Electronic Plans Review System Enters Second Phase
Tuesday, September 07, 2010 | 08:18am
NASHVILLE- The State Fire Marshal’s Office’s (SFMO) online portal application – which enables the electronic review of architects’ and engineers’ drawings for compliance with construction safety codes – has entered its second and final phase of implementation.
The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) SFMO enforces fire and building construction safety codes for certain types of buildings. For these occupancies, an architect’s or engineer’s design drawings are submitted for review and approval by the State before construction begins. The electronic plans review system allows for plans, documents and review fees to be submitted over the Internet.
“The new features allow users to download approved plans and other documents immediately from the portal,” says TDCI Commissioner and State Fire Marshal Leslie A. Newman. “Before this, approved plans were sent back to professionals on CD-ROMs.” In addition to real-time communication between the SFMO and the architect or engineer, the savings in printing and shipping costs for initial submissions alone is estimated to average $260 per project.
Features being added to the portal include the ability to automatically save user-entered information, online plan review status updates, the ability to download approved plans and other documents, and the ability to pay outstanding fee balances online. Plan review status information will be publically available on the SFMO website – enabling owners to check the status of their projects.
Another enhanced feature of Phase II is that the portal will automatically save information entered by a user during a submission. Submittal information is saved whenever the user moves to a new page of the online submittal form. This improvement will allow users to complete the form at their own pace and save most data if their submission is somehow interrupted. A user will be able to log in to the application and to resume an incomplete submission at any time during a two-week period.
“These improvements reflect the commitment of our office to design a quick, easy and efficient program for design professionals to submit construction drawings,” says Newman. “Making the portal application easier to use and making more information immediately available to design professionals will be mutually beneficial to the design community and our office.” Since the portal went online last December, its use has continuously increased. In August, 68.6 percent of the submissions of new projects were made through the portal.
Tennessee was among the first states to implement a process to allow electronic submission of plans. To access the website, go to www.tennesseeanytime.org/tnsfmo/.
Implementation of the project followed guidelines developed by a study of the department's processes by the state Office of Information Resources. The SFMO partnered with NIC for the planning, design and development of the online service. NIC develops and manages www.tn.gov, the official website of the State of Tennessee.
The Department of Commerce and Insurance works to protect consumers while ensuring fair competition for industries and professionals who do business in Tennessee. www.tn.gov/commerce/