Overview

Planning and development applications are reviewed and approved in accordance with the municipal by-laws and procedures. There are many types of planning applications covering specific types of work that require different approval processes and involve different government organizations / agencies. The Planning module allows the user to create custom workflows for each planning application type. Applications can be created, either internally (by municipal staff) or externally (by customers using the Citywide Customer Portal which is an online public-facing application used to submit online applications (see the PSD Citywide Portal User's Guide).

Application Types should be set up after all the affiliated functions (e.g., Work Fields, Reviews, Fees, Document types etc.) in the Planning 🢡 Manage section are set up. Then the application types can be pre-populated with relevant options from those affiliated functions. Navigate to Home > Permitting > Planning 🢡 Application Types (Manage).

This is the Application Types grid which lists all the application types by Name in the first column, along with Application Class and External setting.

Add an Application Type

Click on  +Add. The New Application Type dialog box appears:

1. If there is an existing Application Type that has data that substantially overlaps with the data in the Application Type you wish to create here, then you can click on Copy to duplicate the contents and affiliated fields of that existing Application Type template and save as a different name. 
2. Name: Define the new Application Type. 
3. Application Class: Application Class is an optional classification for the Application types.
4. External: Select Yes if you wish to have this application type appear in external systems, including the Citywide Portal; No if you do not wish to have it appear in an external system. Selecting Yes provides you with the option of setting an external label for this application type (one, for example, that might be more familiar to the public at large than the Name assigned to it here); otherwise, the Name assigned to it here will appear externally as well.
5. Click  Add.

Edit an Application Type

1. Click on the Edit tool  under Actions on the Application Types grid. The Edit Application Type dialog box (which contains all the same fields as the above New Application Type dialog box) will appear.
2. Make the required changes.
3. Click on Edit.
4. Changes to affiliated functions (statuses, required documents, reviews etc. can be made by clicking on the Application Type and accessing the features.

Delete an Application Type

1. Click on the Delete tool  under Actions on the Application Types grid. When prompted, click Remove.

Application Type Configuration

An Application Type can be configured by attaching relevant work fields, statuses, reviews, required documents and fees as affiliated functions. These will be pre-attached to the Application created based on each type. Clicking on the name of an Application Type, will open the Details page.

 

User-defined work fields can be seen on the Details page. All the affiliated functions (e.g. Reviews, Documents) and associated Fees with the Application Type can be accessed on the left panel.

Work Fields

Work Fields can be defined in the Planning Manage section. Work Field Groups can also be created there. These work fields can be accessed from within an Application Type. Work field groups are used to group and organize work fields for better readability. 
To add a Work Field:

Click on +Attach Work Field. The Select Work Field dialogue box appears:

1. Check ✅ the fields to be added ❶.
2. Click  Add Selected Item/s  ❷.

Supplementary groups (e.g. Property Information) with their own unique set of selected work fields (e.g. can be added to this application type by clicking on  +Attach Work Field Group. The fields in each of the groups can be set to appear in one-to-four columns by selecting from the Columns pull-down, and the position of the fields within each group can can be arranged with the up/down arrows next to each field.

Deletions: Individual work fields as well as work field groups can be deleted by clicking on the  X  next to them.

External Settings for Work Fields

External Availability and Labels: An application type may appear on external systems, such as the Citywide Portal, or it may not, depending whether you click Yes on the External option on the Application Type details page. You also have the option of displaying work fields externally and providing an External Label, which is the field label that will appear only in the external application.

Individual fields can be made External by clicking the notebook icon  next to them. The fields will produce a dialogue box like this one when you click on the notebook icon : 

1. External ❶: Select Yes if you would like this field to appear on external systems, such as Citywide Portal; No, if not.
2. Mandatory ❷: Select Yes if this is a field that must be selected or entered; No, if not.
3. External Label ❸: Enter a label which will replace the default Citywide label for this field on external systems. Otherwise, the existing (default Citywide) field name will be used.
4. External Description ❹: Provide the text that will appear in the tooltip for this field.
5. Click Apply ❺.

Options

All application types have the Options group, and all the options involve Yes/No toggles:

Active

• Yes: the Application Type is accessible in the system.
• No: the Application Type is unavailable in the system.

Affiliate Panel Functions 

The panel on the left side of the Details screen consists of related affiliate options. The actual applications that are based on the Application Type are accessible here, as well as related documents and procedures, including Reviews, Notifications, and various financials. 

Work Flow

Planning application approval process involves different stages and work flows for different application types. These stages are captured by creating custom statuses that the application will be processed through. The Statuses that you will be selecting for any of the application types as applicable, will be drawn from the statuses list created in Planning Manage section > Statuses. You cannot add a new Status on the fly; they must already exist. If a status is missing, create it in the Statuses grid and then return to this screen and attach it. 

Attach a Status

1. Click on Work Flow in the affiliate panel. Work Flow appears in the right panel, displaying the current (if any) statuses associated with this application type. Each status can be edited to change the day counter at the Application Type level by clicking on the Edit button under Actions. Similarly, the settings for forcing fees, reviews, documents and locking the application can also be edited for a specific application type. The order of statuses will determine the workflow of the approval processes. The order of statuses can be changed by using the up / down  arrows under Actions.
2. Click  +Attach Status. The Select Status dialog box appears:
3. Check ✅ all statuses in the list that apply to the current application type.
4. Click  Add Selected Item/s. The order in the resulting work flow will automatically follow the Position order of the checked items.

Reviews

Existing Reviews for this application type appear here. You can attach additional existing Reviews and/or add New Review Types on the fly (if your account permissions allow it), if necessary. See Reviews on instructions pertaining to adding a New Review type.

Attach a Review

1. Click  + Attach Reviews. The Select Reviews dialog box appears:
2. Check ✅ the review(s) to be added to this permit type from the list.
3. Click  Add Selected Item/s. The order in the resulting Reviews list will automatically follow the Position order of the checked items.

Attached Files

Attached Files comprise adjunct documents that provides any helpful information or resources pertaining to the current application type. Attached Files appears in the right panel, displaying the current (if any) attachments associated with this permit type:

Add an Attachment 

1. Click on  + New File .The Add Files dialog box appears:
   
2. Click on Select File(s) ❶ to select one or more files using your system File Manager, or Drag & Drop ❷ the file(s) you would like to attach to this permit.
3. Provide a succinct Description ❸ for each of the added files.
4. Click  Upload File  ❹.

Download an Attached File

Attached files can be downloaded. This may be required periodically to review their contents, to see if they are up to date, or whether they need to be updated, modified, and then re-added here.

1. Check✅ the file(s) you wish to download.
2. Click on  Download Selected  .Your system File Manager will open, providing you with the opportunity to select the location where you would like the file(s) to be downloaded.

To edit a note, click on the Edit icon .

To delete a note, click on the Delete icon .

Required Documents

Required Documents are all the various documents (e.g. application, site plan, drawings etc.) that must accompany individual applications as requirements for review and approval.

1.  Click Required Documents. The document list appears in the right panel, displaying the current list  (if any) of the required documents associated with this application type:
2. Click  + Attach Document Type. The Select Document Type dialog box appears.
3. Check ✅ all document types in the list that apply to the current application type.
4. Click  Add Selected Item/s.

Required Documents for Application Submission option

Once your required document types are selected, you can set which required documents are needed when the application is first submitted. On each required document type, select the toggle to Yes or No for the Required Submit option. If Required Submit is set to Yes for a document type, the application will not be created in the system unless that specific document is attached. An applicant entering an application from the Customer Portal will not be able to submit the application without the mandatory document attached.

To remove a required document from the list, click on the Delete icon . The document will be removed from this application type (not deleted from the document types list).

Predefined Comments

For efficiency, you can set up a list of predefined comments for users to add to an application based on the application type. This saves time for the user as they will not have to manually type standard-like comments into the application.

To create a Predefined Comment entry:

1. Click +New Comment. Enter a Comment.
2. Click Add.
3. Repeat steps 1. and 2. for each predefined comment.

Notifications

The notification(s) associated with the application type will appear in this list. There is nothing to be done directly on this page; it is only informational. The applications that each notification comprises is defined on the Notifications setup screen.  

Notifications appears in the right panel, displaying the current list (if any) of the notifications associated with this permit type:

Click  Go To Notifications Page to edit any notifications or choose any notification set that this application type will be part of.

Knowledge Base

The Knowledge Base screen is used to include important information, instruction, or standard questions for staff to use when creating individual applications based on the specific Permit, Licence or Application Type.

To create a Knowledge Base entry:

1. Click +New Knowledge Base Entry. Enter a Note.
2. Click Save.
3. Repeat steps 1. and 2. for each note.

Linked Applications

The Applications tab under Linked shows a list of all the applications that are based on an Application Type and their current status.

Clicking on the Application number will open the corresponding application.

Linked Pre-Consultations

There are Application Types which require the applicant to have a pre-consultation meeting before submitting the application. The Pre-Consultations tab under Linked shows a list of any such pre-consultations for the Application Type and their current status.

Clicking on the Consult number will open the corresponding pre-consultation.

Fees

The fee(s) associated with the application will appear in this list, provided they have first been created in Fees. They can only be added here; they cannot be created here.

Fees appears in the right panel, displaying the current list (if any) of the fees associated with this application type:

1. To attach an additional fee, click on  + Attach Fee. The Select Fee dialog box appears:
2. Check ✅ the fees to be added. 
3. Click  Add Selected Item/s.

Refundable Fees

There are instances in which particular types of fees may be refunded in connection with an individual application type. This is where you set up the applicable types of refunds that have been created and defined in Refundable Fees.

Refundable Fees appears in the right panel, displaying the current list (if any) of the refundable fees associated with this application type:

1. To attach an additional refundable fee, click on  + Attach Refundable Fee. The Select Refundable Fee dialog box appears:
2. Check ✅ the refundable fees to be added. 
3. Click  Add Selected Item/s.

Log

The log displays all activity in the system that relates specifically to this specific Application Type. Its events appear in reverse chronological order, displaying the user who initiated the event, as well as a specific description of the event.

Click on Log. Logs appears in the right panel:

1. Enter the text in the Filter box to filter the list down to the its matches.
2. Click  Refresh to see any entries that have been logged since this screen has been opened.