San Jose City Hall, 801 North First Street, Room 436, San Jose, CA 95110 (408)277-5131

San Jose First City to Issue Permits Online
Digital signatures allow contractors to skip trip to City Hall

San Jose, California --The City of San José this week becomes the first city in California and perhaps the nation, to issue permits online using digital signatures. Contractors and homeowners can now apply for, and be issued building permits via the Internet at www.sjpermits.org.

It is now possible to submit an application, make payments, digitally sign the application and receive building permits - without having to make a single trip to City Hall. More than 20 types of "high-volume permits" can now be processed online using a standard web browser.

"Using cutting-edge technology for digital signatures, San Jose has cut red tape for contractors getting routine construction permits," said Mayor Ron Gonzales. "This is good for contractors and good for the City because it saves time, improves service, and reduces the costs for both the public and for customers."

"We believe this is the first application anywhere that allows customers to complete the entire permit application process online while meeting all legal requirements for application submittal," stated Jim Derryberry, Director of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement for the City of San José. "This process will greatly expedite the permit approval process for our customers."

The City’s Building Division issues over 15,000 of these high-volume permits each year. The most common types include re-roof, re-pipe, and water heater replacement permits. The online system will not only eliminate the need for some people to come to City Hall to get a permit, but also free up more City staff to work with those requiring permits on more complex projects.

With San Jose’s system, credit card payments are accepted and processed in real time. The applicant can "sign" the application, as required by State law, using a digital signature. This allows applicants to complete the entire permit application and approval process within minutes.

State law approving the use of digital signatures went into effect in January, 2000. This made it allowable for the first time to execute legal documents requiring signatures online.

In the event that applicants do not wish to obtain a digital certificate, locally printed copies of the completed application may be signed by hand and mailed in. Customers that use the mail-in procedure will be notified by e-mail when the permits have been issued. The permit can then be retrieved via the Internet and printed locally.

The San Jose Permits Online project is the first major component of a larger project that will eventually allow all development permits within San Jose to be processed via the Internet. The project will also integrate the City’s permit processing software with its Document Management and Geographic Information Systems. This will allow the City to significantly improve service to development customers. It will also allow residents to obtain much more information about proposed development projects within their neighborhoods.

The City’s main contractor for the project, Intergraph Corporation, has developed the new web application. The e-commerce component of the application uses CyberSource for processing credit cards in real time. In order to allow digital signing of the application, Intergraph and the City elected to use Internet forms software from PureEdge Inc. The City requires contractors to use digital signature certificates issued from Digital Signature Trust for digitally signing documents. Digital Signature Trust has improved the validation process for issuing digital signatures by comparing contractor applications for digital signatures with the California Contractors State Licensing Board’s database. The City of San José is a Pilot City member of the Smart Permit Initiative of the Joint Venture of Silicon Valley. More information on Smart Permit can be found at www.jointventure.org.

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