Introducing the New DC Department of Buildings Public Dashboard | Adds “DOB Index” Providing Insight on DC'S Economic Health Based on Construction Activity
Dear Customers and Stakeholders,
The DC Department of Buildings (DOB) seeks to further empower customers and stakeholders to self-serve when interacting with the agency and increasing the transparency with which our agency operates. Today, we are excited to introduce a new DOB Public Dashboard.
While our prior Agency Performance Dashboard was created to publicly display our Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and make our performance in meeting those commitments clearly visible to our customers, the new DOB Public Dashboard goes beyond simply measuring our agency's performance metrics.
While the new Dashboard continues to track the performance of our newly-established agency and to provide insight into construction and housing industry based on permit, inspections, and enforcement activities within our agency’s purview, the new Dashboard provides data that illuminates DC’s comeback by showing trending of certain construction metrics obtained during the permitting process, including median permit fees and estimated costs of construction.
The Dashboard's new features include:
-
Economic Insights: the new DOB Index provides insight into the District's economic health through a lens of construction activity, such as new permits issued and the number of tower cranes. Generally, construction starts, and activity, is a bellwether of the economy.
-
Vacant Properties: new search features allow users to filter by ward, neighborhood, ANC, and Police Service Areas.
-
Violations and Abatement: our new dynamic search tool allows users to search multiple owners and by address with auto-complete features to amplify search capabilities.
-
Permit Operations: the Building Permits Issued view allows filtered views by fiscal year, quarter, month, and type/sub-type. The Average Days for Construction Permits view allows customers to see how long it takes to get a construction permit.
-
Inspections: this updated section now shows inspections by type, quarter, and ward.
-
Updated Design: with a new color scheme and layout, updated section headings include summaries of what elements are included in each category. Users may also export data via Excel spreadsheets.
Additionally, the new Dashboard offers an updated design with improved navigation through the addition of filters, drill-downs, and the ability to further sort and organize the most important data. Users are also now able to download and export data spreadsheets – a request from many stakeholders.
Presenting District data in an accessible and tangible manner takes us further in fulfilling our mission to keep the District's dynamic built environment safer.
|