New Online Permit Tracker Rolled Out as Part of Permit Reform

As noted in the Executive Order on Permit Reform that Mayor O’Connor’s signed on his first day in office, the current online application system is outdated, time-consuming and confusing for applicants. There is no visual map of the process, so once an applicant submits an online permit application, they have no way to see where it stands, what happens next and details are hard to find. The current process is laborious for both the applicant and City staff as staff are providing frequent status updates that aren’t available to the applicant online.

“Permit reform is about making the process easier for small businesses and individuals to get a permit. Before now, an applicant could track their pizza order, but not their permit,” said Mayor O’Connor. “This new tracker will allow applicants to see where their permit is in the process and what notes City departments have for them along the way to make it a smoother, more efficient process for small businesses, residents, staff and everybody.”  

Modeled on the simplicity of a pizza delivery tracker, the new Permit Tracker provides applicants with a clear visual of exactly where their application is in the process from submission to review to approval, so they always know what stage their application is in and what to prepare for next. It also includes applications across PLI, Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) and Department of City Planning (DCP).  

While the previous system only allowed a project’s license-holding contractor(s) to access a list of required inspections that was not accessible to the main applicant, the new Permit Tracker brings new transparency by making inspection information available to anyone following a project’s progress, including: 

• List of all required inspections  

• History of all completed inspections 

• Access to inspection summary reports for past inspections  

• Contact information for each assigned inspector as well as their supervisor in case follow-up is needed 

Another improvement available on the OneStopPGH permitting portal is the availability of Certificates of Occupancy. Where applicants previously had to go to an entirely different portal to request a copy of their Certificate of Occupancy, every Certificate of Occupancy since June 2019 will be available to be downloaded directly from the permit record they belong to on OneStopPGH.  

The Permit Tracker will apply to all Building Development Applications and most standard permit types. A few exceptions, including DOMI permits, will be added in a later phase.

The Permit Tracker was delivered by the City’s permitting reform team led by Ben Forstate and Talia O’Brien. Development and implementation were carried out by PLI staff, including Technical Leads Neil Grbach and Dylan Cork, Lead Developer Asefash Eyasu, and User Acceptance Testers James Hart and Sophia Lewis.