Town Introduces Online Permits and Licenses
Photo: amherstma.gov
Source: amherstma.gov
A new online permitting and licensing portal went live earlier this month. Amherst Building Commissioner Robert Morra said, “We are excited to announce improvements to the permitting and licensing process. We are confident that our new technology will enhance the customer experience and streamline internal workflow for the over 4,500 permits and licenses issued annually from the Inspections office alone.”
With this new portal, the town can now offer dozens of additional permits and licenses online, including building, electrical, gas and plumbing permits; rental registration; health licenses; parking permits, fire department permits; and planning and conservation permits. The town will continue to add additional applications through the new portal in the coming weeks and months.
Amherst joins more than 1,000 public sector organizations using the OpenGov platform to improve work processes with cloud-based software. The new online permit portal provides the necessary technology to better serve, customers, contractors, and businesses.
I had my first experience with the new online permit process this past week, With the exception of one little glitch, the process was quite painless. I think I started on Monday or Tuesday and had my permit on Friday. Aside from the `search’ function being entirely unclear, I eventually managed to fill in all the blanks. The search refers to the contractor’s bona fides and so it is the contractors’ name that goes into the search bar. A little hint would have been priceless.