The city of Vancouver has expanded the capabilities of ePlans, its electronic development review portal, to allow all commercial and residential building permits, fire alarm/sprinkler and protection applications to be submitted online with no additional cost to users. The expanded capabilities of the electronic application approval system went into effect today (July 1).
“The demand for commercial and residential permits is growing quickly in Vancouver and the ability to submit these applications online will expedite the approval process,” said Chad Eiken, Vancouver’s community and economic development director.
ePlans, which launched in its first phase in February, fits with the city’s goal to create a simpler and streamlined permit and application approval system, helping to make Vancouver more attractive to prospective development.
The platform allows applicants to submit applications or permits online and then access the status of their review 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition to eliminating the need for printing, mailing or delivering physical copies of plans to City Hall, the process decreases the turnaround time needed to review and approve plans because reviewers at the city can make comments and markups on the same document at the same time.
