Chapel Hill Online Permit Center- Press Release


Town of Chapel Hill Building and Development Services Special Announcement Newsletter:  Online Permit Center
 
Online Permit Center Soft Launch July 8!
On July 8, the Town of Chapel Hill Building and Development Services Department will soft-launch a new Online Permit Center.  The cloud-based permitting and inspections system will allow applicants to submit building permit applications, track the progress of their applications, request inspections, communicate with staff, and pay permit fees online.  The soft-launch period will last at least a month after which the Town will publish an evaluation of the soft-launch and describe next steps. 
Getting Started
The system will be live on the afternoon of July 8.  When it is published and ready to use, you can find it at our Permit Center website.  Also located on the website is a Frequently Asked Question section that provides helpful information for new users. 
Heads Up!

1. Potential Delays July 7-9:  Customers may experience service delays July 7-9.  Transferring the data from our current system to the new system is expected to take a full day.  During that time staff will not be able to accept, enter, review or approve applications.  Customers will not be able to make payments.  Staff will also be switching to new hardware.
2. Credit Card Payments:  For customer convenience, this site is securely integrated with a third-party transaction processer provided by Stripe.com.  Stripe charges a non-refundable convenience fee for the use of its software and technology.  This fee is separate from the Town of Chapel Hill fees and goes directly to Stripe.  The Town does not receive any portion of the convenience fee.  When the new system comes online, fees will be based on payment method as follows:

• Credit card: convenience fee 2.99% + .99 cents per transaction
• Electronic Check (ACH):  $5.50 flat fee
• Cash or Check: no fee

3. Current Applications:  The trickiest part of the change for our staff will be managing the permits that were opened in the old system that will be transferred to the new system.  Staff will need to use both systems to manage the permits for a while. We request your patience as they navigate through this for the coming weeks.  Part of that process is creating an applicant for each permit. You will receive an email from ViewPoint Citizen Service (email address: noreply@viewpointcloud.com) with instructions about how to create a login with your name and email.  This will give users access to the portal.

 
Soft Launch
While we encourage users to take advantage of the new system, during the soft launch staff will help set users up with an applicant login and enter their applications if they are filled out using the current forms.  We will also continue to use email and phones to request inspections.   Our goal is to support our customers while they are learning how to use the Online Permit Center and to learn how it is working for our users.  Please send all feedback to permits@townofchapelhill.org.

We hope you are as excited as we are to get to this point and look forward to your feedback to make this a success!