"When developers, architects and lenders have confidence in a government process, they invest. Knowing they’ll be able to get permits efficiently makes them far more likely to choose your community,” explained James Foster, general manager of Detroit’s Building, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department's Development Resource Center.
Electronic plan review has now become a core strategic asset in the digital government tech stack, right when it’s needed most. Local governments face unprecedented challenges from resource constraints and the pressure to facilitate economic growth, all the while maintaining safety and regulatory compliance.
At the same time, citizen expectations for digital services continue to rise, leaving much room for government service delivery to improve. Over half of respondents to a 2022 Accenture survey grew frustrated accessing public services and only one-third believe these user experiences are intuitive. Today, the lack of visibility and overly complex processes fall far from meeting citizen expectations exerting significant sway on investment decisions across city hall — two-thirds of respondents to KPMG’s 2024 survey as part of the report "Unlocking Government Technology’s Future" said that citizen feedback influences their investment in government technology.
ELECTRONIC PLAN REVIEW DRIVES COMMUNITY SUCCESS WITH PROVEN IMPACT
Across the country, agencies leveraging electronic plan review are benefiting from dramatic improvements in efficiency, cost savings and economic development outcomes — transforming both their internal operations and the communities they serve.
DETROIT INCREASES CAPACITY BY 150 PERCENT ALONGSIDE PROJECTDOX ADOPTION
After implementing ProjectDox, Detroit increased permits issued from 3,000 to 7,500 annually — a 150 percent increase that has made the city more attractive to developers and investors. This efficiency contributed to nearly $5 billion in development in 2023.
“I can't imagine how we would have been able to handle all of this if plan review were still on paper,” Detroit’s Foster said. He added that benefits of this streamlined review extend beyond the benefit of developers to the community, which now enjoys new amenities ranging from sculpture gardens to outdoor recreational spaces.
WITH DigEplan, PLEASANTON, CALIF., QUADRUPLES PLAN REVIEW CAPACITY
Pleasanton, Calif., which processes between 3,000-3,500 permits annually, saw review times cut in half after implementing DigEplan. “A plan check that might have taken 6 hours the old-fashioned way now takes a few hours,” explained Robert Queirolo, chief building official. “Our plan reviewers can now process almost 100 plan checks a month, compared to 25-30 previously.”
Efficiencies at this magnitude translate to significant cost savings. Pleasanton was able to return a meaningful portion of its $1.2 million budget for third-party contracting services to the city’s general fund, partly attributable to increased efficiency through electronic plan review.
PROJECTDOX HELPS SAVE CHICAGO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION $24M IN 2022
Some of the most remarkable results that Avolve’s customers have realized have come from innovative applications that transcend the most traditional use of electronic plan review. The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) uses ProjectDox to coordinate across more than 30 different utilities for underground infrastructure projects and has achieved remarkable results.
“Adding CDOT’s Project Coordination Office as a reviewer in ProjectDox helped us realize almost $24 million in savings in 2022,” reported Jai Kalayil, deputy commissioner at CDOT. Moreover, their coordination has reduced underground utility damage to 0.49 hits per thousand — far below the national average of 1.67 — in a metropolitan environment where rates would typically be higher.
AVOLVE INNOVATIONS POISED TO TRANSFORM PLAN REVIEW
With the growing recognition that plan review is the backbone of sustainable growth, Avolve is in the midst of launching four game-changing innovations that will further revolutionize how local governments manage community development and asset management projects.
1. Bringing Geographic Context to Plan Review
The recently announced Avolve GIS will be the first and only plan review solution with Esri ArcGIS embedded directly in the review workflow. This innovation will allow reviewers to seamlessly switch between current 2D plan views and geospatial maps to instantly reveal relationships between proposed projects and existing infrastructure, zoning restrictions, floodplains, and nearby developments.
By spotting potential conflicts early and providing true geographic context, reviewers will save more time and thereby accelerate approvals. This breakthrough integration brings spatial intelligence into the review process to enable visual assessment of permit locations within the broader municipal landscape all the while improving code compliance from the outset.
2. AI-Powered Submission Checks
Another exciting upcoming innovation is Avolve AI Submit, which uses artificial intelligence to improve the quality of submissions before they reach reviewers. This “front gate” will automatically check for common issues like missing sheet references, mislabeled files and other basic standards — freeing reviewers to focus on substantive compliance questions.
By automatically validating electronic plan submissions, Avolve will ensure that higher-quality submission packages reach reviewers, saving staff time and accelerating approvals. Agencies will be able to configure which checks to enforce during submission — whether as errors, warnings or none — ensuring seamless adaptation to local requirements.
3. Extending Workflows to the Field
Avolve Mobile will soon extend plan review capabilities to field personnel, even when they work offline. This iOS and Android solution will empower inspectors, permit technicians and field teams with anytime, anywhere access to approved plans, and keep them in sync with teams at the office.
Field staff will be able to access plans onsite, markup documents, capture and attach photos directly to plans, and synchronize updates when back online. This seamless connection between field and office will eliminate redundant paperwork, reduce errors and accelerate final approvals — all within an intuitive interface tailored for the field.
4. Transforming Data Into Actionable Intelligence
The forthcoming innovation, Avolve Insights, will transform raw permit data into actionable intelligence for local government teams. With prebuilt reports and council-ready dashboards, departments will be able to track performance metrics, analyze trends and make data-driven decisions about resource allocation.
This analytics experience will deliver deep insights, SLA tracking and operational transparency. From monitoring permit timelines and personnel performance to generating structured reports for public accountability, Avolve Insights will make plan review a powerful management tool.
PLAN REVIEW AS A STRATEGIC ASSET
It’s clear that electronic plan review has evolved from a nice-to-have digital tool to an essential strategic asset. Agencies that leverage these solutions gain competitive advantages in economic development, operational efficiency and citizen satisfaction.
While reflecting on the city’s transition from paper-based processes, Walnut Creek California's Permit Center Supervisor Jessica Azevedo said: “Customers have more transparency, which helps the overall time frame. Everything is centralized in one location, so they can look up the project rather than having to rely on an answer from City Hall.”
As cities and counties face increasing pressure to do more with less while meeting rising citizen expectations, the gap between digital leaders and laggards will only widen. Forward-thinking jurisdictions recognize that modern plan review technology is becoming nothing less than essential infrastructure for 21st-century governance.
This transformation is not merely about digitizing paper. Quite the opposite — it’s about reimagining a fundamental government function as a driver of community success, and forward-thinking communities are already reaping the benefits.
