Notes
Outline
NCSBCS/AMCBO
Annual  Forum
 
Streamlining Best Practices
How to do it (Regulate) better
October 21, 2002
Montgomery County Facts
2000 Population – 873,341
Land Area – 497 Sq. Mi.
2001 Permits Issued -  28,994
Department of
Permitting Services
Created 1996
Combined Permitting Functions of Executive Branch Departments
Department of
Permitting Services
Vision:  Faster / Friendlier  Service
Mission:
The mission of the Department of Permitting Services is to provide the highest quality of public service while ensuring compliance with Montgomery County's development and construction standards.
Department of
Permitting Services
Strategies:
Remodel Existing Floor Space
Reorganization
New Automation Systems
Department of
Permitting Services
Space
Open &
Inviting
Floor Plan
Department of
Permitting Services
Space
Inviting
Customers
Into
Workspace
Department of
Permitting Services
Space
Customer Conference Facilities
Department of
Permitting Services
Reorganization
Collapse Classifications
Flatten the DPS Organization
Increase Supervisory Span of Control
Push Decision Making Further Down In The Organization
Compensate Employees For Certification
DPS
ORGANIZATION
DPS
ORGANIZATION
DPS
ORGANIZATION
DPS
ORGANIZATION
CLASS COMPRESSION
PREVIOUS CLASS
EAA (17)
OSM (15)
PAA (13)
PROG SPEC (21)
ENG TECH (17 & 18)
ENG AIDE (10)
NEW CLASS
PERMIT TECH (19)*
* Budget Level
CLASS COMPRESSION
PREVIOUS CLASS
INVESTIGATOR (25)
ENV HLTH SPEC (23)
FIELD SUPV (23)
HWY FIELD SUP (23)
CONST STANDARDS SPEC (21)
CODES REP (21)
HWY INSPECTOR (18)
NEW CLASS
PS INSPECTOR (23)*
ENV HLTH SPEC (24)
* Budget Level
CLASS COMPRESSION
PREVIOUS CLASS
SR PLANNING SPEC (25)
ENGINEER (24)
PLANS ANALYST (23)
WATER RESOURCES ANALYST (23)
ENV HLTH SPEC (23)
FIELD SUP [BC] (23)
ENG TECH [BC] (18)
NEW CLASS
SR PS SPECIALIST (26)*
* Budget Level
CLASS COMPRESSION
ABOLISHED CLASS
ENV PROT MGR (27)
SR ENGINEER (26)
PROG MGR II (25)
CREATED CLASS
PS MANAGER (28)
Permit Technician III
Qualifications
Five years experience in client-advocacy work in a regulatory environment.
High school diploma
An equivalent combination of education and experience.
Permit Technician III
 LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS
BOCA certified Permit Technician
PS INSPECTOR III QUALIFICATIONS
Two years in a technical/professional field appropriate to the assigned position.
BS degree in an appropriate engineering, technical, or professional field.
An equivalent combination of education and experience.
PS INSPECTOR III
LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS
Residential & Commercial Inspectors:
NCPCCI certification in 5 modules, such as; “Building General”, “Fire Protection General”, “Building 1 & 2 Family Dwelling”, “Electrical 1 & 2 Family Dwelling”, “Mechanical 1 & 2 Family Dwelling”, “Mechanical General”, and “Electrical General”.
Stormwater Management/Sediment Control:
NICET certificate as a “Level 1 Engineering Technician” in erosion & sediment control program.
PS INSPECTOR III
LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS
Highway Construction:
Md State Hwy Admin certification as a Concrete Field Tech, Soils and Aggregate Compaction and Tech, and Hot Mix Asphalt Materials Tester/Field Tech.
Zoning Land Use:
BOCA “Certified Zoning Inspector”.
SENIOR PS SPECIALIST QUALIFICATIONS
Five years in a technical/professional field appropriate to the assigned position.
BS degree in an appropriate engineering, technical, or professional field.
An equivalent combination of education and experience.
SENIOR PS SPECIALIST
LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS
Residential & Commercial Construction:
NCPCCI certification in 6 modules, such as; “Building General”, “Fire Protection General”, “Building 1 & 2 Family Dwelling”, “Electrical 1 & 2 Family Dwelling”, “Mechanical 1 & 2 Family Dwelling”, “Mechanical General”, “Electrical General”, and “Building, Fire Protection, Electrical and Mechanical Plan Review”.
Stormwater Management/Sediment Control:
IECA & SWCS certificate as a “Certified Professional in Erosion & Sediment Control”.
SENIOR PS SPECIALIST
LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS
Highway Construction:
NICET certificate as a “Level 2 Engineering Technician” in the highway design program.
Water Supply/Sewage Disposal:
State of Maryland licensure as an “Environmental Sanitarian”  & additional certification required by DPS and Maryland State Board of Sanitarian.
Zoning Land Use:
BOCA certified as a “Zoning Inspector” & NCPCCI certificate in “Building Plan Review” .
REORGANIZATION BENEFITS
Establishes appropriate compensation levels.
Allows career migration among classes.
Resolves redundant, inappropriate & inequitable classes.
Improves customer service.
Enhances technical capabilities & Professional standing.
Reduces supervisory layers.
DPS Permit System
Phase 1 Capabilities
System infrastructure
2 IBM RS6000 database servers, Oracle RDBMS
100 Mbit Ethernet network, Cisco switches
200+ Desktop PCs, 85 laptop PCs, 30 printers
14 Application servers
CD-ROM jukebox & Document imaging jukebox
Data Conversion ( > 50 data sources )
Hansen V7 (Permit & Customer Service modules)
50 Permit/License processes, 160+ reports
Complete office automation suite
Documentation, training & implementation
DPS Permit System
Phases 2-4 Capabilities
Geographic Information System (GIS)
Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
Mobile Computing
Document Imaging
Electronic Plan Review & Markup
Faxback  & Fax-on-demand
Internet Access to DPS Permit System
DPS Permit Center
Training & Implementation
DPS Permit Center
Integrates the DPS 'toolset'
Easily migrate between various applications
(e.g. Permit System to GIS)
Create permit applications with existing data
(e,g, GIS to Permit System)
Find electronic documents easily
Create/manipulate a personalized list ('hotlist') of applications and permits
Improved access to documents & information
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Department of
Permitting Services
Customer Satisfaction Survey:
Wave IV
Department of
Permitting Services
Faster
While two out of ten (20.0%) of all Wave IV respondents were neutral, nearly two thirds (62.6%) rated the time to complete the permitting process from first contact with DPS until final inspection favorably (4 or 5, where 5 meant excellent).  Another two out of ten (17.3%) rated this attribute unfavorably.  When the scales from both waves were compared, the mean from Wave IV (3.7) was indeed higher than the mean from Wave III (3.4).  (This difference was confirmed at a 98.4% confidence level.)
Department of
Permitting Services
Friendlier
While only about one out of ten Wave IV respondents (13.1%) were neutral, a strong majority (81.9%) rated the friendliness of staff throughout the process favorably (4 or 5 on a 5-point scale, where 5 meant excellent).  Only one out of twenty Wave IV respondents (5.0%) rated this attribute unfavorably.  When the scales from both waves were compared, the mean from Wave IV (4.3) was higher than the mean from Wave III (4.1).  (This difference was confirmed at a 93.3% confidence level.)
Department of
Permitting Services
Space
When asked how comfort of the waiting facilities compared with their expectations, half of all Wave IV respondents (49.9%) said that it was about the same as they expected.  Another large group said that it was either much better (23.7%) or somewhat better (19.2%), while substantially fewer said it was either much worse (2.2%) or somewhat worse (5.0%).  When the scales from both waves were compared, the mean from Wave IV (3.6 where 5 meant much better) was substantially higher than the mean from Wave III (3.0).  (This difference was confirmed at the 99.9% confidence level.)
Department of
Permitting Services
Reclassification
While only one out of ten Wave IV respondents (9.4%) were neutral, nearly nine out of ten (87.0%) rated the overall professionalism of the staff favorably (4 or 5 on a 5-point scale, where 5 meant excellent).  Fewer than one out of twenty Wave IV respondents (3.6%) rated this attribute unfavorably.  The mean from Wave IV (4.3) was significantly higher than the mean from Wave III (4.1).  (This difference was confirmed at a 99.9% confidence level.)
Department of
Permitting Services
Automation
While fewer than two out of ten Wave IV respondents (14.0%) were neutral, over three-quarters (78.3%) rated the use of technology to facilitate the permitting process favorably (4 or 5, where 5 meant excellent).  Relatively few Wave IV respondents (7.7%) rated this attribute unfavorably.  When the scales from both waves were converted to weighted means and compared, the mean from Wave IV (4.1) was indeed higher than the mean from Wave III (3.5).  (This difference was confirmed at the 99.9% confidence level.)
Department of
Permitting Services
Overall
When asked how overall experience with Montgomery County's DPS compared with their expectations, over four out of ten Wave III respondents (43.6%) said that it was about the same as they expected.  Slightly less than half said that it was either much better (21.1%) or somewhat better (23.1%), while substantially more said it was either much worse (12.1%) or somewhat worse (44.3%). When the scales from both waves were compared, the mean from Wave IV (3.5 where 5 meant much better) was significantly higher than the mean from Wave III (3.3).  (This difference was confirmed at a 98.2% confidence level.)