New City of Boston online permitting system launched

BOSTON - Monday, November 2, 2015 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh today unveiled the Boston Permits and Licenses online platform, the latest step in making Boston's permitting process easier, clearer and more predictable.   "We are committed to creating a permitting process that is user-friendly, modern, and easily accessible to all of our customers," said Mayor Walsh. "A more supportive system gives our homeowners, businesses and contractors more opportunities to improve our City for the long-term."

The release of the Boston Permits and Licenses platform will focus on supporting businesses, homeowners, and contractors through the entire permitting process. It has been in development over the past year, and will provide a more modern, easy-to-use interface.

The following features will be part of the initial release of Boston Permits and Licenses, for the first time providing customers with the ability to:

• Apply for multiple permits at once and group permits together in a single project.
• Build a team of project partners, homeowner, contractors, and licensed professionals -- who can together advance all permits needed for a project to move forward.
• View enhanced information about project review statuses.
• Create accounts through Google Mail and other common login providers.
• Identify project location on an intuitive map-based interface.

"This technology will make it easier for our customers to do business with the City of Boston," said Jascha Franklin-Hodge, Chief Information Officer. "Our goal is to deliver digital services for Boston that are as good as those from the best private companies."

This release has been preceded by a series of interim improvements to permitting that the Mayor has rolled out over the past year, which stemmed from the City's first HubHacks event in August 2014.

Boston Permits and Licenses is the product of a partnership with OpenCounter and Accela, first announced in December 2014.  The new online experience will be rolled out in a series of phases, gradually incorporating new permit and license types and additional features, and continuously evolving based on user feedback and getting better with time.

"The City of Boston is a leader in the application of innovative civic technologies" said OpenCounter Co-Founder, Joel Mahoney. "We're thrilled to be a partner on the project, and to launch additional tools in the coming months that will further streamline this core government service."

Individuals or companies interested in becoming beta users of the product and helping to provide feedback on new functionality can sign up at permits.boston.gov.