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While jurisdictions maintain extensive geographic information systems (GIS) through industry leaders like Esri, integration between electronic plan review solutions and GIS hasn’t historically been widely available — a disconnect that creates unnecessary inefficiencies and delays, frustrates staff, and slows down the development approval process.
THE STRUGGLE OF DATA SILOES
Juggling multiple, disconnected systems is a challenge all too familiar to anyone who has worked in municipal planning, engineering or building departments. Plan reviewers often need to swivel between multiple systems or manually create side-by-side views across multiple screens. Staff working with historic districts face additional verification requirements that demand manual crosschecks across databases. And zoning staff must separately verify requirements against parcel boundaries that may not match what’s shown in the permit drawing.
This fragmented approach forces reviewers to piece together critical spatial information from various sources, which creates a complex web of cross-referencing, slows decisions and introduces the potential for errors.
The inefficiency isn’t just annoying — it’s increasingly unsustainable as municipalities face pressure to process permits faster while improving the citizen experience for applicants.
OPT FOR A MORE INFORMED PLAN WORKFLOW
The solution lies in bringing spatial data directly into the plan review workflow. Instead of treating GIS as a separate system, embedding this functionality within existing electronic plan review platforms is now possible.
Integrating GIS Enables:
1. Instant Access to Critical Information
- Parcel data with ownership dimensions and zoning details
- Underground utility and infrastructure locations
- Historic district boundaries
- Existing building footprints and development patterns
- Easily discern how proposed developments relate to existing infrastructure
- Identify potential utility conflicts before they become expensive problems
- Verify zoning compliance without switching between multiple applications
- Instantly visualize flood zones, environmental restrictions and other geographic-based code requirements
- Reduce liability and rework by catching zoning violations, environmental conflicts and infrastructure issues early in the review process rather than during construction
- Improve coordination between departments, as all reviewers can see the same spatial context
PLAN REVIEW AND GIS INTEGRATION IN PRACTICE
In practice, the result is a more holistic site picture and streamlined review process.
An All-in-One Review Environment:
- View infrastructure, utility data, imagery and base maps within the same screen
- Historic district boundaries appear automatically without manual cross-referencing
- Spatial intelligence becomes part of the existing workflow, not an additional step
- Toggle seamlessly between traditional plan views and geospatial maps
- Overlay proposed plans onto aerial imagery
- Measure distances to property lines within the familiar review environment
YOUR ROAD MAP TO INTEGRATING GIS AND ELECTRONIC PLAN REVIEW FOR SUCCESS
- Evaluate your current workflow inefficiencies.
You don’t know what you don’t know. Start by evaluating how much time reviewers spend switching between systems during typical permit reviews. Then track those workflow interruptions when staff need to pause reviews to gather spatial context from separate applications. - Identify who could benefit from integrated spatial context.
Think beyond just plan reviewers. Building officials need instant access to flood zones and historic districts without leaving their workspace. Engineering staff require utility and infrastructure data during site plan review. And all reviewing parties need access to consistent spatial reference points for aligned feedback. - Enable seamless integration with your existing plan review workflows.
Ensure ROI on your investments by seeking systems that are embedded and work together seamlessly to enhance rather than replace your established review processes. Doing so gives you spatial intelligence embedded directly into your plan review viewer to ensure work stays within your familiar workflow.
ADVANTAGES FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
The benefits of integrated GIS and plan review extend beyond basic efficiency gains.
Local governments benefit from:
- More accurate reviews
- Faster permit processing
- Smarter use of staff time across departments
The streamlined utility coordination alone can save significant time and resources — rather than managing separate requests and custom deliverables, utility information becomes instantly available within the review workflow.
Perhaps most importantly, integration improves the quality of plan review by ensuring reviewers have complete spatial context when making decisions. Understanding how a project fits within the broader municipal landscape leads to better outcomes for both applicants and communities.
LEADING SYSTEMS WORKING TOGETHER
The challenge of data black spots created by disconnected systems has driven innovation in the plan review space, with Avolve leading the charge through our robust integrations. Avolve GIS represents the first and only plan review solution with Esri ArcGIS® embedded directly in the review workflow, eliminating the traditional barriers between spatial data and permit processing that have long frustrated government staff.
This breakthrough allows Avolve users to seamlessly switch in their ProjectDox or DigEplan plan review viewer, overlaying traditional 2D plan views with geospatial maps, instantly revealing relationships between proposed projects and existing infrastructure, zoning restrictions, flood plains and nearby developments. Rather than the typical approach of manually pulling up GIS on an adjacent screen or waiting for other department comments, Avolve brings spatial intelligence directly into the review process.
FUTURE-PROOF YOUR PLAN REVIEW OPERATIONS
As development pressure increases and citizen expectations for efficient government services continue rising, integrated spatial data becomes not only an asset but a necessity. Communities that leverage their existing GIS investments through plan review integration gain competitive advantages in economic development and service delivery.
For local governments ready to unlock the value of their spatial data, GIS and electronic plan review integration represents a logical next step in modernizing plan review operations. The technology exists today to bridge the gap between separate systems and create the informed, efficient workflows that both staff and citizens deserve.
Leading organizations are discovering that GIS integration isn’t just about better access to maps — it’s about transforming how departments access critical data to serve their communities more effectively.
UNLOCK SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE IN PLAN REVIEW
Join Avolve and Esri for a live webinar exploring how embedded GIS is transforming planning, zoning and permit review — right inside your workflow.
