Overview
SimpliGov Digital Form and Workflow Created and Activated in Five Days during COVID-19 Crisis.
New Castle County’s Department of Land Use is responsible for providing services, enforcing regulations, and vetting contractor license applications for residential and commercial buildings and construction. As Delaware’s most populous county, the department works with thousands of contractors and subcontractors to ensure that companies and individuals have valid credentials, adequate insurance, and good financial standing before renewing their licenses to work in New Castle County each year.
“Simply put, SimpliGov provided the fastest, easiest, and most efficient way to transform our business to the benefit our employees, contractors, and the county as a whole. By delivering modern digital government services, we’re able to make it easier for contractors to do business in New Castle County.”
David Holston
Licensing Manager, New Castle County
Impact
- 50% Improved Processing Time
- Five Days to Implement
- Thousands of Dollars Saved in Processing Time
Challenge
- In-person, manual license renewals weren’t an option during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Little time to waste in erecting a new digital process at the busiest time of year for renewals
- Transition from license renewal to payment process wasn’t seamless
- No centralized way to track status of applications; staff handled heavy call volume from constituents
Solution
- Digital application form explained required data and documentation clearly and concisely
- Applicants completed and submitted applications remotely
- Intuitive portal enabled easy upload of vital insurance and state business license information
- Workflow automation simplified and expedited submission-review-payment process
Results
- 50% reduction in application processing time
- 70% fewer status inquiries from applicants
- Solution implemented in five days
- County saved thousands of dollars in overtime compensation
“We would spend half our time figuring out who was reviewing the application, verifying that everything was correct, and determining whether or not we had enough information from the contractor to render a decision. If we decided to return it to the applicant for any reason, that triggered the process all over again. We had little visibility into where applications stood at any given moment.”
David Holston
Licensing Manager, New Castle County
New Castle County
Population
575,494
Use Case
License Renewals
Department
Land Use
Municipality
County