Beginning February 1, the city of Vancouver will launch a new platform called ePlans, allowing land use and engineering review plans and permits to be submitted, tracked and approved electronically.
According to city officials, the web-based process will save applicants time and money while decreasing the turnaround time needed to get plans reviewed and approved.
“We are one of the first cities in the Pacific Northwest to bring the plans submission process online,” said Chad Eiken, Vancouver’s Community Development Director, in a press release. “The new ePlans process aligns with our goal of creating a simpler permit approval system, which can help make Vancouver more attractive to prospective businesses.”
ePlans not only eliminates the need for paper copies of plans, but also allows reviewers to make comments and markups on the same document at the same time.
“I really like ePlans and I appreciate the city of Vancouver, specifically, for being willing to help us troubleshoot while we’re all new to this,” said Anna Dearman, land use planner at Mackenzie, in a press release. “I think ePlans makes a lot of sense, both for tele-working and for saving on paper; it’s a more sustainable option.”
For now, the option to submit paper plans is still available to applicants, but that is expected to be phased out by the end of the year. This summer, the city will expand ePlans to cover all city building services plans and permits, in addition to land use and engineering review plans and permits.
For more information on ePlans, visit Visit www.cityofvancouver.us/ePlans.
