Maximizing Transparency in Construction: How Building Permit Software Benefits Contractors

Traditional construction project management often leads to miscommunication and delays, with stakeholders juggling inconsistent information and endless email chains. The lack of transparency can create delays, confusion, and at the worst, major compliance issues. 

To help demystify part of the problem, building permit software eliminates guesswork from the construction permitting process. Incorporating building permit software into your workflow boosts transparency for key stakeholders like contractors, architects, and vendors.

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The Transparency Gap in Traditional Project Management

Consider what the construction process was like before computers. This process involved a lot of manual tracking and paper-based communication, requiring people to be in the same place at the same time to ensure communication was accurate. For contractors, this could be a major issue due to the lack of visibility into the decision-making process. 

As construction projects started to get more complex, the project management process needed to grow with it. The introduction of technology and asynchronous communication provided a much-needed avenue of collaboration for contractors in the construction world. With new tools like building permit software, contractors don’t have to wait and see when a permit gets submitted or approved. They have access to this information so they can understand where a project is at any given time.

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The Importance of Real-Time Updates

Real-time updates and notifications are important for promoting transparency throughout the permit submission process. When something is updated in “real-time” this means that as soon as something in the project changes, other members of the team have access to those changes immediately. These instant notifications can help improve decision-making and help keep projects managed smoothly. Real-time updates also allow communication to happen asynchronously. With access to multiple types of devices, this means that everyone involved can receive the news as it happens. 

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This can make updating project timelines almost seamless: as soon as teams hear about permit approvals, teams can get to work without having to communicate or have a meeting. This can help decrease a project's overall timeline and help more accurately manage client expectations.

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Creating a Single Source of Truth for Contractors

When it comes to permitting, finding what information is the most up-to-date may require digging through several different email threads, physical notes, or playing phone tag with a project manager. The best way to avoid this kind of miscommunication is to create a central source of truth for tracking permit status, approvals, and documentation. 

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Establishing a central source of truth is one of the first steps in establishing a strong project management platform. With this in place, key stakeholders like contractors, clients, and regulators will have much more transparency throughout the process without having to manually communicate with each other. 

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The other major benefit of creating a central hub for your team to communicate is to surface any errors, delays, and compliance issues to the right people as quickly as possible. When everyone is notified of potential issues, those who can help can jump in quickly and reduce the amount of time it takes to fully resolve an issue.

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Enhanced Visibility: Collaboration and Communication with Key Stakeholders

Building permit software helps to improve communication between contractors, project managers, inspectors, and other key stakeholders who are a part of the construction team. It helps to provide a specific area where all communication regarding permit updates lives. This minimizes the amount of administrative work your team has to do to announce new changes.

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With real-time updates, all parties will be aligned quickly and easily. This helps create a more transparent process and reduces any potential errors that may occur throughout the process. Providing visibility like this minimizes the time it takes to communicate problems to the right team members. Your team can take the initiative as soon as problems arise and resolve them quickly without any downtime in between. 

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With faster, more transparent communication, you can establish more accurate project timelines. This helps strengthen the bond between contractors, construction teams, and clients as everyone’s expectations are met and the project finishes on time, with minimal delays.

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Strategic Benefits of Transparent Project Management for Contractors

Transparency throughout the construction process is a major pillar of a project’s success. When everyone responsible understands their role within the project and clearly understands when and where their responsibilities come into play. For contractors, knowing exactly when a permit is submitted, edited, or approved is important for knowing when they’re needed on the job site. 

Coordinating with the team provides construction teams with the following benefits:

• Fewer delays: With a central source of truth, everyone on the team has the same information located in the same place. Out-of-date information or version histories are a thing of the past.
• Fewer penalties: Maintaining consistent communication with your team and assigning tasks to the right people at the right time ensures that work is done efficiently and accurately. If anything does need attention, real-time notifications alert the appropriate team members that something is amiss within the permitting process. When alerted as soon as possible, this can minimize or eliminate potential penalties that occur throughout the permitting process.
• Increased client trust: With more accurate timelines and accurate submissions, you can strengthen your relationship with your clients and increase customer satisfaction. In the construction industry, client relationships are paramount for future referrals. Providing top-tier customer service is the easiest way to establish and maintain trust with your customers. 
• Increased vendor trust: Contingencies with external vendors is a necessary part of construction project management. When your team provides accurate timelines and expectations for external vendors, they can expect more consistent work and don’t have to worry about scheduling delays or staffing issues.
• More consistent revenue: With your team producing more consistent work, you’ll start to see more consistent and regular revenue from your business. More consistency in business means regular work for contractors and constant revenue for construction companies. 
• Business growth opportunities: With more consistent revenue incoming, this provides a solid foundation for construction organizations to scale their business. Construction companies can use building permit tools to help scale their business and find new opportunities outside of their regular municipality. 

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Increase Communication and Transparency with Building Permit Software

Establishing transparency for your construction organization is the key to creating a successful project. Using building permit software to enhance transparency and provide real-time updates is beneficial for all phases of a project. By creating a more central source of truth, contractors can track approvals, and stay informed regarding project updates to minimize delays and mistakes.

For contractors, learning how to work with building permit software isn’t just about learning a new tool, it’s about gaining a strategic advantage with others in the industry. When contractors have more visibility into the project, you’ll see improved client satisfaction and opportunities for long-term growth. Interested in learning more about how building permit software can help your business? Talk to one of our permitting experts at PermitFlow today.