. 

Once found, sharing these documents with colleagues, other government departments, or citizens is a whole different story, which may entail asking for approval, photocopying the original, and taking a signature for handing over the document—a tedious and time-consuming process.

In this scenario, efficient document handling becomes not just a matter of convenience but an operational necessity.

Thankfully, digitization is transforming the way city building departments operate. Scanning building plans is the first step toward digital transformation for city building departments.

Large-format scanners now make it possible to digitize odd-sized plans and layouts, converting them into digital files that can be managed via a robust document management system (DMS). You can now find and retrieve the digital copy of a specific building plan within seconds with a simple click of a mouse. 

And digitization changes the game when it comes to sharing documents or working collaboratively on a single document. You no longer need time-consuming hand deliveries of blueprints or approvals to move papers from one department to another. You can share a digital copy instantly via a cloud-based document management software.

Benefits of scanning building plans

The benefits of scanning building plans and architectural layouts go far beyond convenience.

Increased accessibility 

Converting paper records into readily accessible digital files leads to a new level of efficiency in document processing. Digital files managed via a cloud-based DMS enable remote access from any device. Department officials can now access critical documents from anywhere and at any time critical documents from anywhere with an internet connection. 

Department employees can search through the digital repository using keywords, document names, reference numbers or other unique identifiers. They can find and retrieve a specific file without leaving their desk, at the click of a button—within seconds.

Enhanced collaboration

With electronic document management, internal teams, external partners or vendors, and even customers can stay informed about the status of an approval request or new license. Internal and external collaborators can seamlessly share digital files for review and approval. Real-time information facilitates collaboration and speeds up workflows.

Multiple staff members can simultaneously access and review—even make modifications or comments. They can collaborate digitally on changes to plans and review revisions in real-time. Similarly, a DMS streamlines communication with other city departments or external stakeholders. 

Improved efficiency

Digitization brings efficiency and accuracy to departmental functioning. 

It accelerates the processing of building plans, permits, and other applications. A document management system automates workflows, reducing administrative hurdles and minimizing bottlenecks in verification and approval processes. Once a document is verified and sent for approval, a notification is sent to the approval in real-time. The designated approver can check and approve the document from any device at the click of a button, reducing paperwork-related delays.

Streamlined digital workflows minimize errors and ensure every departmental employee can access the latest information or the most recently updated files. Every departmental employee has access to the latest information or the most recently updated files, reducing the risk of errors and enhancing accuracy.

Strategic advantages of scanning building plans

Besides these tactical advantages, digitization helps building department heads gain a strategic edge. Accessible and accurate real-time data is a game-changer. They have real-time data at their fingerprints, so they can track the progress of construction projects without waiting for the developer to provide paper reports. 

A robust DMS has track-and-trace capabilities that leave an audit trail, so you always know who accesses or modifies documents. It creates a secure, centralized repository of digital files and ensures compliance with mandatory data security regulations.

Scanning building plans and converting them to digital files is the fundamental step that allows them to leverage software to analyze trends, identify potential compliance issues or safety hazards, and take corrective action in time.

Of course, digitization has its own challenges—such as concerns about data security or the upfront costs of scanning and software adoption. Then, there is the issue of adequate employee training and the hard task of change management.

But the rewards of adoption far outweigh the few challenges. 

Digitization paves the way for a robust digital foundation on which our urban development agencies can build sustainable infrastructure for future generations of citizens.

Choosing the right document management solution

Once a decision to digitize is made, it's time to select a document management system to manage the digital files.

Let's look at key functionalities that a robust DMS should feature:

Flexible and scalable

Choose a DMS that is flexible and can be tailored to the specific needs of your city building department. Can it handle the volume of documents you process? Consider whether the system is scalable to accommodate the evolving needs of your department. It must be able to adapt to your operational workflows and comply with your department's regulatory nuances. 

RDS recommends OpenText AppEnhancer, a document management system that scores high on customizability and scalability.

Learn more about AppEnhancer here.

Advanced search functionality

Finding and retrieving a specific building plan or approval request from among thousands is not an easy task. Look for a DMS that features full-text search capabilities so that you can not only search by filenames but also keywords from the document's content. 

Automated indexing

Your department handles different types of documents that must be categorized appropriately. You need a system that features advanced indexing capabilities and metadata tagging so you can index files by filename, project name, reference number or other identifiers. 

AppEnhancer supports OCR and automated metadata extraction. 

Access control and version control

An advanced DMS like AppEnhancer offers role-based access controls so you always know which user accessed or modified files. It leaves an audit trail that fosters accountability within employees and fulfills data security compliance requirements. Version control helps you track changes and revert to a previously saved version in case of accidental edits or unwanted modifications. 

Security and compliance

Ensure that the DMS you choose uses enhanced security protocols such as data encryption and multi-factor authentication. It must also comply with industry regulations and compliance standards relevant to urban development, whether it is data privacy regulations or specific document retention policies, as they apply to building plans and architectural layouts.

Integration with other systems 

Remember that the DMS will have to seamlessly integrate with other existing or new systems that your department adopts. It must have robust integration capability so that you are not left with a standalone system and siloed information.

Intuitive user interface

You want a DMS that your employees can pick up quickly without extensive reskilling or training. A system with an intuitive interface fosters higher user adoption and more effective utilization. 

AppEnhancer ticks all the right boxes when it comes to advanced document management features and functionality. 

But don't take our word for it. Find out here!

RDS: Scanning building plans for a digital-first future

We've discussed the advantages of scanning building plans for city building departments. Undoubtedly, digitization unlocks efficiency and accuracy, supports informed decision-making for city building departments, and encourages department managers to explore further technological advancements for a complete digital transformation. 

RDS has worked with several government agencies, county offices, and city building departments to digitize and automate their workflows, starting with scanning building plans and other documents. 

Are you ready to transform your department's operations and take the first step to digital transformation?

Get in touch with an RDS document scanning expert today, and let's discuss the best route to digitization and document management for your department.