AMANDA helps State manage building plan reviews, inspections, and appeals process

Reynoldsburg, Ohio – July 13, 2011 - CSDC Systems Inc., a leading provider of business process automation solutions for government agencies, and the State of Ohio have announced that the Division of Industrial Compliance and Labor’s Bureau of Building Code Compliance and Board of Building Appeals are now using AMANDA. By extending AMANDA to this Bureau and Board, the State of Ohio can automate all business processes associated with building plan reviews, regulation/enforcement, inspections, and appeals.

The Division of Industrial Compliance and Labor is a division of the Ohio Department of Commerce. The department’s mission is to uphold Ohio’s regulatory requirements to ensure a safe environment while improving the quality of life for all its citizens.

The Bureau of Building Code Compliance is responsible for reviewing building plans to ensure compliance with the state building code for new construction projects, along with major renovations, additions, or alterations to existing structures. This includes all State universities, State-funded projects, State-owned properties, and all other structures (with the exception of one-, two-, or three-family dwellings as well as buildings where local certified building departments have jurisdiction).

AMANDA is automating and streamlining the Bureau’s building plan review processes, helping to eliminate risks to public safety by ensuring that all review workflows and process are signed off on properly before approval. AMANDA is also supporting the Bureau of Building Code Compliance in managing and scheduling all inspections for all structural, electrical, plumbing, building services, and piping related work.

AMANDA has also been extended to the State’s Board of Building Appeals to help review, track, and manage all appeals made to adjudication orders issued by the Bureau of Building Code Compliance, Bureau of Operations and Maintenance or a certified local or county building department. (The board also reviews appeals made to fire citations issued by the State Fire Marshal or any local fire department with a certified fire safety inspector).

Using AMANDA, the Board is now automating many repetitive tasks, cutting down on unnecessary workflow and review steps, and reducing processing times.  For example, with AMANDA, the Board can track and manage appeal letters from citizens, prepare and issue acknowledgement letters, schedule hearing dates, automate notifications, prepare and mail “Notice of Hearing” letters, as well as capture details on outcomes of notice of hearings. Since the Board has the ability to reverse, modify, or repeal an order of the enforcing agency, AMANDA enables staff to attach documents and insert comments throughout the building appeal review cycle to help support the Board’s decision.

State of Ohio’s Department of Commerce (The Division of Industrial Compliance and Labor) has been a CSDC customer since 2009. The Division of Industrial Compliance and Labor’s Bureau of Operations and Maintenance went live with Phase 1 of its AMANDA implementation in February 2010. AMANDA has been used by the Bureau to manage all licensing, registration, and inspections related to boiler contractors, operators and inspectors, ski/tramways, and roller rinks and most recently to manage all elevator-related permits, inspections and issuance of annual certificates.

Looking to the future, State of Ohio has plans to incorporate additional capabilities to its Public Portal website, such as the ability for citizens and businesses to apply for permits, licensing, and renewals online using a secure log-in method, as well viewing, tracking, and managing their permits and licensing online.

About CSDC

Since 1989, CSDC has provided integrated, powerful and flexible software to automate the business processes of government agencies at all levels. CSDC’s core technology, AMANDA, serves as a Business Performance platform, designed to improve operational efficiency and deliver citizen-centric services. AMANDA is an enterprise solution that enables a wide range of government services, including Permitting, Planning, Inspections, Licensing, Code Compliance, Fire Prevention, Public Works, Environmental Health and Safety, and Public Access. To learn more, visit www.csdcsystems.com