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BALTIMORE, MD. (May 29, 2012) – Today, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced the launch of a new, innovative E-Plans system that will enable homeowners, developers, and contractors to apply for building permits through the Baltimore Housing website. This is one of the City’s latest innovations to further Mayor Rawlings-Blake’s goal of growing Baltimore by 10,000 families in the next 10 years.
Building permit applicants will now be able to choose between uploading construction documents and plans through a secure web-based system or submitting the information in person at Baltimore Housing’s One Stop Shop. The creation of the E-Plans system places Baltimore City at the forefront of the building permit review and approval processes in Maryland and across the country.
“As we work toward our goal of growing Baltimore, it is vital that we remove roadblocks that prevent people from investing in our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Rawlings-Blake. “I asked every agency to be innovative and create new opportunities to better serve our residents. Baltimore Housing’s new E-Plans system will speed up the permit approval process for our customers and help Baltimore reduce its carbon footprint by reducing the amount of paperwork needed to complete the permit process.”
Baltimore’s E-Plans system is designed to reduce the amount of time between plan submission and final approval, help users easily track their documents online as they make their way through the review process, and reduce paper waste and printing costs for applicants.
“We want everyone to know that Baltimore is open for business,” said Baltimore Housing Commissioner Paul T. Graziano. “I’m proud of the work our team has done to create such an innovative system.”
In 2011, Baltimore Housing received an Innovation Grant award from the Bureau of Budget and Management Research to develop this cutting edge electronic plans review system. The system will allow Baltimore’s Plans Examining staff to use an online portal to accept and review the documents associated with nearly 2,000 building permit applications that require plan submittal each year.
Baltimore Housing will host a series of brief informational webinars for anyone interested in seeing how the online application and upload process will work. The webinar dates and times are as follows:
Wednesday, May 30, 9:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Friday, June 1, 9:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Interested parties can go the Baltimore Housing website to sign up. After June 1st, the webinar will be posted on the Baltimore Housing webpage for those unable to attend the pre-launch webinars.
For more information about accessing Baltimore Housing’s E-Plans system, or to access the upcoming E-Plans webinars, visit www.baltimorehousing.org.
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