Civic Platform 9.3.0 User Guide

User Manual:

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Version 9.3.0
User Guide
Accela Civic Platform®
Accela Civic Platform User Guide
© 2018 Accela, Inc. All rights reserved.
Accela, the Accela logo, the Accela logo with “Government Software” notation, Accela Automation, Accela
Asset Management, Accela Citizen Access, Accela Mobile Citizen Access, Accela ERS, Accela GIS, Accela
IVR, Accela Land Management, Accela Licensing, Accela Mobile Office, Accela Public Health and Safety,
Accela Service Request, Accela Wireless, Kiva DMS, Kiva Development Management System, 'PERMITS'
Plus, SiteSynch, Tidemark Advantage, Civic Platform, Civic Cloud, Civic Hero, E-Boardroom,
EnvisionConnect, Envista, GEOTMS, IQM2, Mediatraq, Minutetraq, PublicStuff, Trusted To Do More,
VelocityHall, Vantage360, and other Accela logos, devices, product names, and service names are
trademarks or service marks of Accela, Inc. Brava! Viewer is a trademark of Informative Graphics
Corporation. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Acrobat is a trademark of Adobe
Systems Incorporated. Portions copyright 2009 Ching-Lan 'digdog' Huang and digdog software. All other
company names, product names, and designs mentioned herein are held by their respective owners.
Version 9.3.0
March 2018
Corporate Headquarters
2633 Camino Ramon
Suite 500
Bishop Ranch 3
San Ramon, CA 94583
Tel: (888) 722-2352
Fax: (925) 659-3201
www.accela.com
| Contents | iii
Contents
Civic Platform Access and Usage...............................................................13
Overview............................................................................................................................................ 14
Logging In..........................................................................................................................................15
Changing Your Password..................................................................................................................16
Setting User Preference....................................................................................................................17
Signing Out........................................................................................................................................18
Exploring the User Interface............................................................................................................. 19
Navigating the Civic Platform Console............................................................................................. 23
Using the Search Features............................................................................................................... 28
Understanding QuickQueries.............................................................................................................34
Viewing Information Across Agencies...............................................................................................39
The V360 User Interface.............................................................................44
User Interface Overview....................................................................................................................45
Preparing Web Browsers for Civic Platform..................................................................................... 46
Setting Your Home Page.................................................................................................................. 47
Customizing Record Detail Menus....................................................................................................48
Creating New Items...........................................................................................................................49
Using Maps........................................................................................................................................50
Viewing Record Details..................................................................................................................... 52
Working with List Portlets..................................................................................................................53
Working with Form Portlets...............................................................................................................57
Getting to Know the New User Interface.................................................... 58
Introducing Civic Platform 8.0...........................................................................................................59
Getting In, Getting Out, and Getting Around.................................................................................... 72
Navigating the New User Interface...................................................................................................75
Records........................................................................................................91
Records Overview............................................................................................................................. 92
Creating a Record.............................................................................................................................93
Creating New Records in the New UI.............................................................................................. 96
Submitting a Partially Completed Record....................................................................................... 100
Understanding Application Form Details.........................................................................................102
Deleting Records............................................................................................................................. 127
Managing Record Comments..........................................................................................................128
Adding Documents to a Record......................................................................................................131
Assigning Inspection Districts to a Record..................................................................................... 132
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Viewing Record Information............................................................................................................ 133
Working with Status History............................................................................................................135
Printing an Application.................................................................................................................... 137
Viewing the Summary page............................................................................................................138
Viewing Inspections on the Summary Page................................................................................... 139
Assigning a Record.........................................................................................................................140
Creating a Set from the Record List Portlet................................................................................... 142
Closing a Record.............................................................................................................................143
Managing Alerts...............................................................................................................................144
Running a Report from a Record................................................................................................... 145
Managing Application Record Hearing Agendas............................................................................ 146
Working with Associated PERMITS Plus APDs............................................................................. 148
Examining Record Details...............................................................................................................150
Record Relationships.................................................................................158
Record Relationships Overview...................................................................................................... 159
Viewing Related Record Information...............................................................................................160
Building Relationships between Existing Records.......................................................................... 164
Cloning a Record............................................................................................................................ 169
Updating Related Records.............................................................................................................. 174
Creating a Set of Related Records.................................................................................................176
Copying Record Data......................................................................................................................177
Removing Record Relationships..................................................................................................... 178
Record Copying and Cloning Form Fields......................................................................................179
Maps in Civic Platform.............................................................................. 181
Maps At a Glance........................................................................................................................... 182
The Map Dashboard....................................................................................................................... 184
The Map Contents Panel................................................................................................................ 188
Map-based Actions..........................................................................................................................196
Locating Places............................................................................................................................... 198
Map Layers......................................................................................................................................201
Selecting Map Features.................................................................................................................. 205
Creating and Editing Map Features................................................................................................214
Redlining and Annotating a Map.....................................................................................................224
Printing a Map.................................................................................................................................226
Geo-locating Records......................................................................................................................227
Plotting Assets on the Map.............................................................................................................236
Plotting Addresses on the Map.......................................................................................................240
Plotting Parcels on the Map............................................................................................................244
Plotting Inspections on the Map......................................................................................................248
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Using the Map to Create Inspections............................................................................................. 253
Importing Parcels from GIS to a Set.............................................................................................. 257
Accounting................................................................................................. 262
Accounting Overview.......................................................................................................................263
Assessing Fees............................................................................................................................... 264
Using the Valuation Calculator........................................................................................................266
Invoicing...........................................................................................................................................268
Managing Payments........................................................................................................................276
Handling Refunds............................................................................................................................ 296
Managing Trust Accounts................................................................................................................299
Working with a Cash Drawer Interface...........................................................................................305
Working with a Point of Sale Transaction.......................................................................................308
Accepting and Allocating Set Payments......................................................................................... 310
Troubleshooting Payments and Voids............................................................................................ 312
Examining the Accounting Interface Details................................................................................... 319
Activities.....................................................................................................328
Working with Activities in the My Tasks Portlet..............................................................................329
Working with Activities for Records................................................................................................ 332
Working with Activities for People and Property.............................................................................334
Examining Activity Details............................................................................................................... 340
Attachments............................................................................................... 341
Attachments Overview.....................................................................................................................342
Attaching Files................................................................................................................................. 343
Accessing an Attachment................................................................................................................346
Looking Up People Attachments to Associate with Records..........................................................347
Associating Record Attachments with People................................................................................ 348
Accessing Attachments via a GIS Map.......................................................................................... 349
Defining ACA Permissions for a Document....................................................................................351
Previewing Attachments.................................................................................................................. 353
Downloading Attachments...............................................................................................................354
Setting the Display Image...............................................................................................................355
Viewing Attachment Information......................................................................................................357
Deleting an Attachment...................................................................................................................358
Working with Accela Document Scan.............................................................................................359
Examining Attachment Details........................................................................................................ 362
Audit Logs..................................................................................................363
Audit Logs Overview....................................................................................................................... 364
Accessing Audit Logs......................................................................................................................365
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Filtering Audit Log Data.................................................................................................................. 369
Audit Log Buttons and Filter Options..............................................................................................370
Receipt Print Audit.......................................................................................................................... 371
Calendars...................................................................................................372
Understanding Calendars................................................................................................................373
Working with Inspection Calendars.................................................................................................375
Working with Meeting Calendars.................................................................................................... 387
Working with User Calendars......................................................................................................... 404
Examining Calendar (and Related) Details.....................................................................................406
Contacts.....................................................................................................412
Contacts Overview.......................................................................................................................... 413
Managing Reference Contacts........................................................................................................414
Managing Record Contacts.............................................................................................................424
Viewing Related Contacts............................................................................................................... 432
Applying a Condition to a Reference Contact................................................................................ 435
Viewing Records Associated with a Contact.................................................................................. 436
Associating Professionals with a Contact....................................................................................... 437
Associating Reference Addresses with a Contact.......................................................................... 439
Managing Public Users Associated with Contacts..........................................................................441
Viewing Assets Associated with a Contact.....................................................................................442
Examining Contact Details.............................................................................................................. 443
Licensed Professionals..............................................................................448
Licensed Professionals Overview................................................................................................... 449
Adding a Reference Professional................................................................................................... 450
Associating Records and Licensed Professionals.......................................................................... 451
Editing Information about a Reference Professional.......................................................................454
Adding a New Professional from the Record Detail Portlet............................................................455
Disassociating a Professional from a Record via the Record Detail Portlet................................... 456
Managing Public Users Associated with a Professional................................................................. 457
Managing Attachments Associated with a Professional................................................................. 458
Examining Licensed Professional Details....................................................................................... 459
Education and Examination Providers...................................................... 461
Provider Overview........................................................................................................................... 462
Adding a Provider............................................................................................................................463
Associating Examination Subjects with a Provider......................................................................... 465
Scheduling an Examination.............................................................................................................466
Assigning a Proctor to Administer an Examination.........................................................................469
Selecting Examination or Education Records for an Application....................................................473
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Approving Examination or Education Records............................................................................... 474
Working with Registered Records...................................................................................................475
Viewing an Examination Calendar.................................................................................................. 477
Adding Examination Sites............................................................................................................... 479
Examining Contact, Professional, and Provider Details..................................................................481
Electronic Document Review.....................................................................483
Electronic Document Review Overview.......................................................................................... 484
Installation and Configuration..........................................................................................................485
Electronic Document Review Workflow.......................................................................................... 488
Document Review Walkthrough (Acrobat)...................................................................................... 489
Using Electronic Document Review................................................................................................492
Enforcement...............................................................................................513
Enforcement Overview.................................................................................................................... 514
Creating a New Case......................................................................................................................515
Managing Citations..........................................................................................................................516
Managing Evidence for a Case.......................................................................................................519
Examining Enforcement (and Related) Details...............................................................................524
Inspections.................................................................................................528
Working with Inspections.................................................................................................................529
Working with Checklists and Route Sheets....................................................................................552
Working with Inspection Conditions................................................................................................ 560
Attaching Documents to an Inspection........................................................................................... 562
Examining Inspection (and Related) Details...................................................................................563
Licenses.....................................................................................................567
License Overview............................................................................................................................ 568
Managing Renewal Information.......................................................................................................569
Modifying License Details................................................................................................................572
Modifying Application Specific Information......................................................................................573
Modifying License Contacts............................................................................................................ 574
Modifying Educational Credentials.................................................................................................. 575
Paying a License Fee..................................................................................................................... 578
Managing Associated PERMITS Plus APDs.................................................................................. 580
Supervisor Override.........................................................................................................................582
Examining License Details.............................................................................................................. 583
Model Maintenance................................................................................... 586
Model Maintenance Overview......................................................................................................... 587
Creating a New Model.................................................................................................................... 588
Deleting a Model............................................................................................................................. 589
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Creating a Model Record................................................................................................................590
Managing Variations........................................................................................................................591
Examining Model Details.................................................................................................................595
Property......................................................................................................597
Property Overview........................................................................................................................... 598
Managing Addresses.......................................................................................................................599
Managing Parcels............................................................................................................................608
Managing Owners........................................................................................................................... 635
Managing Section, Township, and Range...................................................................................... 640
Examining Property-Related Portlets.............................................................................................. 642
Random Audits.......................................................................................... 645
Random Audit Overview..................................................................................................................646
Creating a Random Audit Set.........................................................................................................647
Generating or Regenerating a Random Audit Set..........................................................................648
Deleting a Random Audit Set......................................................................................................... 649
Viewing the Random Audit History................................................................................................. 650
Executing a Script on an Audit Set.................................................................................................651
Running a Report on an Audit Set................................................................................................. 652
Examining Random Audit Details................................................................................................... 653
Sets............................................................................................................655
Set Overview................................................................................................................................... 656
Creating a New Set.........................................................................................................................657
Applying Conditions to a Set.......................................................................................................... 658
Adding a Comment to a Set........................................................................................................... 659
Applying Licensed Professionals to a Set...................................................................................... 660
Applying Owners to a Set...............................................................................................................661
Applying Contacts to a Set............................................................................................................. 662
Cloning a Set...................................................................................................................................663
Deleting a Set..................................................................................................................................664
Maintaining Existing Sets................................................................................................................ 665
Creating Records from Parcel Sets................................................................................................ 673
Importing Parcels from GIS to a Parcel Set................................................................................... 674
Allocating Set Payments................................................................................................................. 675
Generating Reports for Sets........................................................................................................... 677
Executing a Script for Sets............................................................................................................. 678
Performing Random Audits on Sets............................................................................................... 679
Working with a Set of Sets............................................................................................................. 680
Examining Set Details..................................................................................................................... 689
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Structures and Establishments..................................................................694
Structures and Establishments Overview....................................................................................... 695
Associating Reference Data to Structures and Establishments......................................................697
Examining Structure and Establishment Details............................................................................. 705
Time Accounting Tracker...........................................................................707
Time Accounting Overview..............................................................................................................708
Creating a Time Accounting Record...............................................................................................709
Examining the Time Accounting Details......................................................................................... 711
Assets........................................................................................................ 713
Asset Overview................................................................................................................................714
Creating a New Asset..................................................................................................................... 715
Viewing Assets................................................................................................................................ 717
Searching for an Asset....................................................................................................................718
Updating Asset Details....................................................................................................................719
Setting an Asset Display Image......................................................................................................721
Printing an Asset.............................................................................................................................723
Cloning an Asset.............................................................................................................................724
Managing Associated Parts.............................................................................................................725
Managing Linked Assets................................................................................................................. 728
Viewing the Asset Condition Assessment History.......................................................................... 735
Viewing PM Schedules for an Asset...............................................................................................736
Managing Asset Usage................................................................................................................... 737
Managing Asset Depreciation Values............................................................................................. 739
Managing Asset Cost Rates........................................................................................................... 742
Working with Asset Conditions....................................................................................................... 744
Working with Asset Ratings............................................................................................................ 746
Managing Asset Contacts............................................................................................................... 748
Working on the Asset Calendar......................................................................................................750
Examining Asset Details..................................................................................................................753
Work Order Cost Distribution.................................................................... 758
Work Order Cost Distribution Overview..........................................................................................759
Navigating to the Distribute Costs Portlet.......................................................................................760
Distributing Costs............................................................................................................................ 761
Managing Work Order Cost Distribution History.............................................................................764
Asset Condition Assessments...................................................................765
Asset Condition Assessments Overview.........................................................................................766
Creating an Asset Condition Assessment.......................................................................................767
Viewing and Editing an Asset Condition Assessment.................................................................... 768
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Group Updates for Condition Assessments....................................................................................769
Rescheduling an Asset Condition Assessment.............................................................................. 770
Working with Asset Condition Assessment Observations.............................................................. 771
Managing Asset Condition Assessment Attachments.....................................................................773
Working with Asset Condition Assessment Ratings....................................................................... 776
Working with Asset Condition Assessment Work Orders............................................................... 778
Managing Condition Assessment Assignments and Costs.............................................................781
Examining Asset Condition Assessment Details............................................................................ 787
Part Inventory............................................................................................ 790
Part Inventory Overview..................................................................................................................791
Working with Part Inventory............................................................................................................792
Managing Part Contacts..................................................................................................................794
Managing Part Transactions........................................................................................................... 796
Tracking Work Order Parts............................................................................................................. 800
Examining Parts (and Related) Details...........................................................................................802
Preventative Maintenance Schedules....................................................... 807
Preventative Maintenance Schedule Overview...............................................................................808
Creating a PM Schedule.................................................................................................................809
Searching for a PM Schedule.........................................................................................................810
Updating PM Schedule Details....................................................................................................... 811
Group Updates for Preventative Maintenance Schedules.............................................................. 812
Deleting a PM Schedule................................................................................................................. 813
Holding PM Schedules....................................................................................................................814
Linking Assets to PM Schedules.................................................................................................... 815
Skipping Assets on PM Schedules.................................................................................................819
Linking Addresses to PM Schedules.............................................................................................. 820
Generating Work Orders Using PM Schedules.............................................................................. 821
Updating Work Order PM Schedules..............................................................................................823
Managing the PM Schedule Execution History...............................................................................824
Tracking Last Maintenance Task.................................................................................................... 826
Examining PM Schedule Details.....................................................................................................827
Addresses.................................................................................................. 830
Addresses Overview........................................................................................................................831
Managing Reference Addresses..................................................................................................... 832
Locating an Address Using Accela GIS..........................................................................................834
Managing Associated Work Orders and Assets............................................................................. 835
Managing Address Contacts........................................................................................................... 838
Associating an Address with a Public User....................................................................................840
Viewing PM Schedules for an Address.......................................................................................... 841
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Working with External Addresses................................................................................................... 842
Examining Address Details............................................................................................................. 843
Conditions.................................................................................................. 845
Conditions Overview........................................................................................................................846
Applying Conditions.........................................................................................................................848
Editing or Deleting an Existing Condition....................................................................................... 850
Viewing an Inactive Condition.........................................................................................................851
Viewing a Condition History............................................................................................................852
Working with Condition Notices...................................................................................................... 853
Working with Conditions of Approval..............................................................................................856
Examining Condition Details........................................................................................................... 863
Reports.......................................................................................................866
Reporting Overview......................................................................................................................... 867
Accessing and Running Reports.....................................................................................................868
Creating Your Own Reports Category............................................................................................ 871
Specifying Report Parameters........................................................................................................ 872
Sending a Report by Email.............................................................................................................873
Ad Hoc Reports......................................................................................... 874
Ad Hoc Reports Overview...............................................................................................................875
Ad Hoc Reports Configuration Requirements.................................................................................876
Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer..............................................................................................877
Working with Existing Reports........................................................................................................ 878
Designing a New Report.................................................................................................................881
Designing a New Dashboard.......................................................................................................... 893
Working with Graphs.......................................................................................................................895
Working with Categories................................................................................................................. 901
Working with the Form Layout Tool................................................................................................903
Ad Hoc Reports Button and Field Reference................................................................................. 912
SmartCharts...............................................................................................929
SmartCharts Overview.....................................................................................................................930
Examining SmartChart Types......................................................................................................... 931
Viewing a SmartChart..................................................................................................................... 932
Accessing the SmartChart Portlet...................................................................................................933
Creating a New SmartChart............................................................................................................934
Editing a SmartChart.......................................................................................................................935
Deleting a SmartChart.....................................................................................................................936
Organizing the SmartChart Portlet..................................................................................................937
Examining the SmartCharts Form...................................................................................................938
Workflows and Workflow Tasks................................................................ 939
Workflow and Tasks Overview........................................................................................................940
Accessing and Viewing Tasks........................................................................................................ 941
Working in the My Tasks Portlet.....................................................................................................948
Working with Workflows and Workflow Tasks................................................................................ 952
Work Orders.............................................................................................. 963
Work Order Overview......................................................................................................................964
Managing Work Orders................................................................................................................... 965
Managing Work Order Tasks.......................................................................................................... 975
Running a Report............................................................................................................................978
Cloning a Work Order..................................................................................................................... 979
Managing Work Order Assignments and Costs..............................................................................980
Viewing the Work Order Calendar..................................................................................................987
Managing Work Order Assets.........................................................................................................988
Managing Work Order Parts........................................................................................................... 992
Tracking Work Order Production.................................................................................................... 995
Examining Work Order Details........................................................................................................997
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 13
Civic Platform Access and Usage
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about accessing and using Civic Platform.
Related Information
Overview
Logging In
Changing Your Password
Setting User Preference
Signing Out
Exploring the User Interface
Navigating the Civic Platform Console
Using the Search Features
Understanding QuickQueries
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 14
Overview
Because Civic Platform is a web-based application, access and usage on your internet browser is an
intuitive process.
What you can see and do when you log in depends on how your agency has configured Civic Platform, as
well as your user permissions. Your agency administrators can implement other settings that may affect
your interface with Civic Platform.
• Administrators regulate access to the data stored in Civic Platform.
• Administrators manage the maintenance cycle.
• Administrators regulate the functions and tasks that manipulate data.
• Administrators can create unique workflow processes for each user in your organization, enabling users
to work more efficiently. For example, permit clerks can display pending tasks and open applications,
inspectors can view their list of inspections for the day, and managers can review executive charts for a
broader understanding of their department’s performance.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 15
Logging In
You must enter your user login credentials each time you initiate a work session.
If your agency has configured your system to disable accounts that are inactive for a defined period of
time, you may need to change your password. See Changing Your Password for more information, or
contact your agency administrator to reset your password.
To log in
1. Open Internet Explorer web browser.
2. Enter the URL for the Civic Platform Login page in the browser’s address bar.
Note:
Bookmark the Login page for one-click access in future sessions.
The Civic Platform Login page displays.
3. Complete the following fields.
Agency Enter the agency name.
User name Enter the user name assigned to you by your system administrator. Your user
name determines the features and functions to which you have access.
Password Enter your password.
Remember me on this
computer Select this option to retain the agency and user names. If you share a computer,
clear this option.
4. If your agency has configured Civic Platform to support multiple languages, select your preferred
language from the Language drop-down list. Otherwise, skip this step.
5. Click the Login button.
The Home page displays.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 16
Changing Your Password
Change your login password regularly to better secure your system from unauthorized access. Some
agencies have password changing protocol that requires users to change their passwords on a timed
schedule (for example, every 60 days). If you do not change your password within the specified time frame,
Civic Platform locks you out, and you must either change your password or have an administrator do it
for you. To help you remember to change your password, Civic Platform displays daily warnings about an
impending password expiration date starting 15 days before expiration.
You can change your password at login or from within Civic Platform (if configured).
To access the Change Password page from the Login page
1. At the login page, log in as usual.
A message displays, informing you that your password is expiring soon. The message asks whether
you want to change the password now.
2. Click OK.
The Change Password page displays.
3. Complete the fields as described in Complete the following fields. below.
To change your password from within Civic Platform
1. Navigate to your Home page.
2. Open the Preference portlet. If you do not see this portlet, contact your system administrator.
3. Click the Change Password tab.
4. Complete the following fields.
Old Password Enter your current password.
New Password Enter a new password that meets your agency’s security requirements. Use
the Requirements link to the right of the password strength indicator to view
your agency’s minimum password requirements.
Confirm New Password Re-enter your new password to confirm it.
5. Click Submit.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 17
Setting User Preference
If you have access to multiple modules (such as Licensing and Enforcement) and/or you have access
to multiple consoles, you can define your default workspace in Preferences. When you define a default
module and console, those selections are what you see each time you log in. You can switch to other
modules and consoles when you need them.
However, if you prefer to see all records from all modules by default, instead of seeing only those records
available in your default module, you can turn off the default module filter. To do so, set the Standard
Choice DISABLE_RECORDLIST_DEFAULT_MODULE value to Yes.
Please refer to the Accela Civic Platform Configuration Guide for more information on setting this Standard
Choice.
To set user preferences
1. Navigate to your home page.
2. Open the Preference portlet. If you do not see this option, contact your agency administrator.
3. Click the Preference tab (if not already displayed).
The Preference portlet displays
4. Complete the fields.
Default Module Select a default module from the drop-down list. When you log in after saving your
preference, you see only records for the default module.
Default Console Select a default console from the drop-down list. When you log in after saving your
preference, you see only the portlets and the module in the customized console.
5. Click Submit.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 18
Signing Out
It is important to sign out properly when you finish your work in Civic Platform. Signing out ensures that
other users cannot engage in activity that they do not have permission to do. Signing out also prevents
other users from seeing information that they do not have permission to see.
To sign out
1. Locate and click the Sign Out link in the upper right-hand corner of your console.
Session Timing Out
Civic Platform has a built-in session timeout mechanism. If your session is inactive for a set period of time,
the session times out and Civic Platform automatically signs you out. If your administrator configures a
session time-out warning, you have the option to continue the session before it times out.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 19
Exploring the User Interface
Civic Platform provides a common interface for users across an agency. However, Civic Platform also
provides users with the ability to personalize the interface somewhat to meet individual needs. In addition,
administrators can define user access to functionality and data based on a user’s job duties. For both
of these reasons, you may notice that Civic Platform displays differently on your machine than it does
for other users. You may also notice that your console differs from the descriptions in this manual. The
differences may be due to personalization and permissions, but the differences may also be due in part to
how your agency has elected to configure Civic Platform.
In spite of all the potential differences, Civic Platform consoles have some elements and features that are
common to all. This section discusses those common elements.
Topics
•Introducing the Console
•Menu Icons and Buttons
Introducing the Console
The console refers to the entire working area of your browser that comprises Civic Platform. The console
includes an agency bar, toolbars, main links, portlets, record tabs, and detail forms. The console lets you
interact with Civic Platform and its add-ons by clicking the main links and working in associated portlets.
The following figure shows an example of a console and its associated parts.
Agency Bar. Displays the agency name and user name, and provides links that enable users to customize their work
area, access alerts, and sign out.
Toolbar. Displays the Home, Navigation, Create New, Maps, and Help buttons. The Maps button does not display
if your agency does not configure Civic Platform - GIS.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 20
Main Links. Customizable links at the top of the console that direct you to different areas of Civic Platform. Click a
main link to display its associated portlets in the console. Use the Console Editor to add or remove main links and to
customize the associated portlets.
Portlet. A section of the web page dedicated to display information or perform tasks.
Record Tabs. After selecting a record, there are several available tabs you can click to open a portlet containing
additional record details.
Console. The entire working area of the page, also known as the user interface.
Menu Icons and Buttons
Civic Platform has many commonly used buttons and controls located throughout the software. You can
see some common features in the illustration below.
Main Links. Click links to view a console page and its associated portlets.
User Info portlet. This portlet displays on the left side in the vertical portlet, and includes information about the
current login user.
A minimized portlet. The Quicklinks displays as a minimized portlet. A minimized portlet only displays the portlet title
bar. Maximize the portlet to view the title bar and portlet contents.
Portlet Title. Each portlet has a title bar that includes the portlet name.
Refresh, Minimize, and Maximize buttons. These buttons appear on the far right of the portlet title bar. See Portlet
Buttons below to learn how these buttons work.
List portlet. List portlets contain lists of items. The Building Permits portlet is an example of this type of portlet. You
can select a record in a list portlet and view the record details below.
Toolbar buttons. Use the buttons on the portlet toolbar to work with data in that portlet. Which buttons are available
varies by portlet. See Portlet Buttons below to learn how these buttons work.
Record Detail Area. Click a tab to reveal detailed information about the record selected in the list portlet.
Portlet Buttons
Users can click a button to initiate many of the actions that you can perform in Civic Platform. This section
lists and defines some of the common use buttons you may encounter when you are working in Civic
Platform.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 21
•Portlet Control Buttons
•Portlet Menu Buttons
•Portlet Toolbar Buttons
Portlet Control Buttons
The portlet control buttons appear on the right side of the portlet title bar. Use these buttons to manipulate
the portlets as described below.
Table 1: Portlet Control Buttons
Icon Button Name Description
Minimize Collapses the portlet so that you see only the title bar, which can be
helpful when managing the space on your console. For example,
when you want more real estate to view other portlets on a page, you
can minimize portlets you are not using.
Maximize Expands a portlet from the title bar view so that the portlet completely
fills the window.
Restore Restores an expanded portlet view.
Refresh Updates the portlet and view the most current information.
Portlet Menu Buttons
The menu buttons are time-saving objects that give you quick access both to available commands, and to
available detail tabs for the current record. System administrators can customize both the GoTo drop-down
list and the Menu drop-down list for each portlet.
Table 2: Portlet Menu Buttons
Menu Name Description
Go To Displays a menu that lists the available record detail tabs. Click a tab name to
navigate to the area without scrolling.
Menu Many portlets have a menu button that opens a drop-down list of actions. These
menus are portlet-specific.
Portlet Toolbar Buttons
Each portlet has a unique set of toolbar buttons you can use while working in the portlet. The following list
of toolbar buttons describes some of the most common buttons you may see as you work in Civic Platform.
Button names display in alphabetical order.
Table 3: Toolbar Buttons
Button Name Description
Cancel Cancels the current action.
Clear Search This button becomes available in the toolbar after you perform a search. Use this
button to clear the search fields so you can enter new criteria.
Customize Use this button to access the console editor, where you can access tools to
customize your console.
Delete Use this button to delete one or more selected records.
GIS If your agency uses Accela GIS, use this button to access GIS.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 22
Button Name Description
Help Use this button to access online help. If you click the button within any portlet,
online help displays a relevant topic or list of topic options.
Logout Use this button to sign out of Civic Platform.
Look Up Use this button to look up an address and view its associated information.
New Use this button to create a new record.
Refine Search This button becomes available in the toolbar of the search results list after you
perform a search. Use this button to return to the search page without clearing
any of the previously entered search criteria.
Report Use this button to print a corresponding customizable report associated with the
record.
Reset Use this button to remove any data entered and return to the previously saved
data (or lack of data) on a form.
Save Use this button to save newly entered data to the database.
Search Use this button to open a search form where you can enter search criteria to
search for a needed record or object.
Submit Use this button to submit new information to the Civic Platform database.
Summary Use this button to display a summary form.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 23
Navigating the Civic Platform Console
You can access frequently used portlets and record forms from the Civic Platform console by using the
toolbars, main links, and administrative setup menu.
Topics
•Using Toolbars
•Navigating with Main Links
•Accessing Recently Viewed Items
•Working with Data Fields
•Using the Spell Checker in Text Fields
Using Toolbars
Civic Platform provides two toolbars:
• The Agency toolbar provides links to personalized alerts and console customization portlets, as well as
a link for signing out of Civic Platform. Some agencies configure the toolbar to display the agency name
and even display user information.
• The Civic Platform toolbar provides numerous buttons you can use to move efficiently to the most
frequently used areas of the software. The toolbar includes a search box you can use to initiate global
searches for information. See Performing a Global Search for more information about global searches.
Figure 1: Toolbars
Home button. Use this button to return to your personalized home page.
Navigation button. Use this button to display and select from a drop-down list of recent items you worked on (with
the exception of deleted items), most recent first. Selecting an object in the list opens the record for that object.
Create New button. Use this button to display and select from a drop-down menu of objects you can create, such as
records or portlets.
Maps button. Use this button to launch Civic Platform - GIS). This button displays only if your agency configures
GIS.
Switching Consoles. Use this link to switch between consoles, if your login account has sufficient permissions.
Search. Use to initiate global searches for any record ID, asset ID, contact name, address, parcel number or project
name.
Console Options. Click this link to modify your console. You can add or remove main links and portlets.
Help button. Click this button to launch online help.
Navigating with Main Links
You can use any of the links within the main links area on your console to access administrator and
user portlets to which you have access. For example, you might see an Admin link that takes you to
administrator portlets, or a Calendar link that takes you to the Calendar portlet.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 24
To access portlets using main links
1. Navigate to the home page.
2. Look below the Civic Platform toolbar to locate the main links area.
3. Click the link associated with the portlet you want to open.
The portlet associated with the main link displays.
Note:
You can associate a main link with multiple portlets; for example, the Addresses, Parcels, and Owners
portlets. When you click this type of main link, all the associated portlets open from top to bottom, and
the first enabled text field in the first non-list portlet gets focus.
Accessing Recently Viewed Items
Use the Navigation button in the toolbar to access a drop-down list of the most recent records/objects you
viewed or worked with in Civic Platform, newest to oldest (deleted objects not included). Each object listed
is a hyperlink that you can click to open the named object or record.
You can clear the recently viewed list at any time by clicking the “clear history” link at the bottom the list.
To access recently viewed items
1. Navigate to the home page.
2. Click the Navigation button on the toolbar.
A drop-down list of recently viewed records and objects displays.
3. To display a record or object in the list, click the identification number corresponding to the recent item
that you want to work with from the list.
The record or object in the portlet most recently used to work with that object, displays.
Working with Data Fields
Whether you are entering, editing, or viewing information in Civic Platform, you interact with several
different types of fields.
Alphanumeric fields
Use an alphanumeric field to enter a string of characters and/or numbers as prompted by the field label.
For example, the Address field is an alphanumeric field. The field label, Address, cues you to enter
an address in that field. Alphanumeric text fields usually have a character limit that dictates how many
characters that the field accepts. Consult your system administrator if you want to learn the character limit
of a text field.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 25
Scrolling text fields
Use a scrolling text field to enter narrative information as prompted by the field label. For example, a field
labeled Description may appear. Use it to enter a description of the object named in the record. A scrolling
text field allows you to enter more text than a standard text field. You can type entire sentences, and even
use the Enter key to create paragraphs or lists.
Many scrolling text fields have a spell checker available below the field. Use the spell checker to check the
text you entered in the scrolling text field for spelling accuracy. See Using the Spell Checker in Text Fields
for more information about this tool.
Drop-down lists
Use a drop-down list field to select from a list of pre-defined options. You can locate and select an option in
one of three ways:
• Click the caret to view a drop-down list of options. Use the scroll bar to move through the list of options.
Click the option you want to select it.
• Press the Tab key on your keyboard to advance to the drop-down field. With the field highlighted, press
the down arrow on your keyboard to scroll through the available options one at a time. When you see
the option you want, press Tab to move to the next field.
• Move the cursor to the drop-down field. Enter the first letter of the option you are looking for to jump
to that option. If there is more than one option that starts with the letter, enter the letter again. For
example, if you are in the Country field and you want to select Andorra, press the A key to jump to the
first country name beginning with the letter A. Press the A key again and again until Andorra displays.
Press Tab to move to the next field.
Check boxes
When you see a check box, you can click the box to enable (or select) that option. Click the box again to
disable the option.
Date fields
Use a date field to enter dates in the format prescribed by your agency. For example, your agency may
configure date fields to accept dates in the format mm/dd/yyyy. You can enter the date manually using the
prescribed format. You can also click the calendar icon to the right of the field to launch a calendar tool that
enables you to select a date.
The current date is highlighted. Use the << and >> buttons to display the same month in the next/previous
year. Use the > and <buttons to display the next/previous month. To choose a different day, click the date
you want.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 26
Using the Spell Checker in Text Fields
You can use the spell checker to identify spelling errors and correct spelling as needed. When enabled, the
spell checker displays under all scrolling text fields as shown below.
Figure 2: Inspection Result Comment with spell checker
Civic Platform uses a standard dictionary for all spell checking. Agencies can create custom dictionaries
at the agency level to incorporate industry or agency-specific terminology as entries, and make them
available to users in Civic Platform. When there is a custom dictionary available, Civic Platform uses both
the standard dictionary and the custom dictionary as references when a user invokes the spell checker.
Note:
Civic Platform supports custom dictionaries for the English language only.
To check the spelling within a text field
1. Click the check spelling link located under the text field.
The Spell Check window displays, with the first suggested correction highlighted. If there are no spelling
errors, a pop-up message displays, indicating the spell check is complete.
2. Use the buttons in the spell checker to check/correct your spelling. See Spell Check Fields and Buttons
for more information.
3. When the spell check is complete, a message displays, informing you that it is complete.
Note:
The spell checker does not currently allow you to add new words to the dictionary from the spell checker
window.
4. Click OK.
Table 4: Spell Check Fields and Buttons
Change Use to replace the word in the Not in Dictionary field with the word in the Suggestion
field.
Change All Use to replace all instances (within the current field) of the word in the Not in
Dictionary field with the word in the Suggestion field.
Change To Displays the word you plan to use in place of the word in the Not in Dictionary field.
You can type another word into this field, or select a word from the Suggestion list.
Close Use to close the spell check window without applying changes.
Ignore Use to leave the word in the Not in Dictionary field as it is. For example, if the word
in the Not in Dictionary field is an acronym or abbreviation, you can click the Ignore
button to skip to the next misspelled or unrecognized word.
Ignore All Use to leave all instances of the word in the Not in Dictionary field as is.
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Not in Dictionary This read-only field displays the misspelled word or unrecognized word. If the text
field you are spell checking contains multiple misspelled words, each misspelled word
displays in the Not in Dictionary field in turn.
Suggestion This field displays words that the spell checker recommends to replace the word in the
Not in Dictionary field.
Undo All Use to remove all applied changes and automatically close the window.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 28
Using the Search Features
Civic Platform offers users both a global search feature and a portlet-specific search feature. Use the
search tools to locate records and objects throughout the database.
Topics
•Performing a Global Search
•Performing a Portlet Search
Performing a Global Search
Civic Platform offers a global search engine that you can use to specify search criteria and locate the
records that meet the criteria in a global scope. The global search checks in the following portlets for
records that contain a field with the same value as entered in the global search field.
• Records
• Assets
• Locations (including addresses, parcels, and owners)
• Licensed Professionals
• Documents
• Contacts
With some portlets such as the Records portlet or Parcels portlet, the global search not only searches in
the list portlet, but also the associated tabs. A global search returns not only the result records but also any
associated records meeting the search criteria.
Search results display in a Global Search portlet where they are sorted in groups based on type.
You can further organize the search results by applying filters to the results set. Filter the records by
module, if available. Click a column header to sort records by that column in ascending or descending
order. You can also click the arrow next to the column header to access a drop-down menu with sorting
and display options.
If you have a large number of records in a group, use the navigation tools at the bottom of the group list, as
shown. Use the arrows to view another page of results. Enter a page number to jump to a given portion of
the list.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 29
You can click any search result hyperlink to access record (object) details. Your search results remain
available and you can return to that list at any time by clicking the Result (main) tab as shown.
To perform a global search
1. On the Civic Platform home page, locate the Search field in the upper right corner, as shown.
2. Enter the name, place, or other character string you want to search for, and press Enter to initiate the
search.
A list of search criteria (fields) that you can use to do global searches is available in Fields to Search in
Global Search.
The search results display.
To navigate the Global Search Results
1. Click a group link name to view the corresponding group result portlet. For example, click Contacts to
view the list of Contact records meeting your search criteria.
2. Use the Filter Records by the Module filter, if available, to winnow the results set to a particular module.
3. Use the navigation tools to view additional pages of results as necessary. Note that each group of
results has its own set of navigation tools.
4. Click any search result hyperlink to access record (object) details. Click the Result tab to return to the
Search Results list.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 30
Table 5: Fields to Search in Global Search
Portlet Associated Tab Fields to Search
- Record ID, Alternative ID, Project Name, Module, Asset
Assets Asset ID
Address Street # (Start), Start Fraction, Direction, Street Name, Street Type,
Unit Type, Unit # (start), City, State, Zip Code, Address Line 1 and
Address Line 2
Parcel Parcel#
Owner Name
Professionals License#
Contacts Contact Organization Name
Records
Documents File Name, document description, Document Category, Document
Group
Assets - Asset ID
- Street # (Start), Start Fraction, Direction, Street Name, Street Type,
Unit Type, Unit # (start), City, State, Zip Code, Address Line 1 and
Address Line 2
Addresses
Parcels Parcel#
- Parcel#
Owner Owner Name
Parcels
Address Street # (Start), Start Fraction, Direction, Street Name, Street Type,
Unit Type, Unit # (start), City, State, Zip Code, Address Line 1 and
Address Line 2
- Owner NameOwners
Parcel Parcel#
Licensed
Professionals
- State License#, First Name, Middle Name, Last Name, Full Name
Contacts - Contact Organization Name, Contact DBA/Trade Name, Email
Address, Phone Number, Contact Full Name, Contact First Name/
Middle Name/Last Name
Documents - File Name, Document Description, Document Category, Document
Group
Performing a Portlet Search
Many Civic Platform portlets offer a robust search feature that you can use to search for records or objects
within that portlet. For example, if you need to update the phone number for a contact in the database, you
can use the Search feature in the Contacts portlet to locate and open the contact record so you can update
it.
When you do a portlet search, you can enter search criteria in a number of fields, including application-
specific information (ASI) fields and ASI table fields, to help you locate the record or object you need. Civic
Platform always joins search criteria by using the ”AND” operator between the fields.
You can use wildcard characters in portlet searches, which can be especially useful if you are unsure of
the spelling of a person’s name or a street name.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 31
Note:
You may customize the display of the search form with the Edit View feature. See Editing Your View.
You can use Soundex search functionality to do phonetic searches on contact and address (street name)
searches (see Using Soundex to Conduct a Phonetic Search).
Topics
•Using Soundex to Conduct a Phonetic Search
•Performing a Wildcard Search
•Performing an Advanced Search
To search for a record or object
1. Navigate to the portlet containing the records or objects you want to locate; for example, the Service
Requests portlet.
2. Click Search or Look Up, depending on the user interface.
The Search form displays.
3. Enter search criteria as available. You can search on one criterion or on multiple criteria. The more
specific you are in your search criteria, the better your search results are. Civic Platform supports
wildcard searches for many fields.
Note:
For more information about wildcard searches, see Performing a Wildcard Search below.
• If you are searching on contact information or address (street name) and you want to enable a
phonetic search for similarly spelled values, select the Enable Soundex Search option.
• If a template field (for example, Activity Type in the search form for reference contacts) is a search
field in the search form, after you specify the template, all the fields associated with the template
display as search fields.
• If Attribute Label and Attribute Value are search fields in the search form, you can enter the label
and value of a field that belongs to an activity-specific info group. Note that you must enter the label
and value together.
4. Click Submit.
The search results display.
5. If you do not see the record or object you need, click Refine Search and enter different search criteria.
You can also click Clear Search to clear all the search fields.
6. Click the ID link of the desired record or object to view or edit the details.
Using Soundex to Conduct a Phonetic Search
Soundex is a phonetic algorithm for indexing names by sound, as pronounced in English. In other words,
a Soundex search identifies search matches based on the way they sound rather than the spelling, taking
into account common misspellings. For example, a search on the name “Lee” might return values such as
Lee, Li, Lea, or other similar matches.
Note:
Soundex functionality is available for English only.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 32
Soundex search functionality is available on Civic Platform portlet search forms that include an address
(street name) field or common contact name fields, such as contact last name, and contact business name.
The following fields are searchable using Soundex search.
• Contact First Name
• Contact Middle Name
• Contact Last Name
• Contact Organization Name
• Contact DBA/Trade Name
• Contact Business Name2
• Contact Alias/Alternate Names - First Name, Middle Name, Last Name (Contact - Also Known As tab)
• Address Street Name
To enable Soundex searching
1. Launch a search from the reference contact portlet, the related contact portlet, the record list portlet, the
inspection list portlet, or other portlet with Soundex search. See Performing a Portlet Search.
2. In the toolbar, select the Enable Soundex Search option.
3. Enter search criteria as needed to return the desired search results. A Soundex icon displays next to
each Soundex-searchable field to help you identify them. You can also consult the list of Soundex-
searchable fields in the introduction to this section.
A Soundex search proceeds, using the search criteria that you entered. Returned results include both
exact and near matches.
Performing a Wildcard Search
A wildcard is a special character (%) you can use in your search criteria to represent one or more
characters in a string of characters. When used, it can represent an undefined value.
Where you place the wildcard character determines which part of the name or phrase you are not
searching for. For example, you are searching for an owner with the last name equal or similar to Johnson.
You can enter %son as the search criterion. The search results include all names it finds ending in “son,”
including Johnson and Thompson. If you enter john%, the search results include all names beginning with
“John,” including Johnson, Johnston, and Johns. If you enter %john% and click search, the results include
all names with “john” anywhere within the whole name, including Johnson, or St. Johns.
Note:
Wildcard searches are not available for all fields.
Performing an Advanced Search
If you perform advanced search with multiple fields, the search follows the following general rules:
• If you conduct a search based on two or more detail search fields, Civic Platform uses AND to locate
that contain all the search criteria. For example, if you pick two fields within the record detail search
fields, this rule is applied.
• If you conduct a search based on fields across different categories (for example, between record search
fields and Address, Parcel, Owner (APO) template search fields), Civic Platform uses AND to perform
the search.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 33
• If you conduct a search based on two or more Task Spec Info, App Spec Info, or APO template search
fields, Civic Platform uses AND to locate records that contain only one of the search criteria.
• If you conduct a search based on two fields from the record detail search and the APO template, Civic
Platform uses AND and OR to perform the search.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 34
Understanding QuickQueries
Topics
•QuickQuery Overview
•Applying an Existing QuickQuery to a List Portlet
•Creating a New QuickQuery
•Modifying or Deleting an Existing QuickQuery
•Understanding the QuickQuery Form
QuickQuery Overview
A QuickQuery is a pre-defined search/filter that you can use to quickly access a list of items that meet
certain conditions. For example, you can set up a QuickQuery that displays a list of records assigned to a
certain department or even a certain individual. Your agency administrator may set up QuickQueries and
make them available for your use, or you can create your own QuickQueries.
QuickQueries are available for use in a number of portlets. If available, you will see a My QuickQueries
button in portlet toolbar and a My QuickQueries command in Menu command list.
When you set up multiple QuickQueries, you can assign one query as the primary (default) query. When
you designate a QuickQuery as primary, Civic Platform automatically applies that QuickQuery each time
you open the list portlet or tab.
Note:
Data filters remain in place when you apply a QuickQuery. Any fields or values that a data filter excludes,
remain excluded.
Applying an Existing QuickQuery to a List Portlet
1. Navigate to the portlet you want to work in.
2. From the My QuickQueries drop-down list in the portlet toolbar, choose the desired query.
• To apply the QuickQuery to a particular module, select a module from the Module drop-down list.
• To apply the QuickQuery to all available modules, select “--Select--” from the Module drop-down list.
• To filter the contents of other list portlets besides the record list portlets, select the desired
QuickQuery from the My QuickQueries drop-down list.
• To remove all QuickQuery filters from the list, choose --Select-- from the My QuickQueries drop-
down list.
The list updates to display only those records that match the QuickQuery specifications.
Creating a New QuickQuery
You can set up a QuickQuery that reflects your own needs.
Note:
When creating a QuickQuery, you can use wildcards for some values. For example, if you want to build a
QuickQuery that finds all records related to work on water mains, you can enter “Water/Main//” where //is
the wildcard.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 35
1. Navigate to the portlet you want to work in.
2. Hover over the Menu button to display a menu, then choose My QuickQueries from the menu.
3. Click New.
A blank QuickQuery form displays.
4. Complete these fields (a red asterisk means it is a required field):
Name Enter a name for the QuickQuery. The name you enter appears in the QuickQuery
drop-down list, so make sure the name is concise and meaningful.
Description Enter a description to help you identify the purpose of the QuickQuery.
Primary This field is optional. Select Yes to designate the current QuickQuery as the primary.
The default setting is No. Only one QuickQuery can be primary at any given time. If
you assign another QuickQuery as the primary, Civic Platform automatically resets the
Primary field for all other QuickQueries to No.
5. Use the Search By section to build your query as described below.
a. Use Box A only if you are creating an extremely complex query that requires parentheses to group
operations properly. For most QuickQueries, you can leave this box blank.
b. Use Box B to choose the portlet field that you want to use to build your query.
Note:
The current portlet sets the available filter fields:
The filter fields for Record List portlet include all the record fields that display in the record search
form, Application-Specific Info, Address Template, Owner Template, Parcel Template, and Module
Name.
The filter fields for the Reference Address (Parcel, or Owner) Portlet include the address (parcel, or
owner) fields, and Address Template (Parcel Template, or Owner Template).
The filter fields for other portlets are the fields that display in the search form of each portlet.
If you select Application-Specific Info (ASI) as the filter field in the drop-down, Civic Platform displays
all the ASI groups in a pop-up window. Select an ASI group code from the ASI Group Code field,
and then find and click the desired ASI field in the ASI Field tree to specify the field you want to filter.
If you select Address Template, Parcel Template, or Owner Template as the filter field in the drop-
down, Civic Platform displays all the active template attributes in a pop-up window. Click the desired
attribute to specify the field you want to filter.
c. Use Box C to choose the Relational Operator you want to use. For a list of available operators, see
Default Relational Operators.
d. Use Box D to specify the variable or specific value against which you want to compare the field in
Box B. You can manually enter a value into this field, or you can click the Variable Picker button
to the right of the field and select a variable from the Variable list. For a list of variables, see
QuickQuery Parameters.
e. If you select a user-name-related field, such as Requestor, as the filter field, Civic Platform displays
three fields where you can specify the first name, middle name, and last name of a person, instead
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 36
of one Value field. For a list of user-name-related portlets and filter fields, see User-Name-Related
List Portlets and Search By Fields.
However, if you pick a variable as the search criteria, Civic Platform turns the three fields into a read-
only Full Name field and populates the field with the specified variable.
f. Use Box E only if you are creating a complex query that requires parentheses to group operations
properly. For most simple QuickQueries, you can leave this box blank.
g. If you are querying additional fields (for example, you want to query by date and/or by location),
choose a logical operator in the fourth field to determine how you want to combine the fields. Choose
AND if you want the query to use both this field and the next field to find matches. Choose OR if you
want the query to use either this field or the next field to find matches.
6. If you are querying another field (see step 5f), click the New Field button. Otherwise, go to the next
step.
Civic Platform adds a new Search By row below the one you just created.
a. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for each additional field you want to add. When you have finished adding
fields, continue to step 7.
7. Click the Preview SQL button to view the SQL query statement in the Resulting Query field, which can
help you identify any potential syntax problems before you save.
8. Click the Submit button.
The QuickQuery is now available in the current portlet.
Table 6: User-Name-Related List Portlets and Search By Fields
List Portlet Search By Field
AMS Asset CA List Inspector
AMS PM Schedule Log List Processed By Staff
Inspection Conditions of Approval List Action by User
Applied by User
Inspection List Inspection Contact Name
Inspector
Requestor
My Workflow Task List Action By (Staff)Assigned to Staff
Record Conditions of Approval List Action by User
Applied by User
Record Inspection List Inspection Contact Name
Requestor
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 37
List Portlet Search By Field
Set Conditions of Approval List Action by User
Applied by User
Modifying or Deleting an Existing QuickQuery
You can modify or remove QuickQueries you created as needed. However, QuickQueries created by
administrators are read-only and are not editable.
To modify or delete a QuickQuery
1. Navigate to the portlet you want to work in.
2. Hover the mouse on the Menu button to display a menu.
3. Choose My QuickQueries from the menu.
A list of QuickQueries displays for the current portlet.
4. Click the link for the query you want to modify/delete.
5. If modifying the query, update as needed. Click Delete Field to remove fields from your query as
needed.
6. To delete the query, click Delete.
Understanding the QuickQuery Form
You can use parameters to build queries on the QuickQuery form.
Table 7: QuickQuery Parameters
Variable Description
$$DEPARTMENT$$ The department to which the current user belongs.
$$GAUSER ID$$ The logged in user’s ID.
$$GROUP$$ The logged in user’s user group.
$$MODULE$$ The name of the module for which the query is applicable.
$$ORGANIZATION$$ All organizations. A Citizen Access term.
$$OWNORGANIZATION$$ The logged in user’s organizations. A Citizen Access term.
$$OWNLICENSE$$ The logged in user’s licenses. A Citizen Access term.
$$PUBLICUSER_EMAIL$$ The logged in user’s email. A Citizen Access term.
$$SERV_PROV_CODE$$ The login user’s agency code
$$TODAY+/-#$$ Today’s date (the workstation system date), or a range of days. For example:
Enter
$$TODAY-7$$
as the value for the Inspection Date field to return all records with inspection
dates in the past week. Similarly, enter
$$TODAY+7$$
to return records with inspection dates occurring in the week to come.
$$TODAY+n$$ Date range beginning with today’s date.
$$USERID$$ The ID of the user currently logged on.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 38
Variable Description
$$USERFULLNAME$$ The logged in user’s full name.
Relational Operators
Relational operators define the relationship between the field you select and the value you want to
compare that field against. For example, if you choose the City field and enter Portland as a value, you can
then pick which relational operator you want to define what data to find. If you want records for Portland,
you can use =. If you want all records except for Portland, you can use !=. The table below lists the default
relational operators available for use.
Table 8: Default Relational Operators
=Equal to
!= Not equal to
<Less than
<= Less than or equal to
>Greater than
>= Greater than or equal to
LIKE Contains part of the field value.
IS NULL Use to identify field values that are empty (no field value entered).
IS NOT NULL Use to identify field values that are not empty (field value entered).
CONTAINS Contains all of the field value.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 39
Viewing Information Across Agencies
A multi-agency environment provides users the ability to view information across agencies in the following
Civic Platform features:
•Task dashboard
•Related records
•Record search
•Inspection search
•Navigation aids
Cross-agency task dashboard
The task dashboard supports multi-agency environments, enabling super agency users to view tasks that
originate from the various child agencies they work with, all in one place on the Civic Platform dashboard.
Users can toggle between the agency tabs at the top of the page to view the tasks assigned to them from
different agencies. The agency tabs display the number of tasks assigned to the currently logged in user,
enabling users to easily identify and navigate to the agencies where they have tasks to perform. This
feature requires no configuration.
Cross-agency related records
Civic Platform enables users to view related records across multiple agencies, in both list view and tree
view.
Related records list view:
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 40
Related records tree view:
Cross-agency record search
Civic Platform provides the ability to search for records across multiple agencies. Users can also search for
specific record types and record status types across agencies.
Note: User access to records from other agencies depends on delegate user settings for the
agency where the record was created. If users receive error messages when attempting to open
cross-agency records, ensure that the proper delegate user settings are configured as described in
“Delegate User Management” in the Civic Platform Administrator Guide.
To search for records across multiple agencies:
1. Click to access the launchpad.
2. Navigate to the Records page (In the Filter list... field, enter Record.).
3. On the Records page, click Search. The Records Search page displays.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 41
4. Add the Agency field, Record Type field and/or the Status Type field to your records search page.
a. Click Menu > Edit View.
b. For complete instructions on the Edit View feature, click Help > Working with Forms > Using the
Edit View Feature. You can also refer to the Civic Platform Administrator Guide for full details.
5. Select the agency you want to search within. You can select multiple agencies by pressing the Ctrl
key while making your selections. If you do not make a selection, Civic Platform searches across all
agencies in your multi-agency environment.
6. Select the record type you want to search within. The record type drop-down will display all record types
for all agencies a delegate user has access to.
7. Select the status type you want to search for.
8. Enter any additional search criteria and click Submit. Civic Platform returns a list of records for the
selected agencies and status types.
Note: Cross-agency searches are only supported for record and inspection searches. However
when FID 8403-Multi Agency Switch is enabled, cross-agency search fields (Agency and Status
Type) may display in search forms where cross agency searches are not supported, and will
only return results from a single agency (the agency you are currently logged in to).
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 42
The records search page now includes an Agency column, so that you can sort records by agency. The
Agency column only displays in multi-agency environments (FID 8403-Multi Agency Switch is enabled).
Cross-agency inspection search
Civic Platform enables users to search for inspections across multiple agencies. You’ll need to add the
Agency field to your Inspections Search page to enable this functionality, as described in Cross-agency
Record Search. The Agency column allows you to sort inspections by agency. You can select multiple
agencies in the Agency search field by pressing the Ctrl key while making your selections – or leave
the Agency field blank to search across all agencies. The Agency field is only available in multi-agency
environments; it is not available in single-agency environments.
Navigation aids
• To aid in navigating and orientation, the agency ID now displays on all pages within Civic Platform in
multi-agency environments.
• When you open the records page, Civic Platform creates a new space for it in the sidebar. To
navigate back to the records list after opening a record, simply click the Records space. Civic Platform
remembers your place in the list and returns you to the page you last visited in the records list.
| Civic Platform Access and Usage | 43
| The V360 User Interface | 44
The V360 User Interface
Choose a topic from the list to learn more about the V360 user interface.
Related Information
User Interface Overview
Preparing Web Browsers for Civic Platform
Setting Your Home Page
Customizing Record Detail Menus
Creating New Items
Using Civic Platform GIS
Viewing Record Details
Working with List Portlets
Working with Form Portlets
| The V360 User Interface | 45
User Interface Overview
Civic Platform provides a common interface called a console for users across your agency. The console
comprises the entire working space, including the agency bar, toolbar, and customizable portlets. However,
having a common interface does not mean that you cannot customize it to reflect your role within your
agency. You can define your home page by adding portlets and positioning them where you choose, you
can create custom menus, and more.
The following sections provide general information about the console, how to prepare your browser for the
console, how to define your home page, how to create custom menus, and how to use your buttons and
portlets.
You can also find information about using the console editor to create a user interface that reflects your
role within your agency. For more information about working with the console editor, see your agency
administrator.
| The V360 User Interface | 46
Preparing Web Browsers for Civic Platform
Civic Platform is supported on multiple web browsers. It is important to prepare your web browser properly
so that you can view any Civic Platform pop-up windows while limiting external pop-up windows, and avoid
unnecessary error messages.
For information about preparing your browser, see the Civic Platform Installation Guide, available via the
Documentation Library on Community and on the FTP site.
| The V360 User Interface | 47
Setting Your Home Page
A home page is the first page you view after logging into Civic Platform or the page that displays after
clicking the Home button on the console Toolbar. To customize your home page, you must create a main
link and add the portlets you want associated with it. Then, verify the main link you want for the home page
is in the first position. If you do not have access to create main links on your console, contact your agency
administrator.
| The V360 User Interface | 48
Customizing Record Detail Menus
The record detail tabs by default include every built-in tab items that Civic Platform provides. However,
your agency administrator may have defined custom tab menu. Then you only view the tab items related
with your tasks in the detail tabs.
Civic Platform provides easy access to tab items with the Go To drop-down menu in record detail portlets.
To access tab items from the Go To menu
1. Navigate to the form portlet you want to work in, such as the Building portlet.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Click a record link in the Building portlet
Civic Platform displays the detail portlet for the selected record.
3. Hover your mouse cursor on the Go To button, and select the tab item you want from the drop-down
list.
• If the detail tabs already include the tab item, the tab item becomes the current tab in the detail tabs.
• If the detail tabs do not include the tab item, the tab item appears to the right of the detail tabs and
becomes the current tab.
| The V360 User Interface | 49
Creating New Items
You can create new items from the Civic Platform Toolbar. This allows you to launch common tasks, such
as creating a new building record or starting a cashier session, from your Home page.
To create a new item
1. Navigate to your Home page.
Civic Platform displays your personalized Home page.
2. Click Create New.
Civic Platform displays a drop-down menu of objects configured for display.
3. Click the object that corresponds to the tasks you want to complete.
Civic Platform displays the associated portlet or application form selected. For example, if you create a
new building record, then the Record Type Select page displays.
| The V360 User Interface | 50
Using Maps
With the V360 user interface, Accela Silverlight GIS provides a geographic view of all land-use, zoning,
and infrastructure information associated with agency records, including parcels, permits, inspections,
plans, assets, work orders, and service requests.
You can access GIS directly from the V360 toolbar, and visually review, research, and manage agency
records.
To use GIS
1. Log in to Civic Platform.
Civic Platform displays your personalized Home page.
2. Click the Maps button.
Accela Silverlight GIS displays the map viewer.
3. Use the map viewer table of contents to configure the map service and map layers that display.
Accela Silverlight GIS displays the selected map service and map layers.
4. Access the Context and Actions menu to complete tasks. The Context menu is accessible from map
tips. The Actions menu is accessible from the menu bar.
Accela Silverlight GIS displays the corresponding map commands.
| The V360 User Interface | 51
| The V360 User Interface | 52
Viewing Record Details
When you open a record, you can view record details using the associated tabs. These tabs highlight
specific information related your agency’s records, such as conditions, fee payments, workflow task status,
and inspections.
1. Navigate to your Home page.
Civic Platform displays your personalized Home page.
2. Navigate to the portlet that you want to work in.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
3. Locate the record you want to work with and click the link to display record details.
Civic Platform displays the record tabs in the Record detail portlet.
4. Use the Go To menu or the scroll bar to find the tab you want to view.
5. Click the tab name.
Civic Platform displays the details for the selected tab.
| The V360 User Interface | 53
Working with List Portlets
A list portlet displays a list of items entered into Civic Platform. A list portlet may include work orders,
assets, permit, applications, service requests, addresses, or contacts. A list may also be the result of a
search. Civic Platform provides users with ways to manage lists, such as sorting, filtering, organizing, and
exporting.
Topics
•Viewing Lists
•Managing the Display
•Exporting Data to CSV
Viewing Lists
Portlet lists may have many items that populate the list view. Click any column title to sort the list. Use the
portlet navigation controls to advance through the list to view additional or previous items. You can adjust
the number of records displayed in a list by choosing Expand List or Contract List from the Menu button. To
view examples of the icons and hyperlinks associated with contracting, expanding, navigating, and sorting
lists, see the image below. Contact your agency administrator to redesign the layout of a list portlet.
Figure 3: List Portlet
AUse the Menu button to access a menu of general tasks related to the records in the selected portlet.
BUse the navigation controls to access other pages in a list.
CClick any column title to sort a list.
Managing the Display
Users can customize how information displays in a list. You can specify the field display, including the
field sequence and the field width. Organize and sort lists by assigning a display or a sort order in numeric
sequence.
Topics
•Customizing Content
•Editing Your View
| The V360 User Interface | 54
Customizing Content
Use the Customize Content feature to define how you want a portlet list to display. First, choose the fields
you want to display on the portlet and then customize the fields. You can do this by adding a label for the
field, specifying the field width, and indicating the display order. You can also specify how many items to
display for an expanded and a contracted list.
To customize the content of your list
1. Locate the list portlet that you want to customize.
2. Click the Menu button.
3. Choose Customize Content from the drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays a list of all available and currently chosen fields.
4. Show or hide fields for portlet display. Fields in the Selected Fields list box display in the portlet view.
Fields in the Available Fields list box do not display in the portlet view.
a. Click a field name to highlight it. Press the CTRL key to choose multiple fields at a time.
b. Use the arrow keys to move the fields between the Available Fields or Selected Fields boxes.
Double arrow keys move all fields, whether selected or not, to the destination box.
5. Arrange the sequence of the fields in the Selected Fields box.
a. Click a field name.
b. Use the up and down arrow buttons to move the field.
6. Complete the remaining fields as necessary.
Contract The number of items to display on a page when you contract the list.
Display Order Where the field displays in the field order (from left to right).
Element A list of fields in the Selected Fields box in their current order.
Expand The number of items to display on a page you expand.
Label Label for a field. Agencies can customize this value as needed.
Width (pixels) The column width in pixels.
7. Click Submit.
| The V360 User Interface | 55
Editing Your View
The Edit View feature allows you to create a portlet list display to your specifications and name it as a filter.
First, choose which fields you want to show. Then, apply the customization to those fields. You can add a
label for the field, specify its width, apply a mask, define sort order, and define display order. You can also
specify how many items to display for an expanded and a contracted list.
To edit the view of a portlet list
1. Navigate to the list portlet that you want to customize and hover the mouse cursor over the Menu
button.
Civic Platform displays a command menu.
2. Choose Edit View from the drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays a list of available and currently selected fields.
3. Show or hide fields to display in the selected portlet. Fields in the Selected Fields box display in the
portlet view. Fields in the Available Fields box do not display in the portlet view.
a. Click a field name to highlight it. Press the CTRL key to choose multiple fields at a time.
b. Use the arrow keys to move the fields between the Available Fields or Selected Fields boxes.
Double arrow keys move all fields, whether selected or not, to the destination box.
4. Arrange the sequence of the fields in the Selected Fields box.
a. Click a field name.
b. Click the up or down arrow to change its position.
5. Complete the remaining fields as necessary. For a list of field descriptions, see Edit View Field
Descriptions.
6. Click Submit.
Table 9: Edit View Field Descriptions
A > Z Ascending Use to sort field data alphabetically from A to Z.
Contract The number of items to display on a page when you contract the list.
Description The description for the filter you are creating.
| The V360 User Interface | 56
Effect Scope The availability of the customized sort/filter using the drop‑down feature for Module,
Group, and User.
Element Civic Platform lists the fields in the Selected Fields box in their current order.
Expand The number of items to display on a page when you expand the list.
Filter Name A descriptive name for the filter.
Label A customized label for the field.
Mask A mask to limit the type of data a field accepts. A mask might include symbols for
currency, phone number, SSN, or zip code.
Record Selection The type of record selection tool you want to choose for the list. Choices include
Radio Button or Check Box.
Sort Order Indicates the sort priority of an item. Defining sort order is useful for organizing as
well as grouping list items.
Source View Name The name of the form that you are modifying.
Width (pixels) The number of pixels for the column width.
Z > A Descending Use to sort field values alphabetically from Z to A.
Exporting Data to CSV
Civic Platform provides a CSV Export option in the menu of every list portlet or list tab. Use this option to
export the list of records you see into a CSV (comma delimiter) file. A CSV file stores tabular data that you
can view in other applications, such as Microsoft Excel.
Civic Platform also provides a CSV Export button beside an application-specific information (ASI) table, on
the precondition that the ASI table has some data in the database. Users can click the button to export all
the data stored in the database for the ASI table, not only the data on display, into a CSV file.
To export a list
1. Go to the desired list portlet.
2. Click the Menu button and choose CSV Export from the drop-down list.
If you want to export ASI table data, go to the ASI table you want to export and click CSV Export.
Civic Platform displays a file handling dialog box that prompts you to choose how you want to handle
the CSV file you are creating.
3. Do one of the following:
• To open the CSV file immediately after exporting the list, click Open.
You can save the file after opening it. Your operating system preferences determine which software
application, such as a text editor or a spreadsheet program, opens this file by default.
• To save the CSV file without opening it first, click Save. Specify the location where you want to save
it.
| The V360 User Interface | 57
Working with Form Portlets
This portlet displays a form with fields that provide details about a single object such as a permit, service
request, or address. Some fields contain editable information. Fields may require users to enter only
numbers or only dates. A field may also require users to choose an option from a drop-down list. Use the
form portlet to search for existing records in your system or to create new records. The image below is an
example of form portlet structure.
Note:
Drop-down list options which are no longer available when creating new records, continue to appear as valid
selections for fields in the following sections of the records where they appear:
Address, Parcel and Owner (APO) Template
Application-Specific Information (ASI), Task-Specific Info (TSI), and People Template pages
ASI, People, Asset Attribute, and Asset Condition Assessment Attribute tables
This availability enables agencies to maintain historical continuity when working with older records or
modifying historical data.
Figure 4: Form Portlet
A Portlet title. Indicates the current portlet and displays the record number you are working with.
B Toolbar. Use the action buttons to perform tasks. Common toolbar buttons include New, Search, Edit,
Refresh, Delete, Print, and Help.
C Tab scroll buttons. Click the Go To button or the arrow buttons at either end of the record detail tabs to
display additional portlet tabs
D Date picker. Click the calendar icon to choose a date from a pop-up calendar when completing date fields.
E Down arrow button. Click the down arrow to view a drop-down list.
| Getting to Know the New User Interface | 58
Getting to Know the New User Interface
Welcome to the Accela Civic Platform, and welcome to a new user interface designed to provide you
with an intuitive, pleasant user experience, even as it helps you get your job done more effectively and
efficiently.
Choose from the following list of topics to learn more about the new interface, and how you can leverage
its features and functionality to make your work sessions more productive.
Introducing Civic Platform 8.0
•Taking a Tour of the New Interface
•Figuring Out How to Do Your Job When Everything is Different
Getting In, Getting Out, and Getting Around
•Logging In and Logging Out
•Changing Your Password
•Switching Between the New Interface and the Previous One
•Accessing Civic Platform Administration from the New UI
Navigating the New User Interface
•Switching Between Dashboards
•Using Search in the New Civic Platform User Interface
•Using the Launchpad
•Working with Spaces
•Interacting with the Task Dashboard
•Interacting with the Map Dashboard
| Getting to Know the New User Interface | 59
Introducing Civic Platform 8.0
The new Civic Platform 8.0 interface is a new experience. Once you get to know the tools you have
available to you, you will quickly discover how useful they can be in helping you do your job.
Topics
•Taking a Tour of the New Interface
•Figuring Out How to Do Your Job When Everything is Different
Taking a Tour of the New Interface
Although the new Civic Platform user interface is designed to be intuitive and easy to use, it is helpful to
take a moment to acclimate yourself to the environment and the tools available to you.
•Getting to Know The Home Page
•Getting to Know the Tasks Dashboard
•Getting to Know the Maps Dashboard
•Getting to Know the Application Bar
•Getting to Know the Main Menu
•Getting to Know the Launchpad
•Getting to Know Spaces
•General Navigation Tips
Getting to Know The Home Page
The home page is the starting point for anything you want to do in the new interface.
| Getting to Know the New User Interface | 60
Figure 5: HOME PAGE
Getting there Log in. The home page always displays first.
Click your agency’s name in the upper left-hand corner of the window to return to your home
page.
Features of the home page:
• The tasks dashboard is essentially your day’s to-do list (see Getting to Know the Tasks Dashboard).
• The application bar helps you get to where you need to be (see Getting to Know the Application Bar).
• The main menu provides you with the tools to access and organize your work spaces, as well as to find
what you need (see Getting to Know the Main Menu).
• Access to the launchpad (see Getting to Know the Launchpad).
• Access to global search (see Performing a Global Search).
Related Links
•Switching Between Dashboards
•Using Search in the New Civic Platform User Interface
•Using the Launchpad
| Getting to Know the New User Interface | 61
•Working with Spaces
Getting to Know the Tasks Dashboard
The tasks dashboard has 2 display options: Card View and List View. Both views list tasks assigned to
you. You can toggle between the two views whenever you want.
Card View
Features of the task dashboard card view:
• Each task card is a separate task assigned to you. Six cards display by default when the page first
loads. See Task Card Example to learn more about task cards.
• The Filter control gives you some input into which tasks display.
• A dashboard display options toggle lets you switch to a list view.
• The Load More link allows you to view more of your tasks in increments of six.
Related Links
•Interacting with the Task Dashboard
| Getting to Know the New User Interface | 62
Task Card Example
Features of the task cards:
• Task card titles tell you at a glance what the task is.
• Click titles in blue text to open the task details in a new space. Black text titles (non-hyperlink) are a
visual cue that you do not have permission to act on a task.
• You can hover on the options button to identify the task type.
• Every task card has a slide-out panel that provides you with a list of actions you can perform on the
task. Slide-out panels may also provide hyperlink access relevant records, such as a permit record or a
primary contact.
• Key information for tasks displays on the card, including important data such as due date, schedule
time, comments, and more.
• Icons indicating holds, conditions, notes, and locks, display prominently on task cards as bright colored
icons that you can click to get more information.
• If the record includes an application name (also known as project name), an application name assigned
to the record shows on the card.
Related Links
•Things You Can Do on a Task Card
•Details You Can Glean from a Task Card
•Getting More Information About Conditions, Holds, Notices, and Locks
•Looking at Task Card Examples
| Getting to Know the New User Interface | 63
List View
Features of the task dashboard list view:
• Task items are listed in a table format. Six tasks display by default when the page first loads.
• You can select one or more task items and perform actions on them (see Using the Task List).
• The Actions button gives you access to commands you can apply to one or more task items.
• The Filter button gives you some control over which tasks display.
• You can toggle to a task card view using the dashboard display options.
• Use the Load More link to view more of your tasks.
• If the record includes the Application Name field (also known as project name), the list view shows the
Application Name column.
Related Topics
•Interacting with the Task Dashboard
•Using the Task List
•Getting the Most from Your Task Cards
Getting to Know the Maps Dashboard
The maps dashboard provides you with another way to identify and analyze land-use, zoning, inspection or
service request routes, infrastructure, and other geo-centric information.
It is the next generation version of Accela GIS 7.x Map Viewer.
| Getting to Know the New User Interface | 64
Figure 6: Maps Dashboard
Features of the maps dashboard:
• Find an address or place. (1)
• Point and click to see a location’s address, coordinates, and associated GIS objects. (2)
• Zoom in or out. (3)
• Reset the map display to the Default extent, which is the initial area shown on the map. (4)
• Bookmark locations and navigate to bookmarked locations. (5)
• Choose a basemap. (6)
• Arrange how your map layers display. (7)
• Multi-select points on the map to form the vertices of a shape and select GIS objects contained within
the shape. (8)
• Measure area, distance, or longitude/latitude. (9)
• Annotate your map view with lines and shapes, as well as text. (10)
• Print a map to a PDF or a printer. (11)
• View a pin map, where locations are marked with pins. (12)
• View a heat map, where gradient hotspots are featured. (13)
• View a cluster map, where locations are marked by numbered dots that represent grouped locations.
(14)
• View measurement scales and ratios of map vs. actual. (15)
| Getting to Know the New User Interface | 65
• View the legend to understand map symbols. (16)
Related Topics
•Maps in Civic Platform
Getting to Know the Application Bar
Features of the task dashboard list view:
• You can click the agency name on the left side to return to your home page.
•You can click (Settings) to access a menu of actions (such as opening the administration tool or
signing out).
Getting to Know the Main Menu
The main menu is your control pad for adding, finding, and accessing content.
Features of the main menu:
| Getting to Know the New User Interface | 66
•Dashboard toggle - Switches between a task-centric view and a map-centric view.
•Global search - Makes it easy for you to search for just about anything.
•Launchpad - Your starting point for accessing pages and records. It is also where you start the process
to create a new application.
•Spaces - When you select any page from the launchpad, it opens in a new space. That space is
anchored on the main menu until you close it.
Note: A space on the main menu acts like a browser tab. If you want to work with multiple
records or tasks in Civic Platform, use multiple spaces instead of multiple browser tabs. In
general, use only one browser tab or session for the Civic Platform UI. Do not use multiple
browser tabs or multiple browser sessions to open multiple Civic Platform records and tasks.
Related Links
•Switching Between Dashboards
•Using Search in the New Civic Platform User Interface
•Using the Launchpad
•Working with Spaces
Getting to Know the Launchpad
The Launchpad is your access point to just about everything you want to do in Civic Platform. Any link you
click within the launchpad opens a new space for where you can interact with the data you selected.
| Getting to Know the New User Interface | 67
Getting there Click the launchpad toggle on the main menu.
Features of the launchpad:
• Click +New to create new applications.
• Mark frequently used pages as favorites for quick access.
• Click All Pages to see all of the pages available to you. Use the filter to locate a page quickly.
• Use the recent records links to return to a page or record you recently worked on.
• Locate a reference address, parcel, owner, asset, or contact by clicking a reference shortcut, then
entering search criteria.
Related Topics
•Using the Launchpad
•About Your Pages
•Defining a Page as a Favorite
•Accessing Recent Records
•Accessing Reference Pages
Getting to Know Spaces
Every time you open a page from the launchpad, you create a new space.
Features of the spaces menu:
| Getting to Know the New User Interface | 68
• You can pin spaces to keep them in your main menu. Every time you log in, your pinned spaces are
there.
• The spaces layout enables you to move from page to page quickly. Just click the spaces
• Each space has its own space options menu that you can use to customize your main menu.
• You can have up to 20 spaces open at one time.
• Use the More link to view spaces that don’t fit on the menu.
Related Topics
•Working with Spaces
General Navigation Tips
How to Tell What Is a Hyperlink and What Isn’t
Not all hyperlinks are readily apparent in the new user interface. When in doubt, use one of these
techniques to identify hyperlinks.
• Method 1: Is the text blue? In general, Civic Platform hyperlinks display as blue text. There are
some exceptions to this, however, such as the space icon labels, or the hyperlinks contained in the
application bar at the top of the display. You may also find graphical icons that are hyperlinks.
• Method 2: When you mouse over an active hyperlink without clicking, an underline appears. This only
works if it’s text, however.
•Method 3: When you mouse over an object without clicking, the cursor changes from an arrow to a
pointing hand if it is an active hyperlink. Click while the hand displays to activate the hyperlink.
Closing Detail Slide-outs
When you click an activity or document task card, the details do not display in a new space. Instead, a
slide-out containing details displays. You can exit a slide-out in more than one way.
• Clicking the exit button in the upper right-hand corner of the slide-out closes the display.
• Clicking another object outside of the slide-out (for example, the agency “home” link) closes the slide-
out display, then the new object displays.
Navigating List Pages
When you open a list page (such as the Work Orders page) in a new space, you see a list of records - in
this case, a list of work order records. You can interact normally with rows on the list page by selecting
rows and using toolbar buttons, or you can open records by clicking a hyperlink.
However, if you open a record from the list page, it is important to note that the record displays in the same
space. It does not open in a new space.
| Getting to Know the New User Interface | 69
To get back to the list page, use the blue arrow in the top left corner of the space.
If you want to open a record in a separate space so you can pin it, try this: Note the record number, then
use global search to find and open the record in a new space.
Navigating Panels on the Maps dashboard
When you select multiple objects on the Maps dashboard, a slide-out panel displays on the right, listing the
objects you selected, grouped by type. You can select a type to see a detailed list of objects of that type,
and you can select an object to see details about that object.
But what if you want to return to the original list of objects by type? What if you want to close the slide-out
panel?
Look for the blue arrows!
| Getting to Know the New User Interface | 70
A left-facing blue arrow in the upper left corner of the panel returns you to a previous view.
A right-facing blue arrow located midway down the panel’s left side, closes the panel.
Note: If you close a panel, any objects you had selected, are no longer selected.
Figuring Out How to Do Your Job When Everything is Different
We can all empathize with the frustration of dealing with new things. You had a ‘system’ - an established
process, and now, everything is changed. You just want to get your job done, but the environment is
different. You don’t know where to start or where to go! You really just want to go back to doing things the
old way - the way you know.
But what if the old way wasn’t the best way? Just because you have done things a certain way for years
does not mean that it was the best way to do those things. Our user experience team did a lot of research
in their quest to design a new user interface that would not only make your job easier to do, but make the
experience a more pleasant one. We invite you to try it out!
We understand that transition can be frustrating, so to alleviate some of your frustration, we are providing
you with a reference table that lists a number of common activities you might perform in a typical work day.
For each activity listed, we provide you with helpful tips on how to proceed with those activities in the new
user interface.
How do I... How to do it in the new interface
Find a record • Click the search icon in main menu.
• Search and choose record from search results.
Create a new record • Open launchpad.
• Click +New.
View my tasks • Click your agency name to go to the home page.
Find a document/contact/just about anything • Click the Search icon in Main Menu.
• Search and choose record from search results.
See a list of <something> • Open launchpad.
• Either 1) choose a favorite page from the list of favorites, or 2)
click All Pages.
• Search for the page you want, then select to display.
Open <portlet name> • Open launchpad.
• Either 1) choose a favorite page from the list of favorites, or 2)
click All Pages.
• Search for the page you want, then select to display.
| Getting to Know the New User Interface | 71
How do I... How to do it in the new interface
Use ad hoc reports • Open launchpad.
• Click All Pages, then search for Ad Hoc Reports.
• Select to display.
Where do I change my password? • Open launchpad.
• Click All Pages.
• Search for Preference Management.
• Select to open in new space.
How do I open the mapping tool? • Click dashboard toggle.
• Choose Map icon.
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Getting In, Getting Out, and Getting Around
These topics can save you some time if you aren’t one to click around until you figure things out.
Topics
•Logging In and Logging Out
•Changing Your Password
•Switching Between the New Interface and the Previous One
•Accessing Civic Platform Administration from the New UI
Logging In and Logging Out
Your agency’s name, a valid user name, and a password are all you need to log in to Automation. If you
don’t have these, see your system administrator. These values are case sensitive, so be sure your Caps
Lock key is not engaged.
To log in
1. Using the internet browser of your choice, navigate to the login page for the Civic Platform. This URL is
provided to you by your agency.
Note:
Use the Add this page to your favorites link below the Login button to for easier access in future work
sessions.
Use the Remember my information option to auto-populate everything but your password.
2. Enter your agency name, assigned user name, and password in the designated fields.
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3. Click Login.
To Log Out
1. Click (Settings button) in the upper right-hand corner.
2. Click Sign Out.
Switching Between the New Interface and the Previous One
For many upgrading users, the new interface will take some time to get used to. It is also true that you
have a job to do and you may not have all day to experiment with the new interface. Accela has you
covered! You can switch from the new interface to the Vantage 360 interface and back again, at least for a
while!
To switch to the Vantage 360 interface from the new one
1. Click (Settings button) in the upper right-hand corner.
2. Click Switch to V360.
To switch to the NEW interface from the old one
1. Locate and click the Switch to New UI link in the upper right-hand corner of the display.
Changing Your Password
1. Click to access the launchpad.
2. Click the All Pages link to access a list of pages.
3. In the Filter list... box, type Preference.
Your list of pages is filtered to include the Preference Management page link.
4. Click Preference Management.
The Preference Management page displays.
5. Click the Change Password link to open the Change Password page.
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6. Enter your old password, then the new password.
If you want to know your agency’s password requirements, click the Requirements link.
7. Click Submit.
Accessing Civic Platform Administration from the New UI
Admin level users can access Civic Platform Administration from the Settings menu. If you don’t see the
links in the Settings menu, you don’t have access.
Note: If you are an administrator and you want to check the result of your configuration in the back-
office application, exit the Administration tool to go back to the back-office application within the
same browser session. Avoid opening separate browser sessions for Administration and back-office
application.
To access Civic Platform Administration from the new UI
1. Click Settings in the upper right-hand corner.
2. Select either Administration or Classic Administration from the Settings menu.
For details about accessing the administration tools, see Civic Platform Administrator Guide > Getting
Started > Navigating to the Setup Portlet.
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Navigating the New User Interface
The new Civic Platform user interface provides a number of navigation options that you can use to find the
pages you need so you can do your job. The topics listed below describe these options.
Topics
•Switching Between Dashboards
•Using Search in the New Civic Platform User Interface
•Using the Launchpad
•Working with Spaces
•Interacting with the Task Dashboard
•Interacting with the Map Dashboard
As with anything, the best way to familiarize yourself with the tools at your disposal is to try it out for
yourself.
Switching Between Dashboards
The tasks dashboard displays by default when you log in or when you return to the home page. However, a
maps dashboard is also available which offers a map-centric view.
A dashboard toggle lets you switch between the two dashboards. This toggle is located at the top of the
main menu.
When this icon displays, the task dashboard is the current view.
When this icon displays, the maps dashboard is the current view.
To toggle between dashboards
1. Click the dashboard toggle at the top of the main menu.
2.
Choose for the task dashboard.
3.
Choose for the map dashboard.
Using Search in the New Civic Platform User Interface
There are a number of ways to search for data in the new interface.
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• The global search tool in the main menu gives you the ability to locate the information you need. When
you search on a word or phrase, the global search engine returns all records that contain the search
criteria, regardless of the record type. Search results are sorted by record type, making it easier for you
to find what you need. (See Performing a Global Search.)
• Reference data lookups are available via the launchpad. When you select any of the reference data
lookups, you can enter search criteria to locate the reference data you need. (See Performing a
Reference Data Lookup.)
• Individual page search functionality allows you to look for a particular record within the data set
supported by the page you are on. (See Performing an Individual Page Search).
Performing a Global Search
Global search allows you to find records quickly by entering a simple search criteria on the search box.
The global search results list includes the Record (ID and record type), Status, Applicant, Reported Type,
Location, and Short Notes columns.
To use global search
1. Click the search button in the main menu.
1. Enter search criteria. For example, enter a last name.
2. Press Enter (or click Search).
Search results display, with the results grouped by record type.
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Note:
Search results are persistent for the duration of your work session. If you navigate to another space (for
example, you click a record link to view that record), you can always click the search button at any point
to return to the search results for the last search you performed. You can enter new search criteria at any
time.
3. To exit the search page, click the home page link (agency name) or any other space icon.
Performing a Reference Data Lookup
Reference data is data that is stored in the database as an individual data entity, rather than as part
of a transactional record. Reference data can then be pulled from the database and used in multiple
transactional records.
Example: You enter a reference address in the database. Someone in your agency creates a new building
license application or adds a new work order for the address you entered. That user can look up the
address in the reference database and retrieve the complete address from the database, while establishing
a link with that address record. At any point in the future, you can open the reference address record and
from that record, access/view all work orders, schedules, applications, and other types of activity for that
address, thanks to that link.
To look up a reference object
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1.
Click to access the launchpad.
2. Click one of the reference links available on the launchpad.
3. Enter search criteria and press Enter (or click Submit).
Performing an Individual Page Search
Many Automation pages give you the ability to search for particular records contained within that page. For
example, you can open the Inspection page and search for all inspections completed by one individual in
the month of April. Or you can open the Work Order page and search for work orders that are overdue and
not completed.
If you see a Search button in the toolbar of a page, you can search for records.
To search for records on a page
1. Use the launchpad to open the page you want to work in. If you already have the page pinned to your
menu bar, you can click the pinned space icon.
2. Click Search.
3. Enter search criteria and press Enter (or click Submit).
Using the Launchpad
The launchpad is your one-stop access point for most pages you need to work with. The launchpad has
several distinct parts, each of which presents you with a list of hyperlinks you can click to “launch” or
access that object.
•About Your Pages
•Finding a Page
•Defining a Page as a Favorite
• Recent Records
• Reference Pages
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About Your Pages
The Your Pages area provides you with two alternatives for viewing and accessing page hyperlinks. You
can toggle between the views by clicking the All Pages bar, which shifts from top to bottom, depending on
which view displays:
• The default view is a list of pages you have marked as ‘favorites.’
To organize the order in which the favorites display, use the handle on each favorite to drag and
drop it where you want it.
• The alternate view, All Pages, is a list of all the pages that your user profile allows you to access, sorted
by functionality.
This list cannot be reorganized, but you can filter the list to find what you are looking for.
Finding a Page
You can scroll up and down the page views to find a page link, or you can apply a filter to locate a page
quickly in the All Pages view.
To find a page by applying a filter
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1.
Click to access the launchpad.
2. Click All Pages at the bottom of the Your Pages section.
The display changes to a list of all accessible pages, sorted by functionality.
3. Enter the page name you want in the Filter list... box.
As you enter each letter, the list of pages below the box adjusts to display those pages that match in full
or in part what you are typing.
In the example below, entering co displays a number of pages with “co” in their titles. Adding an
additional n makes a big difference.
Defining a Page as a Favorite
The ability to mark pages as favorites enables you to set up the launchpad to suit your individual work
requirements. The pages you mark as favorites are the first ones displayed whenever you open the
launchpad. You can have as many favorite pages as you want, but remember: too many favorites may
defeat the purpose. If you have too many favorites in your list, you can easily remove them the same way
you added them.
To select or deselect a page as a favorite
1.
Click to access the launchpad.
2. Click All Pages at the bottom of the Your Pages section.
The display changes to a list of all accessible pages, sorted by functionality.
A gold star means a page is currently marked as a favorite.
A white star means a page is not marked as a favorite.
3. Locate the page you want to select or deselect as a favorite.
4. Click the star.
The star color changes color (yellow to white, or white to yellow)
5. Click All Pages at the top of the Your Pages section to return to the Favorites list.
6. If you created a new favorite, you can use the handle on the new favorite to drag and drop it where
you want it to appear.
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Accessing Recent Records
The launchpad provides you with a list of recently visited applications and records. Records display in the
order of when they were last accessed, most recent first.
You can click any record in the list to launch it in a new space.
If the recently visited list gets too long, you can clear the list. Be aware that, when you clear the list, the
action is permanent.
Note:
You don’t need to rely on the list of recent records to access ongoing work. Open any record in a new space
that you work with a lot, then pin that record to the spaces menu. It will remain pinned there until you unpin
it. To access the record, click the pinned space in the menu
Accessing Reference Pages
The launchpad makes access to reference data easy. On the right edge of the launchpad is a series of
links that enable you to look up reference data when you need it.
Click a link to display a lookup form where you can define the search criteria needed to locate the
reference data you want to see.
Related Links
•Performing a Reference Data Lookup
Working with Spaces
When you open a page that shows a record, list or task, Civic Platform opens a space (or "workspace")
and adds a button for that space on the main menu. The space buttons on the main menu give you one-
click access to any page you have open.
•Viewing More Spaces
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•Pinning, Unpinning, and Closing Spaces
Note: A space on the main menu acts like a browser tab. If you want to work with multiple records
or tasks in Civic Platform, use multiple spaces instead of multiple browser tabs. In general, use only
one browser tab or session for the Civic Platform UI. Do not use multiple browser tabs or multiple
browser sessions to open multiple Civic Platform records and tasks.
Viewing More Spaces
A total of 6 spaces display in the spaces menu at any one time, with the most recently opened space at the
top.
If you have more than 6 spaces open (up to a maximum of 20), you can access them by clicking the More
link at the bottom of the spaces menu.
The ‘more spaces’ panel displays the spaces that don’t fit on the menu. It also keeps a running count of the
number of spaces you have open.
Pinning, Unpinning, and Closing Spaces
If you have certain pages you work with a lot, or if you have a record that you are having to return to
frequently, you can open the record or page in a space and pin it to the spaces menu. Pinned spaced stay
put until you unpin them.
Note:
Just because you pin a space does not mean that it will not be demoted down the spaces menu if you open
other spaces.
To pin, unpin, or close a space
1. Click the Space Options button on the space you want to work with.
2. Select the action you want to perform from the menu of options: Pin, Unpin, or Close.
If you pinned the space, a thumbtack image appears in the upper right-hand corner, which is your visual
flag that this is a pinned space.
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If you unpinned the space, the thumbtack image disappears and the space can be closed.
If you closed the space, it is removed from the spaces menu.
Interacting with the Task Dashboard
The tasks dashboard is your to-do list, calendar, and work tracking venue. It is also your home page, so it
is always accessible (see Getting there).
You can interact with your tasks in both the card view and the list view. Each view has distinct benefits, and
many users like to switch between views to take advantage of functionality that is unique to one view or the
other.
The following sections discuss in more detail how you can use both views to work efficiently and
effectively.
•Using the Task List
•Getting the Most from Your Task Cards
Using the Task List
The task list view gives you the ability to view many tasks at once in a table format. This can be very useful
when you want to compare like values for differing tasks.
For example, you can quickly compare due dates of assignments in your queue, as shown in the image
below.
Figure 7: Comparing Data in List View
If you have tasks with conditions, you can click the condition icons in the list view for more information, just
as you would in the task card view. See Getting More Information About Conditions, Holds, Notices, and
Locks.
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By default only six tasks display when you first open the task list view. You can use the Load More... link
at the bottom of the page to expand the task list in increments of six.
You can perform actions on one task or select multiple tasks and perform a batch action on them. The
list of actions available for you to perform varies, depending on the type and quantity of tasks you want to
perform an action upon.
For example, if you select a single document review task and click , the available actions you
can perform on a document review task display.
If you select more than one task and then click Actions, the available actions include only those that you
can apply to ALL selected tasks.
Getting the Most from Your Task Cards
Task cards provide a nice visual for browsing, but more importantly, they also provide a significant amount
of relevant information and functionality that can help you plan your course of action to address your task.
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Topics
•Details You Can Glean from a Task Card
•Things You Can Do on a Task Card
•Getting More Information About Conditions, Holds, Notices, and Locks
Details You Can Glean from a Task Card
•Priority. Some tasks have a priority flag. Find it in the upper left-hand corner.
•Conditions, Holds, Notices, and Locks. The image above shows a lock condition on the document
review task. Click any condition icon to view details about the condition.
•Times/dates. Most tasks have a scheduled time/date, a due date, or other relevant date (such as the
date of the last status change). This information displays in different locations on the card, depending
on what type of task it is. For example, the document review task in the image above shows a last
status update date of April 27. The activity task on the right shows a due date of July 3 and a start date
of June 29.
•Status. Some task types display the task status prominently on the task card. The document review
task above shows the status along with the date that the status last changed. The activity task above
shows the status immediately below the task card title.
•Other Details. Task-centric details can tell you something about how you should interact with that task.
Different task types offer different details.
Things You Can Do on a Task Card
• You can open the task details in a new space (or a slide-out, depending on the type of task) by clicking
the task name hyperlink.
Note:
If the task name displays in black text, you do not have permission to view the task details.
• You can perform actions via the action slide-out. Which actions you can perform varies by task type.
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• You can access the record from which the task originated by clicking the record ID hyperlink.
• You can access the primary contact details by clicking the primary contact hyperlink.
• You can preview documents (doc review tasks only).
Getting More Information About Conditions, Holds, Notices, and Locks
When conditions, holds, notices, or locks are applicable to a task or to the record from which a task
originates, you see one of these icons displayed prominently in the center of the task card.
indicates ‘required’ task (workflow tasks only).
indicates a lock condition (severity 1) is in place.
indicates a hold status (severity 2) is in place.
indicates a notice (special instruction) (severity 3) is available.
When you see one of these icons, you can click it to learn more about the reason it is in place.
If you need more information, expand the task action slide-out and click the record ID link to open the
record in a new space.
The notice displays at the top of the page, but in more detail.
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If you need even more detail than this, click View notice to open the condition details in a new window.
Looking at Task Card Examples
Task cards provide you with a number of useful details at a glance. They also provide you with one-click
access to the record of origin. See the examples below to learn more about what data displays in the task
cards.
•Inspection Task Card
•Document Review Task Card
•Activity Task Card
•Workflow Task Card
•Meeting Task Card
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Inspection Task Card
Document Review Task Card
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Activity Task Card
Workflow Task Card
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Meeting Task Card
Interacting with the Map Dashboard
See Geo-locating Records.
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Records
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about records.
Related Information
Records Overview
Creating a Record
Submitting a Partially Completed Record
Deleting Records
Managing Record Comments
Adding Documents to a Record
Assigning Inspection Districts to a Record
Viewing Record Information
Working with Status History
Printing an Application
Viewing the Summary page
Viewing Inspections on the Summary Page
Assigning a Record
Closing a Record
Running a Report from a Record
Managing Alerts
Managing Application Record Hearing Agendas
Working with Associated PERMITS Plus APDs
Examining Record Details
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Records Overview
Each of the entries in a list portlet is referred to as a record. Civic Platform users may work with many
types of records in their daily duties. Records include objects such as applications, cases, licenses,
permits, service requests, and work orders.
About Application Records
An application gives an applicant official permission to initiate a process, such as a permit application
to build a structure or change an existing building in some way. The initial application lets your agency
gather any necessary information, such as applicant information, contact information, work descriptions,
addresses, and other details. Your system administrator can set up various types of applications to help
you gather and manage the different data that you need to collect for each type of application that your
agency uses.
Agencies typically incorporate an application process into a departmental workflow, which ensures
consistency by defining tasks to complete, and assigning personnel to those tasks.
After an application is submitted, it continues to play a central role in the building and inspection process,
as well as with the associated fees and contacts involved. You can search for applications and update
them with new information, you can enter inspection results, you can run reports, and you can manage
financial transactions inherent to the application process.
If your agency has access to data from another Accela permitting system such as Kiva or ‘PERMITS’ Plus,
your agency can set up the application process to retrieve reference data from those systems, and add it to
new applications. Contact your Accela administrator for information about the resources available to you.
About Service Request Records
A service request is a request within an agency to perform a task or service for its citizens and employees.
For example, a citizen calls about potholes in need of repair or an agency inspector approves the plumbing
in a new building, and then requests that the agency turn on the water for the building. A service request
can be any request by a person for any type action for which the agency is responsible.
Civic Platform allows you to update service request information and access additional service request
features. You can view or update service request tasks, assign service requests to other users, or create
new service requests.
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Creating a Record
Although the information you collect on application intake forms can vary, the process for creating a record
is straight-forward. This section details the steps to follow when creating a record from an application
intake form. Discussions about the different parts you see in your application intake forms and how to
interact with each part follow.
To create a new record
1. Navigate to the desired portlet; for example, the Building portlet.
2. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the Record Type Select portlet.
3. If prompted, select one of the following options:
•Create one Record for all Parcels to create one record for all parcels.
•Create one Record for each Parcel to create a separate record for each individual parcel listed on
the permit form.
4. Define the type of record you are creating by selecting a group, a type, a subtype, and a category, in
that order.
Note:
The subtype and category might auto‑populate for some applications, depending on your agency
settings.
• If your display shows drop-down lists, select the desired group, type, subtype, and category from
those drop-down lists.
• If your display shows a type picker, drill down to the type of permit you want to create. To do this,
click the plus (+) to the left of the group, then repeat for the type, subtype, and category until you see
the type of permit you want to create. Select the desired permit type.
Civic Platform displays an application intake form that contains a series of fields that it groups by
section. Which sections and fields are available varies, depending on how your agency configured
the form, and what type of application you are completing.
5. Do one of the following tasks as appropriate for your system configuration.
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To retrieve data from ‘PERMITS’ Plus:
a. Click the ‘PERMITS’ Plus button at the top of the portlet. If you do not see this button, the option is
not available.
Civic Platform displays the ‘PERMITS’ Plus search portlet.
b. Enter search criteria to locate the data you want and click Submit.
Civic Platform displays ‘PERMITS’ Plus records in a separate portlet.
c. Click the ID link of the record you want to reference.
If you used the ‘PERMITS’ Plus icon to obtain parcel data or owner data, click the Get Address and
Owner button to find the address, owner, and parcel data.
Civic Platform copies the information from ‘PERMITS’ Plus into your application.
To retrieve data from Kiva in any section:
a. Click the Kiva button at the top of the section. If you do not see this button, the option is not
available.
Civic Platform displays the Kiva Search portlet.
b. Enter search criteria to locate what you want in Kiva and click Submit.
Civic Platform displays Kiva records in a separate portlet.
c. Click the ID link of the record you want to reference.
If you used the Kiva icon to obtain parcel information or owner information, click the Get Address
and Ownerbutton to find the address, owner, and parcel information.
Civic Platform copies the information from Kiva into your application.
6. Click Validate to confirm that all the required fields are complete.
7. If available and applicable, click Estimate Fee to add a fee schedule to the application. For more
information about estimating fees, see Estimating Fees.
8. You can save your work in two ways:
• Click Save without Submit to save a partially completed application without committing it to the
database. The workflow does not start until you click Submit.
• Click Submit to save the form data as a new record and initiate applicable workflows. If you see a
“Validation failed” message, you have a required field or section you did not populate.
If configured to do so for your agency, a default inspection type window displays.
9. Select the inspection(s) you want to schedule.
10.For each inspection type you select, define complete the following fields.
Required/Optional Choose Optional (the permit can proceed without this inspection), or Required
(your agency must perform an inspection before you can issue a permit).
Unit Nbr Select the inspections unit number from the drop-down list. Unit values are
configurable, but typically represent either the number of hours, or the number of
inspections.
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What is the Unit Number for?
Agencies can configure inspections so that Civic Platform uses inspector profile information (which includes a
maximum daily number of inspection units) to automatically assign and schedule inspectors. An inspection unit is
the number of inspections, number of hours, or another value.
When you select a unit for an inspection you are adding, Civic Platform uses the value you enter, along with the
number of units available to an inspector when it auto-assigns and schedules the inspection.
11.Click Submit.
Civic Platform generates the Record ID, updates the record list, and schedules the selected
inspections.
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Creating New Records in the New UI
The New UI enables you to quickly create new records by searching and navigating a personalized group
of record types, which your agency administrator creates for you. When you create new records using the
new UI, you can also search for the record type by its alias name, which can make it simpler to find the
record type you're looking for.
For information on setting up this functionality, administrators can search for configuring record type filters,
refer to the Civic Platform Administration Guide.
Creating a New Record
1. In the New UI, there are several ways to create a new record. Navigate to one of the following areas
and click New or Clone, as appropriate.
•From the Launchpad:
•From the Records page:
•From the Related Records page:
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2. You can search for a record type using all or part of the record's alias name. If you do not know the
record's alias name, navigate to the record type by selecting the module.
3. Click the name of the record type filter (for example, Business License Renewals), and then select the
record type you want to create.
The following example shows Licenses as the selected module, Business License Renewals as the
record type filter, and Business License Renewals as the record type.
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4. Click Create Application to proceed to the application intake form.
Note: The Create Application button remains inactive until you select a specific record type.
Once you find and select the record type from the list, the Create Application button is active
and you can proceed to the intake form to complete the details.
Searching for a Record Type
You can search for a record type by entering a record's alias name – or even part of its alias name – in the
Search Record Type field. The following shows that when a user enters, for example, "bu" in the search
field, Civic Platform returns all record types containing "bu" in the record's alias name.
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Submitting a Partially Completed Record
Agency users can submit partially completed applications, which enables them to process payments,
generate deficiency letters, and perform other activities.
Agency administrators can configure Civic Platform so that users can defer validation on partially
completed records (see "Enabling Submittal of Partially Completed Applications" in the Civic Platform
Administrator Guide). When you submit a record without validation, Civic Platform sets a Pending
Validation flag on the newly created record. Civic Platform also creates a "Generated by Cloning" flag
which defaults to No.
To defer the validation of a record
1. Create a record based on an application (see Creating a Record). Complete the fields for which you
have information; leave blank any fields for which information is missing.
2. Click Submit.
If the record contains incomplete fields Civic Platform displays this message:
“Validation failed. Do you still want to submit the record?”
3. Click OK to submit the record without validation.
4. When you receive the missing information and/or missing documentation for the application, enter it into
the record’s required fields, and satisfy any conditions of approval on the record.
5. When you are ready to validate the application, navigate to the Workflow tab and update the status
accordingly.
In this example, the administrator set the workflow task status that triggers the validation of the
application to the Application Acceptance task, Accepted status.
Update the workflow for the Application Acceptance task to Accepted, as shown below.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the following message:
Workflow cannot be updated until the application has been validated. Click OK to open the application
form for validation or Cancel to abort the action.
7. Click OK.
The application form displays.
8. Click Validate.
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Scroll through the application and verify that all required fields are complete, then click Submit.
When Civic Platform successfully validates the record, the workflow status updates to Accepted.
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Understanding Application Form Details
Application intake forms group data fields by section. Which sections are available on an application varies
by application type and by agency. For information about many of the available sections, choose a topic
below.
Topics
•Working in the Applicant and Contact Sections
•Working in the Address Section
•Working in the Documents Section
•Working in the Parcel Section
•Working in the People Section
•Working in the Structures or Establishments Section
•Working in the Application-Specific Information Section
•Working in the Application-Specific Information Tables Section
•Working in the Education Section
•Working in the Continuing Education Section
•Working in the Examination Section
Working in the Applicant and Contact Sections
A contact can be any person who has some involvement in the application process, including the applicant,
billing contacts, and legal contacts. The Applicant and Contact sections of an application allow you to
include contact information in new applications.
Topics
•About the Contact Section
•Adding a Contact
•Adding Contact Addresses for a Contact
•Setting a Primary Contact
•Validating a Contact
•Deleting a Contact
•Editing a Contact
About the Contact Section
The application intake form can have up to three individual contact sections for entering single contact
data, or it can have a contact list section for entering an unlimited number of contacts.
• The image below shows an example of a contact section for entering single contact data.
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• Before you add any contact, the Contact list section looks the same as the single Contact section
except that it does not display the Contact Address sub section. After you add contact(s) to the section,
the Contact list section displays the contact(s) in a list.
If you click a contact in the list, a new window displays with the single contact entry form which looks the
same as the single Contact section and includes the Contact Address sub section.
Adding a Contact
Depending on the type of record you are creating, there are various ways to add contact information to an
application intake form. You can enter new contact information, use existing owner or licensed professional
information, copy existing contact information, search for contacts, and add reference contact information.
The validation setting of the Contact section determines which methods are available to you.
If the Validate button displays in the Contact section, you must validate the section against reference
contacts after adding a contact. For more information, see Validating a Contact.
If the Contact Address sub section displays in the Contact section, you can add, look up, or remove contact
addresses of the contact. You must enter required contact addresses. For more information, see Adding
Contact Addresses for a Contact.
To search for and add reference contacts
1. Do any of the following:
• Navigate to the Applicant or Contact section for entering single contact data.
• Navigate to the Contact section that is for entering multiple contact data but you have not added any
contact to and click the Search button to go to the Contact List pop-up window.
• Navigate to the Contact list section.
2. Click Search.
3. Complete any fields that display and click Submit.
You can either search by contact standard fields, activities, or contact addresses. For a description of
the fields, see Contact and Applicant Detail and Contact Address Fields.
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Civic Platform returns a list of contacts that match your search criteria.
Note:
Civic Platform ignores the contact type when performing the search, and returns all the reference
contacts that meet the other criteria settings.
If you are adding a contact in a single contact section, there is an “Add Contact” icon next to each
contact.
If you are adding contacts in a multiple contacts configuration, each contact has a check box, enabling
you to select one or more contacts to interact with.
4. If the search results contain the contact(s) you want to add:
• In the single contact section, click the icon next to the contact you want to add.
If available, you can click the Associated Contact link next to the contact to view the contacts
associated with the selected contact, and click the icon beside the contact you want to add.
Civic Platform adds the contact information to your application intake form.
• In the multiple contact section and in the contact list section, choose the contacts you want to add
and click Select.
To view records that are associated with the selected contacts, select the desired contacts, then
click Search Associated. Select the contacts that you want to add and click Select.
Civic Platform adds the contact information to your application intake form.
5. If the search results do not contain the contact(s) you want to add:
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• Click Close Matches to retrieve close match contacts. For more information on close match search,
see Looking for Close Matches.
• Click New in Reference to create a new reference contact. After you complete the fields in the
popup Contact New Form (see Contact Detail Fields), click Submit.
When you see the contact(s) you want to add in the search results list, perform If the search results
contain the contact(s) you want to add:.
6. If the selected contact(s) has multiple contact addresses, you can select the contact addresses to add
from the contact address look up form by selecting the desired contact addresses, then clicking Select.
If the selected contact has only one contact address, Civic Platform adds the selected contact to the
record with that contact address.
7. You can also add contact address(es) for the contact in the contact address sub section. See Adding
Contact Addresses for a Contact.
8. Confirm that the contact type for the newly-added contact is correct. If not, select the type you want
from the drop-down list.
To populate the contact section with existing owner, licensed professional, or contact data
1. Assuming that you already added an owner, a licensed professional, or a contact to the corresponding
section of the application intake form, do one of the following:
• Click the As Lic. Prof button if the contact you want to add is a licensed professional you added in
the licensed professional section.
• Click the As Owner button if the contact you want to add is the same as the owner you added in the
owner section.
• Click the As Contact button and select an existing contact.
Note:
If your contact section supports multiple contacts, the As Contact button is available only on the
contact entry form.
Civic Platform populates the contact section with information from the existing owner, licensed
professional, or contact.
2. Add contact address(es) for the contact in the contact address sub section. See Adding Contact
Addresses for a Contact.
To add a new contact manually
1. Do one of the following:
• Navigate to the applicant or contact section for entering a single contact.
• Navigate to the contact section for entering multiple contacts, click Search, then click New.
• Navigate to the contact list and click New.
Note:
If a Validate button displays in the application or contact section, you must search for an existing
reference contact to add it to the section and then validate your choice. You cannot add a contact to
the application by entering contact information manually.
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Civic Platform displays the contact entry form.
2. Complete any fields that display (see Applicant and Contact Fields).
Note:
If you are working with the multiple contact section or the Contact list section, Civic Platform saves any
new information you enter as a new reference contact in the database.
If you are working with the single contact section, Civic Platform does not save the data as a reference
contact. Instead, Civic Platform links the new contact to the application.
3. Add contact address(es) for the contact in the contact address sub section. See Adding Contact
Addresses for a Contact.
Adding Contact Addresses for a Contact
After you specify the contact type for a contact, you can add contact addresses for the contact in the
Contact Address sub section. The heading of the Contact Address sub section might display a warning
message telling you that Civic Platform requires certain contact address types for a contact. You
must enter contact addresses for the required contact address types before you can save the record
successfully.
Before you add contact addresses to a contact that you added to the record by looking up reference
contacts, be aware that your change might affect the contact addresses in the associated reference
contact or another related record contact. Specially:
• If you create a new contact address or edit a contact address in the record contact, Civic Platform adds
or updates the contact address in the reference contact as well;
• If you remove a contact address from the record contact, the contact address still exists in the reference
contact.
• If you deactivate a contact address in the record contact, the contact address changes to inactive in the
reference contact and also the record contacts which link to the same reference source.
• If you deactivate a contact address in the reference contact, the contact address changes to inactive in
all the record contacts which link to the reference contact.
• The primary contact address in one record contact can be non-primary in another one, although the two
contact addresses share the same reference source.
To add a new contact address manually
1. In the contact entry form of the contact you want to work with, click New in the contact address sub
section.
Civic Platform displays the contact address form.
2. The address you are adding might require validation:
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Note:
Even if the Validation button displays, you might only need to validate addresses of certain type and in
certain countries. You can first select the address type and country/Region, and try the Validate button to
know where you are from the response message. For example,
• The “Address validation is required” message means that the address requires validation.
• “No validation data source is defined” message means that you are creating an address that requires
no validation;
• “Failed to connect to the validation data source” message means that the address requires validation
but Civic Platform cannot connect to the validation source defined by your administrator.
• If the address you are adding requires no validation, complete the fields as described in Contact
Address Fields.
Civic Platform leaves the Validated field empty.
• If the address you are adding requires validation, complete the following steps:
1. Specify the Address Type and Country/Region fields, and complete a few more fields as
described in Contact Address Fields.
2. Click the Validate button.
Civic Platform displays the Contact Address Validation List, with the matching addresses from the
external validation source.
3. To add an address from the list, choose the desired address, then click Select.
Civic Platform populates the contact address fields with the information from the selected
address, and sets the Validated field to Yes.
4. If you do not want to accept any of the validated addresses, click Cancel.
Civic Platform sets the Validated field of the address to No.
3. Click Submit to save the contact address to the current contact.
To look up and add a contact address from the reference contact
1. Open the contact form for the contact you want to work with.
2. Click the Look Up button in the Contact Address sub section.
Civic Platform displays the Contact Address Look Up Form. The contact address list contains the
contact addresses with address type that is both active and associated with the contact type.
3. Select the contact addresses you want to add for the contact. If the address type of a listed contact
address is a required field for the contact, Civic Platform selects the address by default.
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4. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the selected contact addresses to the current record contact.
Note:
When you make changes to a contact address that a user added by using the look-up function, Civic
Platform updates to the reference contact accordingly.
Note:
If you remove a contact address from the current record contact, Civic Platform does not remove the contact
address from the source reference contact in the reference contact portlet.
To edit a contact address
1. Click the Contact Address ID link of the contact address that you want to edit.
2. Modify the fields as desired. For a description of the contact address fields, see Contact Address Fields.
3. Click Save.
Note:
When you make changes to a contact address that a user added by using the look up function, Civic
Platform updates to the reference contact accordingly.
To remove or deactivate a contact address
1. Select the contact address that you want to remove or deactivate. Note that you cannot remove or
deactivate the primary contact address.
2. Click Remove to remove the contact address from the current record contact, or click Deactivate to
deactivate it first.
• If you remove a contact address from the current record contact, Civic Platform does not remove the
contact address from the source reference contact in the reference contact portlet.
• If you deactivate a contact address, you can enter an end date for the contact address, which
defaults to the current date, and the contact address status becomes Inactive.
• If the contact address you are deactivating is the primary contact address in one or more records,
it requires you to define a new contact address besides specifying the end date for the selected
address.
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For information on defining a new contact address, see Creating a New Reference Address for a
Contact.
Setting a Primary Contact
When you have multiple contacts on a record, you can set a primary contact to indicate whom to contact
regarding the record.
To set a primary contact
1. In the Contact list section, identify the contact you want to set as primary, and mark that contact in the
Primary column as shown below.
2. Click Set Primary.
Civic Platform sets the contact as the primary contact for the record.
Validating a Contact
Depending on your agency administrator’s settings for the Contact section, you might need to validate
contacts. If the Contact section displays the Validate button and the section is not complete, then the
validation is a required action before you submit the record.
For the Single Contact or Applicant section, Civic Platform checks if the contact is valid against the
reference database. For the Multiple Contact section, Civic Platform not only checks if the contact is valid
against the reference database, but also checks if you have added contacts of the required types to the
application.
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If the contact information entered is not valid against the reference database, you can create a reference
contact and add it to the record.
The image below shows an intake form with two Contact sections, the first with a Validate button and the
second without a Validate button.
Figure 8: Contact Section Validate Button
To validate a contact
1. Do any of the following:
• Navigate to the Contact section for entering a single contact and add a contact.
• Navigate to the Contact section for entering multiple contacts and add a contact.
• Navigate to the Contact list section and select the contact you want to validate.
For more information about adding a contact, see Adding a Contact.
2. Click Validate.
Civic Platform validates the contact information against the reference database.
• If you looked up the record contact from reference, the validation is always successful. You can jump
to step 5.
• If you manually entered the contact information, the validation checks whether there exists close-
match reference contact(s) by checking all the common fields, except Contact Type, between the
information you entered and the matching reference contact(s).
• If there is only one matching reference contact, Civic Platform directly adds the reference contact
information to the record. You can jump to step 4.
• If there is none or multiple close match reference contacts, Civic Platform lists all the close match
reference contacts for you to select and add as the record contact. You also have the option to
create a new reference contact.
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Civic Platform displays the Contact List pop-up window, with close match contacts, if any.
3. In the Contact List pop-up window, do one of the following:
• Select the reference contact that you want to add from the contact list.
• Click New to create a new reference contact. After you complete the fields in the popup Contact
New Form, click Submit. After you see the contact in the contact list, select it to add the contact.
4. If the selected contact(s) has multiple contact addresses, you can pick the contact addresses to add in
the pop-up Contact Address Look Up Form by marking the check boxes besides the contact addresses,
and clicking Select. If you select a contact address and click Deactivate, the contact address no longer
displays in the Contact Address Look Up Form.
If the selected contact has only one contact address, by default, Civic Platform adds the selected
contact to the record with its contact address.
5. Confirm that the contact type of the newly-added contact is correct. If not, select a type in the Type
drop-down list.
6. Make necessary changes to the newly-added contact if you want. Depending on your agency’s
configuration, your changes might also write to the reference source when you submit the record.
Deleting a Contact
If your agency configures the Contact section as a contact list, you can delete individual contacts from the
list before submitting the application.
To delete a contact
1. Navigate to the Contact list section of the application intake form.
2. Select for each contact you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
Civic Platform deletes the contact from the Contact list.
Editing a Contact
If your agency configures the Contact section as a contact list, you can view and edit the details for each
contact. You can also change the contact type from the Contact list section directly.
To edit a contact
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1. Navigate to the Contact list section of the application intake form.
2. To change the contact type only, select the desired option from the Contact Type drop-down list.
3. To edit contact details, click the contact that you want to edit.
Civic Platform displays the contact details in the Contact Form pop-up window.
4. Update the fields as needed.
For a description of the fields, see Applicant and Contact Fields.
5. Add or edit the contact address in the Contact Address section.
For more information on contact addresses, see Adding Contact Addresses for a Contact.
6. Click Save.
Civic Platform saves the changes to the contact.
Working in the Address Section
Use the Address section of the application intake form to add an address for the primary application
contact. There are several methods for adding an address. In most cases, you start with a database
search.
Search the database for an existing address.
1. Enter one or more search criteria in the available address fields, then click Search.
A list of addresses that meet your search criteria displays.
Method 1: Select Address(es) and other items
a. Select each address you want to add and click Select.
b. If your agency administrator sets the parcel, owner, structure, and/or establishment sections to Auto,
then data from those associated reference records populates automatically to the application intake
form.
Otherwise, a list of the items associated to the address you are adding displays. Select the items
you want to add to the record and click Select. Do not select any items if you plan to complete
needed fields manually.
Civic Platform adds the information to the record.
Note:
If both parcels and owners populate within the record, you can view them grouped by parcel or by
owner by selecting the Group By Parcel or Group By Owner option. See Related Reference Grouped
by Parcel and Related Reference Grouped by Owner for examples.
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Figure 9: Related Reference Grouped by Parcel
Figure 10: Related Reference Grouped by Owner
Method 2: Get Parcel & Owner button.
a. Click Get Parcel & Owner.
If Civic Platform does not add parcel records or owner records associated to the address record, this
button locates and adds associated parcel or owner information.
Method 3: Add the address manually.
If you cannot find an address using search, or if you want to enter an address on the application but not
in the database, you can add the address manually.
a. Click New on the Address Search Results page.
Civic Platform displays the New Address pop-up window.
b. Manually enter a new address.
c. Click Submit.
Note:
Civic Platform does not store the address information that you enter as a reference address,. The
data exists only in the application that you create.
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Setting a Primary Address
When you have multiple reference addresses on one record, you can set only one primary address on a
record.
To set a primary address
1. In the Address list section, identify the address you want to set as primary, and mark that address in the
Primary column as shown below.
2. Click Set Primary.
Civic Platform sets the address as the primary address for the record.
Note:
If you do not manually set a primary address on a record, Civic Platform system selects the primary
based on the following:
• When you add multiple reference addresses and more than one reference addresses are flagged
as primary in the database, Civic Platform selects the last reference address flagged as Primary on
Application Intake Form.
• When you add multiple reference addresses and no reference address is primary, Civic Platform
selects the first reference address listed on Application Intake Form as the primary address by default
on a record.
Method 4: Use the GIS Address Locator.
You can retrieve only one address at a time using this method.
a. If your agency uses Accela GIS, click the Address Locator button.
The Address Locator pop-up window displays.
b. Click Locate Address and click an area on the map with the cursor.
Civic Platform displays a red marker for the address location you selected.
c. Click Save Location to save the address to the application intake form.
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Note:
For more information about using Accela GIS to add an address to an application, see the Accela
Accela GIS documentation
Method 5: Use Accela GIS to add multiple addresses.
a. Open Accela GIS, then click the GIS button.
Civic Platform displays a pop-up GIS viewer.
b. Select the desired parcels in the GIS viewer and click Create Record.
c. Select one or more addresses from the address list and click Select.
d. Select one or more parcels or owners from the Parcel Owner Selection List and click Select.
e. Choose a primary parcel/owner and click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the selected address, parcel, and owner information to the application intake
form.
Working in the Documents Section
Use the Documents section to attach (upload) documents to an application intake form. For example,
an agency administrator might require documents such as building plans and an insurance bond before
building a large commercial structure. Such documents can be submitted in electronic format, and attached
to the application from the Documents section.
Working in the Parcel Section
Use the Parcel section to associate a parcel to an application intake form. There are several ways to
associate a parcel. All of the methods start with a database search.
Search the database for an existing parcel.
1. Enter one or more search criteria in the available parcel fields, then click Search.
A list of parcels that meet your search criteria displays.
Method 1: Select Parcel(s) and other items
a. Select the parcels you want to add and click Select.
Note:
Your agency might configure your system to add an associated address, owner, structure,
establishment, and/or GIS information in addition to parcel information to the application, either
automatically or at your direction.
b. If your agency administrator sets the address, owner, structure, and/or establishment sections
to Auto, then information from any of those reference records associated to the parcel populates
automatically to the application.
c. If your system prompts you to choose an address, owner, structure, and/or establishment to add,
a list of the items associated to the parcel you are adding displays in a pop‑up window. Select
the items you want to add to the record and click Select. Leave all items unselected if you plan to
complete needed fields manually.
Civic Platform adds the information to the record.
Method 2: Get Address & Owner button.
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a. Click Get Address & Owner.
If your system does not add address and owner records associated to the parcel record either
automatically or in response to a system prompt, this button locates and adds associated address
and owner information.
Method 3: Add the address manually.
If you cannot find an address using search, or if you want to enter an address on the application but not
in the database, you can add the address manually.
a. Click New on the Parcel Search Results page.
Civic Platform displays the New Parcel window, where you can manually enter a new parcel, or you
can also try a different search.
b. Click Submit to add the parcel to the application intake form.
Note:
Civic Platform stores the parcel information that you enter in the individual application, and not in the
database.
Method 4: Use Accela GIS.
This feature is useful if you want to add more than one parcel to the application intake form.
a. Click the GIS button.
For more information on how to add a parcel to an application intake form using Accela GIS, refer to
the respective Accela GIS documentation set.
Civic Platform displays a pop-up GIS viewer.
b. Select the desired parcels in the GIS viewer and click Create Record.
Civic Platform displays a Parcel List window.
c. Select the parcels you want to add to the record and click Select.
d. Choose a primary parcel and then click Submit.
The selected address, parcel, and owner information all display on the application intake form.
Working in the People Section
Use the People section to add licensed professionals or owners to an application intake form. Your agency
administrator can configure this section to give you the ability to associate multiple business professionals
with an application.
You can add a professional or owner to an application intake form in one of three ways:
Using the Search button
1. Enter search criteria, then click Search to find an existing business professional (architect, building
contractor) or owner, or complete the fields to add a new owner. For a list of field descriptions, see
Adding an Owner to a Parcel.
Civic Platform displays the People Search form.
• If your agency administrator sets the address, owner, structure, and/or establishment sections
to Auto, information from any of those reference records associated to the owner populates
automatically to the application intake form.
• If you see a message that asks you to choose an address, owner, structure, and/or establishment
to add, a list of the items associated to the owner you are adding displays in a pop‑up window. Mark
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the check box of each item you want to add to the record and click Select. Leave the check boxes
blank if you do not want to add associated items, then complete needed fields manually.
Using the Search P+ button
1. Click the Search P+ button to add ‘PERMITS’ Plus owner records to the application intake form.
Using the GIS button
1. Click the GIS button.
For more information on how to use Accela GIS to add a professional or owner to an application, refer
to the respective Accela GIS documentation set.
Civic Platform displays a pop-up GIS viewer.
2. Select the desired parcels in the GIS viewer and click Create Record.
Civic Platform displays a Parcel List window.
3. Select the parcels you want to add to the record and click Select.
4. Choose a primary parcel and then click Submit.
The selected address, parcel, and owner information display on the application intake form.
Working in the Structures or Establishments Section
Use the structures or establishments section to add one or more structures or establishments to the
application intake form.
Note:
You can only add existing structures or establishments to an application.
To add a structure or establishment to an application
1. In the structures or establishments section, use search to locate the desired structure or establishment.
2. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of structures or establishments that match your search criteria.
3. Select each structure or establishment you want to add to the application intake form.
4. Click Select.
5. If there are address, parcel, owner, structure, or establishment records associated to the structure or
establishment you selected, one of the following might occur, depending on your agency’s settings.
Follow the instructions for the outcome you see:
• The associated reference data automatically populates the permit. Proceed to the next step.
• A pop‑up window displays the associated reference data. Select which data you want to add to the
permit, then click Select.
Civic Platform adds the address and associated reference data to the permit.
• Civic Platform does not add the associated reference data. You must add data manually to the
permit.
6. Click Select.
The selected structure/establishment information displays in the application form.
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Working in the Application-Specific Information Section
Use the Application-Specific Information (ASI) section to add a set of fields specific to a single
application.
Some administrators create drill-down ASI fields in the ASI section. Drill-down ASI fields guide users
through a series of drop-down lists that present the filtered data choices based on the selections that
you made in the previous field. For example, your agency can create a drill-down field for business
license applications. The first drill-down lists the nature of the license, such as Agriculture, Bakeries and
Confectionery, or Building Materials. If the user selects Building Materials, the next drill-down lists materials
such as Paints and Bonding Materials, Tiles and Ceramics, and Wood and Wooden Products. If the user
selects Wood and Wooden Products, the third drill-down field might contain options such as Import of
Wood, Furniture Repair and Refurbishing, Plywood Manufacture, and Sawdust Collection and Recycling.
Some administrators create attribute mappings between Accela GIS objects and ASI fields. The ASI fields
automatically populate with GIS object attribute values according to the attribute mappings, when you
attach an asset, parcel, or associated GIS feature to an application as follows:
• Launch the map viewer from the main console or the Record list portlet, select a GIS object that
represents an existing asset in the Civic Platform database, and perform the Create New Record,
Create Single Work Order, or Create Multiple Work Orders command.
• Look up an existing parcel that you can plot on the map and add it to the Parcel section.
• Launch the map viewer from the Parcel section, select a GIS object that represents an existing parcel in
the Civic Platform database, and perform the Send GIS Features command.
• Look up an existing asset that you can plot on the map and add it to the Asset section.
• Launch the map viewer from the Asset section, select a GIS object that represents an existing asset in
the Civic Platform database, and perform the Link Object to Work Order command.
• Launch the map viewer from the Associated GIS Features section, select a GIS object that either
represents an existing parcel or asset, and perform the Send GIS Features command.
Note:
If you attach multiple parcels, assets, or associated GIS features to an application at a time, a dialog box
prompts you to set one item as primary. The ASI fields get the corresponding values from the attributes of
the primary GIS object.
Working in the Application-Specific Information Tables Section
Use the Application-Specific Information Tables section to add application-specific information in table
format. To make data retrieval easier, Civic Platform provides a table drill down feature as well as a table
search feature.
Topics
•Application-Specific Information Table Drill-down
•Searching Application-Specific Information Tables
Application-Specific Information Table Drill-down
In the Application‑Specific Info Tables section of the application intake form, you can use the drill-down
feature to define the values for the table. Civic Platform guides you through a series of windows that
present filtered data choices based on the selections that you make. Civic Platform then populates the data
selected in multiple rows on the table.
To create an ASI Table Drill-down
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1. Go to the Application Specific Information Tables section on the application intake form and then click
Add.
Civic Platform displays the ASI Table Drilldown selection pop-up window.
2. Select a value and click Next.
Note:
If your administrator has enabled multiple selection, hold down the Ctrl button on your keyboard and
select the desired values, then click Next.
3. Repeat the previous steps for each selection screen. The last screen has a Finish button instead of a
Next button. Click Finish to complete the process.
Civic Platform displays the application-specific information table on the application intake form.
Note:
If the agency administrator configures the option, you can sort an ASI table column by ascending or
descending order. Civic Platform remembers your sorting preferences for future use.
To add another row to the ASI table, click Add and complete the drill-down steps again to include the new
element.
To delete a row from the table, select the row and click Delete.
Searching Application-Specific Information Tables
You can search for records using application-specific information table data values as search criteria: App
Specific Info Table Label and Appl Specific Info Table Value. These fields are available on the ASI table
search page even if you do not select a Record Type.
To search by application-specific criteria with no record type selected
1. Navigate to the Building portlet and click Search.
Civic Platform displays the Record search form.
2. Enter a valid value in the App Specific Info Table Label field to identify the table label you are
searching on.
3. Enter a valid value in the App Specific Info Table Value field to identify the record.
Civic Platform displays the search results.
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4. Click the Record ID link for the record you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the Record Details Portlet
5. Select the App Specific Info Tables tab.
Civic Platform displays the list of ASI Tables for the selected record.
6. Use the search box located to the right of the Table Subgroup drop-down to search the ASI table data.
See Searching for Application-Specific Table Data from Results List for more information.
To search application-specific information with a record type selected
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working with and click Search.
Civic Platform displays the Record Search form
2. Select a Record type from the drop-down, then select a Type, a Subtype, and a Category from the
drop-down lists that appear in sequence.
Civic Platform displays the Searchable ASIT fields.
Note:
Only the Name and Business fields display, because those are the only two fields with Searchable
selected in the configuration.
3. Enter search criteria as appropriate.
Civic Platform displays the search results.
4. Click the Record ID link for the record you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the Record Details Portlet
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5. Select the App Specific Info Tables tab.
Civic Platform displays the list of ASI Tables for the specific record
6. Use the search box located to the right of the Table Subgroup drop-down to search the ASI table data.
See Searching for Application-Specific Table Data from Results List for details.
Searching for Application-Specific Table Data from Results List
Use the search box to the right of the Table Subgroup drop-down to search ASI table data. By default, the
ASI table data search features searches all columns within the ASI tables.
Figure 11: ASI Table Data Search Results Indicated with Yellow Highlight
To use the ASI table data search feature
1. If desired, apply a quick filter:
a. Click the down-arrow to the right of the search button (magnifying glass).
Civic Platform displays the quick filter list of searchable columns
b. Select one or more columns to search.
2. Enter a search string into the Search field to the right of the Table Subgroup box.
3. Click Search.
Civic Platform displays the search results (filtered by the selected columns, if applicable).
ASI Table Data Search Additional Usability Features
If ten or more ASI tables display within the ASI table section, then Add Row and Delete Selected links
display at the bottom of the list. Use the links to add or delete ASI table rows as needed. If you add or
delete rows, a Save button appears at the bottom of the window. Use it to save your changes.
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Figure 12: Add Row and Delete Selected links at the Bottom of the ASI Table List
Working in the Education Section
The education section is often available on application intake forms for a professional or occupational
license. You can enter an applicant’s educational credentials now, or you can select educational credential
from the applicant’s reference contact file.
Note:
For additional information about using education information in connection with professional or occupational
licenses, see Education and Examination Providers.
To add education information to an application
1. Click Add in the Education section to insert a new data line (if a predefined line exists).
2. Select the educational institution attended from the Provider Name drop-down list.
Civic Platform automatically populates the Provider Number field.
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3. Click the arrow next to the Provider Name to expand the section. Review, add, or modify provider
information as needed.
4. Complete the rest of the fields with available data. Fields marked with a red asterisk require data entry.
Note:
In Years Attended, you can enter a single year (2009), a range of years (2009-2011), or a combination of
both (2006, 2009-2011).
When you submit the application, Civic Platform adds the data you just entered to the license record,
where you can view or edit it on the Education tab. For more information about working with education data
on the License portlet, see Education and Examination Providers.
Working in the Continuing Education Section
The continuing education section is often available on the application intake form for a professional or
occupational license. Use it to enter information about an applicant’s ongoing professional development or
continuing education credentials earned toward recertification.
You can enter an applicant’s continuing education credentials manually, or you can select continuing
education credentials from the applicant’s reference contact file. See Education and Examination Providers
for information.
Some applications have a continuing education requirement. Civic Platform lists the required number of
educational hours (units) at the top of the section. Expand the total hours to display a table that lists the
hours required, hours completed, and the balance due. As you enter hours into the lines below, the figures
listed in the table automatically recalculate.
For additional information about using continuing education information in connection with professional or
occupational licenses, see Education and Examination Providers.
To add continuing education information to an application
1. In the Continuing Education section, click Add to insert a new data line.
2. Make selections from the Continuing Education Name and Provider Name drop-down lists.
Civic Platform automatically populates the Provider Number field.
3. You can click the arrow next to the provider name to expand the section, where you can review, add, or
modify provider information, as needed.
4. Populate the remaining fields with available data.
When you submit the application, Civic Platform adds the data you enter in this section to the license
record, where users can view it on the Continuing Education tab. See for more information.
Working in the Examination Section
The examination section is often available on application intake forms. Use this section to enter details
about certification-level examinations that the applicant takes. You can enter an applicant’s examination
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information now, or you can select examination information from the applicant’s reference contact file.
SeeSelecting Examination or Education Records for an Application for information.
Depending on your agency’s agreement with external providers, the provider might maintain the exam data
within Civic Platform or on an external system and integrate the data with Civic Platform by means of a
URL link. Consult with your agency administrator for the specific information that you need to provide to
examination providers who choose to use the second option.
For additional information, see Chapter 18: Certifications and Education, in the Civic Platform Citizen
Access Administration Guide and Modifying Educational Credentials
To add examination information to an application
1. In the Examination section, click Add to insert a new data line.
2. Select the Examination Name from the drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays a Schedule link next to the Examination Date field, which provides all available
schedule options from one or more providers.
You can click the arrow next to the Provider Name to display the Examination Site section. The fields
auto-populate after you select a schedule.
3. Populate the remaining fields using one of the following methods:
• Manually enter values.
Civic Platform does not display the application as a registered record in the associated provider
(Licensed Professional record). You cannot update manually entered data by uploading a CSV file or
by connecting to an external system. You must update this data manually.
• Select an examination session to populate the fields.
Civic Platform displays the application as a registered record in the associated provider (Licensed
Professional) portlet. You can update the exam data by uploading a CSV file or by connecting to
an external system, depending on your agency’s agreements with the provider of certification-level
examinations.
1. Click the Schedule link next to the Examination Datefield.
Civic Platform displays a list of available exam sessions for the selected provider.
2. Select an option from the list.
To narrow down the options and better locate the option you want, you can apply a filter.
3. Click Next.
Civic Platform displays the scheduling details for your confirmation.
4. Specify a registered Citizen Access user account if you are scheduling an online examination.
Note:
You can use the same registered Citizen Access user account to schedule online examinations
from different examination providers.
5. Click Finish.
Civic Platform populates the values of the selected exam session to the schedule line.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform saves the newly added examination schedules.
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Estimating Fees
You can calculate an estimate of costs payable to the agency by partially completing an application. If you
save your settings, you can search for the partial application later so that you can work with it again. To
help identify partial application records with estimated fees, Civic Platform includes the designation “EST”
in the application name.
To estimate fees
1. Follow steps 1-6 to submit a new application (see Creating a Record).
2. Click Estimate Fee.
Note:
If you selected the “Create one Record for each Parcel” option, Civic Platform disables the Estimate Fee
and Manual Input ALT IDbuttons.
Civic Platform displays the fee calculator pop-up portlet.
3. Do one of the following:
•To add a fee item:
1. Click Add.
2. Enter the quantity of each fee item that you want to add.
3. To restore the default quantities and clear the note boxes, click Reset.
4. Click Submit.
•To edit a fee item:
1. Click the Fee Item link for the item that you want to change.
2. Make changes as needed.
3. Click Submit.
•To delete a fee item:
1. Select the item that you want to delete.
2. Click Delete.
•To edit a related condition:
1. Click the name of the condition that you want to edit.
2. Make changes as needed.
3. Click Submit.
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4. When you finish viewing the estimated fees, click Cancel.
Because the fees are only an estimate, you do not need to save them.
Civic Platform returns to the partial application in progress.
5. Click Save without Submit.
Civic Platform saves the partially completed application for submittal at a later time.
Transferring Accela GIS Data to an Application
Civic Platform can auto-populate application-specific information into an application form using Accela GIS
(Geographic Information System).
Note:
Your agency administrator identifies application-specific information about each GIS object and layer.
For more information on how to transfer Accela GIS data to an application, refer to the Accela GIS
documentation set.
To auto-populate permit-specific information by using Accela GIS
1. Follow steps 1-4 to submit a new record (see Creating a Record).
2. Complete the form fields with available data. When you come to the Address, Parcel, or Owner section,
click the GIS button or the Address Locator button.
Civic Platform displays the Accela GIS map viewer.
3. Select each GIS object you want to reference. Mark Select All Objects if you plan to associate all the
objects.
4. From the drop-down list, select Send Features to AA.
5. Click Submit.
Accela GIS sends data for the selected objects to Civic Platform. If you select more than one GIS
object, Civic Platform displays a ‘Choose Primary Object’ dialog box.
6. If prompted, choose the object you want to select as the primary object.
Information from the primary object auto-populates to the appropriate fields on the application intake
form. The object becomes the primary parcel for the application, while all other selected GIS objects
become associated with the application.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the Default Inspection Type pop-up window.
8. Select the inspections you want to schedule (see Select the inspection(s) you want to schedule. of the
Creating a Record section).
9. Click Submit.
Civic Platform generates the Record ID, updates the list of applications, and schedules the selected
inspection types.
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Deleting Records
When you delete a record, you also delete all information dependent on the record. However, if you
entered associated information separately from the record, you only delete the association when you
delete the record - not the information. For example, if the user deletes a child record to another record, the
parent record information remains intact, minus the deleted child record information.
To view a list of deleted records, click the View Log button and select Delete Record Log from the pop-up
menu.
You can delete records that you already submitted successfully to the database, or delete partially-
completed records.
To delete a submitted record
1. Navigate to the Building Permit portlet and locate the record you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the application list portlet.
2. Select the record(s) you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
Civic Platform prompts you to confirm the deletion.
4. Click OK.
Civic Platform removes the record from the list.
To delete a partial record
1. Navigate to the Record portlet.
2. Locate the partial record you want to delete and click the record hyperlink.
Civic Platform displays the application intake form for the partial record.
3. Click Delete.
Civic Platform prompts the “Are you sure you want to delete this record?” message.
4. Click OK to confirm the deletion, or click Cancel to return to the Edit Partial Records by Single window.
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Managing Record Comments
Your agency administrator can create a set of standard comments you can select from when completing
applications, inspections, workflows, and checklists. When you assign a set of standard comments to
a record type, inspection, workflow, or checklist, you can choose from a list of pre-written comments to
populate the Comments field. This feature streamlines the form completion and improves data consistency.
Contact your agency administrator for information on which forms have standard comments assigned to
them, or to suggest standard comments for a particular form.
Besides standard comments, you can add your own comments to an application.
Topics
•Adding a Comment to a Record
•Viewing or Editing a Record Comment
Adding a Comment to a Record
When you add comments to a record, keep in mind that you cannot delete them after you submit them.
To add a comment to a record
1. Navigate to the desired portlet, then locate and open the record you want to work with. SeeUsing the
Search Features for information on using search to locate a record.
Civic Platform displays the record detail portlet.
2. Click the Comments tab.
Civic Platform displays the Comments list portlet.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the New Comment page.
4. To enter a standard comment, do the following:
a. Either click the Standard Comment hyperlink or the data picker next to the Comment field.
Civic Platform displays a Standard Comments pop‑up window.
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b. Select the type of standard comment you want from the Type drop‑down menu.
Each Standard Comments Type contains several relevant comments you can choose from. Consult
your agency administrator if you have questions about Standard Comments types.
Civic Platform displays the Standard Comments associated with the Standard Comments Type you
have selected.
c. Click the hyperlinked name of the Standard Comment you want to use.
d. Click Close.
Civic Platform populates the Comments field with the Standard Comment you have chosen.
5. Enter your own comment in the Comment field or modify the standard comment that you added in step
4.
6. Select the Apply to Inspections option to display the comment in the Record Comments field of
inspections associated with the record.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the comment list portlet with the new comment added.
Civic Platform also displays the newly-added comment in the Record Comments field of associated
inspections if “Apply to Inspections” = Yes.
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Viewing or Editing a Record Comment
You can view any comments added to a record from the Comments secondary tab on the Record detail
portlet.
To view comments or edit comments
1. Navigate to the desired portlet, then locate and open the record you want to work with. See Using the
Search Features for information on using search to locate a record.
Civic Platform displays the record detail portlet.
2. Click the Comments tab.
Civic Platform displays the Comments list portlet.
3. Click the link in the Comments column for the comment you want to view.
The full comment text displays.
4. If you are modifying the comment, make changes as needed and click Submit. See Adding a Comment
to a Record for information about selecting a standard comment.
Civic Platform saves the modifications.
To remove the Comments field from an associated inspection display
1. With the associated inspection displayed, click Remove for each comment you do not want.
2. Click Save.
The Apply to Inspections setting for the comment changes to No.
To edit the Comments field from an associated inspection display
1. With the associated inspection displayed, click the Edit button for the comment you want to modify.
2. Edit the comment in the pop-up window as needed.
3. Click Save.
Civic Platform updates the comment in the Comments tab for both the record and for the Record
Comments field in associated inspections.
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Adding Documents to a Record
You can add documents or graphics to a record at any time from either the Documents tab or from the
Inspection portlet. When added from the Inspection portlet, new documents also display in the Documents
tab for the record. You can determine the origin of a document by looking at the value in the Entity Type
column.
For more information about uploading and accessing documents, see Attachments .
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Assigning Inspection Districts to a Record
If a record requires inspection, you can associate an inspection district (or more in rare cases) with the
record address or parcel. Later when you schedule inspections for the record, Civic Platform gets the
inspection district information in the record. Civic Platform then checks the settings in the inspection
calendar for the inspection district to determine which dates and times are available.
To associate inspection districts with a record
1. Locate and open the record you want to work with. See Using the Search Features for information on
using search to locate a record.
Civic Platform displays the record detail portlet.
2. Click the Address or Parcel tab.
Civic Platform displays the Address or Parcel list portlet.
3. Click the link in the list for the address or parcel you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the Address Detail tab (or Parcel Detail tab) and a District tab.
4. Click District.
5. Click Search.
Civic Platform displays all the inspection district options.
6. Select each district that you want to assign to the record.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns to the District list, with the new districts added for the record.
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Viewing Record Information
You can view all the data related to a record and edit some data as needed.
Topics
•Viewing or Editing Record Details
•Viewing Additional Information about Records
Viewing or Editing Record Details
You can quickly access a list of records you are currently responsible for maintaining, as well as view the
details of the current record in the detail portlet below.
To view record details
1. Navigate to the portlet you want to work in; for example, the Service Request portlet.
Civic Platform displays the list portlet.
2. Use Search and QuickQuery to filter the record display. See Understanding QuickQueries for
information about using QuickQueries. See Using the Search Features for information about using the
Search tool.
3. Locate the record you want to view and click the record hyperlink.
Civic Platform displays the detail portlet below the list portlet.
4. Select from the available tabs in the detail portlet to view record details.
5. To edit record details, update the fields that display on the selected tab.
6. Click Submit.
Viewing Additional Information about Records
When working with records, you have additional data you can refer to as needed.
Viewing or Editing a Record Summary
You can view a summary of record details and you can edit them as needed.
To view or edit a record summary
1. Navigate to the portlet you want to work in; for example, the Building portlet.
Civic Platform displays the list portlet.
2. Locate the record you want to view and click the record hyperlink.
Civic Platform displays the detail portlet below the list portlet.
3. Click the Record tab.
4. Click Summary.
Civic Platform displays the record summary portlet.
5. Edit the data as needed.
• See Application Record Fields for field definitions.
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• If you are working with contacts, see Contacts for more information.
• If you are working with parcels, see Managing Parcels for more information.
• If you are working with owners, see Managing Owners for more information.
6. Click Submit.
Viewing Record Status History
A status history is available for your reference. It is essentially a record of all the statuses for a record.
For example, you can see why it took so long to approve a particular application. You can also answer a
citizen’s question about why your agency did not approve his permit.
To view a status history
1. Navigate to the portlet you want to work in; for example, the Building portlet.
Civic Platform displays the list portlet.
2. Locate the record you want to view and click the record hyperlink.
Civic Platform displays the detail portlet below the list portlet.
3. Click the Status History tab.
Civic Platform displays the Status History list portlet.
4. Click the link of any item in the list that you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the detail portlet.
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Working with Status History
Status history entries record the progress of a record through its workflow process. Historical entries differ
from the existing status entry.
You can edit the status history, including the date, status, comments, and related staff member information,
to correct errors and ensure the accuracy of status entries. This is useful if you plan to clone a record, re-
open a record to resolve pending issues, or re-assign a record to a different person at your agency.
Contact your agency administrator to set the related Function Identification for this feature.
Topics
•Editing or Deleting a Status History Record
•Viewing the Status History Log
Editing or Deleting a Status History Record
1. Navigate to the portlet you want to work in; for example, the Building portlet.
Civic Platform displays the list portlet.
2. Locate the record you want to view and click the record hyperlink.
Civic Platform displays the detail portlet below the list portlet.
3. Click the Status History tab.
Civic Platform displays the Status History page.
4. To edit a status history record:
a. Click the Status link for the status history record you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the Edit Status History page.
b. Edit the data as needed.
c. Click Save.
If you modify the most recent status history entry, a message displays indicating that modifications to
the most recent status history entry result in a discrepancy with the existing application status.
d. Click OK to modify the most recent status history record. This action does not affect the existing
record status. Previously created status history entries are still available for view on the Status
History page.
To delete a status history record:
a. Select each status history record you want to delete.
b. Click Delete.
If you delete the most recent status history entry, a message displays indicating that deleting the
most recent status history entry results in a discrepancy with the existing status.
c. Click OK to delete the most recent status history record. This action does not affect the existing
status. Previously created status history entries are still available for view on the Status History
page.
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Viewing the Status History Log
Access the Status History Log to view all the status history modifications.
1. Navigate to the portlet you want to work in; for example, the Building portlet.
Civic Platform displays the list portlet.
2. Locate the record you want to view and click the record hyperlink.
Civic Platform displays the detail portlet below the list portlet.
3. Click the Status History tab.
Civic Platform displays the Status History page.
4. Click View Log.
Civic Platform displays the Status History log for the selected record.
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Printing an Application
When you complete the application process and you are ready to issue the permit, you can to print the
permit. When you view PDF files, some browsers give you the option to save the permit PDF to your hard
drive or send it as an email attachment.
Note:
You must have Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader installed to view and print. Civic Platform generates
printable permits, licenses, applications, and service requests in PDF (Portable Document Format).
To print a permit
1. Navigate to the Building Permit portlet.
Civic Platform displays the list portlet.
2. Locate the record you want to view and click the record hyperlink.
Civic Platform displays the detail portlet below the list portlet.
3. Choose Print from the menu.
Civic Platform generates a PDF version of the permit and displays it in a new window.
4. Use your browser’s print option to print the permit.
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Viewing the Summary page
Users can view a customized Summary page as needed. Each section of the summary addresses an
application area. Sections include a brief summary, field information, and a hyperlink that takes you to the
associated area portlets in Civic Platform.
For a list of all the areas that you can configure to display on the Summary page, see Record Summary
Page Selections.
The Summary is distinct from the Record Summary. The former is a read-only summary of the record with
links to relevant portlets. The latter is an editable version of the application intake form. For information on
working with the Record Summary, see Viewing or Editing a Record Summary.
Access the Record Summary portlet using the Menu Navigation (Go-to) drop-down list or by clicking the
Summary tab.
To view the Summary page
1. Navigate to the portlet you want to work in; for example, the Building portlet.
Civic Platform displays the list portlet.
2. Locate the record you want to view and click the record hyperlink.
Civic Platform displays the detail portlet below the list portlet.
3. Click the Summary tab in the detail portlet.
Civic Platform displays the record summary on the Summary page.
4. Click any hyperlink to go to the associated area in Civic Platform.
Note:
Depending on administrator configuration, you might not be able to view all the different areas related to
the selected record.
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Viewing Inspections on the Summary Page
If configured, you can view pending, scheduled, and completed inspections for a record in the Inspections
section on the Summary page.
To view inspections on the Summary page
1. Navigate to the portlet you want to work in; for example, the Building portlet.
Civic Platform displays the list portlet.
2. Locate the record you want to view and click the record hyperlink.
Civic Platform displays the detail portlet below the list portlet.
3. Click the Summary tab.
Civic Platform displays the Summary page.
4. Navigate to the Inspections section.
Civic Platform displays the Inspections section on the Summary page.
5. Click the link to any pending, scheduled, or completed inspection to view the inspection detail.
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Assigning a Record
You can assign one or more records to an individual staff member or to a department. When you assign a
record, the assignee becomes responsible for that record.
There are two approaches to assigning a record.
• You can assign a one or more records to any department or individual on your system, or
• You can compare a list of departments and staff members, examine their experience and workload, and
then choose the best candidate for a single record.
Topics
•Making General Assignments
•Making Specialized Assignments
Making General Assignments
When you make a general assignment, you can choose any department or any staff member. You can
also assign multiple records at the same time, which is useful when you want to assign a large number of
records and you do not need to consider the experience and workload of the assignee.
To make a general assignment
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use Search to locate the record(s) you want to work with.
2. Select each record you want to assign.
3. Hover the mouse over the Menu button to display the command menu, then choose Assign.
Civic Platform displays an assignment form.
4. If you are assigning the record to yourself:
a. Click the Current User link.
Civic Platform updates both the Assigned to Staff and the Assigned to Department fields with
your name and department.
b. Skip to Click Submit..
5. If you are not assigning the record to yourself:
a. Select the responsible department from the Assigned to Department drop-down list.
Civic Platform populates the Assigned to Staff drop-down list with the selected department staff
names.
b. Select the responsible individual within the selected department from the Assigned To Staff drop-
down list.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform updates the record.
Making Specialized Assignments
Civic Platform enables you to choose the most qualified assignee by presenting you with a listing of
staff that includes data about the skillsets and workloads of each candidate. Use this list to examine and
compare staff skills and staff workloads, then use your observations to select the best person for the job.
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Note:
See the Assignments, Skillsets, and Workloads chapter in the Civic Platform Administrator Guide to learn
about setting up skillsets and workloads.
To associate workloads and skillsets
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the list portlet.
2. Click the record hyperlink.
Civic Platform displays the detail portlet below the list portlet.
3. Hover the mouse over the Menu button in the detail portlet to display the command menu, then choose
Assign.
Civic Platform displays a list of eligible departments and eligible staff members.
4. Select the staff member most qualified to accept the new assignment.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform assigns the record to the staff member that you chose and updates the record details.
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Creating a Set from the Record List Portlet
You can create a set directly from the record list portlet by leveraging the QuickQuery and Search options
that you have available in the portlet to locate the records you want to include in a new set.
To create a set from the Record list portlet
1. Navigate to the Record list portlet.
2. Either use the portlet Search functionality or invoke a QuickQuery to locate the records you want to
include in your new set.
3. Do one of the following:
• To create a set from all of the records listed in the list portlet:
1. Click Create a Set > Select All and Create a Set.
• To create a set from manually selected records in the list portlet:
1. Select the records that you want to include in the new set.
2. Click Create a Set > Create a Set.
Civic Platform displays the New Set form.
4. Complete the fields with available data.
Set ID Civic Platform automatically generates a default code for the Set ID. If you want
to change the set ID, enter an alphanumeric code. For example, enter “EDP.”
After you save a new set, you cannot change the Set ID.
Set Name Enter a name to identify this set. Civic Platform permits duplicate set names.
Comments Enter commentary as needed. For example, you can summarize the purpose for
creating the set.
Set Type Select a set type from the drop-down list. The set type defines who has
permissions to work with a set, what scripts are available for the set, and which
values for Set Status are available.
Set Status Select a status describing the set from the drop-down list. The available status
options vary, depending on set type.
Set Status Comments Enter commentary about the set status as needed.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform saves the new set.
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Closing a Record
When you complete the records such as finish the tasks or work orders, or appraise the record is unworthy
of tracking, you can close the record where you record the responsible party, status, closed date and
detailed description.
To close a record
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the list portlet.
2. Select the record.
3. Hover your mouse over the Menu button in the record list portlet to display the drop-down menu, then
choose Close.
Civic Platform displays the close record window.
4. Complete the fields with available data, then click Save. For a description of the fields, see Application
Record Fields.
Civic Platform closes the record.
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Managing Alerts
You might receive alerts about records you are working with. You can view alert details and delete alerts
after you no longer need them.
Topics
•Viewing Record Details from an Alert
•Deleting an Alert
Viewing Record Details from an Alert
If you receive an alert, you can view the details about that alert and about the associated record as
needed.
Note:
Not all alerts have an associated record.
To view record details from an alert
1. In the Alerts portlet, click the record link you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the record details.
2. Review the information that displays.
Deleting an Alert
If you no longer need to view an alert, you can delete it.
To delete an alert
1. Navigate to the Alerts portlet.
2. Select the alert(s) you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
Civic Platform deletes the alert from the Alerts portlet.
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Running a Report from a Record
Your agency can configure your system to enable users to run, email, or print reports from the Record
portlet. For more information about running reports and about reporting in Civic Platform, see any of the
topics listed below.
•Accessing and Running a Report via a List Portlet
•Sending a Report by Email
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Managing Application Record Hearing Agendas
Many agencies hold public hearings to examine proposed work. The agency administrator can set up Civic
Platform to incorporate hearing schedules and allocate the resources and location for a hearing. After
you schedule a hearing, you can define the hearing agenda by associating application records with that
hearing.
A Hearings standard report is available for you to print. This report provides the hearing date, time,
location, and reason. You can filter the report by date range and then print it in a calendar format or list
format.
Topics
•Adding an Application Record to a Hearing Agenda
•Removing an Application Record from a Hearing Agenda
Adding an Application Record to a Hearing Agenda
After you submit an application, the work proposed in the application, such as building plans for a
subdivision, might need a hearing body such as a community council to review it. You can associate an
application record with a hearing to add review of the current application to the hearing agenda.
To add an application to a hearing agenda
1. Use Search to locate and select the record you want to associate with a hearing agenda.
Civic Platform displays the Record detail portlet.
2. Click the Hearings tab.
Civic Platform displays the Hearing Summary page.
3. Click Schedule.
Civic Platform displays the Hearing Search page.
4. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the desired hearing.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the scheduled hearings that match your search criteria.
6. Select the hearing(s) that you want to associate with the record.
7. Select a hearing reason from the Reason drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays the comments associated with the hearing reason in the Comments field.
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the selected record to the hearing.
Removing an Application Record from a Hearing Agenda
1. In the portlet you are working in, use Search to locate and select the record you are removing from a
hearing agenda.
Civic Platform displays the Record detail portlet.
2. Click the Hearings tab.
Civic Platform displays the Hearing Summary page.
3. Select the hearing you want to remove.
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4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the association between the application and the hearing.
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Working with Associated PERMITS Plus APDs
If your agency uses the PERMITS Plus permitting system, your administrator can configure some list
portlets so that users can associate PERMITS Plus APDs to a Civic Platform record. This association
allows users to view and search for associated APDs from the Civic Platform Licenses module or to click
the PERMITS Plus APD link to launch the PERMITS Plus system.
Topics
•Associating a PERMITS Plus APD with a Record
•Removing a Related PERMITS Plus APD
•Searching for a PERMITS Plus APD
Associating a PERMITS Plus APD with a Record
If your agency uses the PERMITS Plus permitting system and is transitioning to Civic Platform, you can
maintain your PERMITS Plus APD records even as you begin to create new records in Civic Platform.
To associate a PERMITS Plus APD with a record
1. Locate and open the existing record you want to associate with an APD. See Using the Search
Features for more information about using search.
Civic Platform displays the detail portlet.
2. Click the Related Records tab.
Civic Platform displays the Related Records portlet.
3. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays a record Search portlet.
4. In the Data Source field drop-down menu, choose P+ - Permit Plus.
Complete other fields as available.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of PERMITS Plus APDs that match your search criteria.
6. Select the APD you want to associate.
7. Click Select as Parent to set it as the parent of the current application, or Select as Child to set it as
the child of the current application.
Civic Platform associates the APD record to the record.
Removing a Related PERMITS Plus APD
1. Locate and open the existing record you want to associate to an APD. See Using the Search Features
for more information about using search.
Civic Platform displays the detail portlet.
2. Click the Related Records tab.
Civic Platform displays the APDs and records related to the application. You can identify APDs by the
symbol [P+].
3. Select each PERMITS Plus APD you are removing
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4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the APD from the Related records list.
Searching for a PERMITS Plus APD
If your agency subscribes to PERMITS Plus, you can search for an APD from the Civic Platform Building
Permits portlet. Click an APD hyperlink to launch PERMITS Plus and open the selected record.
To search for a PERMITS Plus APD
1. Navigate to the Service Requests or Building Permit portlet.
Civic Platform displays the list portlet.
2. Click Search.
Civic Platform displays a search portlet.
3. Locate the Data Source field drop-down menu and choose P+ - Permit Plus. You can use other
search criteria as desired.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the APD search results. APD records show P+ as the data source; Civic
Platform records show no data source.
5. To view an application or a service request, click the name link.
Civic Platform launches PERMITS Plus and displays the APD detail portlet.
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Examining Record Details
Application records can include any or all of the fields listed in Application Record Fields. The records
might also contain additional sections to collect related data. The following sections might be available on
your application record forms.
•Working in the Applicant and Contact Sections
•Working in the Address Section
•Working in the Structures or Establishments Section
•Working in the Documents Section
•Working in the People Section
•Working in the Education Section
•Working in the Continuing Education Section
•Working in the Examination Section
Tables in this section
•Application Record Fields
•Applicant and Contact Fields
•Record Summary Page Sections
Application Record Fields
The table below lists and defines fields that might be available as you work with records.
Table 10: Application Record Fields
Alt ID For agencies with applications that follow a unique numbering convention,
agencies can configure the Alternate ID and apply it to applications along with the
Record ID.
The Alternate ID value is auto-generated when you submit a new application.
Users cannot modify the value.
Application Name A unique name that identifies the application.
Assigned Date The date that a department or individual receives an application assignment.
Assigned To Department The department responsible for the application.
Assigned to Staff The individual who is responsible for the application.
Channel Reported The incoming channel used by the applicant to submit the application. For
example, the application might come through the mail, an email, a public Internet
site, or a phone call.
Check Number If an applicant pays a fee with a check, this is the check number.
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Certification Accepted For applications created in Citizen Access, this field displays whether public users
agreed with the statement in the certification section of the application review
page.
For more information about the statement in the certification section, see
the "Page Flow Configuration" chapter in the Civic Platform Citizen Access
Administrator Guide.
Certification Date For applications created in Citizen Access, this field displays the date when public
users agreed with the statement in the certification section of the application
review page.
For more information about the statement in the certification section, see
the "Page Flow Configuration" chapter in the Civic Platform Citizen Access
Administrator Guide.
Trust Account ID If an applicant pays a fee with a trust account, this is the trust account ID number.
City Enter the name of the city wherein the primary address is located.
Closed by Department The department responsible for closure from the drop-down list.
Closed by Staff Choose the name of the staff member who initiated the closure. Click the Current
User link to enter your user name into the field.
Closed Date The closure date.
Completed by Department The department that completed the application requirements.
Completed by Staff The name of the staff member responsible for completing the application
requirements. Click the Current User link to enter your user name into the field.
Contact Address Line 1, Line
2, and Line 3
The street address for the contact using the 3 address lines provided.
Contact Address City The city where the contact resides.
Contact Address State The state where the contact resides.
Contact Address Zip The postal ZIP code for the contact’s address.
Contact Address Country/
Region
The country or region where the contact resides.
Contact Email The email address of the primary contact associated with the application.
Contact FEIN The 9-digit Federal Employer ID Number of the primary contact on the record. For
example, 12-3456789. You can configure Civic Platform to mask the FEIN value
after saving the data so that only the last four digits display. Enable this field on the
Record detail form by clicking the Organization button.
Contact First Name The first name of the primary contact associated with the application.
Contact Last Name The last name of the primary contact associated with the application.
Contact Middle Name The middle name of the primary contact associated with the application.
Contact Relationship The primary contact’s relationship to the application.
Contact SSN The 9-digit Social Security Number for the contact on the record. After saving the
data, the SSN displays as ***-**-1234.
Contact Type When your agency administrator configures this field for display, you can select
the type of primary contact you want to associate with the application. The contact
type can be either an individual or an organization.
When you select theIndividual option, these fields become available: First Name,
Middle Name, Last Name, SSN. These fields are no longer available: Organization
Name, DBA/Trade Name, FEIN.
If you select the Organization option, reverse the enabled vs disabled fields.
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Data Source If your agency uses the PERMITS Plus permitting system, use this drop-down
menu to select a data source for your search. Select AA - Civic Platform to
search Civic Platform records. Select P+ - Permits Plus to search PERMITS Plus
APD records.
DBA/Trade Name The Licensed Professional’s business name.
Detailed Description A detailed description of the proposed work.
Direction The street direction designation of the primary address associated with the
application. For example, choose “N” to indicate a north direction as in “North
Broadway.”
Email The email address of the primary contact associated with the application.
Expiration Date The date when a license record expires.
Expiration Status The status of a license record.
First Issued Date The date of first issue.
First Name The first name of the primary contact associated with the application. This field
supports wildcard searches (see Performing a Wildcard Search).
House # Alpha (end) The ending street number that makes up the address. You can enter alphanumeric
characters in this field. For example, if the street number and street name is
“10-23A WHITESTONE,” 23A is the ending street number.
House # Alpha (start) The beginning street number that makes up the address. You can enter
alphanumeric characters in this field. For example, if the street number and street
name is “10-23A WHITESTONE,” 10 is the beginning street number.
Initiated by Product This field is read-only and identifies the Civic Platform product area where the
application is submitted.
Last Name The last name of the primary contact associated with the application. This field
supports wildcard searches (see Performing a Wildcard Search).
Level # (end) The ending level number (floor number) that makes up the address within a
complex, used to identify a floor or level of a multi-story building/sub-complex.
Level # (start) The beginning level number (floor number) that makes up the address within a
complex, used to identify a floor or level of a multi-story building/sub-complex.
Level Prefix The prefix for the level numbers (floor numbers) that make up the address.
Legal Description The legal description of the parcel associated with the application. This field
supports wildcard searches (see Performing a Wildcard Search).
Middle Name The middle name of the primary contact associated with the application.
Opened Date The date when Civic Platform creates the application record. Click the Calendar
icon located next to the From and To fields to specify a date range. Civic Platform
automatically enters the dates.
Opened Department The department responsible for creating the record. Click the Selection icon to
choose a department.
Opened Staff The name of the individual responsible for creating the record. If you are
responsible, click the Current User link.
Organization Name The name of the organization to which the primary contact belongs. This field
supports wildcard search (see Performing a Wildcard Search).
Owner Name The primary owner associated with the application. This field supports wildcard
search (see Performing a Wildcard Search).
Parcel Number The primary parcel number associated with the application. This field supports
wildcard search (see Performing a Wildcard Search).
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Permissions Indicates the level of access for the contact to the record in Citizen Access.
Full grants the contact full access to the record in the My Record list and the
Record search result list in Citizen Access.
Schedule Inspections Only grants the contact read-only access to the record in
the My Record list and the Record search result list in Citizen Access and allows
the contact to schedule inspections.
Read grants the contact read-only access to the record in the My Record list and
the Record search result list in Citizen Access.
None denies the contact access to the record in the My Record list and the Record
search result list in Citizen Access.
Primary For an application, you can designate a primary Applicant, Address, Parcel,
Owner, and Licensed Professional in each section. Set to Yes to specify the
primary applicant, address, parcel, owner, or professional for the application. For
example, you can specify a primary owner on an application if there are multiple
owners. For each application there can be only one primary applicant, address,
parcel, owner, or professional.
If, for example, an application has only one associated parcel, Civic Platform
automatically designates it as the primary parcel.
To change a primary setting from “No” to “Yes,” you must first change the current
primary designation.
In most other actions, Civic Platform also duplicates the primary setting
information. For example, when you clone or copy the application (Daily >
Application > Copy Application), Civic Platform also copies the parcel settings to
the new application.
Priority The priority level assigned to the application.
Receipt Number If Civic Platform generates a receipt (payment or refund) for the current
application, this is the receipt number.
Record Type The type of application. You cannot modify this field. The field lists the group, type,
subtype, and category of the application type.
Record Description A brief description of the application. For example, if application is a building permit
for a commercial shopping center, you can enter “Application for Bethesda Mall
Building Permit.”
Record ID The Record ID identifies the application in Civic Platform. The ID is auto-generated
when you submit a new application. You cannot modify this value.
Record Name A name that uniquely identifies the basic record and distinguishes it from other
records in Civic Platform. For example, if the application is a building permit for a
commercial shopping center, you might enter “Bethesda Mall.”
Record Type The type of application. You cannot modify this field..
This field displays the application type for the record. The following information
displays: group, type, subtype, and category. You cannot modify this value.
When you perform an application search, you can select an application type from
the group, type, subtype, and category drop-down list. The available application
type options include all the application types that your agency administrator sets as
enabled, or disabled yet searchable.
Relationship The primary contact’s relationship to this application. If you are searching for an
application, use the drop-down list to choose a relationship. For example, choose
“citizen.”
State The state of the primary address associated with the application.
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Status The current status of the application. If you are updating application details, you
can change this status. The agency defines the application status. For example,
Pending, Opened, Closed, Assigned, Unassigned, and Complete.
Status Group The status group the application status belongs to.
Status Reason A reason that explains why the record displays a certain status.
Street # (Start/End) The street number(s) of the primary address associated with the application. If
the primary address includes multiple street numbers (for example, a fourplex),
you can use the Street # Start and Street # End fields to define the range of
numbers. Agencies can configure the Street # Start and End fields to support
range search (adding To-From fields), allowing users to search for one or multiple
street numbers within a user-defined range.
Street Direction The street direction of the primary address associated with the application. For
example, choose “N” to indicate a north direction as in “North Broadway.”
Street Name The street name of the primary address associated with the application. This field
supports wildcard searches (see Performing a Wildcard Search).
Street Number The street number of the primary address associated with the application.
Street Suffix The street suffix of the primary address associated with the application.
Street Type The street type of the primary address associated with the application. For
example, choose Street, Boulevard, or Lane.
Street Suffix (Direction) The street suffix which indicates the direction. For example, E, NE, and SW.
Unit Type The unit type designation of the primary address associated with the application.
Enter the unit type of the location associated with the application. For example,
enter CONDO, APT, or SUITE.
URL The URL to the record information stored in a third-party web application. If
necessary, you can append the session variable $$ALTID$$ to the URL like this:
http://www.bridgeview.gov/permitsystem?permitID=$$ALTID$$. The session
variable retrieves the Alt ID of the record from the application intake form or the
Record Detail portlet.
ZIP Code The postal code of the primary address associated with the application.
Applicant and Contact Fields
The table below lists and defines fields that might be available as you work with in the Contact section of
an application form.
Table 11: Contact and Applicant Detail
Address/Street Address The contact’s address information. You can have up to three lines of address
information.
City The city in which the contact resides.
Contact Type Select the Individual option if the contact is a person. Civic Platform activates the
First Name, Last Name, Middle Name, and SSN fields, and deactivates the FEIN field.
Select the Organization option if the contact is a business or other entity. Civic
Platform deactivates the First Name, Last Name, Middle Name, and SSN fields, and
activates the FEIN field.
Country/Region The country or region in which the contact resides.
DBA/Trade Name This acronym stands for Doing Business As and refers to the contact’s preferred
business or trade name. This field is only active when the Contact Type selected is
Organization.
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Email The contact’s email address.
Fax The contact’s fax number, with Country and Area ode.
FEIN This acronym stands for Federal Employer Identification Number. The government
uses this number to identify a business for tax purposes. This field is only active when
the Contact Type selected is Organization.
First Name The contact’s first name. This field is only active when the Contact Type selected is
Individual.
Full Name The contact’s full name.
Last Name The contact’s last name. This field is only active when the Contact Type selected is
Individual.
MI The contact’s middle initial. This field is only active when the Contact Type selected is
Individual.
Notes Enter any additional information in this text field.
Notify contact with record
update
Indicates whether this contact should receive a notification when the application status
changes. Choose Yes from the drop‑down list to notify and choose No to not notify.
Organization Name The organization to which the contact belongs. This field is only active when the
Contact Type selected is Organization.
Permissions Indicates the level of access for the contact to the record in Citizen Access.
Full grants the contact full access to the record in the My Record list and the Record
search result list in Citizen Access.
Schedule Inspections Only grants the contact read-only access to the record in
the My Record list and the Record search result list in Citizen Access and allows the
contact to schedule inspections.
Read grants the contact read-only access to the record in the My Record list and the
Record search result list in Citizen Access.
None denies the contact access to the record in the My Record list and the Record
search result list in Citizen Access.
Phone 2, Phone 3 Additional telephone numbers for the contact. Indicate primary, secondary, and tertiary
numbers by using the Telephone, Phone 2, and Phone 3 fields.
PO Box The contact’s post office box number.
Preferred Channel Choose from this drop‑down list the method by which the contact prefers to receive
notification; for example, by phone, email, fax, or postal mail.
Primary This drop‑down list indicates whether the contact is the primary contact for the
application. Choose Yes to set as the primary contact and No to set as not the primary
contact.
Relationship The contact’s relationship to the application; for example, applicant, or agent. Use the
drop-down list to choose a contact relationship.
State The state in which the contact resides. Use the drop-down list to choose a state.
SSN The contact’s Social Security Number. This field is only active when the Contact Type
selected is Individual.
Telephone The contact’s telephone number, including Country and Area codes.
Title The contact’s business title, for example President. This field is only active when the
Contact Type selected is Individual.
Type The type of contact. Civic Platform uses contact types to group contacts with similar
functions. Types might include Complainant, or Billing Contact. Use the drop-down list
to choose a contact type.
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Zip Code The contact’s zip code.
Record Summary Page Sections
The following table lists the sections that might display on the Record Summary page.
Table 12: Record Summary Page Selections
Application Summary Page Section Section Description
Adhoc Task Status This section displays the status of any ad hoc tasks associated with the
application.
Record Comments This section displays record comments.
Record Detail Click the record detail link in this section to view the Record detail portlet.
Application Specific Info This section displays application-specific information about the selected
record type.
Record Status Click the application status link to view the Application Status detail
portlet.
Balance Click the balance amount to view the Payment detail portlet.
Condition Status Click a condition to view the associated Condition Detail and History
portlets.
Contact Info This section displays the contact detail for record contacts.
Description of Work Click the description of work link in this section to view the Record detail
portlet.
File Date This section displays the date the application was submitted. Click the
link to view the Record detail portlet.
Inspections This section displays pending, scheduled, and resulted inspections
associated with the record.
For more information on the Inspections section, see Viewing Inspections
on the Summary Page.
Job Value Click the job value amount to view the Additional Information Form detail
portlet.
Licensed Professional Info This section displays licensed professionals associated with the record.
Click the license number of a licensed professional to view the
Professionals detail portlet.
Parcel No This section displays parcels associated with the record.
Click the parcel number to view the Parcel detail portlet.
Required Inspections This section displays inspections that must occur before Civic Platform
accepts the application.
Structure This section displays structures associated with the record.
Total Fee Assessed This section displays the total amount of fees assessed to the record.
Click the total fee assessed link to view the Fee detail portlet.
Total Fee Invoiced This section displays the total amount of the fees invoiced to the record.
Click the total fee invoiced link to view the Payment detail portlet.
Tracking # This section displays the record tracking number.
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Application Summary Page Section Section Description
Workflow Status This section displays the workflow tasks associated with the record.
The current application status link displays as a hyperlink. Click this link
to the Workflow Task detail portlet.
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Record Relationships
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about record relationships.
Related Information
Record Relationships Overview
Viewing Related Record Information
Building Relationships between Existing Records
Cloning a Record
Updating Related Records
Creating a Set of Related Records
Copying Record Data
Removing Record Relationships
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Record Relationships Overview
Building relationships between records can help streamline communication between different departments
in your agency. The possible relationships between records are best understood by thinking of them in
terms of parent, child, or sibling relationships. Child and grandchild records branch from parent records and
grandparent records. When a parent record has child records associated it, the relationships between child
records are ‘sibling relationships.’
There are two basic approaches to establishing relationships:
• You can select another record as its parent or child when you open a record
• You can clone a record to create one or more new parent and new child records.
Both approaches enable you to transfer contact, payment, and even document data from one record to the
other without changing existing relationships.
In addition to the parent and child hierarchical organizations of records, you can select several related
records and create sets for batch processing. For example, you can create a set of related records that
share the same workflow, and then batch process the workflow task status update for the set.
If the relationship between two records turns out to be inappropriate, you can remove the relationship.
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Viewing Related Record Information
There are two ways for you to access the related records of a given record.
1. Go to the Related Records column in the record list portlet. This column provides shortcut links to the
parent, child, and sibling records for the current record.
2. Open the Related Records tab in the record detail portlet. This tab displays the record relationships in a
tree view or list view. The tree view offers you a good graphical representation of the family hierarchy of
the current record; the list view allows you to quickly access the details of the parent, child, and sibling
records for the current record.
Note:
The tree view can display all the parent applications of the current application including grandparent
applications. The list view only displays the immediate parent applications.
Topics
•Opening Shortcuts to Related Records
•Viewing Related Records in Tree View
•Viewing Related Records in List View
•Viewing Right of Way Management data as Related Records
Opening Shortcuts to Related Records
When you want to view related record information about a particular record, select the Related Records tab
in the record detail portlet. You can also click the links on the record list portlet.
To open shortcuts to related records
1. Find the record containing the related record information you want to view. See Using the Search
Features for instructions on locating a record.
The list portlet shows the current record, and the record detail portlet shows the Summary tab for the
current record.
2. Find the Related Records column in the list portlet, and click the View link or hover over the link in the
current record.
Civic Platform provides shortcuts to the parent, child, and sibling records for the current record in a pop-
up window.
3. Click a related record link to view the related record details.
Civic Platform displays the Related Records tab for the selected application.
Depending on your agency administrator’s settings, the default view mode of the Related Record is
either tree view or list view for displaying the relationship of the selected application with its parent
applications and child applications. You can switch between the two view modes by clicking the relevant
button in the tab.
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Viewing Related Records in Tree View
The tree view of related records provides you with a graphical representation of the family hierarchy for the
current record.
Figure 13: Tree View of Related Records
The tree view displays the current application with its parent applications and child applications in separate
trees.
• The current application shows in red font in all the trees.
• A parent tree displays the traversal relationship of the current application with each of its top-level
parents. All the parent trees have the current application as its leaf. If there are more than one leaves in
a parent tree, the other leaves are the siblings of the current application.
• The child tree displays the current application with all its child applications and grandchild applications.
The current application is the root tree node of the child tree, marked with a global icon .
You can perform the following tasks in the tree view:
• Click the plus (+) or minus (-) sign for any node to expand or collapse that node.
• Perform a search. The search only checks the related applications in the child tree for matches. Search
results are highlighted in the tree.
• Select one or more related applications for operations such as Update, Delete and Create a Set.
To switch from the tree view to list view, click List View in the toolbar.
Viewing Related Records in List View
The list view lists the current application and its related applications. The list includes the immediate
parents, all child and grandchild applications, and all sibling applications.
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Figure 14: List View of Related Records
Use the Relation column in the list view to see the relationship of each application with the current
application. See Relation Column in List View.
You can perform the following tasks in the list view:
• Click the Relation column name to sort the list view by the family hierarchy of the current application.
• Click the link to a related application. A new application detail portlet opens under the list view,
displaying the details for the related application.
• Perform a search. The search checks in all the related applications for matches, and the related record
list refreshes to show the search results.
• Select one or more related applications for operations such as Update, Delete, and Create a Set.
To switch from list view to tree view, click Tree View in the toolbar.
Table 13: Relation Column in List View
Application Relation Display in “Relation” Column
Immediate Parent Application Parent Application Alt ID
Current Application Current Application Alt ID (in red font)
Sibling Application Parent Application Alt ID / Sibling Application Alt ID
Child Application Current Application Alt ID (in red font) / Child Application Alt ID
Grandchild Application Current Application Alt ID (in red font) / Child Application Alt ID / ... /
Grandchild Application Alt ID
Viewing Right of Way Management data as Related Records
When you create a Record in either Citizen Access or Civic Platform mapped to a Right of Way
Management Record, the Record is created automatically with a link which allows access to the Right of
Way Management solution. Users may then view Right of Way Management details by clicking on the link
in Civic Platform.
1. Go to the Records portlet in Civic Platform.
2. Look up the Civic Platform Record with the related Right of Way Management Record.
3. Click the Related Records detail tab.
4. Click the link under ROWM Detail.
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5. Log in to the Right of Way Management site to view Right of Way details for the Record.
Note: The staff user will need valid credentials to access the Right of Way Management
solution.
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Building Relationships between Existing Records
Relationships between records can streamline communication between departments in your agency. If two
records have the same address and workflow history, associating the two records by building a parent-
child relationship can make it more efficient to handle the two records.
Topics
•Selecting a Record as Parent
•Selecting a Record as Child
Selecting a Record as Parent
You can look up and select a record as the parent for the current record. After you select the parent record,
you can select which data that you want to copy from parent to child. Some of the data elements that you
can copy include Workflow Status, Valuation Entries, Conditions of Approval (with the ability to copy any or
all condition options), Inspections, ASI data, and more. Some data elements give you the ability to define
certain types of that data element. For example, you can choose whether to copy any condition of approval
or only certain conditions.
To select a record as parent for the current record
1. Use Search to locate the record to which you want to assign the new relationship. See Using the
Search Features for instructions on locating a record.
Civic Platform displays the record detail portlet.
2. Click the Related Records tab.
Civic Platform displays the Related Records portlet. The portlet shows the existing related records of
the current record.
3. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays a search portlet.
4. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the record that you want to associate as the parent of the
current record.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the search results.
6. Select the record that you want to designate as parent of the current record. If you select a record that
is part of a different group, not all data may copy from the source to the destination.
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7. Click Select as Parent.
Civic Platform displays the Record Type-Specific Information and General Record Information with a
list of data elements. Some data elements allow you to specify which of the selected data elements that
Civic Platform is to copy.
8. Select each data element you want to copy from the current record to the parent record. See Record
Copying and Cloning Form Fields for information about the options.
9. If you select a data element that allows you drill down further and select more specific data elements,
click the hyperlink provided next to the data element (such as Select) to launch a dialog that allows you
to choose which of the data elements to copy.
For example, if you click the Select link for Conditions of Approval, a dialog displays, prompting you to
select which conditions to copy both by severity and by condition status.
10.If you select Status or New Status, you can use the drop-down list to specify a particular status to
copy. Otherwise, leave the drop-down list field blank to copy all status options.
Note:
When you select Status or New Status, Civic Platform enables the Status History option and you can
select it as well.
a. To select all of the options in a list, select the bolded option at the head of the list.
For example, in the graphic preceding this step, you can select the Select by Severity box if you
want to copy all condition severity levels.
b. To select certain options in a list, clear the bolded option at the head of the list and then select only
those options you want to copy.
c. Click OK.
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You return to the data element selection list.
11.Review your selections carefully.
12.Click Submit.
A pop-up Status Report window lists which information that Civic Platform copied successfully and
which information that Civic Platform could not copy because it belongs to a different group.
The Related Records tab for the current record detail portlet displays the relationships of the current
record and its related records, including the newly-assigned parent record.
Selecting a Record as Child
A record can have one or more child records. You can select child records from the Related Record tab.
After you select the child record, you can select which data elements that you want to copy from parent to
child.
Some of the data elements that you can copy include Workflow Status, Valuation Entries, Conditions of
Approval (with the ability to copy any or all condition options), Inspections, ASI data, and more. Some data
elements give you the ability to define certain types of that data element. For example, you can choose
whether to copy any condition of approval or only certain conditions.
To select a record as child for the current record
1. Find the records to which you want to assign the new relationship. See Using the Search Features for
instructions on locating a record.
Civic Platform displays the record detail portlet.
2. Click the Related Records tab.
Civic Platform displays the Related Records portlet. The portlet shows the existing related records for
the current record.
3. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays a search portlet.
4. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the record that you want to be the child of the current record.
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5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the search results.
6. Select the record(s) that you want to designate as a child of the current record.
7. Click Select as Child.
Civic Platform displays the Record Type-Specific Information and General Record Information with a
list of data elements. Some data elements allow you to specify which of the selected data elements that
Civic Platform is going to copy.
8. Select the data elements you want to copy from the current record to the child record. See Record
Copying and Cloning Form Fields for information about the options.
9. If you select a data element that allows you drill down further and select more specific data elements,
click the hyperlink provided next to the data element (such as Select) to launch a dialog that allows you
to choose which of the data elements to copy.
For example, if you click the Select link for Conditions of Approval, a dialog displays, prompting you to
select which conditions to copy both by severity and by condition status.
a. To select all of the options in a list, select the bolded option at the head of the list.
For example, in the graphic above, select Select by Severity to copy all condition severity levels.
b. To select certain options in a list, clear the bolded option at the head of the list and then select only
those options you want to copy.
c. Click OK.
You return to the data element selection list.
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10.If you select Status or New Status, you can use the drop-down list to specify a particular status to
copy. Otherwise, leave the drop-down list field blank to copy all status options.
Note:
When you select Status or New Status, Civic Platform enables the Status History option and you can
select it as well.
11.Review your selections carefully.
12.Click Submit.
A Status Report window lists the information that Civic Platform copied successfully and, if any, the
information that Civic Platform could not copy because it belongs to a different group.
The Related Records tab for the current record detail portlet lists the current record and its related
records, including the newly-assigned parent record.
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Cloning a Record
To create a new record that has the same owner, contact, and licensed professional information as an
existing record, use the cloning feature. When you clone a record, you are creating a duplicate of the
original record with a new record ID number. The source record is the parent record, and the new cloned
record is the child. When you clone more than one record from a source parent, each cloned record is a
sibling to the others.
Topics
•Cloning Records from the Related Records Tab
•Cloning Records from the Record Tab
Cloning Records from the Related Records Tab
You can clone records from the related records tab on a record.
To create cloned records from the Related Records tab
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in and use Search to locate and select the record you want to
clone. See Using the Search Features for more information on searching.
Civic Platform displays the record list portlet.
2. Click the Related Records tab.
Civic Platform displays the Related Records portlet.
3. Do any of the following:
• To create a single child record by cloning, do the following:
1. Click Clone Sgl.
Civic Platform displays an intake form you can use to enter new record details.
2. Select a record type from the Record Type list.
3. Complete the intake form fields with available data. Civic Platform pre-populates some fields from
the original record. You can modify the field data if needed.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates the new record and automatically associates it to the current record.
• To create multiple child records by cloning, do the following:
1. Click Clone Mult.
Civic Platform displays a Record Type navigation tree portlet.
2. Highlight a record type in the navigation tree.
3. Click the >> button to add the Record type to the Selected Type Record list.
If you add more than one record type to the Selected Record Types list, Civic Platform creates
one record for each type selected.
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Use the << button to remove a selected record type from the list you are creating.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a list of data elements.
5. Choose each data element that you want to copy from the parent record to the new child records.
See Record Copying and Cloning Form Fields for information about the options.
6. If you select a data element that allows you drill down further and select more specific data
elements, click the hyperlink provided next to the data element (such as Select) to launch a
dialog that allows you to choose which of the data elements to copy.
For example, if you click the Select link for Conditions of Approval, a dialog displays, prompting
you to select which conditions to copy both by severity and by condition status.
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To select all of the options in a list, select the bolded option at the head of the list.
To select certain options in a list, clear the bolded option at the head of the list and select only
those options you want to copy.
7. Review your selections carefully.
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a Report Copy Info window where the status of the data copy process
displays. On the Related Records portlet, you see a message that indicates that Civic Platform
added the child records successfully.
Cloning Records from the Record Tab
To create clone records from the Record tab
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in and use Search to locate and select the record you want to
clone. See Using the Search Features for more information on searching.
Civic Platform displays the record list portlet.
2. Click the Record tab.
Civic Platform displays the Record portlet.
3. Hover your mouse over the Menu button and choose Clone from the command menu.
Civic Platform displays a form prompting you to select the number of records to clone and the record
type that you want to use for the new record.
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4. Do the following:
a. Specify the number of records you want to clone.
b. Specify whether the child records are to be included in a set or not. If yes, enter the set code in the
Clone to Set field. For set code information, see Creating a New Set.
c. Specify the record type(s) for the clones you are creating by selecting record types from the tree list
in the left panel.
Use the >> key to select additional record types or the << key to de-select record types.
d. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the Record Type-Specific Information and General Record Information with a
list of data elements.
5. Select the data elements you want to copy from the current record to the new cloned record. See
Record Copying and Cloning Form Fields for information about the options.
6. If you select a data element that allows you drill down further and select more specific data elements,
click the hyperlink provided next to the data element (such as Select) to launch a dialog that allows you
to choose which of the data elements to copy.
For example, if you click the Select link for Conditions of Approval, a dialog displays, prompting you to
select which conditions to copy both by severity and by condition status.
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a. To select all of the options in a list, select the bolded option at the head of the list.
b. To select certain options in a list, clear the bolded option at the head of the list and select only those
options you want to copy.
c. Click OK.
7. Review your selections carefully.
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates the cloned records.
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Updating Related Records
When you edit an individual record, only the data for that record changes. However, you can easily update
multiple related records by using the Update Related Records option.
To update related records
1. Find the parent record containing the new data that you want to copy. See Using the Search Features
for instructions on locating a record.
Civic Platform displays the record detail portlet.
2. Click the Related Records tab.
Civic Platform displays the Related Records portlet.
3. Select the records you want to update.
Civic Platform displays the Related Record detail portlet.
4. Click Update Related Records.
Civic Platform displays the Group Data Synchronization portlet.
5. Select the data elements you want to update. See Record Copying and Cloning Form Fields for
information about the options.
Some elements may have an additional option to drill down to more specific data. For example, if you
select Contact, you can click the Select link to specify which contact types to update.
6. If you select Status or New Status, you can use the drop-down list to specify a particular status to
copy. Otherwise, leave the drop-down list field blank to copy all status options.
Note:
When you select Status or New Status, Civic Platform enables the Status History option and you can
select it as well.
7. Click Submit.
8. View the record detail summary screen and confirm the updates.
9. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a Status Report listing the data that it copied successfully, as well as the data
that it could not copy.
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10.Click Submit.
Civic Platform prompts you to confirm that you want to change the selected data for the related record.
11.Click OK.
Civic Platform updates the selected related records.
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Creating a Set of Related Records
You can create a new set of related records for easy record management.
To create a set of related records
1. Find the parent record you want to work with. See Using the Search Features for instructions on
locating a record.
2. Click the Related Records tab.
Civic Platform displays the Related Records portlet.
3. Select each record that you want to add to the new set.
4. Click Create a Set.
Civic Platform displays the Set creation form in the portlet.
5. Complete the fields. See Creating a New Set.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates the set and adds all the selected related records into the set.
For more information about sets, see Sets.
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Copying Record Data
You can copy the data from one existing record to another or from an existing record to a record set.
If you copy a record that has examination data, be aware that only pending exam items can replicate to the
new record. Civic Platform cannot copy exam items with a Scheduled status or a Completed status.
Note:
Copying does not impact existing record relationships.
To copy record data to an existing record
1. Find the record that you want to copy from. See Using the Search Features for instructions on locating
a record.
Civic Platform displays the record detail portlet.
2. Hover over the Menu button and select Copy from the drop‑down menu that displays.
Civic Platform displays the Copy to Record/Copy to a Set page.
3. Enter the Record ID number of the target record or set that you want to update and click the Search
button to the right of the Copy to Record/Set field.
4. Select the record data elements you want to copy to the existing record. See Record Copying and
Cloning Form Fields for information about the options.
Some elements may have an additional option to drill down to more specific data. For example, if you
select Contact, you can click the Select link to specify which contact types to update.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a Status Report pop-up message indicating that the record or set copied
successfully.
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Removing Record Relationships
You can terminate the relationship between two records as needed.
To remove a record relationship
1. Find the record for which you want to modify the relationship. See Using the Search Features for
instructions on locating a record.
Civic Platform displays the record detail portlet.
2. Click the Related Records tab.
Civic Platform displays the Related Records portlet.
3. Select each record with a relationship you want to remove from the current record.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the record relationships.
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Record Copying and Cloning Form Fields
The following tables lists the options you can choose from when you copy or clone a record.
Table 14: Application Cloning Options, Part 1 of 2
Fields for Clone Mult Only
# of Clones per Record
Type The number of clones that you want to create from the source record.
Clone to Set Use the New Set or Existing Set buttons in the toolbar to create or select a
destination set for the new clone. When you select a set, the set number displays in
this field box.
Table 15: Application Cloning Options, Part 1 of 2
Record Type - Specific Information
Fee Items Select to clone/copy fee items from the source record to the target record. Click the
Select link to specify specific fee items to copy.
Workflow Status Select to clone/copy workflow status from the source record to the target record.
Inspection Select to clone/copy inspections from the source record to the target record. Click the
Select link to specify inspections by inspection status.
App Specific Info Select to clone/copy application specific information (ASI) data . Click the Select link
to specify ASI and ASIT subgroups.
Additional Info Select to clone/copy additional information from the source record to the target record.
Valuation Calc Select to clone/copy valuations from the source record to the target record.
Workflow Task Specific
Information Select to clone/copy workflow task-specific information from the source record to the
target record.
Status or New Status Select to clone/copy the record status from the source record to the target record. To
set a new status value, select an option from the New Status drop-down list in addition
selecting Status or New Status.
Status History Select to clone/copy status history data from the source record to the target record.
This option is available only if the Status or New Status option is selected.
Table 16: Application Cloning Options, Part 2 of 2
General Record Information
Record Details Select to copy some record detail fields from the source record to the target record.
Click the Set Application Description link to edit the application name and application
description for both the source record and the target record.
Parcel Select to clone/copy parcels from the source record to the target record.
Owner Select to clone/copy owners from the source record to the target record.
Address Select to clone/copy addresses from the source record to the target record.
Assets Select to clone/copy assets from the source record to the target record.
Licensed Professionals (s) Select to clone/copy licensed professionals from the source record to the target
record. Click the Select link to specify licensed professionals by type.
App Specific Info Select to clone/copy application specific information from the source record to the
target record.
Contact Select to clone/copy contacts from the source record to the target record. Click the
Select link to specify contacts by type.
Document Select to clone/copy documents (attachments) from the source record to the target
record.
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General Record Information
Preserve Dates Select to clone/copy both the opened date and the reported date from the source
record to the target record.
Note:
When cloning, the Close Date does not copy to the target record(s).
If you do not select this option, the Opened Date field on the cloned record displays
the date that the record was cloned.
Note:
The record status date clones/copies only when you clone or copy the record
status, independent of the Preserve Dates option.
Record Conditions Select to clone/copy conditions from the source record to the target record. Click the
Select link to specify record conditions by severity and/or by condition status.
Inspection Conditions Select this option to clone/copy inspection conditions from the source record to the
target record. Click the Select link to specify record conditions by severity and/or by
condition status.
Conditions of Approval Select to clone/copy conditions of approval from the source record to the target
record. Click the Select link to specify conditions of approval by severity and/or by
condition status.
Education Select to clone/copy education data from the source record to the target record.
Continuing Education Select to clone/copy continuing education data from the source record to the target
record.
Examination Select to clone/copy examinations from the source record to the target record.
Record Comments Select to clone/copy record comments from the source record to the target record.
Activities Select to clone/copy activities from the source record to the target record.
Set Code Use this with the “Include In a Set” field described above. This is the code that
identifies the Set.
Application Type Click the “Select Application Type” link next to the Application Type field to select the
application type for the new record.
Include in a Set Select Yes if you want the new record to be included in a set. If you select Yes,
provide a record set ID in the Set Code field.
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Maps in Civic Platform
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about using Accela GIS maps in Civic Platform back-office
application.
Related Information
Maps At a Glance
Locating Places
Map Layers
Selecting Map Features
Creating and Editing Map Features
Redlining and Annotating a Map
Geo-locating Records
Printing a Map
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Maps At a Glance
Civic Platform maps use Accela GIS to find locations and view a geographical display of agency records
such as parcels, permits, inspections, plans, assets, work orders, and service requests. The map viewer
provides users a visual understanding of transactional records to help identify and analyze land-use,
zoning, inspection or service request routes, infrastructure, and other geo-centric information.
Accela GIS is the next generation version of the Accela Silverlight GIS map viewer. Accela GIS map users
will quickly feel at ease using the new interface. It utilizes a JavaScript-based framework and provides an
enhanced user experience when viewing and working with geographic information.
Let’s take a glance at what you can do with the Accela GIS map viewer:
1: Find an address or place. Enter an address or place to move the map to that location. To learn more, see
Finding an Address or Place.
2: Point, click, and see “what’s here”. A context menu shows your selected map location’s address,
coordinates, and all associated GIS objects. You can choose a GIS object and perform actions related to the
GIS object or transactional records. To learn more, see Selecting Map Features.
3: Zoom in or out. Alternatively, you can also zoom in by double-clicking, or using the mouse wheel. You can
also pan the map by clicking on a spot and dragging the mouse.
4: Reset the map display to the Default extent, which is the initial extent or initial area shown on the map. The
default extent is configured by the administrator of the map service provider.
5: Locate your (browser's) current location, bookmark, or navigate to a bookmarked map location. To learn
more, see Navigating to a Bookmarked or Browser Location.
6: Choose a Basemap. From the Basemap gallery panel, select a basemap which provides a geographical
background for displaying GIS information.
7: Customize the display of map layers. To learn more, see Map Layers.
9: Measure an area, distance, or the geographic longitude/latitude location. From the Measure panel,
you can select which one to measure, and the unit of measure. Click the point(s) on the map to perform the
measurement.
10: Draw a line, shape, or text. From the Draw panel, you can select a drawing tool, select color, style, and
transparency, and see a preview. To learn more, see Redlining and Annotating a Map.
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11: Print the map into a PDF or another selected format. To learn more, see Printing a Map.
12: See a Pin Map to view map locations using pin markers. This is the default view.
13: See a Heat Map to view map locations using gradient hotspots.
14: See a Cluster Map to view map locations using numbered dots to represent grouped locations. As you zoom
into 1:2500 or below, the individually plotted locations display.
15: See the map scale or ratio of measurement on a map compared to the actual distance. The scale and unit of
measurement is provided by the map service.
16: View the Legend to understand the map symbols, as provided by the map service.
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The Map Dashboard
Opening a Map Dashboard in Civic Platform
Civic Platform provides a Map dashboard to view a geographic display of Civic Platform records. To open
the Map dashboard in Civic Platform, open the Dashboard toggle, and select Map:
The following diagram shows a sample Map dashboard:
While working with records in Civic Platform, you can create and attach GIS objects to the current
record. This allows anyone working with the record to geographically visualize the impact or extent of the
transaction record within the agency’s jurisdiction. For example, a permit clerk can draw the exact location
of a new property including the extent of its environmental impact. The geographic data enhances the
transaction record and can help with facilitating efficient and effective transaction workflows.
From the GIS section of a record detail, you can:
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• Attach one or more existing GIS objects to the record:
1. From the GIS menu, select Show/Select GIS Objects.
Civic Platform opens the map.
2. Navigate the map to find and select the map features you want to attach to the record.
3. Click the GIS Objects tab of the map Contents slide-out panel, and choose Actions > Attach to
Record.
The following sample diagram shows two selected parcels to be attached to the current record:
4. If you selected multiple GIS objects, Civic Platform prompts you to choose the primary GIS object.
For example:
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5. Click the < navigation link at the top left corner of the map to go back to the record detail.
The GIS section shows the selected GIS objects that have been attached to the record. The
following sample diagram shows the two selected parcels that are now attached to a record:
• Create a new GIS object before attaching it to the record:
1. From the GIS menu, select Create GIS Objects to open the map.
2. Navigate the map to the location where you want to create a map feature. See Creating and Editing
Map Features.
• View a GIS object on the map:
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From the list of map features on the GIS section, click the Feature ID of the GIS object you want to
view. The map dashboard highlights the selected GIS object. For example:
• Detach a GIS object from the record:
From the list of map features on the GIS section, select the Feature ID you want to delete, and click
Delete:
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The Map Contents Panel
The map Contents panel shows reference and transactional records associated with the selected GIS
objects on the map.
Accela GIS provides various ways to select GIS objects or features on the map. When you select multiple
GIS objects on the map, the Contents panel slides out on the right, and lists the related parcels, assets,
and GIS objects on the following tabs:
•Records - Lists the parcels, assets, and transactional records that are associated with the selected GIS
objects on the map:
This tab is refreshed when you select or de-select items on the GIS Objects tab or when you select
more objects on the map. For details, see Records on the Contents panel.
•GIS Objects - Lists the GIS objects or features that are selected on the map. The GIS objects are listed
by the map layer they belong to:
If you select or de-select items from this tab, the lists of related parcels, assets, and records on the
Records tab will be refreshed. For details, see GIS Objects on the Contents panel.
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Note: If you select more than 50 GIS objects on the map, the GIS Objects tab will list the selected
GIS objects, and also prompt you to reduce your selection to 50 or less. When you have reduced
your selection to less than 50, the Records tab becomes available and lists the reference and
transactional records associated with your reduced selection.
Records on the Contents panel
The Records tab shows an expandable/collapsible list of the parcels, assets, and transactional records
associated with the selected GIS objects on the map:
On the Records tab, you can:
• Expand either Parcels, Assets, or Records to see the items under each type. You can see the number
of parcels, assets, or records found with the selected GIS objects.
The Parcels and Assets lists show the parcels and assets associated with the selected GIS objects.
The Records list summarizes the records attached to the parcels and assets on the Records tab.
Note that the Records list is a summarized listing of the records attached to the parcels and assets.
• View a summary about each item on the list. For the list of fields of fields displayed on each list, see
Summary information on the Records tab.
• Hover your cursor on an item to highlight it on the map:
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• Click an item link to see more details about the parcel, asset, or transactional record:
When you click an item link, it opens the detail page:
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• If a parcel or asset has related transaction, click the Show Details link to expand a list of the related
transaction records:
• Select items on the list, and choose an action to apply to your selection:
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• Select or de-select all items on a specific list.
Note: CLEAR ALL on top of the Contents panel clears all selections on both the Records and
GIS Objects tabs.
GIS Objects on the Contents panel
The GIS Objects tab shows an expandable/collapsible list of the selected GIS objects on the map. The
GIS objects are grouped by their map layers:
Note: If you do not see a map layer you are interested in, make sure the map layers you want to
select GIS objects from are visible and selectable (by opening the Layers widget and checking the
VISIBLE and SELECTABLE property of the map layers.)
On the GIS Objects tab, you can:
• Expand a map layer to see the selected GIS objects on that layer. You can see the number of GIS
objects selected on each layer.
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• Hover your cursor on a GIS object to highlight it on the map:
• Click a GIS object link to see more details about it:
• Select GIS objects, and choose an action to apply to your selection:
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For the list of available actions, see the GIS Object Actions.
• Select or de-select all GIS objects on a specific map layer.
Note: CLEAR ALL on top of the Contents panel clears all selections on both the Records and
GIS Objects tabs.
Summary information on the Records tab
The following fields are displayed on the Parcels, Assets, and Records lists on the Records tab of the
Contents panel:
Parcels • Parcel ID
• Parcel owner
• Parcel address line 1
• Parcel address line 2
• Parcel status
• Related transactions, if any
Assets • Asset ID
• Asset group
• Asset type
• Asset class type
• Asset install date
• Asset status
• Related transactions, if any
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Records • Record custom ID
• Record opened date
• Record type
• Record address line 1
• Record address line 2
• Record status
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Map-based Actions
Accela GIS allows you to perform map-based transactions using the Actions menu on the map Contents
panel. When you select an area on the map, you can quickly view related transactions and take actions
within your current workflow.
On the Contents panel, the Actions menu becomes enabled after you select items on a list. The following
diagram shows the Actions menu on the Parcels list:
This section provides a reference list of available actions for each list on the Contents panel.
Addresses
•Create New Record - Opens the application intake form to allow you to submit a new record using the
selected addresses.
•Show Documents - Opens the document list for the selected addresses.
Assets
•Create a Work Order - Creates a single work order for all of the selected assets.
•Create Multiple Work Orders - Creates separate work orders for each of the selected assets.
Parcels
•Create New Record - Opens the application intake form to allow you to submit a new record using the
selected parcels.
•Show Documents - Opens the document list for the selected parcels.
•Buffer Selection - Selects GIS objects within a specified radius distance from the selected parcels.
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Records
•Create Inspections - Opens the inspection intake form to allow you to schedule inspections using the
selected records.
•Show Documents - Opens the document list for the selected records.
GIS Objects
•Create New Record - Opens the application intake form to allow you to submit a new record using the
selected GIS objects. If you selected multiple GIS objects, you will be prompted to select the primary
GIS object to be associated to the new record.
For related configuration information about enabling auto-population of address, parcel, and GIS object
information into a record, see Civic Platform Configuration Guide > Configuring and Enabling APO and
XAPO Features.
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Locating Places
Topics:
•Finding an Address or Place
•Finding parcels on the Civic Platform map
•Clicking a location on the Civic Platform map
•Navigating to a Bookmarked or Browser Location
•Geo-locating Records
Finding an Address or Place
To find an address or place, enter the address or place on the Finder box. Civic Platform GIS will
automatically list locations that match your entry on a drop-down list. You can select an item from the list or
finish typing the complete address and press Enter (or click the Search icon). Civic Platform GIS zooms to
the selected location. Click X to clear the Finder and start another search.
The following diagram shows a sample address entry on the Finder:
Finding parcels on the Civic Platform map
To search for a specific parcel on a Civic Platform map, type a parcel ID on the search box. As you type
the parcel ID, Civic Platform GIS lists suggested addresses and parcel IDs. You can either enter a full
parcel ID or select the parcel ID from the result list.
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When Civic Platform GIS matches the parcel ID, the map zooms to the parcel, displays a map marker on
the parcel, and highlights the parcel. You can click the parcel to see the GIS information and action panel:
Clicking a location on the Civic Platform map
When a user clicks on the map, JavaScript GIS searches the Civic Platform database for GIS objects on
the clicked location.
• If multiple GIS objects are found on the clicked location, the What's Here menu shows the found
address, its x-y coordinates, and a summary count of the GIS objects:
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From the list of GIS objects, a user can select a GIS object and perform any of the available actions on
the selected object.
• If only a parcel exists on the clicked location:
• The parcel is highlighted, and the GIS information and action panel is displayed.
• If the user clicks on a line between two parcels, both will be highlighted and both will be listed in the
GIS information panel.
• If a parcel does not exist on the clicked location, the geocoding address is used and the parcel
associated with the geocoding address is shown.
• If an address is not found on the clicked location, only the x-y coordinates are shown.
• The x-y coordinates on the clicked location currently cannot be used to perform any action. Due to this
limitation, the "Drop Pin" functionality on the What's Here menu has been removed in JavaScript GIS
9.0.0 to avoid confusion.
Navigating to a Bookmarked or Browser Location
To navigate to a bookmark or your current browser’s saved location, click the Bookmark icon . The
following diagram shows a sample Locate Me panel:
On the Bookmark panel, you can:
1: Navigate and zoom into a bookmarked location. An existing bookmark cannot be updated. To update it,
delete the existing bookmark and add a new bookmark for the new location.
2: Delete a bookmark.
3: Bookmark the current location.
4: Navigate and zoom into your browser’s current location.
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Map Layers
A map view consists of multiple layers from a map service or a mash-up of multiple map service providers.
For example, a single map view can have separate layers for geographic features, city streets, hydrants,
street lights, parcels, and others. The administrator configures the default map layers that are available,
visible, and editable by user group members.
Depending on the permission settings defined for the user group you belong to, you can customize the
visibility of the map layers according to your workflow needs. For example, if you want to only see the
fire hydrants, you can show only the Hydrants layer and hide the other layers, or you can show all layers
and move up the Hydrants layer and adjust the transparency so you can see their proximity to other GIS
objects.
The Layers widget to allow map users to easily set the visible and selectable attributes of the map layers.
Visible and Selectable Map Attributes
The Layers widget is a handy tool that shows the various map services and layers on the map. When
a user clicks the Layerswidget for the first time, the Layers widget displays the map services the user
has access to, and whether they are visible or selectable. The following sample Layers widget shows the
sample Multiple/Petaluma_River_Floodplain and Petaluma_SDE map services, which the logged-in map
user has access to:
Note: If a map service name is truncated because it is too long, hover your mouse over the map
service name to see its full name.
On the list of map services, the user can expand a map service to see its map layers. The Layers widget
allows users to control their map view by setting the visible or selectable attributes of the map layers. This
is especially helpful when selecting or editing multiple GIS objects on map service mash-ups.
For example, a street light inspector might want to see and update the street lights within a particular area,
relative to address and street locations. Although he wants to see the street lights, streets, and addresses,
he is only interested in inspecting street light GIS information. In this scenario, the inspector can set the
Street Light layer as visible and selectable, and all other layers as visible only. With these settings, when
he selects an area covering the street lights he needs to inspect, only the street lights are selected and
displayed on the GIS Objects tab of the map Contents panel:
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Note: If there are parcels and assets associated with the selected GIS objects, they will be listed
on the Records tab of the map Contents panel.
On the Layers widget, a user can:
• Expand or collapse the hierarchical list of map services and map layers.
• Toggle the VISIBLE checkbox to show or hide a map service or layer.
• The current visibility of a map layer depends on its configured visibility scale on the map service.
If the map is not currently zoomed at the configured scale dependency, the map layer on the Layers
widget is disabled. When the user zooms into a visible scale, the map layer along with the VISIBLE
and SELECTABLE checkboxes become enabled.
• Un-checking the VISIBLE checkbox for a map service hides all of its map layers. However, changing
the VISIBLE checkbox for a map service (or a parent map layer) does not change the VISIBLE
checkboxes of the children map layers.
The VISIBLE checkbox settings for children map layers persist to allow a user to easily toggle the
setting at the parent level and adjust it at the individual level only if necessary. (Let's say a map
service has at least 20 layers, a user can just toggle the visibility at the map service level and avoid
having to un-check/re-check at least 20 checkboxes.)
• Un-checking the VISIBLE checkbox automatically un-checks the SELECTABLE checkbox. A map
service or layer is selectable only if it is visible.
• Re-checking the VISIBLE checkbox does not automatically re-check the SELECTABLE checkbox
because a visible layer is not necessarily selectable. A user must explicitly make a map layer
selectable.
• Toggle the SELECTABLE checkbox to allow or disallow GIS object selection on the map service or
layer.
• Un-checking the SELECTABLE checkbox for a map service unselects all of its map layers. However,
changing the SELECTABLE checkbox for a map service (or a parent map layer) does not change
the SELECTABLE checkboxes of the children map layers.
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The SELECTABLE checkbox settings for children map layers persist to allow a user to easily toggle
the setting at the parent level and adjust it at the individual level only if necessary. (Let's say a map
service has at least 20 layers, a user can just toggle the selectable at the map service level and
avoid having to un-select/re-select at least 20 checkboxes.)
• If the VISIBLE checkbox is un-checked or a map layer is not visible at the current zoom level, the
SELECTABLE checkbox is disabled.
• Move the Opacity slider under a map service to adjust its opacity (100%) or transparency (0%).
• Edit a map layer.
• If a user has edit permissions on a map layer, a pencil icon appears next to the layer name.
• For details about how to edit a map layer, see Creating and Editing Map Features.
• Run a QUERY if a map service contains layers that have been configured with a dynamic theme query.
The following example shows the QUERY link for the Permits map service containing dynamic theme
queries for the Buildings objects, Open Permits, and Street objects map layers:
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The GIS administrator configures the map service permissions and the initial settings of the VISIBLE
and SELECTABLE attributes for the Default or any named GIS user group. For details about granting
permissions to map layers, see Configuring Accela GIS > Product Integrations > User Groups > Map Layer
Settings in Accela GIS Administrator Guide.
Related Information
Selecting Map Features
Creating and Editing Map Features
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Selecting Map Features
Topics:
•Selectable map layers
•Single Map Selection
•Multiple Map Selections
Selectable map layers
You can select GIS objects on map layers that are visible and selectable. The visible and selectable map
layer attributes are initially configured by the GIS administrator on the GIS Administration site, and you (as
a map user) can also enable and disable these attributes on the Layers widget.
The following Layers widget shows that the user has permissions to the sample Petaluma_Demo map
profile containing the Parcels and Buildings map layers, which are marked as visible and selectable.
Single Map Selection
Accela GIS shows GIS features and transactional information found on any location you click on the map.
While you are navigating and analyzing an area of interest on the map, you can click on a map location to
select it and to see what is at that location.
Note: To have the ability to select GIS objects on the map, make sure the map layers you want to
select GIS objects from are visible and selectable. See Selectable map layers.
The following example shows a selected map location:
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The context menu shows the location’s address, x and y coordinates, and all the GIS objects found on
that map location. The context menu uses the GIS legend symbols used on the map, and indicates how
many GIS objects for each type were found. In this example, the user is interested in seeing the parcel
information, and clicked the found Parcels line item.
When you select a map layer (for example Parcels), the What’s Here menu shows the GIS object IDs
found on that layer. If multiple GIS objects are found, for example, if you clicked on a point that intersects
several parcels, the What’s Here menu lists all the intersecting parcel IDs, as shown below:
Select the object ID to see the actions that can be applied on that GIS object.
From the list of object IDs, you can select an The following example illustrates the Show GIS Information
command from the Action Items menu, and the GIS information for the selected parcel:
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Multiple Map Selections
You can select multiple map locations and see their GIS features and related transactional records. For
multiple map selections, Accela GIS displays all selected GIS features, related transactional records, and
drill-down information along with action commands on a slide-out Contents panel.
Note: To have the ability to select GIS objects on the map, make sure the map layers you want to
select GIS objects from are visible and selectable. See Selectable map layers.
•Selecting Non-Contiguous Locations
•Using the Map Selection Tool
•Distance Buffer Selection
•Drive-Time Buffer Selection
Selecting Non-Contiguous Locations
Press and hold the Shift key while you click on multiple map locations. The following diagram shows three
non-contiguous parcels that have been selected using the Shift key:
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On the Records tab of the slide-out panel, expand the record type (Parcels, Assets, or Records), and
hover the cursor on a line item to highlight the object on the map. Click the GIS Objects tab to see the list
of GIS object ID(s) and apply an action on selected object ID(s).
Using the Map Selection Tool
The map selection tool allows users to select GIS objects across map layers by rectangle, polygon, or
polyline:
Using the map selection tool, users can select GIS objects on the visible and selectable map layers. The
map selection tool provides the following options:
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•Select by rectangle - Selects GIS objects inside and intersecting the rectangle.
•Select by polygon - Selects GIS objects inside and intersecting the polygon.
•Select by polyline- Selects GIS objects intersecting the polyline.
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Tips on using the map selection tool
•A highlighted selection tool ( ), indicates that the map view is in selection mode. To exit the selection
mode, click the selection tool to unhighlight it ( ).
• If a user wants to choose another area to make a selection using the Select by rectangle tool, exit the
selection mode, and pan the map to a different area.
• A user can select up to 1000 GIS objects (from all layers). When the selection tool selects more than
1000 GIS objects, a message notifies the user to reduce the number of selected objects.
Distance Buffer Selection
Another way to select multiple locations on a map or query map features is to select a distance buffer. A
distance buffer allows you to define an area around a selected point, line, or polygon feature so that all GIS
objects located within the area are automatically selected. Distance buffer selection only applies to a single
map layer.
For example, if you want to send a notification to the property owners that live within 300 feet of a certain
parcel, click on that parcel and then define a distance buffer to automatically select all parcels within a 300
feet radius.
To select multiple GIS objects using a distance buffer
1. Click a point on the map, and select a GIS object. Your selected location acts as the center point of
your distance buffer.
Note: You can also perform a distance buffer selection from the Actions menu on the Records
panel when you are plotting parcels.
2. On the next window, choose Buffer Select.
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3. On the Buffer Select window, enter your distance buffer selection:
Map Service The default map service displays. If more than one map service is
configured, you can choose another map service from the drop-
down list.
Map Layer The map layer containing the objects you want to include in the
distance buffer.
Distance The length around the point or map feature you clicked on. Enter
the distance and unit of measure.
The buffer selection result shows the records and GIS objects that match the buffer distance criteria.
The following diagram shows the Records tab which lists parcels, assets, and records that match the
buffer selection:
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The following diagram shows the GIS Objects tab which lists the GIS objects that match the buffer
selection:
From the Buffer Selection panel on the right, you can select records or GIS objects, drill-down to get more
details, or choose an action to perform.
Drive-Time Buffer Selection
A user can query map features by defining a drive-time buffer which is an area that can be reached within
a specified number of minutes. Drive-time buffer selection only applies to a single map layer.
Note: This feature is only available with the ArcGIS Online map service.
To select multiple GIS objects using a distance buffer
1. Click a point on the map, and select either a found GIS object or the Use Location menu option. Your
selected location acts as the starting point of your drive-time buffer.
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2. On the next window, choose Drive-Time Buffer Select.
3. On the Drive-Time Buffer Select window, enter your drive-time buffer selection:
Map Service The default map service displays. If more than one map service is
configured, you can choose another map service from the drop-
down list.
Map Layer The map layer containing the objects you want to include in the
distance buffer.
Minutes The number of driving minutes from the point or map feature
you clicked on. The driving time is calculated by the map service
based on speed limit and street network.
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Creating and Editing Map Features
The layer editing tool on the Layers widget allows you to create or modify map features to accurately
match actual geographic objects on the map. For example, if a public works maintenance worker recently
installed a sign above a traffic light, you can add a map feature to represent the sign at its exact location.
After a map feature has been created or modified, you can add it to the GIS database and attach it to a
new or existing transaction record.
Note: To allow a map user to edit a map layer, a GIS Administrator must grant the user Edit
Permissions. For configuration details, see Configuring Accela GIS > Product Integrations > User
Groups > Map Layer Settings on Accela GIS Administrator Guide.
Topics:
•Editing a layer
•Adding a GIS Object
•Editing a GIS Object
•Editing Tips
Editing a layer
The layer editing tool opens a selected map layer in an edit layer session during which the user can add or
update GIS object drawings and attributes.
The layer editing tool icon appears next to the layer name if the map is zoomed at a visible scale, and
if the user has permission to edit the map layer. The following sample Layers widget shows next to the
Parks map layer, which is visible and editable by the logged-in user:
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Note: In the above example, the Zoning layer has a pencil icon because the user has permission
to edit it. However the Zoning layer is disabled because it is not visible at the current zoom level.
The Rivers layer does not have a pencil icon because the user does not have permissions to edit
that layer.
To edit a layer, click the icon next to the map layer. The edit layer session displays the Edit Layer
toolbar, Layers widget, and Edit GIS Object panel:
The edit layer session disables the Search box, selection tool, zoom control, and the other map widgets.
The edit layer session also resets the GIS Objects panel. After you stop an edit layer session, the GIS
Objects panel shows only the new or updated GIS object(s) on the map layer that was just edited. This
GIS Objects panel (that is displayed after an edit layer session ends) does not show GIS objects that were
previously selected before you started the edit layer session.
Adding a GIS Object
To add a GIS object to a map layer:
1. Start a layer edit session:
a. Click to open the Layers widget.
b. Click next to the map layer you want to edit.
Note: If you do not see the pencil icon, you do not have edit permissions on the layer. If the
pencil icon is disabled, zoom into a visible scale.
2. Click on the Edit Layer toolbar. The cursor displays as the + symbol and becomes a "sticky" cursor.
3. To start drawing, click the + cursor at the first point of the GIS object on the map.
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4. Click the + sticky cursor at each subsequent vertex of a polygon or polyline.
5. To end the drawing, double-click at the last vertex.
The new GIS object is highlighted, and the Edit GIS Object panel displays the GIS object attributes.
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6. On the Edit GIS Object panel, enter the GIS object attribute values. The required fields are indicated
with a red asterisk.
The Edit GIS Object panel validates required fields and data formats. A field entry that passes
validation is highlighted as green, and a field that fails validation is highlighted as red.
If any field failed validation, the Edit GIS Object panel displays the message "n error(s) found. Click to
fix" where n is the number of validation errors. For example:
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To jump to the first field with the validation error (and avoid scrolling), click the message "n error(s)
found. Click to fix." After fixing the error, you can click the message again to jump to the subsequent
validation error. The Submit button is disabled until all field entries are valid.
7. Click Cancel on the Edit GIS Object panel to cancel any un-submitted drawing and attribute values.
The Cancel button removes the un-submitted GIS object from the map and the Edit GIS Object panel.
You will be prompted to confirm the cancellation of unsaved GIS objects in the edit layer session.
8. Click Submit to save the GIS object in the map service.
Once the transaction is complete, the Edit GIS Object panel slides out, and the new GIS object is
shown on the GIS Objects panel.
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9. Optionally, click the icon again to add another GIS object. After finishing a GIS object drawing and
data entry, click Submit to save the GIS object in the map service.
Note: Only one GIS object can be submitted at a time. However, multiple transactions can be
submitted during an edit layer session.
10.Click the STOP EDITING button on the Edit Layer toolbar to exit the edit layer session and view the
new GIS object on the map, along with other map
Note: If STOP EDITING is clicked without submitting the last GIS object data entry or drawing,
the user will be prompted to discard any changes or to resume the edit layer session.
Note: After you stop editing, the GIS Objects panel shows only the new or updated GIS
object(s) on the map layer that was just edited. This GIS Objects panel does not show
GIS objects that were previously selected before you started the edit layer session. Any
subsequently selected GIS objects will be appended to the GIS Objects panel.
Editing a GIS Object
To edit an existing GIS object on a map layer:
1. Start a layer edit session:
a. Click to open the Layers widget.
b. Click next to the map layer you want to edit.
Note: If you do not see the pencil icon, you do not have edit permissions on the layer. If the
pencil icon is disabled, zoom into a visible scale.
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2. Click the GIS object to be modified. The vertices on the GIS object appear, and the Edit GIS Object
panel shows the GIS object attributes.
3. To change the shape of an existing GIS object, click and drag the vertices.
Note: A vertex cannot be added nor deleted from an existing GIS object.
4. Modify GIS object attribute values on the Edit GIS Object panel as needed.
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The Edit GIS Object panel validates required fields and data formats. A field entry that passes
validation is highlighted as green, and a field entry that fails validation is highlighted as red. Multiple
validation errors are listed at the top of the Edit GIS Object panel. The user can click an error message
on the list to jump to the field with the validation error. The Submit button is disabled until all field
entries are valid.
5. Click Cancel on the Edit GIS Object panel to cancel any un-submitted modifications on the drawing
and attribute values. The Cancel button reverts the GIS object back to its previously saved state,
including its drawing and attributes. You will be prompted to confirm the cancellation of unsaved GIS
objects in the edit layer session.
6. Click Submit to save the GIS object in the map service.
Once the transaction is complete, the Edit GIS Object panel slides out, and the new or updated GIS
object is shown on the GIS Objects panel. You can view the GIS object properties to review your
modifications.
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Note: The GIS Objects panel above only shows the map layer that was edited. It does not show
GIS objects that are selected from other map layers.
7. Optionally click the icon again to add another GIS object. After finishing a GIS object drawing and
data entry, click Submit to save the GIS object in the map service.
Note: Only one GIS object can be submitted at a time. However, multiple transactions can be
submitted during an edit layer session.
8. Click the STOP EDITING button on the Edit Layer toolbar to exit the edit layer session and view the
modified GIS object on the map, along with other map
Note: If STOP EDITING is clicked without submitting the last GIS object data entry or drawing,
the user will be prompted to discard any changes or to resume the edit layer session.
Editing Tips
• After double-clicking to end a GIS object drawing, you cannot add another point to the drawing. If you
mistakenly ended the drawing, click Cancel on the Edit GIS Object panel, and re-draw the shape. The
edit layer session currently does not support un-do nor re-do actions.
• To pan to another area of the map, click-hold-drag the map to another location.
• Zoom the map to a visible scale before starting an edit layer session. Because the edit layer session
requires that the map layer is within the visible scale range, the zoom level cannot be changed during
the edit layer session.
• You can show or hide other map layers on the Layers widget during an edit layer session to view the
new or modified GIS object relative to other map layers.
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• To edit a different layer, click the STOP EDITING button to exit the current edit layer session. On the
Layers widget, click the layer editing tool next to the other layer.
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Redlining and Annotating a Map
To annotate a map with shapes or text labels, click the Draw icon . The following diagram shows a
sample Draw panel:
On the Draw panel, you can:
1: Select a drawing tool, either a point, line, shape, or text label.
2: Clear any drawing or text label on the map.
3: See a preview of the shape or text label.
4: Choose color, transparency, and outline attributes. For a text label, you can choose the font color and
text size.
5: For line or shape drawing tools, show measurements and choose the units.
6: Expand or adjust the size of the Draw panel.
After you have set the drawing tool attributes, click-and-drag your mouse on the map to draw the shape.
For a text label, select the Text icon , enter the text on the Text field, and point-and-click where you
want to place the text label. You can use the Print widget to export your annotated map into a PDF or JPG
file, and send it to the printer or attach it to a record or notification letter.
The following diagram shows a sample annotation which helps an agency user to identify proposed work
location and add relevant comments.
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Note:
To draw a combination of annotation shapes and labels, work with one annotation at a time. For example,
first select a shape tool, adjust its attributes, then draw the shape on the map. If you need to make a change,
click Clear and redo the shape. After you are satisfied with the shape and need a text label, click the text
tool. Enter the text on the Text field and adjust the text attributes, then point-and-click on the shape where
you want the text label to appear.
Note:
To estimate the placement of a text label, the point on which you click is the center of the text label.
Note:
Remember to select a drawing tool before drawing on the map. You cannot draw on the map unless you
have clicked a drawing tool on the Draw panel.
Note:
The drawing tool offers basic, temporary annotation capabilities. It currently does not allow you to undo nor
update an existing annotation. If you click Clear, all current annotations will be cleared.
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Printing a Map
To print a map, click the Print icon . Printing a map will export the map to a selected format. To send
the map to a printer, send the exported file to the printer. The following table describes the print options:
Table 17: Print options
Map Title The map title appears at the top of the page. The maximum number of characters is
85.
Layout The page size and orientation.
Format The file format to export to: PDF, EPS, JPG, PNG 8-bit, PNG 32-bit, SVG, and SVGZ
(compressed).
Advanced > Map scale/
extent Choose either the current map scale, default map extent, or a forced scale. Click the
current scale
link to determine the current map scale number and adjust it as needed.
Advanced > Layout
metadata The Author and Copyright information. In addition, select the Include legend
checkbox to display the map legend.
Advanced > MAP_ONLY
size The Width and Height (in pixels) dimensions of the map.
Advanced > Print quality The DPI (dots per inch) number to specify the print resolution.
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Geo-locating Records
Accela GIS provides geographic visualization of Civic Platform records and the ability to process records
directly from a map.
Topics:
•Showing records from a map
•Plotting records on the map
•Creating a new record from a map
•Attaching GIS objects to a record
Showing records from a map
Using the Map dashboard in Civic Platform, you can see and analyze Civic Platform records within the
context of their geographic locations. When you select one or more map locations, the Show Records
option is available either on the context menu or on the Actions menu on the slide-out panel. The Show
Records option displays all records associated with the selected GIS feature, and also provides links to
related transaction details.
The following diagram shows a sample record and related transaction detail associated with a selected
parcel on the map. You can click a record link to see details on a record intake form.
Note: When you click on a map location and only see the x and y coordinates instead of the
context menu with the action items, make sure you select the appropriate map layer as Selectable
on the Layers widget .
The following diagram shows a map with multiple selected locations (using a distance buffer selection) and
the Actions menu with the Show Records option:
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The following diagram shows the records and transactions associated with the selected GIS objects on the
slide-out panel:
Plotting records on the map
While browsing a record list, you can select records and plot them on the map. To plot records on the map:
1. From the Civic Platform dashboard, open Records.
2. Select the records you want to plot, and click GIS. The following example shows a list of active records
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The selected records display on the Records panel on the right, and the map plots parcels, assets, and
addresses attached to the selected records. The Records panel lists the plotted records and summary
information about each record:
The Records panel displays the following record information, if available:
• Record custom ID
• Record opened date
• Record type
• Record address line 1
• Record address line 2
• Record status
Note the following:
• For each selected record, the map plots any associated parcels, assets, and GIS objects. If a record
has multiple addresses, the primary address is plotted.
• The GIS feature highlighted for each record is based on the link ID field stored in the AGIS_Object
table.
• If any of the selected records from the list could not be plotted on the map because they do not have
associated GIS objects, a message window appears with the list of unplotted record. For example:
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3. On the Records panel, you can:
• Hover your mouse over an address to highlight it on the map:
• Click a record link to see its details:
To go back to the plotted map, click the current Record workspace.
• Select records and click Actions to perform one of the following actions:
•Create Inspections - Opens the inspection intake form to allow you to schedule inspections
using the selected records.
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•Show Documents - Opens the document list for the selected records.
4. To go back from the map to the Record list, click the back arrow:
Creating a new record from a map
While working with map features, you can create records to be associated with your selected GIS objects.
This allows you to visually confirm the geographic objects within your agency’s jurisdiction that requires
additional action, and also allows you to bind GIS information with transactional records in Civic Platform.
These records can be a permit application, work order, service request, asset condition assessment, and
other record types supported in Civic Platform.
You can create a record for a single GIS feature, or create records for multiple selections. If you selected
a single map feature, create a new record by choosing Create New Record from the context menu. For
example:
If you selected multiple map features, select the GIS objects displayed on the slide-out panel, and choose
Create New Record from the Actions menu. For example:
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Create New Record prompts you for a record type, and opens a Civic Platform intake form. It automatically
displays GIS information from the selected GIS objects so that you do not need to enter the GIS
information. If you selected multiple GIS objects, you will be prompted to choose the primary GIS object to
attach to the new record. Any reference information that already exists in Civic Platform such as the parcel
information also automatically displays on the intake form.
Note: The same Civic Platform user group permissions apply when creating a record from a map. For
example, if you can create work orders and service requests in Civic Platform, you can also create them
from a map.
Attaching GIS objects to a record
While working with records in Civic Platform, you can create and attach GIS objects to the current
record. This allows anyone working with the record to geographically visualize the impact or extent of the
transaction record within the agency’s jurisdiction. For example, a permit clerk can draw the exact location
of a new property including the extent of its environmental impact. The geographic data enhances the
transaction record and can help with facilitating efficient and effective transaction workflows.
From the GIS section of a record detail, you can:
• Attach one or more existing GIS objects to the record:
1. From the GIS menu, select Show/Select GIS Objects.
Civic Platform opens the map.
2. Navigate the map to find and select the map features you want to attach to the record.
The following sample diagram shows two selected parcels to be attached to the current record:
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3. On the slide-out panel, select the GIS object layer (for example, parcels), select the GIS objects (for
example, the parcel IDs), and choose Actions > Attach to Record:
4. If you selected multiple GIS objects, Civic Platform prompts you to choose the primary GIS object.
For example:
5. Click the < navigation link at the top left corner of the map to go back to the record detail.
The GIS section shows the selected GIS objects that have been attached to the record. The
following sample diagram shows the two selected parcels that are now attached to a record:
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• Create a new GIS object before attaching it to the record:
1. From the GIS menu, select Create GIS Objects to open the map.
2. Navigate the map to the location where you want to create a map feature. See Creating and Editing
Map Features.
• View a GIS object on the map:
From the list of map features on the GIS section, click the Feature ID of the GIS object you want to
view. The map dashboard highlights the selected GIS object. For example:
• Detach a GIS object from the record:
From the list of map features on the GIS section, select the Feature ID you want to delete, and click
Delete:
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Plotting Assets on the Map
Back-office users can plot selected assets on the map and see the asset records while viewing the map.
To plot assets on the map:
1. From the Civic Platform dashboard, open Assets.
2. Select the assets you want to plot, and click GIS (Note: Your agency may configure this button label as
"Map"):
The map displays the plotted assets and a Records panel on the right. The Records panel lists the
plotted assets and summary information about each asset:
The Records panel displays the following asset information, if available:
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• Asset ID
• Asset group
• Asset type
• Asset class type
• Asset install date
• Asset status
• Related transactions, if any
Note the following:
• The asset feature highlighted for each asset reference record is based on the link ID field stored in
the AGIS_Object table.
• If there is no asset found for the item, and the asset has an address on the asset reference record,
the address is geo-coded based on the geocoding settings in Accela GIS administration.
• For assets with GIS objects and multiple addresses, the GIS object will be plotted instead of the
addresses. If there are no GIS objects, the addresses will be plotted.
• If any of the selected assets from the list could not be plotted on the map because they do not exist
in the GIS database, a message window appears with the list of unplotted assets. For example:
3. On the Records panel, you can:
• Hover your mouse over an asset to highlight it on the map:
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• Click an asset link to see its details:
To go back to the plotted map, click the current Assets workspace.
• Select one or more assets, and choose an action from the Actions menu:
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The following actions are available:
•Create a Work Order - Creates a single work order for all of the selected assets.
•Create Multiple Work Orders - Creates separate work orders for each of the selected assets.
For details about creating a work order, see Creating a Work Order from an Asset List.
4. To go back from the map to the Assets list, click the back arrow:
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Plotting Addresses on the Map
Back-office users can plot selected addresses on the map and see the address records while viewing the
map.
To plot addresses on the map:
1. From the Civic Platform dashboard, open Addresses.
2. From an address list, select the addresses you want to plot, and click GIS:
The map displays the plotted addresses or associated parcels and a Records panel on the right. The
Records panel lists the plotted addresses and parcel IDs associated with each address:
The Records panel displays the following address information, if available:
• Address line 1
• Address line 2
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• Address line 3
• Address line 4
Note the following:
• Parcels associated to the address are highlighted based on the address-parcel relationship.
• If there is no address-parcel relationship, the address is plotted based on the X-Y coordinate.
• If there is no address-parcel relationship, and the X-Y coordinates are non-existent or invalid, the
address is geocoded based on the geocoding configuration in the Accela GIS Administration site.
• Address intersections are not yet supported. Address geocoding is currently used to plot the
geographic coordinates of address intersections on the map.
• If any of the selected addresses from the list could not be plotted on the map because they do not
exist in the GIS database, a message window appears with the list of unplotted addresses. For
example:
3. On the Contents panel, you can:
• Hover your mouse over an address to highlight it on the map. If there is a parcel associated with the
address, the parcel is highlighted.
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• Select addresses and click Actions to perform one of the following actions:
•Create New Record - Opens the application intake form to allow you to submit a new record
using the selected addresses.
•Show Documents - Opens the document list for the selected addresses.
• Click an address link to see the address details:
To go back to the plotted map, click the current Addresses workspace icon.
4. To go back from the map to the Addresses list, click the back arrow:
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Plotting Parcels on the Map
Back-office users can plot selected parcels on the map and see the parcel records while viewing the map.
To plot parcels on the map:
1. From the Civic Platform dashboard, open Parcels.
2. Select the parcels you want to plot, and click GIS:
The map displays the plotted parcels and a Records panel on the right. The Records panel lists the
plotted parcels and summary information about each parcel:
The Records panel displays the following parcel information, if available:
• Parcel ID
• Parcel owner
• Parcel address line 1
• Parcel address line 2
• Parcel status
• Related transactions, if any
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Note the following:
• The parcel feature highlighted for each parcel reference record is based on the link ID field stored in
the AGIS_Object table.
• If there is no parcel found for the item, and the parcel has an address on the parcel reference record,
the address is geo-coded based on the geocoding settings in Accela GIS administration.
• For parcels with GIS objects and multiple addresses, the GIS object will be plotted instead of the
addresses. If there are no GIS objects, the addresses will be plotted.
• If any of the selected parcel from the list could not be plotted on the map because they do not exist
in the GIS database, a message window appears with the list of unplotted parcels. For example:
3. On the Records panel, you can:
• Hover your mouse over a parcel to highlight it on the map:
• Click a parcel link to see its details:
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To go back to the plotted map, click the current Parcels workspace.
• Select parcels and click Actions to perform one of the following actions:
•Create New Record - Opens the application intake form to allow you to submit a new record
using the selected parcels.
•Show Documents - Opens the document list for the selected parcels.
•Buffer Selection - Selects GIS objects within a specified radius distance from the selected
parcels.
• Expand the Records list to see related transactional records:
• Select records and click Actions to perform one of the following actions:
•Create Inspections - Opens the inspection intake form to allow you to schedule inspections
using the selected records.
•Show Documents - Opens the document list for the selected records.
4. To go back from the map to the Parcels list, click the back arrow:
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Plotting Inspections on the Map
Back-office users can plot selected inspections on the map and see the inspection records while viewing
the map.
To plot inspections on the map:
1. From the Civic Platform dashboard, open Inspections.
2. Select the inspections you want to plot, and click Show Locations on Map:
The map displays the plotted inspections using inspection map symbols and a Records panel on the
right. The Records panel lists the plotted inspections and summary information about each inspection:
The inspections are plotted using the following map symbols:
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Map symbol Description
The default status when an inspection has just been created and scheduled.
The Records panel shows the inspection status as "Scheduled".
The assigned inspection status whose inspection result type is Approved.
The Records panel shows the inspection result status that is mapped to the Approved inspection
result type.
The assigned inspection status whose inspection result type is Denied.
The Records panel shows the inspection result status that is mapped to the Denied inspection
result type.
The assigned inspection status whose inspection result type is Pending.
The Records panel shows the inspection result status that is mapped to the Pending inspection
result type.
Note: Your agency can configure multiple inspection result statuses in the inspection result
group assigned to an inspection type. The inspection result statuses are mapped to one of the
following inspection result types:
• Approved
• Denied
• Pending
When you plot resulted inspections, the Records panel shows the inspection result status that
is mapped to the inspection result type. In the sample diagram above, the sample inspection
Other Encroachment - 7595813 shows an Accepted status. This sample inspection
belongs to an inspection type whose inspection result group has been configured with the
following sample list of inspection result statuses:
The Records panel displays the following inspection information:
• Inspection type and inspection ID
• Record type
• Record type alias
• Inspection address line 1
• Inspection address line 2
• Inspection x-coordinate and y-coordinate
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• Inspection status
• Inspector
• Scheduled date and time
Note the following:
• If the inspection has an x-coordinate and y-coordinate value, these values are displayed. If the
inspection does not have an x-coordinate and y-coordinate value, the inspection address is plotted
on the map (using the inspection map symbols).
• If the inspection does not have x-coordinate and y-coordinate nor address at the inspection level,
the record x-coordinate and y-coordinate values are displayed on the map. If the inspection does not
have x-coordinate and y-coordinate nor address at the inspection level nor the record x-coordinate
and y-coordinate, the record address is plotted on the map.
• If the inspection has associated GIS objects (such as parcels via the record), the GIS objects are
also plotted on the map, in addition to the inspection marker.
• If any of the selected inspection from the list could not be plotted on the map because they do not
exist in the GIS database, a message window appears with the list of unplotted inspections. For
example:
3. On the Records panel, you can:
• Hover your mouse over an inspection to highlight it on the map:
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• Click an inspection link to see its details:
To go back to the plotted map, click the current Inspections workspace.
4. To go back from the map to the Inspections list, click the back arrow:
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Using the Map to Create Inspections
From the map dashboard, inspectors can select parcels or addresses on the map, select records, and
schedule inspections. Accela GIS also allows multiple inspections to be created on multiple records in the
same transaction.
Topics:
•Creating inspections from the map
•Configuration
Creating inspections from the map
To create inspections from a map:
1. Open the Map dashboard.
2. Open the Layers widget to make sure the Parcel layer is selectable on your map view:
3. Select the parcels for inspection:
The map Contents panel shows related parcels and assets on the Record tab and the selected GIS
objects on the GIS Objects tab.
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4. On the Records tab, expand the Records list to select the records to be inspected:
Note: The checkbox is disabled for a record that is closed.
5. After selecting the records, click Actions > Create Inspections:
Note: The Actions menu is disabled until you select a record.
The Inspections window displays the selected records.
6. On the Inspections window, enter the inspection parameters such as inspection type, and click
Schedule Inspections:
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7. Review the inspection details, edit as necessary, and click Submit to schedule the inspection:
8. Click OK on the confirmation window:
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Note the following:
• The check box next to a record is disabled if the record status is closed.
• The Action menu is disabled until a record is selected.
Configuration
The Create Inspections action command requires that the user (or user group) is configured with the FID
8400-Manage Inspections permission.
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Importing Parcels from GIS to a Set
Civic Platform back-office users can use GIS Import to locate parcels on a map and add them to a set.
To import parcels from GIS into a parcel set:
1. From the Civic Platform dashboard, navigate to Sets > Parcels .
2. Click the parcel set to which you want to add parcels from GIS:
3. On the parcel set, click Set Member, and click GIS Import:
4. When the map opens, you can zoom, pan, or use the search bar to locate the parcels you intend to add
to the set.
Note: Use the Layers widget to make sure the Parcels layer is selectable. If the Parcels layer is
disabled, make sure you are zoomed at a level at which the parcels are visible:
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5. Use the selection tool to select the GIS parcels on the map:
The map Contents panel shows the Records and GIS objects you selected.
6. Click the GIS Objects tab to adjust your selection.
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7. After you have finished your selection on the GIS Objects tab, click Actions > Send GIS Features:
Note the following:
• If multiple GIS parcels are selected, the Reference Parcel List window displays the associated
reference parcels.
Only active reference parcels can be added to a set. If a parcel GIS parcel is selected and it is not
linked to a reference parcel, it cannot be added to the set.
• If there is only one reference parcel associated with the selected GIS parcel, the Reference Parcel
List will not be displayed.
• You can also select the Send GIS Feature command from the What's Here menu:
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• The Send GIS Feature action currently only works with parcel sets. The Send GIS Feature action is
not enabled when used in other contexts outside of a parcel set.
8. If you selected multiple GIS parcels that have multiple reference parcels, select the reference parcels to
be added to the parcel set from the Reference Parcel List, and click Select:
9. Click OK on the confirmation window.
The map stays open in case you intend to locate and add more parcels to the set.
10.After your selection is complete, click the Back arrow on the map to go back to the Set Members list:
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The Set Members list shows the newly added reference parcels:
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Accounting
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about accounting activities in Civic Platform.
Related Information
Accounting Overview
Assessing Fees
Using the Valuation Calculator
Invoicing
Managing Payments
Handling Refunds
Managing Trust Accounts
Working with a Cash Drawer Interface
Working with a Point of Sale Transaction
Accepting and Allocating Set Payments
Troubleshooting the Payment Process
Examining the Accounting Interface Details
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Accounting Overview
Use Civic Platform to assess fees, track and process payments, transfer funds from one application to
another, or generate refunds as necessary. You can also generate or review certain financial records,
including receipts, as needed.
Note:
You must start a cashier session before you can process, void, or refund a payment. For information about
managing cashier sessions, see Working with a Cash Drawer Interface.
See Troubleshooting the Payment Process to resolve any problems or questions.
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Assessing Fees
Many agencies assess certain fees to process an application. For example, your agency might charge a
minimum inspection fee of $25.00 for residential applications. Civic Platform determines the fees that you
need to assess by referring to a fee schedule. Your agency administrator can set up a unique fee schedule
for each application type.
Note:
Clients can pay fees only after Civic Platform assesses and invoices the fees.
Fees can be predefined, or Civic Platform can base them on the job value (valuation) of a particular
application. See Using the Valuation Calculator for more information about valuations.
You can assess one or more fee items as long as they appear in the fee schedule for the application that
you are working on. You might have fee groups listed that contain one or more fee items. With a fee group,
you can update the quantity for all the items in the group with a single action.
To assess fees
1. Open the Building record you want to work with and locate the application on which you want to assess
fees in the list by clicking the record ID link in the Record ID column.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
2. Click the Fees tab.
3. From the Fee Calc. Factor field, choose the fee calculation factor that you want to use. You can
choose from either a contractor or calculator job value.
Note:
Job value might not affect all fee items. If Civic Platform calculates a fee item by using a fee formula that
incorporates a job value, then the job value affects the fee item.
You can calculate a job value for an application by using the valuation calculator. You can also use a
contractor-entered job value. For information about how to use the valuation calculator, see Using the
Valuation Calculator.
If the Fee Calc. Factor field does not display, Civic Platform calculates fee items with the default Job
Value (Contractor).
4. Click Add.
Civic Platform displays a list of fee items and, if any, the fee groups required for the application.
5. From the Fee Schedule and Version drop-down lists, choose the fee schedule and the version you
want to use.
Civic Platform displays a list a fee items and, if any, the fee groups that make up the fee schedule.
6. Do one of the following:
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• If the fee schedule has any fee groups, enter a number in the Group Quantity field for the desired
fee group and/or into the Quantity field for the desired fee items.
Note:
If you choose to enter a value in both the Group Quantity field and the Quantity field for any fee item,
the two values are summed for the fee item when you click Submit.
For example, you have a fee group with fee items A, B, and C. You want to apply a quantity of 10 to
A and B, and a quantity of 15 to C. You can enter the common value, 10, in the Group Quantity field,
then enter 5 in the C Quantity field. Civic Platform sums 10 and 5 for C when you click Submit, and it
displays the end result as 15.
• Enter the quantity for each fee item individually in the fee item list.
7. Enter commentary or additional information as needed in the Note field for each fee item or the Group
Note field for each fee group.
Civic Platform copies the group note into the Note field for each of the fee items in the group.
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform assesses the fee based on the values you entered in Group Quantity field and Quantity
field, and the fee calc factor you selected.
9. If needed, use Undo to clear the form and roll the fee list back to its previous status.
To edit or delete fee items
1. Choose the desired item in the Fee Item column.
2. Do one of the following:
• To edit, enter a new value in the Quantity field and click Submit.
• To delete, select the fee item(s) you want to remove, then click Delete.
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Using the Valuation Calculator
Civic Platform includes an automatic valuation calculator for job values. This value is unique for each
application. Civic Platform calculates total valuation based on user entry and pre-defined unit cost. The job
value for an individual application is the sum of all valuations for that application.
Note:
Occupancies are pre-defined by your agency administrator. Occupancies can include residences, banks,
auditoriums, intended developments, and building materials.
In addition to user entry of valuations, your agency administrator can set up valuations for pre-defined
items such buildings or types of work. Civic Platform calculates the total job value for a project by using
either type of valuation singly or by using a group of valuations. Civic Platform then calculates or adjusts
any fees as appropriate.
When you need to do so, you can edit or delete the individual valuations that make up the total job value.
Any changes that you make to the total job value can affect assessed fees. Your changes do not, however,
affect invoiced fees.
Some agencies provide application specific fields that contractors can use to supply an estimated job
value. If your agency collects this information, you can choose which value - system-calculated or
contractor-provided - when assessing fees.
Note:
This statement applies only to the fee items with a fee formula that incorporates a job value. Your agency
administrator sets up fee items and determines which fee formula to use.
Adding Valuations
As users assess fees for new jobs, you can add to add new valuations to your system. A job valuation lets
you determine or estimate the market value for a certain type of occupancy.
Note:
Although you can make any adjustments by using the Valuation Calculator to change the total job value after
you invoice fees, your changes do not affect fees that you have already invoiced, nor do they affect the total
invoice amount. Your changes affect any fees that you have assessed but have not yet invoiced.
For example, a Type I apartment complex can include only one bedroom unit and have a value that is less
than Type III apartments, which include additional bedrooms and other amenities. A job value also reflects
the value of the work that must occur for occupancy. For example, a Type III apartment complex might
require a certain number of man-hours to complete, or a certain type of building materials.
To add a valuation
1. Open the record you want to work with and locate the application on which you want to assess fees.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
2. Click the Valuation Calc tab.
Civic Platform displays the Valuation Calc details.
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3. Click Add.
Civic Platform adds a new row to the list of occupancies.
4. Complete the fields with data as available. See Valuation Calculator Fields for field descriptions.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform saves the valuation.
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Invoicing
You can configure Civic Platform to assess certain fees automatically. After Civic Platform assesses fees,
you can invoice fees individually or as part of a group. Each time you invoice one or more fees, Civic
Platform generates a unique invoice number.
Note:
You can review itemized fee items on an invoice. However, you cannot edit or delete data after you invoice a
fee.
If you need to remove an invoiced fee, you can void the fee and apply a credit toward the total payment on
invoice.
Topics
•Generating Invoices
•Printing Invoices
•Voiding an Invoiced Fee
Generating Invoices
You can generate an invoice from the record portlet, or you can also generate an invoice from the Payment
Processing portlet. When you generate invoices from the Payment Processing portlet, your agency can
configure Civic Platform so that it creates a single invoice for a group of records or separate invoices for
each record.
To generate an invoice from an application
1. Open the Building record you want to work with and open the application for which you want to
generate an invoice.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
2. Click the Fees tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of assessed fees.
3. Select the fee(s) you are invoicing.
4. Click Invoice.
Civic Platform generates an invoice and displays an invoice number.
5. To view the invoice, click the invoice number link.
Civic Platform displays the invoice in a new browser window. Use your browser’s print command to print
the invoice as needed.
To generate invoices from the Payment Processing Portlet
1. Locate the Building record you want to work with, then navigate to the Payment Processing portlet.
2. Click the Invoices tab.
Civic Platform displays the Payment Processing - Invoices portlet.
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3. Search by Record ID or State License # for the items that you want to invoice. See Using the Search
Features for information about conducting a search.
Civic Platform displays a list of the fees that correspond to the Search values entered.
4. Search for additional Record IDs or State License #s as required until all items that you want to invoice,
display.
5. Select each item that you want to invoice then click Invoice.
Note:
You cannot create an invoice for a previously invoiced item. To easily separate the items from invoiced
items, sort the displayed records by Status (click the Status column header to sort). You can also select
and delete previously invoiced items from the fee list, leaving only those items that you want to invoice.
To select all items simultaneously, mark the check box at the top of the Record ID column
Depending on how your agency configured Civic Platform, Civic Platform does one of the following:
• It creates a single invoice for all of the selected items.
• It creates a unique number for each invoiced Record ID.
• It prompts you to select an invoice numbering method to use when it creates the invoices.
Civic Platform creates invoices for the selected items.
Printing Invoices
You can view invoices or print invoices individually or as a group (batch) to meet the demands of your
agency.
If enabled, you can batch process groups of invoices together using the Invoice Batch portlet. From this
portlet, you can collect all invoices for a given date range into a batch and print each invoice to mail to the
responsible party. However, you do not need to link an invoice to a batch unless you to associate it with
other invoices.
Topics
•Creating an Invoice Batch
•Adding Invoices to a Batch
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•Removing Invoices from a Batch
•Printing Invoices
Creating an Invoice Batch
You can group invoices together to create a batch. For example, you can create batches by Licensed
Professional, grouping invoices associated with their projects.
Note:
You can only associate an invoice to one batch at a time. If you want to include the invoice in the new batch,
Civic Platform automatically removes it from the other one.
To create a batch
1. Find the record you want to work with, then navigate to the Invoice portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of invoices.
2. Select the invoices that you want to add to the batch.
3. Click Create Batch.
Civic Platform creates the new batch and then auto assigns an Invoice Batch Number.
Adding Invoices to a Batch
You can add invoices to an existing batch report as needed.
To add invoices to a batch
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1. Find the record you want to work with, then navigate to the Invoice portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of invoices.
2. Use search to locate the invoice(s) you want, then select the invoice(s) to add to the batch.
3. Click Add Invoices to Batch.
Civic Platform displays the Batch # pop-up window.
4. Enter the batch number for the batch you are adding the invoice to.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the invoices to the selected batch.
Removing Invoices from a Batch
Users are able to remove invoices from a batch report. For example, a batch previously included invoices
within a two-week period, but now you want to view only the last ten days.
To remove invoices from a batch
1. Find the record you want to work with, then navigate to the Invoice portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of invoices.
2. Use search to locate the invoice(s) you want to delete, then select each invoice you want to remove
from the batch.
3. Click Remove Invoices from Batch.
Civic Platform asks you to confirm the removal.
4. Click OK.
Civic Platform removes the invoice from the batch.
Printing Invoices
You can print invoices individually or in batches as required.
To print an individual invoice
1. Find the record you want to work with, then navigate to the Invoice portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of invoices.
2. Click the invoice you want to print.
3. Click Reports then select Single Invoice Report from the drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays the Single Invoice Report pop-up window.
4. Enter the invoice number you want to print.
Note:
The selected invoice number auto-populates in the Invoice field. Enter a different number if you want to
print a different invoice.
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5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the Invoice Report.
6. Click Print.
To print an invoice batch
1. Find the record you want to work with, then navigate to the Invoice portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of invoices.
2. Click an invoice belonging to the batch you want to print.
3. Click Reports, then choose Batch Invoice Report from the drop-down list
Civic Platform displays the Parameter Value Selector pop-up window.
Note:
If you do not click an invoice that belongs to a batch, Civic Platform displays the error message “Please
enter an existing batch number” when you click the Report button.
4. Enter the batch number you want to print in the ClientNum field.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the Invoice Report.
6. Click Print to print the report.
Voiding an Invoiced Fee
When you void a fee, you reduce the total amount owed on a record, and you can then generate a new
invoice. After you assess and invoice a fee, you can void the fee directly from a record, a point of sale, or
the Payment Processing portlet.
Note:
If there is an existing payment toward a fee that you need to void, you can invoice the fee again, and then
apply a credit toward the invoice.
Most agencies typically restrict the ability to void an invoiced fee to supervisors or other specific individuals.
If you do not see a Void button in the toolbar, you cannot void invoiced fees.
Topics
•Voiding Invoiced Fees from a Record
•Voiding Invoiced Fees from the Payment Processing Portlet
•Voiding Invoiced Fees from the Point of Sale Portlet
Voiding Invoiced Fees from a Record
Voiding an invoiced fee from a record allows you quickly resolve minor billing errors.
To void an invoiced fee
1. Navigate to the record portlet you work with and use Search to locate the record you want. Click the
record ID link in the Record ID column to open the record details portlet.
Civic Platform displays the record details.
2. Click the Fees tab.
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Civic Platform displays a list of assessed fees for the record.
3. Select the invoiced fee(s) that you want to void (Invoiced fees have an invoice number and an
“Invoiced” status).
4. Click Void.
Civic Platform displays a Void Fee Item pop-up window.
5. Select a void reason from the Reason drop-down list, and enter any pertinent comment describing
more for the Void action, if desired.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform saves your comments and closes the pop-up window.
7. Select the voided fees. You can identify a voided fee by viewing the Status column.
8. Click Invoice.
Civic Platform decreases the total fee amount and generates a new invoice.
Voiding Invoiced Fees from the Payment Processing Portlet
When you void invoiced fees from the Payment Processing portlet, you can void fees for a single record, or
for multiple records simultaneously.
To void invoiced fees from the Payment Processing Portlet
1. Find the Building record you want to work with, then navigate to the Payment Processing portlet.
2. Click the Invoices tab.
Civic Platform displays the Payment Processing - Invoices portlet.
3. Search for the invoiced fee items that you want to void. You can search by Record ID, State License #,
Receipt Number, Invoice Number, or Transaction ID.
Civic Platform displays a list items that match your search criteria.
4. Repeat the Search until all items that you want to void, display in the list.
Civic Platform updates the Total Payments amount as you add items to the list.
5. Select each item you want to void.
6. Click Void.
Civic Platform displays a Void Fee Item pop-up window.
7. Select a void reason from the Reason drop-down list, and enter any pertinent comment describing more
for the Void action, if desired.
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform voids the selected fee items.
9. To view the transaction details, click the History tab and select the desired Transaction ID. Drill down to
view additional details, as desired.
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Voiding Invoiced Fees from the Point of Sale Portlet
You can void invoiced fees of a record from the Point of Sale portlet.
To void invoiced fee items from the Point of Sale portlet
1. Navigate to the Point of Sale portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of point of sale transactions.
2. In the Transaction ID column, click the link to the point of sale transaction you want.
Civic Platform displays the transaction details.
3. Click the Fee Items tab.
Civic Platform displays the fee items list.
4. Select the fee items you want to void.
5. Click Void.
Civic Platform displays the Void Fee Item window.
6. Select a reason and enter the comments.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform voids the invoiced fee items.
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Managing Payments
Use Civic Platform to record and process payments that your agency receives. You can apply payments to
one or more invoices for one or more accounts as needed. Your agency’s cashier can use Civic Platform to
consolidate payments for fee items from different records, or to pay fees for one record at a time.
Note:
Before a cashier can process a payment, you must add fee items to the record and invoice the licensed
professional or owner. For instructions on how to invoice a fee, see Invoicing.
You must start a cashier session before you can process a payment. For information about managing
cashier sessions, see Working with a Cash Drawer Interface.
Topics
•Receiving a Payment for a Record
•Reviewing Failed Payments
•Transferring Funds from One Record to Another
•Generating Receipts
•Voiding a Payment
•Viewing the Payment History for a Record
•Processing Record Payments Using a Barcode Scanner
•Processing Payments for Multiple Records
•Allocating Payments
Receiving a Payment for a Record
You can work from both the Payment tab on the Record portlet or the Payment Processing portlet to
receive payments for records.
If your agency is an on-premise agency, a third-party clearinghouse processes your payments.
Note:
You must start a cashier session before you can process a payment. If you do not, Civic Platform
automatically displays a cashier session window. You can click the New Session button to open a session or
continue a previous session by clicking the red X on the top right-hand corner to close the pop-up window.
Topics
•Receiving a Payment in the Record Portlet
•Receiving a Payment in the Payment Processing Portlet
Receiving a Payment in the Record Portlet
1. Navigate to the Record portlet.
2. Use search to locate the record you want to work with (see Using the Search Features ).
3. Click the Payment tab.
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4. Click Pay.
Civic Platform displays the Payment Details page.
5. Select a payment method from the Payment Method drop-down list.
The Payment portlet displays the associated fields for the payment method.
6. Enter the payment details for the selected payment method.
See Common Payment Details, Cash Payment Details, Credit Card Payment Details, and/or Check
Payment Details for field definitions.
7. If there are multiple payment methods or multiple payees for the payment, click Pay More, and repeat
the previous two steps.
8. Click Save.
If the payment equals or exceeds the total amount due, the payment is complete. Civic Platform
displays a receipt summary and receipt as confirmation of the payments.
If the payment is less than the total amount due, you need to allocate the paid amount among the fee
items before completing the payment (see Allocating Payments).
Receiving a Payment in the Payment Processing Portlet
1. Navigate to the Payment Processing portlet.
2. Click the Payment tab.
3. Use search to locate the record you want to work with (see Using the Search Features ).
Note:
The Payment Processing portlet ignores the records that have negative outstanding total of its fee items.
Civic Platform displays the results in the Payment portlet.
4. Select the record in the Payment list to which you want to apply a payment and click Pay.
Civic Platform displays the Payment Details page.
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5. Select a payment method from the Payment Method drop-down list.
The Payment portlet displays the associated fields for the payment method.
6. Enter the payment details for the selected payment method.
See Common Payment Details, Cash Payment Details, Check Payment Details, or Credit Card
Payment Details for field definitions.
Note:
Some agencies set up a magnetic card reader to automatically read the credit card information (card
type, account number, expiration date, first name, last name, cardholder’s name) into the corresponding
Civic Platform fields.
7. If you have multiple payment methods or multiple payees for the payment, click Save to save the
payment details you just entered, and then click Add and repeat the previous two steps.
8. Click Pay.
Civic Platform displays a receipt summary and receipt as confirmation of the payments.
If your attempt to process the payment fails, see Reviewing Failed Payments for information before
proceeding anew.
Civic Platform automatically allocates the paid amount among the fee items in the payment. For
information about allocation rules, see Allocating Payments.
Reviewing Failed Payments
There are many reasons why a payment might fail. Review the possibilities listed in this section with the
citizen before you try to process a payment again.
Credit Card Related Payment Issues
• It is not uncommon for a credit card authorization request to fail before the request finally clears. Retry
the payment if the request fails.
• The request for payment has exceeded the credit card limit.
• Invalid Address Information: The address supplied on the registration form does not match the billing
address that the credit card issuer has on file.
• Invalid Credit Card Expiration Information: You (or the customer) entered the credit card account
number or the credit card expiration date incorrectly. Check the numbers again and re-enter.
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• Invalid Card Validation Number (CVN): The Card Validation Number from the back of the card is
incorrect. Please check the CVN and re-enter.
• The account might have fraud protection services. Contact the financial institution to authorize the
transaction.
• The account might have insufficient funds. Contact the financial institution and verify the available credit
limit.
Check Related Payment Issues
• The check might not have a signature.
• The account might have fraud protection services. Contact the financial institution to authorize the
transaction.
• The account might have insufficient funds. Contact the financial institution and verify the available credit
limit.
Transferring Funds from One Record to Another
When a related record has excess funds, you can transfer those funds to the record that you are currently
working on. When you transfer funds, Civic Platform creates an entry in the transaction section of the
invoice for both the “transfer to” and the “transfer from” records. You can view information about a fund
transfer on the automatically generated receipt, as well as the payment history.
To transfer funds
1. Navigate to the portlet you want, and use search to locate the record you want to work with.
2. Click the record ID link in the Record ID column.
Civic Platform displays the record details.
3. Click the Payments tab.
Civic Platform displays the main payment summary.
4. Click Fund Transfer.
Civic Platform displays the fund transfer application search form.
5. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the record that you want.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays search results.
7. Select the application from which you want to transfer the funds and click Select.
Civic Platform displays the Fund Transfer From details. You can see the total amount available for
transfer.
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8. Complete the following fields:
Transfer Amount Enter the amount you want to transfer.
Method Currently there is only one transfer method to choose from: Fund Transfer. Civic
Platform selects this value by default.
Comment Enter comments or notes about the transfer.
9. Click Submit.
Civic Platform confirms a successful transfer and generates a Fund Transfer transaction and receipt for
each application involved in the transfer.
Generating Receipts
After you accept a payment or issue a refund, you can need to generate a receipt as confirmation of
the transaction. When you process multiple items, you can generate a transaction summary receipt or a
transaction report to provide a detailed breakdown of each action in the transaction group.
Topics
•Generating a Payment Receipt from an Application
•Viewing a Receipt from the Payment Processing Portlet
•Viewing a Transaction Receipt Summary from the Payment Processing Portlet
Generating a Payment Receipt from an Application
After you accept a payment, you can generate a receipt so that the payee can verify the payment.
To generate a payment receipt
1. Open the Building record you want to work with and locate the application you want by clicking the
record ID link in the Record ID column.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
2. Click the Payments tab.
Civic Platform displays the main payment summary.
3. Select the payment transactions for which you want to generate a receipt.
By default, Civic Platform marks all the payment transactions so that they display on the receipt. If you
want to remove one or more of the transactions, clear the corresponding box.
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Note:
If your agency sets the Payment tab to automatically generate a receipt after a transaction is complete,
the Generate Receipt page does not display and you can skip steps 4 through 7.
Civic Platform checks all payments that the Generate Receipt page can display. Civic Platform then
displays the Invoices information and the receipt and Receipt Summary pop-up pages.
4. Click Generate Receipt.
Civic Platform generates a receipt of payment and a receipt summary, then it displays each in a
separate window.
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5. To view or print the receipt, click the link to the receipt number.
You can use your browser’s print command to print the receipt.
Viewing a Receipt from the Payment Processing Portlet
Depending on how your administrator has configured your system, Civic Platform can automatically
generate and display a summary receipt or a transaction report when you complete a transaction through
the Payment Processing portlet. However, you can also return to the Payment Processing portlet later so
that you can view or print a receipt for an individual item in a particular transaction.
To view a transaction receipt for a single item
1. Navigate to the Payment Processing portlet.
2. Select the History tab.
Civic Platform displays the Payment Processing - History portlet.
3. Locate the desired Transaction ID.
If known, enter the Transaction ID, Receipt Number, Invoice Number, Date range of the transaction, or
choose the Transaction Type from the drop-down list and press Enter.
Civic Platform displays the list of transactions that match the specified parameters.
4. Select the desired Transaction ID.
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Civic Platform displays the list of transactions performed in this group.
5. Select the desired Record ID from the transaction list.
Civic Platform displays the Record detail portlet.
6. Scroll to the Payment tab.
7. From the Transactions listed on this page, click the desired Receipt #.
Civic Platform displays the Receipt for you to view and print as desired.
Viewing a Transaction Receipt Summary from the Payment Processing Portlet
Depending on how your administrator has configured your system, Civic Platform can automatically
generate and display a summary receipt when you complete a group of transactions through the Payment
Processing portlet. However, if your administrator has configured a transaction report, you can return to the
Payment Processing portlet later to view and print a receipt summary for a particular transaction.
To view a receipt summary for a group of transactions
1. Navigate to the Payment Processing portlet.
2. Select the History tab.
Civic Platform displays the Payment Processing - History portlet.
3. Locate and select the desired Transaction ID.
Civic Platform displays the list of transactions performed in this group.
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4. To print a Transaction Receipt that lists all items in this transaction group, click Print Receipt.
Civic Platform generates and displays the Receipt Summary.
5. To print a copy of the receipt summary, click Print Receipt.
Voiding a Payment
When you void a payment, Civic Platform decreases the total payment amount and then increases the
balance owed, as if you never made the payment. You can void payments directly from the application
or from the Payment Processing portlet. Voiding from the Payment Processing portlet allows you to void
payments for both single record and multiple records.
Topics
•Voiding a Payment from the Application
•Voiding a Payment from the Payment Processing Portlet
Voiding a Payment from the Application
1. Open the Building record you want to work with and locate the application you want by clicking the
record ID link in the Record ID column.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
2. Click the Payments tab.
Civic Platform displays the main payment summary.
3. Select each payment transaction that you want to void.
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4. Click Void.
Civic Platform displays a Void Payment pop-up window.
5. Select a void reason from the Reason drop-down list, and enter any pertinent comment describing more
for the Void action, if desired.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform voids the selected payments.
Voiding a Payment from the Payment Processing Portlet
When you void a payment from the Payment Processing portlet, you can void payments for a single record
or for multiple records simultaneously.
To void a payment from the Payment Processing Portlet
1. Find the Building record you want to work with.
2. Navigate to the Payment Processing portlet.
3. Click the Void tab.
Civic Platform displays the Payment Processing - Void portlet.
4. Use Search to locate the items that you want to void.
Repeat the Search until you locate all items that you want to void.
Civic Platform displays a list of all items that match your search criteria. Notice that the Total Payments
amount listed updates as you add items to the list.
5. Select each item that you want to void.
6. Click Void.
Civic Platform displays a Void Payment pop-up window.
7. Select a void reason from the Reason drop-down list, and enter any pertinent comment describing more
for the Void action, if desired.
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform voids the selected payments.
9. To view the transaction details, click the History tab and select the desired Transaction ID. Drill down to
view additional details, as desired.
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Viewing the Payment History for a Record
View the payment history associated to a record to see the date, amount, cashier ID, and receipt number.
You can also view the payment method or the action of payments made for the record.
To view a payment history
1. Open the Building record you want to work with and locate the application you want by clicking the
record ID link in the Record ID column.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
2. Click the Payment History tab.
Civic Platform displays the payment history.
Processing Record Payments Using a Barcode Scanner
Your administrator can configure the payment processing interface to enable you to read and retrieve
system-generated invoices by scanning barcodes on each invoice, or by entering the invoice number
manually.
Note:
To use the barcode scanning functionality, you must connect an Intermec SR30 Handheld scanner to your
system.
The payment processing interface requires you to first select one of these fields: Record ID, State License
#, or Invoice #, and then to scan the invoice with the barcode reader device.
You can select the field using the mouse or enter a hotkey.
To use the hot keys, select one of these fields as follows: type Ctrl+Shift+<Display Order #> and substitute
the Display Order # by entering the associated number of 1, 2, or 3. The Record ID field is 1, State License
# field is 2, and Invoice # field is 3. Refer to Hotkey Display Order Number for Barcode Search Fields.
Use Ctrl+Shift+S to select the Global Search field. If you select the Global Search field, then you can scan
any barcode value so you can locate the associated invoice and the fee items. When you use the barcode
scanner, the Search button triggers automatically after the barcode reader populates the value into the
selected field.
For information on how to manage payments, see Receiving a Payment for a Record.
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Figure 15: Hotkey Display Order Number for Barcode Search Fields
To process payments with the barcode scanner
1. Navigate to the Payment Processing portlet.
2. Click the Payment tab.
3. Use the mouse or enter the hotkey to select one of these fields: Record ID, State License #, or Invoice
#.
To use a hotkey, select one of these fields by typing Ctrl+Shift+<Display Order #> and substitute the
Display Order # by entering the associated number of 1, 2, or 3. The Record ID field is 1, State License
# field is 2, and Invoice # field is 3.
Note:
To use the barcode scanning functionality, you must connect an Intermec SR30 Handheld scanner to
your system.
4. Click Search.
Civic Platform displays fee items associated with the invoice.
5. Select the Record from the search results.
6. Scan the invoice number using the barcode device.
7. Click Pay.
Civic Platform Displays associated fields for Payment.
Processing Payments for Multiple Records
Civic Platform has cashiering tools that allow for easy intake of payments across multiple records and Point
of Sale items. When an owner or licensed professional is ready to pay for invoiced items, the cashier can
consolidate payments for fee items from different records. For example, a contractor wants to pay the fees
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for the electrical applications on three different records. This feature also allows individuals to pay for fee
items using multiple tenders. Civic Platform stores the payment as a transaction payment history.
Several processes must occur before the cashier can process a payment:
A user must add the fee items to the record.
A user must invoice the fee items and send the invoice to the licensed professional or owner (see
Invoicing).
When the licensed professional or owner is ready to make payment, the cashier needs to open a cashier
session and then make sure the cash drawer functions properly (see Working with a Cash Drawer
Interface).
Customers can pay separately for Point of Sale (POS) items, or they can pay for the items along with the
record fees.
Whether a cashier receives an overpayment, an underpayment, or a full payment, the Payment Processing
portlet automatically allocates the payment according to the instructions you provide (see Allocating
Payments).
Topics
•Searching for Fee Items
•Adding Point of Sale Items to the Payment List
•Adding Records for Renewal
•Processing Payments
•Viewing the Transaction Payment History
Searching for Fee Items
You need to complete a search for the Record ID or State License # so that you can specify which fees
that the customer is making payment on.
To look up a fee item
1. Find the Building record you want to work with.
Navigate to the Payment Processing portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Payment Processing portlet.
2. Enter the desired Record ID or State License # and click Search.
Civic Platform displays a list of the fees related to the selected Record ID or State License #.
3. To add more fee items to the payment session, click Add Fees and complete the search again with a
different Record ID or State License #.
4. If the individual does not want to make payment on all of the items in the Fee Item list, select the items
the individual does not want to pay, and click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the checked fee items from the Fee Item list, and recalculates the payment
total.
Adding Point of Sale Items to the Payment List
Customers can purchased Point of Sale (POS) items either separately or in addition to the record fees.
These include items sold at the agency, such as a map.
To add a Point of Sale item to the payment list
1. Find the Building record you want to work with.
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Navigate to the Payment Processing portlet and click the Search button.
2. Enter the desired Record ID or State License # and click the Submit button.
Civic Platform displays a list of the fees related to the selected Record ID or State License #.
3. Complete one of these options:
• Click Add POS Item.
• Click the Payment tab, then click the Add POS Item button.
Civic Platform displays the POS portlet.
4. Select the POS Type, Category, Version, and Fee Item from the drop-down lists.
5. Enter a value into the Quantity, Unit Price, and Notes fields.
6. To add more than one POS item, click Add in the POS portlet.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the POS item(s) to the Fee Item list.
Adding Records for Renewal
When a record expires, you can renew the record and pay for the newly generated fee through the
Payment Processing portlet.
To add records for renewal
1. Navigate to the Payment Processing portlet.
2. Click Add Renewals.
Civic Platform displays Add Records for Renewal portlet.
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3. Enter the desired Record ID or State License # and click the Search icon.
Civic Platform displays a list of records related to the selected Record ID or State License #.
4. Select the record you want to work with and click Select.
Civic Platform creates a renewal record for the selected record and adds a fee item to the renewal
record.
Processing Payments
Individuals can pay invoiced fees for one or more records, as well as any Point of Sale items that they
encounter at the agency. When using this feature, customers must pay in full. Partial payments are not
possible. However, you can remove fees from the implied payment set without impacting the database
fee information. This feature also allows individuals to use multiple payment methods, such as cash, trust
account, check, and credit card.
After the payment is complete, the cashier can print a receipt that details the fee items, the amount paid,
and the payment methods used.
To process payments
1. Search for the Record ID(s) or State License #(s) with the fees the individual wants to make payment
on, and add POS items if needed.
For instructions on searching for payment items, see Searching for Fee Items.
For instructions on adding POS items to a transaction, see Adding Point of Sale Items to the Payment
List.
2. In the Payment Processing portlet, use the drop-down list to select the Payment Method.
Note:
Certain payment methods require the cashier to enter additional fields. For example, a Credit Card needs
the card type, account number, and so forth recorded. These fields appear in a record portlet to the right
of the Payment portlet. Enter the required information, and click Save.
3. Enter the payment details for the selected payment method.
If you are entering a cash payment, see Common Payment Details and Cash Payment Details for field
definitions.
Note:
If there is overpayment, you can adjust the amount in the Change and Unapplied Credit fields so you can
define the amount of money to return to the payor and amount of money to add as credit.
If you are entering a credit card payment, see Common Payment Details and Credit Card Payment
Details for field definitions.
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Note:
Some agencies set up a magnetic card reader to automatically read the credit card information (Card
Type, Account Number, Expiration Date, First Name, Last Name and Cardholder’s Name) into the
corresponding Civic Platform fields.
If you are entering a check payment, see Common Payment Details and Check Payment Details for
field definitions.
4. Click Save to save the payment details for the selected payment method.
5. To add another payment, click Add in the Payment Processing portlet, and repeat In the Payment
Processing portlet, use the drop-down list to select the Payment Method. through Click Save to save
the payment details for the selected payment method..
Note:
The Add option lets you quickly record successive payments from different payees as well as payments
from one payee who uses various payment methods.
6. To use multiple payment methods, click Add, then select the payment method and enter the amount
paid for that method type.
7. To remove a payment line, mark the check box next to the line then click Delete.
8. Click Pay.
If there is overpayment or underpayment, Civic Platform automatically allocates the payment. See
Allocating Payments.
Civic Platform displays a list of Record IDs and paid fee items. Receipt Details and Receipt Summary
display in a pop-up window.
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Viewing the Transaction Payment History
You can view the transaction payment history. When viewing a payment history you can see the
transaction ID, date, cashier ID, and total amount. The cashier can also print a receipt for the transaction. If
you have any questions regarding a payment contact your agency administrator.
To view the transaction payment history
1. Navigate to the Payment Processing portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Payment Processing portlet.
2. Click the History tab.
Civic Platform displays the Transaction History tab.
To search for a transaction ID, enter the Transaction ID or the date of the transaction and click Submit.
To view all transactions within a certain time period, enter the date range for the transactions and click
Submit.
To view the details of a transaction, click the Transaction ID number.
Civic Platform displays the Transaction ID details.
3. To print a receipt for the transaction, navigate to the transaction details, then click Print Receipt.
Civic Platform displays the Receipt Detail and Receipt Summary in a pop-up window.
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Allocating Payments
In case of overpayments or underpayments for the selected fee items, the Record portlet or the Payment
Processing portlet give you different solutions to allocate the payment. The Payment Processing portlet
always automatically allocates a payment, while the Record portlet allows you to either allocate a payment
manually or automatically.
Note:
The mechanisms for automatically allocating underpayments are different in the Record portlet and Payment
Processing portlet. Please read more of the topics in this section.
Topics
•Automatic Allocation of Payments in the Record Portlet
•Automatic Allocation of Payments in the Payment Processing Portlet
•Manually Allocating a Payment in the Record Portlet
Automatic Allocation of Payments in the Record Portlet
Depending on the configuration by your agency administrator, automatic allocation of payments might or
might not work in the Record portlet.
If you pay more than the total amount, then after you click Save, the payment is complete, and the
overpayment directly adds to the Amount Not Applied of the record.
If you pay less than the total amount, then after you click Save on the payment screen in the Record
portlet, the fee allocation screen displays. You can then click Full Pay to determine the status of automatic
allocation for your agency.
Figure 16: Fee Allocation Screen
When you click Full Pay:
• If automatic allocation is not functional, the Amount field at each fee item populates with the value in
the Outstanding field. The total amount of the listed fee items can be greater than the Amount Not
Applied. You must adjust the amount to make sure the total amount is equal to or is less than the
Amount Not Applied. Otherwise, the payment might fail.
• If the automatic allocation is functional, Civic Platform allocates the Amount Not Applied in the fee
allocation screen to the Amount fields of the listed fee items. Below is the automatic allocation rule that
applies:
1. Civic Platform pays negative fee items in full with the topmost priority;
2. Civic Platform allocates the balance of the payable amount (which is the sum of the Amount Not
Applied and the absolute values of the negative fees) to fee items by priority first.
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Allocation might or might not happen depending on whether your administrator has configured the
fee items with priorities.
3. If Civic Platform allocates the final amount among fee items with the same priority, it allocates to the
fee items according to the orders of the fee items in the list.
4. If Civic Platform allocates the final amount among fee items without priority setting, it allocates to
all the fee items. Each fee item takes a proportion of the final amount equal to the proportion of the
outstanding amount in the total outstanding amount.
• If the proportion for a fee item is a decimal value (for example, 20.3), Civic Platform rounds up to
the next integer (from 20.3 to 21) provided the fee item is not the last one. The last fee item gets
the remainder of the final amount.
Automatic Allocation of Payments in the Payment Processing Portlet
Civic Platform only supports automatic payment allocation function in the Payment Processing portlet
in case of overpayments or underpayments. After you click Pay, the payment is complete with the paid
amount automatically allocated.
If a payment in the Payment Processing portlet involves multiple payment methods, Civic Platform
allocates the paid amount from non-Cash payment methods first, following the order of the payment
methods on the payment screen. Civic Platform allocates the paid amount using the Cash payment method
last.
If you pay more than the total amount, the over-paid amount populates in the Change field first of the
payment screen. You can set part or all of the over-paid amount as Unapplied Credit. The Unapplied Credit
directly adds to the Amount Not Applied of the record. Civic Platform pays the highest record ID.
If you pay less than the total amount, Civic Platform allocates the Total Tendered in the payment screen
to the Amount fields of the record fee items and POS items that you are paying. Below is the automatic
allocation rule that applies:
1. Civic Platform allocates POS items as the first priority, from the lowest to the highest POS item IDs; in
one POS item, from the lowest to the highest transaction IDs.
2. Civic Platform allocates records after it allocates all POS items, from the lowest to the highest record
IDs.
3. If the final amount cannot paid in full for a record:
a. Civic Platform pays negative fee items in the record in full with the topmost priority;
b. Civic Platform allocates the remaining payable amount (the sum of the Amount Not Applied and the
absolute values of the negative fees) to fee items by priority first.
This allocation might or might not happen depending on whether your administrator has configured
the fee items with priorities.
c. If Civic Platform must allocate the final amount among fee items with the same priority, it does so
according to the outstanding amount of the fee items in the list, from the least outstanding amount to
the highest outstanding amount.
d. If Civic Platform must allocate the final amount among fee items without priority setting, it does so
according to the outstanding amount of the fee items in the list, from the least outstanding amount to
the highest outstanding amount.
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Manually Allocating a Payment in the Record Portlet
When you allocate a payment, you apply all or part of the payment toward individual assessed fee items
for an application. You can allocate a payment at the time you receive the payment, or at a later time as
needed.
To allocate a payment at the time of receipt
1. Receive a payment. For details, see Receiving a Payment for a Record.
2. Locate any fees with an outstanding balance (Fees with an outstanding balance show a balance greater
than zero on the O/S column).
3. To allocate a payment that covers the full balance of an outstanding fee, mark the check box next to the
fee and click Full Pay.
To allocate a payment that covers only part of the balance of an outstanding fee, enter the partial
payment amount in the Amount field next to the fee.
4. To calculate the total allocation, press TAB.
Note:
Do not press the ENTER key to recalculate the total amount. Doing so completes the transaction
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the main Payment Summary.
To allocate a payment separate from the time of receipt
1. Open the Building record you want to work with and locate the application you want by clicking the
record ID link in the Record ID column.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
2. Click the Payments tab.
Civic Platform displays the main payment summary.
3. Select the transaction with an unallocated balance.
Follow steps 2-5 of the instructions to allocate a payment at time of receipt.
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Handling Refunds
There are two methods for refunding payments:
•Refunding directly from the application.This method allows you to initiate either a full or partial
refund of unallocated payments.
•Refunding through the Payment Processing portlet.This method allows you to initiate a full refund of
all payments for one or more applications simultaneously.
Topics
•Refunding a Payment from an Application
•Refunding a Payment from the Payment Processing Portlet
•Refunding a Payment from the Point of Sale Portlet
•Voiding a Refund
Refunding a Payment from an Application
You can initiate either a full or a partial refund of unallocated payments when you process a refund from an
application (See Allocating Payments). If you need to refund more than the amount currently unallocated,
you can withdraw payments from individual fee items.
To refund a payment from an application
1. Open the Building record you want to work with and locate the application you want by clicking the
record ID link in the Record ID column.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
2. Click the Payments tab.
Civic Platform displays the main payment summary.
3. Click Refund.
Civic Platform displays a list of any assessed fees and the total amount of any unallocated payments.
4. Do one of the following:
• To withdraw the full payment, mark the check box next to the fee and click Full Refund.
• To withdraw part of a payment, enter the partial payment amount in the Amount field next to the fee.
Civic Platform increases the total refund amount.
5. To recalculate the total refund, press the TAB key.
Note:
Do not press ENTER to recalculate! Doing so completes the transaction rather than recalculate it
6. Click Submit.
7. Complete the fields with available information (see Refund Details for field descriptions).
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform generates a receipt.
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9. To view or print the receipt, click the link to the receipt number. You can use your browser’s print
functionality to print the receipt.
Refunding a Payment from the Payment Processing Portlet
Use the Refund tab on the Payment Processing portlet to refund multiple fee payments for one or more
applications simultaneously.
To refund a payment through the Payment Processing Portlet
1. Find the Building record you want to work with.
2. Navigate to the Payment Processing portlet.
3. Click the Refund tab.
Civic Platform displays the Payment Processing - Refund portlet.
4. Use Search to locate the items you want to refund. Repeat the search until all items display that you
want to refund.
Civic Platform displays a list of items that match your search criteria. Notice that the Available Refund
Amount updates automatically as you add items to the list.
5. Select each item that you want to refund.
6. Complete the fields in the Refund Payments detail with available data (see Refund Details for field
descriptions).
7. Click Submit.
8. Click Refund.
Civic Platform processes the refund for the selected payments.
9. To view the transaction details, click the History tab and select the desired Transaction ID. Drill down to
view additional details, or print a receipt, as desired.
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Refunding a Payment from the Point of Sale Portlet
Use the Refund button from the Point of Sale portlet to initiate full or part refund of unallocated payment.
You cannot refund more than the payment amount currently unallocated.
To refund a payment from the Point of Sale portlet
1. Navigate to Point of Sale portlet and locate the transaction you want by clicking the transaction ID link in
the transaction ID column.
Civic Platform displays the transaction details.
2. Click the Payments tab.
Civic Platform displays the main payment summary.
3. Click Refund.
Civic Platform displays a list of fee items and the total amount of any unallocated payments.
4. Do one of the following:
• To withdraw the full payment, mark the check box next to the invoice and click Full Refund.
• To withdraw part of a payment, enter the partial payment amount in the Amount field next to the
invoice.
Civic Platform increases the total refund amount.
5. To recalculate the total refund, press the TAB key.
Note:
Do not press ENTER to recalculate! Doing so completes the transaction rather than recalculate it.
6. Click Submit.
7. Complete the fields with available information (see Refund Details for field descriptions).
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform generates a receipt.
9. To view or print the receipt, click the link to the receipt number. You can use your browser’s print
functionality to print the receipt.
Voiding a Refund
You can void a refund in Civic Platform, provided that Civic Platform has not yet disbursed the refund.
To void a refund
1. Open the Building record you want to work with and locate the application you want by clicking the
record ID link in the Record ID column.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
2. Click the Payments tab.
Civic Platform displays the main payment summary.
3. Select each refund transaction that you want to void.
4. Click Void.
Civic Platform updates the transaction status to “Voided.”
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Managing Trust Accounts
The Trust Account feature in Civic Platform allows you to establish and maintain trust account information,
perform trust account transactions, and print trust account reports.
You can set up trust accounts for licensed professionals and citizens. Trust accounts are helpful for
customers such as contractors or developers who have a large amount of work that they regularly perform
in your jurisdiction. The customer deposits money from which he can draw when paying fees for a record.
He no longer needs to go to your agency to make a payment in person for each fee.
Topics
•Creating a Trust Account
•Closing a Trust Account
•Viewing Associated Records
•Assigning Public User Permission
•Performing Trust Account Transactions
•Viewing and Printing Trust Account Reports
Creating a Trust Account
You can create a trust account for addresses, parcels, licensed professionals, and other contacts in your
Civic Platform system.
After you create a trust account, you can link records to the account. Your administrator can set up
automatic billing for related fees, which not only saves the individual from the need to go to your agency to
pay each individual fee, but it also helps your agency staff by minimizing lines.
To create a trust account
1. Go to the Trust Account portlet and click New.
Civic Platform displays the Account Detail tab on the Trust Account form.
2. Complete the form with available information. See Trust Account Form Fields for field descriptions.
3. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates the trust account and then displays the account information.
4. To associate the trust account with an address, parcel, or person, select the appropriate tab:
Associated Address (address) or Associated Parcel (parcel or person).
5. If you are on the Associated Address tab, click Associate Address.
If you are on the Associated Parcel tab, click Associate Parcel, Associate Licensed Professional or
Associate Contact, depending on what you want to associate.
6. Use search to locate the item(s) you want to associate to the trust account, then click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the results of your search.
7. Select the item(s) that you want to associate to the trust account.
8. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the record to the trust account.
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Closing a Trust Account
You can close a trust account at any time and if needed, you can reopen a closed trust account. There are
several reasons why you might want to close a trust account. For example, the trust account owner wants
to close the account, the account is dormant, or someone made a mistake when opening a trust account.
You cannot delete a trust account, you can only close it, preserving the record for archival purposes.
To close a trust account
1. Navigate to the Trust Account portlet.
2. Select the trust account that you want to close.
3. Select Close from the toolbar drop-down menu button.
Civic Platform closes the trust account.
Viewing Associated Records
When you check out or pay for some records with a trust account, Civic Platform associates the records
with the trust account. You can view the associated records from the trust account portlet.
To view associated records
1. Find the Trust Account record you want to work with.
2. Click the Associated Record tab.
Civic Platform displays the associated records.
Assigning Public User Permission
You grant public users permission to their trust accounts provided that they enter the correct password. For
safety purpose, you can also deny public user access to some trust accounts if any abnormality occurs.
To assign public user permission
1. Locate and select the Trust Account record you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the Trust Account details.
2. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the public user search portlet.
3. Enter search criteria as appropriate. For a description of public user search fields, see Using the Search
Features .
4. Click Submit.
5. Select a public user and click Approve.
Civic Platform allows the public user to access the trust account.
6. Select a public user and then click Reject to prohibit the public user to access the trust account.
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Performing Trust Account Transactions
After you set up a trust account, you can use the account to perform transactions such as depositing,
withdrawing, making payments, and transferring money. You can also make adjustments to a trust account
when you need to do so.
Topics
•Depositing Money into a Trust Account
•Transferring Money between Trust Accounts
•Withdrawing Money from a Trust Account
•Making Payments Using Automated Trust Accounts
•Making an Adjustment to a Trust Account
Depositing Money into a Trust Account
Deposits typically occur when a trust account first opens, and when a trust account nears depletion. You
can deposit money into an active trust account at any time.
To deposit money into a trust account
1. Find the Trust Account record you want to work with.
2. Click the account ID link for the account you want in the Account ID column.
Civic Platform displays the Trust Account details.
3. Select Deposit from the toolbar drop-down menu button.
4. Enter the amount of money you want to deposit in the Amount field.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform deposits the money into the selected trust account and then displays the Account Detail
tab.
Transferring Money between Trust Accounts
If an individual has multiple trust accounts, you can transfer money between his accounts. You can only
transfer funds between accounts associated with the same individual.
To transfer money between trust accounts
1. Find the Trust Account record you want to work with.
2. Click the account ID link for the account you want in the Account ID column.
Civic Platform displays the Trust Account details.
3. Select Transfer from the toolbar drop-down menu button.
4. Enter the amount of money you want to transfer in the Amount field.
5. Select the destination trust account from the Target Account ID drop-down list.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform transfers the money into the selected trust account and then displays the Account Detail
tab.
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Withdrawing Money from a Trust Account
There might be times when an individual needs to withdraw money from his/her trust account. For
example, if an individual is not going to make any transactions for a while, he might want to remove the
excess money from his trust account. Civic Platform allows you to do this for your customers.
To withdraw money from a trust account
1. Find the Trust Account record you want to work with.
2. Click the account ID link for the account you want in the Account ID column.
Civic Platform displays the Trust Account details.
3. Select Withdraw from the toolbar drop-down menu button.
4. Enter the amount of money you want to withdraw in the Amount field.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform withdraws the money from the selected trust account and then displays the Account
Detail tab.
Making Payments Using Automated Trust Accounts
An administrator can configure Civic Platform so that it automatically creates an invoice and applies
payment for fee items from the associated trust account. If there is an address, parcel, primary contact or
Licensed Professional associated with the record, and if Civic Platform associates that item with a trust
account, all fees originate from that trust account. If the trust account contains less than the amount owed,
Civic Platform takes the maximum possible payment from the trust account, then it creates an invoice for
the remaining amount. You can also create an invoice for the fee without applying a payment.
If a fee item does not have an associated trust account, Civic Platform creates a new trust account to
disburse the fee item by using overdraft limit functionality.
Example: Your administrator configures Civic Platform to take payments automatically from a trust account
whenever possible. You want to create an invoice for fees on a certain record. When you navigate to
the Fees tab in the record portlet, you click Invoice & Pay and choose between Trust Account and Other
Payment Method. Civic Platform identifies associated contacts from whom to take payment. If Civic
Platform does not find a contact match, it prompts you to choose an alternate payment method, or it
displays the payment form where the user can complete the transaction without using the trust account.
When the transaction completes, you can view the final payment results and any generated receipts.
To make payment with automated Trust Accounts
1. Open the Building record you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
2. Click the Fee tab.
3. Select each fee item with a status of New.
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4. Click Invoice & Pay.
If the trust account includes multiple contacts, licensed professionals, addresses or parcels, Civic
Platform displays the trust account selection window.
5. Select a trust account to pay for the fee items.
6. Do one of the following:
• To invoice and pay, click Submit.
• To invoice but not pay, click Invoice without Pay.
Making an Adjustment to a Trust Account
1. Find the Trust Account record you want to work with.
2. Click the account ID link for the account you want in the Account ID column.
Civic Platform displays the Trust Account details.
3. Select Adjust from the toolbar drop-down menu button.
4. Make changes as needed.
Amount Enter the amount you want to adjust.
Transaction Type Select Credit Adjust to add money into the trust account for the entered amount.
Select Debit Adjust to remove money from the trust account for the entered
amount.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adjusts the money for the selected trust account and then displays the Account Detail
tab.
Viewing and Printing Trust Account Reports
Civic Platform provides multiple types of reports to help your agency keep track of trust accounts.
Topics
•Viewing the Transaction History of a Trust Account
•Printing Trust Account Reports
Viewing the Transaction History of a Trust Account
You can view the entire transaction history of a trust account, which can be helpful if a customer disputes
transactions, you discover an accounting error, or you need to produce records for an audit.
To view the transaction history of a trust account
1. Find the Trust Account record you want to work with.
2. Click the account ID link for the account you want in the Account ID column.
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Civic Platform displays the Trust Account details.
3. Select the Transactions tab.
Civic Platform displays the history for the selected trust account.
Printing Trust Account Reports
If your agency allows individuals to overdraw their trust accounts, the Negative Balance report shows you
all of the trust accounts that currently have a negative balance.
The Transaction report allows you to print one or more transaction records as needed. This is helpful if an
individual either needs a receipt of the transaction, or has questions regarding past transactions.
To view trust account reports
1. Find the Trust Account record you want to work with.
2. Click the account ID link for the account you want in the Account ID column.
Civic Platform displays the Trust Account details.
3. To access the Negative Balance report, select Negative Balance Trust Account Report from the
primary portlet toolbar drop-down menu button.
4. To access transactions reports:
a. Select the Transactions tab.
b. Select the transactions you want to include.
c. Click Print Report.
5. Click the Print button in your browser toolbar or select Print from the browser menu.
Civic Platform prints the selected reports.
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Working with a Cash Drawer Interface
If your agency has implemented a cash drawer in Civic Platform, you can use it to run cashier sessions,
open the cash drawer, print receipts, and print endorsements on the back of checks.
You can track the value of transactions recorded during a cashier session by entering the total in the
Deposit Slip # field before ending the session. For example, the cashier session can record all transactions
completed by a cashier during one business day. Supervisors can use the date picker icon to select a date
or manually edit the Deposit Date field, and after submittal, they can modify both the Deposit Slip # and
Deposit Date fields. This functionality is controlled by your agency administrator.
Topics
•Searching for a Cashier Session
•Beginning a Cashier Session
•Continuing a Suspended Cashier Session
•Ending and Printing a Cashier Session
•Opening the Cash Drawer
Searching for a Cashier Session
Use the search functionality to look for a payment, confirm a voided payment, verify an amount recorded,
or compare the number of transactions managed from one day to another.
To search for a cashier session
1. Navigate to the Cashier Session portlet and click Search
Civic Platform displays the Cashier Session search form.
2. Enter search criteria as needed (see Cashier Session Form Fields for field descriptions), then click
Submit.
Civic Platform displays the cashier sessions that match your search criteria.
3. Click the session number link for the session you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the cashier summary for the session that you selected.
Beginning a Cashier Session
Before you can accept payments or handle transactions, you must begin a new cashier session. Use
cashier sessions to balance accounts and to record what transactions occur in your agency. For each
session, Civic Platform records the date, the beginning and ending times of a session, the user name of
the cashier, and all the transactions managed by the cashier during the session.
To begin a cashier session
1. Navigate to the Cashier Session portlet and click New Session
Civic Platform displays a notice informing you that the session is open and it assigns a session number.
You can now manage any transactions that you have permission to manage. When you end your shift,
remember to end your cashier session.
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Continuing a Suspended Cashier Session
If your cashier session remains inactive for a period of time, Civic Platform might suspend your session.
For example, your cashier session might expire while you take your lunch break. Before you can continue
with any additional transactions, you must reactivate the cashier session.
To continue a suspended cashier session.
1. Navigate to the Cashier Session portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of cashier sessions.
2. Click Continue Session.
The session is re-opened. When you end your shift, remember to end your cashier session.
Ending and Printing a Cashier Session
At the end of your shift, you must end your cashier session.
To end a cashier session
1. Navigate to the Cashier Session portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of cashier sessions.
2. Click End Session.
3. Civic Platform ends the session and displays the cashier summary for the session.
Note:
Before you end the cashier session, you can enter the Deposit Slip # and select a deposit date for the
monies collected during the session.
Civic Platform displays a pop-up window to ask if you want to end the session.
4. Click OK.
Civic Platform ends the session and displays the Cashier Summary for the session.
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5. Click Print to print the page.
Opening the Cash Drawer
Sometimes it is necessary to open the cash drawer when you are not processing a payment. For example,
you can open the cash drawer to make change for a $20 bill.
To open the cash drawer
1. Navigate to the Cashier Session portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of cashier sessions.
2. Click Open Drawer.
Civic Platform opens the cash drawer.
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Working with a Point of Sale Transaction
Your agency might have a fee that it does not with a record. For example, you might want to sell a map of
the county, copies of records, or souvenir shirts. You can create a point of sale transaction to receive these
types of payments.
Topics
•Creating a Point of Sale Transaction
•Receiving Payments for a Point of Sale Transaction
•Viewing Point of Sale Transaction Detail
Creating a Point of Sale Transaction
To create a point of sale transaction
1. Navigate to the Point of Sale portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of point of sale transactions.
2. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the Fee Items portlet.
3. Complete the fields and enter the quantity of the fee item.
4. Optionally do all of the following to add fee items:
a. Click Add.
Civic Platform adds another blank fee item.
b. Complete the fields and enter the quantity of the fee item.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform invoices the POS transaction and displays the Payment portlet.
Receiving Payments for a Point of Sale Transaction
After you invoice a Point of Sale transaction, you can pay for the transaction. Before you can process a
payment, however, you must start a cashier session. For information about managing cashier sessions,
see Working with a Cash Drawer Interface.
To receive a payment for a point of sale transaction
1. Navigate to the Point of Sale portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of point of sale transactions.
2. In theTransaction ID column, click the link to the point of sale transaction you want.
Civic Platform displays the transaction details.
3. Click the Fee Items tab.
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Civic Platform displays the Fee Item payment list.
4. Select the POS transaction you want to pay.
5. Click Pay.
Civic Platform displays the payment details.
6. Complete the form with available data (see Cash Payment Details for field descriptions).
7. If you are processing additional payments, click Pay More and repeat step 5.
Note:
The Pay More option lets you quickly record successive payments from different payees as well as
payments from one payee who uses various payment methods.
8. After you receive all payments, click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a list of Point of Sale transactions.
9. Do one of the following:
• To allocate a payment, see Allocating Payments.
• If you do not want to allocate a payment at this time, click Cancel.
10.Do one of the following:
• If prompted to generate a receipt of payment, mark the check box next to the payment you want and
click Submit.
• If you do not want to generate a receipt of payment, click Cancel.
Civic Platform returns to the main payment summary.
Viewing Point of Sale Transaction Detail
You might need to view the status, the payment method, or the name of the cashier who completed a POS
transaction.
To view a point of sale transaction
1. Navigate to the Point of Sale portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of point of sale transactions.
2. In the Transaction ID column, click the link to the point of sale transaction you want.
Civic Platform displays the transaction details.
3. Click the Transaction Detail tab.
Civic Platform displays the transaction details.
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Accepting and Allocating Set Payments
The Set portlet function enables users to organize multiple applications into a set. A set is a grouping
of applications that you can batch process, saving time you might otherwise spend recording payments
for each fee item on individual application. For example, you can use a set to simultaneously update the
workflow for several applications.
After you establish the set name, you can add one or more applications to the set or create new
applications within the set. You can also allocate and apply payments to a set. You can accept full or
partial payment towards the total outstanding balance for all applications within the set. After entering the
payment amount, you determine what portion of the total payment you want to allocate to each fee item
within the set.
Civic Platform summarizes the set, including the following information:
• Total number of applications in the set
• Number of paid fee items
• Total job value of all applications in the set
• Total assessed and invoiced fees for the set
• Any payments on the set
• Outstanding balance for all applications in the set
To accept and allocate set payments
1. Navigate to the Sets portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of sets in the Set portlet.
2. In the ID column, click the link of set you want to work with. To quickly locate a set, use Search to
search on the set code or the set name.
3. Click the Payment tab.
4. Click Pay.
Note:
To allow Civic Platform to process a negative fee item on an application in a set, the administrator needs
to set up this Standard Choice, ALLOW_NEGATIVE_FEE_TRANSFER_AS_CREDIT,.
5. Complete the form fields with available data (see Payment Details for a Set for field definitions).
Note:
If the payment method is by Credit Card, you can use a magnetic card reader to automatically read the
credit card information into the corresponding fields, including CC Auth Code, CC Exp Date, and CC
Holder Name.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a Set Payment Allocation pop-up window.
7. Do one of the following:
• If you are receiving a payment for the entire balance, click Full Pay.
• If you are receiving a partial payment, determine what portion of the payment you want to allocate to
each fee item and enter that amount in the Amount field for each fee item.
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8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform generates a receipt that summarizes the payment. The set payment has a unique set
receipt number; the payment for each individual application has its own receipt number as well. You can
print this receipt or save it to a file, as necessary.
If your agency uses a cash drawer and a receipt printer, Civic Platform prints a receipt and displays the
itemized receipt in a pop-up window.
9. If Civic Platform displays the receipt in a new window, you can use your browser print functionality to
print it. Close the window when you finish.
10.If the payment method = check and your agency uses a receipt printer, put the check in the printer to
print the endorsement on the check.
If the payment method = Cash and the payment amount is more than the amount due, Civic Platform
calculates the amount of change due.
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Troubleshooting Payments and Voids
The standard Civic Platform payment process follows a specific order:
• Assess a fee
• Invoice or charge the customer for the fee
• Receive payments
• Apply payments to the appropriate invoices/accounts.
If you run into problems during this process, this section provides you with information to troubleshoot and
correct some of the common issues that can occur.
Topics
•Assessed Fee, but no Invoice
•Assessed & Invoiced Fee, but no Payment
•Assessed & Invoiced Fee, Payment Received, but not Applied
•Assessed & Invoiced Fee, Payment Received & Applied
•Best Practices for Voiding and Crediting Fees
Assessed Fee, but no Invoice
When you assess a fee, Civic Platform schedules the fee so that it charges the application. If a problem
occurs before you invoice (charge) a fee to the client, then you can delete the assessment and start again
by adding the new fees and continuing on the payment process path. For information on how to delete an
assessed fee, see Assessing Fees.
Assessed & Invoiced Fee, but no Payment
When you assess and invoice a fee, it means that you have charged the customer for the fee and you
require payment. If the client has not made a payment for this invoice and you discover a problem, you can
void the problem invoice and create a new one. You can also void the assessed fee, replace it with the one
you want, and generate a new invoice. For instructions on how to do this, see Voiding an Invoiced Fee.
Another approach is to apply a negative fee item. Your agency administrator must enable this feature.
Accela Civic Platform denotes a negative fee item with parentheses around the dollar amount. You
often use this feature when you transfer a payment from one record to another. For more information on
negative fees, see Transferring Funds from One Record to Another.
Assessed & Invoiced Fee, Payment Received, but not Applied
A customer has the ability to make a payment to the agency at any time. After you receive a payment,
Civic Platform applies it to one or more applicable invoices and/or applications. If you have assessed and
invoiced a fee, but you are still waiting for a payment, you have a couple of options
• You can apply the payment to the invoice, or
• You can void the payment, invoice, and/or assessment if there is an error.
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For instructions on how to apply a payment to an invoice, see Allocating Payments. For instructions on how
to void a payment, see Voiding a Payment. For instructions on how to voice an invoice and assessment,
see Voiding an Invoiced Fee.
Assessed & Invoiced Fee, Payment Received & Applied
If you encounter a problem after a fee has gone through the payment process, Civic Platform provides an
option to return to a step where the invoice still requires payment. If you do not want to do this, you can
void everything and start all over, re-processing the fee item correctly from the beginning. Note that this
entails voiding the payment, the invoice and/or the assessment.
If a customer pays an invoice but does not pay with cash, then you can refund the payment, resulting
in an outstanding invoice showing that money is due. For instructions on how to refund a payment, see
Refunding a Payment from an Application.
If you decide you want to take a few steps back, you must void the invoice, and then you can void and
replace the assessment and put it on a new invoice. Civic Platform credits back the original payment to the
customer. Civic Platform does not apply or attach the payment to anything, which allows you to take this
payment and apply it to another invoice.
If a fee has been You can
Assessed but not invoiced Void the fee
Invoice the fee
Add new fees
Accept payment for the fee
Apply fee payments
Assessed and invoiced but not paid Void the invoice
Add correct fees
Invoice fees
Accept payment for the fee
Apply fee payments
Assessed, invoiced, paid, but not applied Void incorrect fees
Add fees
Invoice fees
Accept payment for the fee
Apply fee payments
Assessed, invoiced, paid, and applied Void incorrect fees
Add fees
Accept payment for the fee
Apply fee payments
Void payments
Refund payments
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Best Practices for Voiding and Crediting Fees
This section provides best practices for handling voids and unapplied fees in the back office. Adhering to
these practices will enable citizens to view the correct amount for the fees they owe in Citizen Access, in
the event that fees need to be voided or errors need to be corrected.
1. Using Citizen Access, pay fees (the example below shows 2 fees paid).
2. Using Back Office, view the Payments tab to see payments.
3. Using Back Office, VOID the payment transaction from the Payment tab. The entire
Payment is voided and the Total Balance is the previously Invoiced amount of all fee items.
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4. Using Back Office, select the Fee tab. The previously invoiced fee items display.
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5. Using Back Office, VOID/CREDIT the appropriate Fee Item.
6. Using Back Office, go to the Payment tab and see that the Total Balance equals the relevant fee item.
7. Using Back Office, PAY the balance.
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8. Using Citizen Access, view the Fees. Both Citizen Access and Back Office should show same paid
balance.
9. Using Back Office, INVOICE the new fee item.
10.Using Back Office, view the Payments tab. The new balance is for the newly INVOICED fee item.
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11.Using Citizen Access, view the Fees tab. Verify that the balance due is equal to newly INVOICED
amount.
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Examining the Accounting Interface Details
There are many detail forms and many fields you work with as you perform accounting processes. The
following tables list and define the default fields available in the different interfaces you might encounter.
•Fee List Fields
•Valuation Calculator Fields
•Batch Invoice Fields
•Common Payment Details
•Invoice Detail Fields
•Cash Payment Details
•Credit Card Payment Details
•Check Payment Details
•Refund Details
•Payment Summary Fields
•Receipt Details
•Trust Account Form Fields
•Payment Details for a Set
Fee List Fields
The following table defines the default fields on the fee list.
Account Code 1/2/3 A fee item may be comprised of several fees. For example, an application fee might
include a registration fee and an examination fee. If configured by your agency
administrator, Accela Civic Platform can automatically split the fee item to several fees,
each associated with its specific account code. This field displays the account code(s) that
get a portion of the fee.
Account Fee 1/2/3 This field displays the portion of the fee amount that Civic Platform is to allocate to the
corresponding account code. For example, Account Fee 1 is the fee for Account Code 1.
If you split a fee item among account codes, the sum of the amounts in Account Fee 1,
Account Fee 2, and Account Fee 3 must equal the fee for the fee item.
Date Assessed Assessment date of the fee for this application.
Fee The total amount of the fee in dollars.
Fee Code A unique code that identifies the fee item. The fee code often refers to the source or
purpose of the fee item. For example, if you use this fee item to calculate the value of a
window, the fee code can be “Window”
Fee Item A brief description of the fee item. For example, you can enter the source or purpose for
the fee.
Invoice # A unique number that identifies the invoice on which this fee appears.
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Period The payment period that the fee belongs to. For example, if fee assessment and
fee payment occur during the inspection phase, you can name the payment period
“Inspection.” A payment period is a subset of the fee schedule.
Quantity The quantity entered upon fee assessment.
Status Indicates where in the accounting process the fee currently is. For example, if the status
is “New,” the fee assessment occurred recently. If the Status is “Invoiced,” a fee invoice
exists. Click the link to the invoice number to view the invoice.
Subgroup The subgroup period that the fee belongs to. A fee item may belong to multiple
subgroups. A subgroup is a subset of the payment period.
Unit The unit of work required for the occupancy. The unit allows you to calculate the value of
the occupancy, or job value.
Valuation Calculator Fields
The following table defines the default fields on the Valuation Calculator.
Extra Amount Used to add extra dollar amounts to the Total Valuation. You can use positive or negative
numbers.
Exclude from Regional
Modifier
Use to create a valuation occupancy record that excludes the regional modifier to
calculate total valuation. Clear this option to enable regional modifier functionality.
Multiplier A numeric data field that Civic Platform uses to modify a valuation. Use the Multiplier
field in addition to the Regional Modifier for calculations. An agency has the ability to
valuate based on the multiplier alone, which means it can operate excluding the Regional
Modifier. The value entered in this field multiplies the total Valuation (before Extra
Amount) in addition to the regional modifier. Format the number with a decimal (max total
numbers before decimal is 5 and max total number after decimal is 4).
Occupancy The purpose or use of the property or building that you are valuating. An occupancy is
typically a building or part of a building that someone intends to occupy. A few examples
include apartments, homes, hospitals, auditoriums, churches, or banks.
Unit Type The qualities of the occupancy that indicate the work required to build the occupancy. For
example, if the occupancy is a basement, you might enter “finished” as the qualifier. Your
agency administrator determines these values
Unit The measurable unit of work required for the occupancy. The unit allows you to calculate
the value of the occupancy, or job value.
Unit Amount The total number of units.
Version The occupancy version that you want to apply to the valuation calculation. For example,
the occupancy is a Residential dwelling, and versions are single-dwellings and duplexes.
Batch Invoice Fields
The following table defines the default fields on the Batch Invoice form.
Alternate ID An alternate identification number for the invoice.
Balance Due The unpaid amount on the invoice.
Record ID The identification number for the record.
Invoice Amount The total amount due on the invoice.
Invoice Batch Date The date when you create the invoice.
Invoice Batch Number The batch number that contains the invoice.
Invoice Comment Enter any comments associated with the invoice.
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Invoice Date The generation date of the invoice.
Invoice Due Date The date the fees on the invoice are due.
Invoice Level The invoice level of importance.
Invoice Number The invoice identification number.
Invoice Status The status of the invoice. For example, paid.
Invoice Status Date The date when the invoice status changed. For example, if a licensed
professional made a partial payment.
Print Invoice Number A number to identify the order that invoices print.
Printed The date that the batch prints.
Invoice Detail Fields
The following table defines the default fields on the Invoice Detail form.
Fee For each fee item, the amount of the fee multiplied by the quantity.
Fee Item A description of each fee itemized on the invoice.
Invoice # A unique number that identifies the invoice.
Invoice Date The date when the invoice generates.
Period For each fee item on the invoice, the payment period to which a fee item belongs.
Qty (Quantity) The assessment quantity for each fee item on the invoice.
Record ID # The identification number of the application to which the invoice belongs.
Total Fee The total amount owed on the invoice.
Common Payment Details
The following table defines the common fields on the payment form for all the payment methods.
Amount Enter the total payment amount. By default, the total balance owed populates this field.
Balance In case of underpayment, this read-only field displays the under-paid amount with the
following equation: Balance= Fee Total-Total Tendered. Otherwise, the field displays a
zero (0.00).
CC Auth Code The three digit authorization number located on back of the credit card.
Change In case of overpayment, this field displays the amount of money due back to the payor.
The over-paid amount populates the Change and Unapplied Credit fields with the
following equation: Change + Unapplied Credit= Total Tendered - Fee Total
If the payment method is not Cash, both the Change and Unapplied Credit fields display
as read-only, with a zero (0.00) in Change, and the total over-paid amount in Unapplied
Credit. If the payment method is Cash, both fields are editable.
Comment Any comments pertaining to the payment.
Fee Total This read-only field displays the total amount of fees for all of the records and POS items
listed in the Payment Processing portlet. If some fee items have outstanding negative
fees, the total amount counts in the absolute values of the negative fees.
Payment Method The form of payment. For example, cash or check. If you are accepting two different forms
of payment, you can separately apply payments for each payment method.
Total Tendered This read-only field displays the total monies received during the payment process on the
selected records.
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Unapplied Credit In case of overpayment, this field displays the over-paid amount to add to the record
with the highest record ID in the Payment Processing portlet for future fees. Otherwise,
the field displays as read-only with a zero (0.00). The over-paid amount populates the
Change and Unapplied Credit fields with the following equation: Change + Unapplied
Credit= Total Tendered - Fee Total
If the payment method is not Cash, both the Change and Unapplied Credit fields
displays as read-only, with a zero (0.00) in Change, and the total over-paid amount in
Unapplied Credit. If the payment method is Cash, both fields are editable.
Cash Payment Details
The following table defines the default fields on the Cash Payment form in addition to the fields given in
Common Payment Details.
Payor Enter the name of the payor. You can use the picker next to the field to select a payor
from the payor list.
Received Select the payment delivery method; for example, In Person, Mail, or Fax.
Reference # If you are receiving a check payment, enter the check number. You can leave the field
empty if the payment method is cash.
Credit Card Payment Details
The following table defines the default fields on the Credit Card Payment form in addition to the fields given
in Common Payment Details.
Account Number The credit card account number.
Business Name Enter the business name of the credit card holder.
Card Holder’s Name If the payment method is Credit, enter the name of the credit card holder exactly as it
appears on the credit card.
Card Holder’s Email Enter the email address of the credit card holder.
Card Security Code If the payment method is Credit, enter the credit card security code located on the back of
the credit card.
Card Type From the drop-down list choose a credit card type. For example, Civic Platform accepts
Discover, Master Card, American Express, Visa, and Diner’s Club.
Comment Enter any comments or notes about this transaction.
City Enter the city of the credit card holder.
Expiration Date Enter the credit card expiration date.
Received Select the payment delivery method; for example, In Person, Mail, or Fax.
State/Province From the drop-down list, choose the state or province where the card holder resides.
Street Address Enter the street address of the credit card holder.
Street Address2 Enter the street address of the credit card holder into the Street Address and Street
Address2 fields if the address needs two lines.
Telephone Enter the telephone number of the credit card holder.
Zip Enter the zip code of the credit card holder.
Check Payment Details
The following table defines the default fields on the Check Payment detail form in addition to the fields
given in Common Payment Details.
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Account Number The checking account number on the bottom of the check.
Business Name The business name of the check holder.
Check Processing Type The check processing type. For example, Account Debit or Electronic Check.
Check Holder’s Email The email address of the check holder.
Check Holder’s Name The name of the check holder.
Check Number The check number of the check.
Check Type The check type From the drop-down list. For example, company or personal.
City Enter the city of the credit card holder
Comment Any comments or notes about this transaction.
Driver License The drivers license number of the check holder.
Phone Number The phone number of the check holder.
Received The payment delivery method; for example, In Person, Mail, or Fax
Routing Number The routing number on the bottom of the check.
SSN/Federal Tax ID The check holder’s social security number for personal checks or the company’s federal
tax id number for business checks.
State/Province The state or province where the card holder resides.
Street Address The street address of the check holder.
Street Address2 The street address of the check holder into the Street Address and Street Address2 fields
if the address needs two lines.
Zip The zip code of the check holder.
Refund Details
The following table defines the default fields on the Refund detail forms in addition to the fields given in
Common Payment Details.
CC Auth. Code The three digit authorization number located on back of the credit card.
Comments Any important comments or notes about the refund payment.
Method The method used to issue the refund payment. For example, Cash, Check, or Credit.
Paid To The name of the person receiving the refund.
Reason The reason for the refund.
Reference # The check number or the number that identifies the other document.
Refund Amount The total amount of money that you are actually refunding. This may or may not equal the
total available amount. The amount available includes the balance of any payments that
have not yet been applied as well as the total amount of any refunds that you just applied
toward one or more fees.
Refunded The manner in which the payment was refunded. For example, In Person, Mail, or Fax.
Trust Account The trust account to return the funds to.
Payment Summary Fields
The following table defines the default fields on the Payment Summary form.
Amount The total amount due of all fee items listed on the invoice.
Amount The total amount of the payment or the refund transaction.
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Amount Not Applied The total amount of unallocated payments.
Balance This field displays the difference between the total amount owed on the invoice and the
total amount paid. A zero displays in this field if the customer has paid all of the fees in
full.
Cashier ID Your identification name or your identification number. This ID shows up on any fees,
invoices, and receipts that you generate.
Date Today’s date. This date shows up on any fees, invoices, and receipts that you generate
today.
Date The date of the transaction.
Full Paid Indicates payment status. A “Y” value in this field indicates there are no outstanding
balances on this invoice. A “N” indicates there are outstanding fees awaiting payment.
Invoice # A unique number that identifies the invoice.
Method The method of payment such as credit, cash, or check.
Not Applied The amount of the payment or the refund that Civic Platform has not allocated to an
invoiced fee.
Receipt # If you generate a receipt for a transaction (payment or refund), the receipt number
identifies the receipt.
Received The payment delivery method; for example, In Person, Mail, or Fax.
Status The current status of the transaction such as paid or voided.
Terminal # An identification name or an identification number that identifies the terminal you are
using to accept payments. This ID shows up on any fees, invoices, and receipts that you
generate.
Total Balance The difference between the total amount of invoiced fees and any payments that Civic
Platform has applied toward this application.
Total Invoice Amount The total amount of fees invoiced to the applicant, billing contact, organization, or other
responsible party.
Total Payment The total amount of payments received from the applicant, billing contact, organization, or
other responsible party.
Transactions The type of transaction such as payment or refund.
Receipt Details
The following table defines the default fields on the Receipt detail form.
Amount Paid The total amount of the payment or the refund transaction.
Cashier ID The identification name or the identification number of the individual responsible for the
transaction.
Comments Any comments surrounding the transaction.
Owner Info The contact responsible for making a payment or receiving a refund.
Payment Date The date when the transaction occurred.
Payment Method The method of payment such as credit, cash, or check.
Receipt No If you generate a receipt for a transaction (payment or refund), the receipt number
identifies the receipt.
Ref Number The check number or number that appears on the document.
Work Description The type of application to which the transaction or payment applies. For example, the
application type may be “New Residential” if the application is for a new home.
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Trust Account Form Fields
The following table defines the default fields on the Trust Account form.
Account ID The account ID number for the trust account.
Balance The balance of the trust account in dollars
City The city corresponding to the address on record.
County The county corresponding to the address on record.
Description The description of the trust account.
Dir The type of street, such as “Lane” or “Avenue.”
Direction The street direction. For example, choose N to indicate a north direction, such as North
Broadway.
Distance The distance from another landmark used to locate the address.
First Name The first name of the individual responsible for the trust account.
Inspection District
Prefix
The prefix for the inspection district within which the address resides.
Last Name The last name of the individual responsible for the trust account.
Ledger Account The ledger account of the trust account.
Lot The name, or boundaries, of the lot associated with the application.
Middle Name The middle name of the individual responsible for the trust account.
Neighborhood The neighborhood within which the address resides.
Neighborhood Prefix The prefix for the neighborhood within which the address resides.
Organization Name The organization name of the contact associated with the trust account.
Overdraft This defines whether the trust account can use an overdraft option.
Overdraft Limit The overdraft limit amount, in dollars, for the trust account.
Parcel # Full or partial parcel number.
People Type Type of contact associated with the trust account.
Prefix Any part of the address that should come before the street name or the number, such as
a direction. For example “north” in North Willow Drive.
Range The range number of the address.
Reference Address ID The identification for any reference address.
Secondary Road The road for the secondary address.
Secondary Road
Number
The number of the address’s secondary road.
Section The section of the subdivision in which the address resides.
State The state corresponding to the address on record
Status The status of the trust account (open or closed).
Street Name The street name for the address.
Street # (start/end) The street number(s) of the property. If the address includes multiple street numbers (for
example, a fourplex), you can use the Street # Start and Street # End fields to define the
range of numbers. Agencies can configure the Street # Start and End fields to support
range search (adding To-From fields), allowing users to search for one or multiple street
numbers within a user-defined range.
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Type The type of item associated with the property that you are searching for, such as Licensed
Professional, Contact, Address or Parcel.
Unit # (Number) The unit or the apartment number. When searching for an address, you may be able to
specify a range of numbers in the corresponding Start and End fields.
Unit Type The type of structure for this address, for example, apartment or condo.
X Coordinate The latitudinal coordinate for the address.
Y Coordinate The longitudinal coordinate for the address.
Payment Details for a Set
The following table defines the default fields on the Payment Details form for a set.
Amount The total payment amount.
Bank Name The name of the bank that issued the credit card or the check.
CC Auth Code The credit card number.
CC Exp Date The credit card’s expiration date.
CC Holder Name The name of the credit card holder as it appears on the credit card.
Check Holder’s Email The email address of the check holder.
Check Holder’s Name The name of the check holder.
Check Number The check number.
Check Type The check type from the drop-down list. For example, company or personal.
City The city of the payor.
Comment Comments to help identify or explain the reason for this payment. If there are any special
circumstances for this payment, indicate them here.
Country/Region The country or region of the payor.
Driver’s License The drivers license number of the payor.
Method The payment method. For example, choose Cash, Check, or Credit Card. If your agency
uses a cash drawer and if the method of payment is cash or check, then Civic Platform
opens the cash drawer so that you can put the payment into the cash drawer.
Payor The name of the payor.
Phone Number The phone number of the payor.
Received The payment delivery method; for example, In Person, Mail, or Fax.
Reference # If you are receiving a check payment, this is the check number.
State The state where the payor is located.
Trust Account The number or code that identifies the terminal where you are accepting payment.
Zip The zip code of the payor.
Cashier Session Form Fields
The following table defines the default fields on the Cashier Session form.
Begin Time Use the From and To fields to enter the date parameters that you want to use for your
search.
Deposit Date Specify a deposit date in this field (Supervisors only). After submittal, you can modify both
the Deposit Slip # and the Deposit Date fields.
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Deposit Slip # After a cashier deposits the total dollar amount of a cashier session in a bank, the bank
issues a deposit slip #. A supervisor can modify this value after someone enters a deposit
date.
End Time Use the From and To fields to enter the date parameters that you want to use for your
search. Civic Platform returns cashier sessions with dates that fall within the range you
specified.
First Name The first name of the cashier that you want to search for.
Last Name The last name of the cashier that you want to search for.
Session Number The cashier session number that you want to search for.
Status Closed Select to search for closed cashier sessions.Enabled Select to search for active
cashier sessions.
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Activities
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with activities.
Related Information
Working with Activities in the My Tasks Portlet
Working with Activities for Records
Working with Activities for People and Property
Examining Activity Details
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Working with Activities in the My Tasks Portlet
Activities refer to a past action or past event related to a record. You can assign activities to a staff member
when the activities require further action, such as a follow-up inspection or a phone-call.
Topics
•Viewing Activities
•Finding Activities
•Creating an Activity
•Deleting Activities
Viewing Activities
You view activities through the Activities tab of the My Tasks portlet.
To view activities
1. Access the My Tasks portlet.
2. Click the Activities tab.
Civic Platform displays your activities.
Finding Activities
You can use the My Tasks portlet to find activities assigned to you or others.
To find activities
1. Access the My Tasks portlet.
2. Click the Activities tab.
Civic Platform displays your activities.
3. Click Search.
Civic Platform displays the activity search form.
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4. Complete search criteria in as appropriate to locate the activity you want.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the search results.
Creating an Activity
You can create new activities from the My Tasks portlet or the Records portlet.
To create a new activity
1. Either access the My Tasks portlet or the Records portlet.
2. If you accessed the Records portlet, locate and select the record you want to work with.
3. Click the Activities tab.
Civic Platform displays assigned activities.
4. Click New.
Civic Platform displays an activity detail form.
5. Complete the fields with available data. See Examining Activity Details for field definitions.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates the activity.
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Deleting Activities
You can delete multiple activities from your activity list.
To delete an activity
1. Access the My Tasks portlet.
2. Click the Activities tab.
Civic Platform displays your activities.
3. Select one or more activities to delete.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the activity from your activity list.
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Working with Activities for Records
Topics
•Adding a New Activity to a Record
•Updating an Activity on the Activity Tab
•Viewing the Activity Summary
Adding a New Activity to a Record
Add a new activity when a new action takes place on a record.
To add a new activity
1. Open the Building or Service Request portlet and use search to locate the application or the service
request to which you want to add an activity. See Using the Search Features for more information.
2. Click the link in the Record ID column to select the desired application or service request.
Civic Platform displays the details.
3. Click the Activities tab.
Civic Platform displays the activities assigned to the application or service request.
4. Click New.
Civic Platform displays a form you can use to enter activity information.
5. Complete the fields in the form with available data. See Examining Activity Details for a list of fields and
field definitions that may be available.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform saves your changes and returns you to the Activities tab.
Updating an Activity on the Activity Tab
In the Activities tab, you can update an existing activity. You can update any general information about the
activity, such as the name, the creation date, or the department to which the activity belongs. To update
the occurrence date of an activity, see Viewing the Activity Summary.
To modify an activity for an application or service request
1. Open the Building or Service Request portlet and use search to locate the application or service request
you want to work with. See Using the Search Features for more information about using Search.
2. Click the Activities tab.
Civic Platform displays the activities assigned to the application or service request.
3. In the Number column, click the link for the activity you want to modify.
Civic Platform displays the activity details on the tabs.
4. Make changes as needed (see Examining Activity Details for field definitions).
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the changes in the Activities form portlet.
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Viewing the Activity Summary
The Activity Summary secondary tab lists both the activities associated with an application or a service
request and any completed ad hoc and workflow tasks. You can click the Name link for an activity/task
record in this tab to view details.
To view the activity summary
1. Open the Building or Service Request portlet and use search to locate the application or service request
you want to work with. See Using the Search Features for more information about using Search.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
2. Click the Activity Summary tab.
Civic Platform displays a summary of the activities and tasks.
3. In the Name column, click the link for the activity/tasks you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the selected activity/task information in its respective tab: if an activity, it
displays in the Activity tab; if a task, it displays in the Task Details tab.
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Working with Activities for People and Property
You can associate activity types with address, parcel, owner, contact, and licensed professional data. This
association enables agencies to record simple actions related to people and property that do not require an
application or service request. For example, you might associate a “phone call” activity type with a licensed
professional. When a user sees this activity type, he knows to call the associated licensed professional,
and add the information about the phone call in the Description field.
Topics
•Activities for Parcels
•Activities for Addresses
•Activity for People
Activities for Parcels
A parcel can have an associated activity type. This association enables agencies to record simple actions
related to people and property that do not require an application or a service request. You can create, view,
edit, copy, move, and delete activity types for parcels.
Topics
•Creating an Activity for Parcels
•Updating a Parcel Activity
•Copying or Moving a Parcel Activity
•Deleting an Activity from a Parcel
Creating an Activity for Parcels
1. On the Parcel portlet, use search to locate the parcel to which you want to add an activity, and click the
link in the Parcel # column.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
2. Click the Activity tab.
Civic Platform displays the activities assigned to the parcel.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays an Activity detail form portlet.
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4. Complete the Activity fields.
Activity Name Enter the name you give to the activity.
Activity Type Select the activity type from the drop-down list.
Note:
At your selection of the activity type, some additional fields may appear
below the default fields.
Description Enter a short summary of the action taken related to the activity.
5. Click Submit to save your changes.
Civic Platform displays the parcel’s new activity on the list.
Updating a Parcel Activity
1. On the Parcel portlet, use search to locate the parcel to which you want to add an activity, and click the
link in the Parcel # column.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
2. Click the Activity tab.
Civic Platform displays the activities assigned to the parcel.
3. Click the activity you want to update.
Civic Platform displays the Activity detail form portlet.
4. Modify the fields as needed.
5. Click Submit.
Copying or Moving a Parcel Activity
After you split or merge a parcel, you may need to maintain the activities assigned to the parcel. To do this,
copy or move the activities between genealogically related parcels as needed.
To copy or move an associated parcel activity
1. On the Parcel portlet, use search to locate the parcel to which you want to add an activity, and click the
link in the Parcel # column.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
2. Click the Activity tab.
Civic Platform displays the activities assigned to the parcel.
3. Do one of the following:
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• Copy the associated parcel activity between two genealogically related parcels:
1. Select the activity you want to copy and click Copy.
Civic Platform displays a list of parcels including the current parcel and its immediate parents,
siblings, and children.
2. Select the destination parcel(s).
3. Click Submit.
Civic Platform associates the activity with the newly selected parcel and retains the association
between the activity and the original parcel.
• Move the associated activity between two genealogically related parcels:
1. Select the activity that you want to move and click Move.
Civic Platform displays a list of parcels including the current parcel and its immediate parents,
siblings, and children.
2. Select the destination parcel(s).
3. Click Submit.
Civic Platform associates the activity with the newly selected parcel and disassociates the activity
from the original parcel.
Deleting an Activity from a Parcel
1. On the Parcel portlet, use search to locate the parcel to which you want to add an activity, and click the
link in the Parcel # column.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
2. Click the Activity tab.
Civic Platform displays the activities assigned to the parcel.
3. Select the activity you want to delete from the parcel.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform confirms the deletion.
Activities for Addresses
An address can have an associated activity type. This association enables agencies to record simple
actions related to people and property that do not require an application or service request. You can
create, view, edit, copy, move, and delete activity types for addresses.
Topics
•Creating an Activity for Addresses
•Updating an Address Activity
•Deleting an Activity from an Address
Creating an Activity for Addresses
1. On the Address portlet, use search to locate the address to which you want to add an activity, and click
the link in the Number column.
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Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
2. Click the Activity tab.
3. Click New.
4. Complete the following fields.
Activity Name Enter the name you give to the activity.
Activity Type Select the activity type from the drop-down list.
Note:
At your selection of the activity type, some additional fields may appear
below the default fields.
Description Enter a short summary of the action taken related to the activity.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the new activity on the list.
Updating an Address Activity
After an activity status changes, you can update any general information about the activity, such as the
name, the department the activity belongs, or the creation date.
To update an activity for an address
1. On the Address portlet, use search to locate the address to which you want to add an activity, and click
the link in the Number column.
2. Click the Activity tab.
Civic Platform displays the Assigned activities address list.
3. Click the activity you want to update.
4. Modify the fields as needed.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays your changes.
Deleting an Activity from an Address
If an activity is no longer needed, you can delete it from an address.
To delete an activity from an address
1. On the Address portlet, use search to locate the address to which you want to add an activity, and click
the link in the Number column.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
2. Click the Activity tab.
Civic Platform displays the Assigned activities address list.
3. Select the activity you want to delete from the address.
4. Click Delete.
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Activity for People
People, including owners, contacts, and licensed professionals, can have an associated activity type. This
association enables agencies to record simple actions related to people and property that do not require an
application or service request. You can create, view, edit, copy, move, and delete activity types for people
in the Activity tab of the Contact, Owner, and Licensed Professional portlets.
Note:
The Activity tabs in the Contact, Owner, and Licensed Professional portlets are identical in both appearance
and functionality. This section focuses on the steps to create and manage activities in the Owner portlet. The
same steps apply when working in the Contact or Licensed Professional portlet.
Topics
•Creating an Activity for Owners
•Updating an Owner Activity
•Deleting an Activity from an Owner
Creating an Activity for Owners
You can add activities to owner records. For example, you can associate a phone call activity type with an
owner. When a user sees a phone call activity type, he knows that he must call the associated owner and
then enter information about the phone call in the Description field.
To add a new activity to an owner
1. On the Owner portlet, use search to locate the owner for whom you want to add an activity, and click
the link in the Name column.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
2. Click the Activity tab.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays an Activity detail form portlet.
4. Complete the following fields.
Activity Name Enter the name you give to the activity.
Activity Type Select the activity type from the drop-down list. Additional fields may display.
Complete them with available data.
Description Enter a short summary of the action taken related to the activity.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays your changes.
Updating an Owner Activity
1. On the Owner portlet, use search to locate the owner for whom you want to add an activity, and click
the link in the Name column.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
2. Click the Activity tab.
3. Click the activity you want to update.
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4. Modify the fields as needed.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays your changes.
Deleting an Activity from an Owner
If an activity is no longer needed, you can delete it from an owner.
To delete an activity from an owner
1. On the Owner portlet, use search to locate the owner for whom you want to add an activity, and click
the link in the Name column.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
2. Click the Activity tab.
Civic Platform displays the activities assigned to the owner.
3. Select the activity you want to delete.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform confirms that it successfully deleted the activity.
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Examining Activity Details
The following table lists and defines fields that may be available as you work with activities.
Label Description
Activity Name* The name of the activity.
Activity Number The activity number as assigned by Civic Platform.
Assigned to Department The department responsible for addressing the activity.
Assigned to Staff - Check
Availability The staff assigned to address the activity. The Check Availability link, when
clicked, shows the availability of the assigned to staff based on all their
scheduled calendar events.
Start Date* The beginning date of the activity.
Due Date The due date for the activity.
Priority The priority level for the completion of the activity.
Type The type of activity. Civic Platform may associate some activity types with an
activity specific info group. In such cases, subgroup fields display automatically
below the activity fields.
Activity Status This is the status of the activity.
Description A description of the activity.
Internal Only* Indicates whether the record is for internal use only.
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Attachments
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with attachments.
Related Information
Attachments Overview
Attaching Files
Accessing an Attachment
Accessing Attachments via a GIS Map
Defining ACA Permissions for a Document
Previewing Attachments
Downloading Attachments
Setting the Display Image
Viewing Attachment Information
Deleting an Attachment
Working with Accela Document Scan
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Attachments Overview
Attachments are electronic files such as PDFs or image files that you can upload from your computer
to your Civic Platform server, and then associate with a licensed professional, inspection, parcel, asset,
part, calendar, or other record. Attachments can be just about any relevant document or file, such as
special instructions, diagrams, pictures, or other information relevant to the record. An audit log is available
that you can use to review the information about attachments, such as when an attachment is uploaded
or deleted, or when its access permissions to Citizen Access users are modified. See Audit Logs for
information about the document audit log.
If your agency implements Citizen Access, administrators have the ability to use the documentation portlet
to assign public user permissions for each attachment associated with a record.
Civic Platform can be configured to enable an electronic document review process. See Electronic
Document Review for more information.
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Attaching Files
You can upload new attachments from your computer, or you can link to an existing attachment on another
record.
Note:
• When you attach image files an asset record, you can set one of those files as the asset’s display image,
which is displayed in the record detail for the asset record as well as in the linked asset view. For more
information about asset display images, see Setting an Asset Display Image.
• When uploading a single file in Civic Platform, a 1GB maximum file size is supported. When
uploading multiple files, 10 files may be uploaded in one batch. No single batch should exceed
1GB. The Civic Platform administrator must configure the EDMS standard choice parameter
EDMS_DOCUMENT_SIZE_MAX.
To attach one or more files
1. Navigate to the list portlet where you want to attach a document.
Civic Platform displays a list of records.
2. Click the link to the record to which you want to attach a file.
If you do not see the record you are looking for, use Search to locate and select the desired record.
Civic Platform displays the record details portlet.
3. Click the Documents tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of documents and attachments for the record.
4. Click New.
5. Click Add.
Civic Platform displays a standard file selection dialog box.
6. Locate and choose the file(s) you want to attach. You can choose one file or multiple files in the same
folder (hold down the Shift or Ctrl key as you click each file).
7. Click Open.
Civic Platform uploads the files and lists them below the Apply Definitions to Selected link.
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8. Apply attachment definitions as appropriate:
a. Set the attributes (for example, Document Group/Category or EDMS Name) you want to apply. For a
list of the most common fields, see Attachment Fields.
b. Select the attachments to which you want to apply the attributes.
c. Click Apply Definitions to Selected.
Civic Platform applies defined attributes to the attachments that you selected.
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d. If you want to define attributes/definitions to individual documents, you can modify each document’s
attributes/definitions in the list as needed.
e. Click Save.
Civic Platform saves the attachments along with any applied attributes/definitions to the selected
record. The newly uploaded attachments appear on the Documents tab.
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Accessing an Attachment
Once an electronic file is attached to a record, the attachment details can be reviewed. If the attachment
is an electronic file supported by your web browser, the file can also be viewed in the browser. If the file
cannot be viewed from within your web browser, you may choose to download it to a hard drive and open it
in the software application that was used to create it, or use Acrobat Reader, for example, to open a PDF.
To access an attachment
1. Navigate to the list portlet you are using and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
2. Click the link to the record you want.
3. Click the Documents tab.
4. Optionally, if you are accessing the attachments of an application or a service request record, select the
type of attachments list you want to view.
There are two options:
•Record Attachments- Mark this option to view the files directly attached to the current record. This
is the default option.
•People Attachments - Mark this option to view the files attached to the licensed professionals or
reference contacts who are associated with the current record.
You can look up people attachments to associate with records, or associate record attachments with
people. For more information, see Looking Up People Attachments to Associate with Records and
Associating Record Attachments with People.
5. Click the File Name link for the attachment you want to view. For the attachment fields, see Attachment
Fields.
6. To download the file, open the Actions menu for the desired attachment by clicking the down arrow, and
then select Download.
Civic Platform displays the attachment in a new window.
7. To download multiple documents, choose the documents and click Manage Documents > Download.
Note that the Civic Platform administrator must grant Upload and Download permission on the
Administration > Agency Profile > Security Policy > EDMS Access Security > {EDMS-Name} to enable
multiple document downloads.
To print multiple documents, choose the documents and click Manage Documents > Print. Note that
the Print option only shows if the Civic Platform administrator has configured FID 8508 Print Multiple
Documents with Full Access.
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Looking Up People Attachments to Associate with Records
If a record is associated with a contact or licensed professional to which you or other users already
uploaded a document, you can associate a document (people attachment) from the contact or licensed
professional to the record. This way, the document not only appears in the people attachments list, but also
in the record attachments list.
To look up a people attachment to associate with a record
1. Navigate to the Records portlet.
2. Do one of the following:
• Create a new record, associate one or more contacts or licensed professional with the record, and
then locate the Documents section in the application intake form.
• If the record you want to work with already exists, use Search to locate and select the record, and
click the Documents tab.
3. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays a list of the documents from the record-associated contacts and license
professionals that have not been added to the record yet.
Note:
Civic Platform checks your agency’s EDMS security settings and only displays the documents that you
have permission to view.
4. Select the documents you want to add to the record, and click Select.
Civic Platform adds the selected document to the record documents list, populates the following
document settings from the source contacts or licensed professionals to the record document: File
Name (Document Name), Description, Document Group/Category, Department, Uploaded By/On, Size,
Document Status/Status Date, Type, Modified By/Date, Source, and template fields.
5. Modify the document settings if needed.
• If you associate the document with a new record in the application intake form, you can modify the
following fields: Document Group/Category, Description, Department, template fields, and assign
virtual folders to the document.
• If you associate the document with an existing record, you can open the Document Information
window for the document, and modify the following fields: ACA Permissions (default: follow
document type security), Document Group/Category, Description, Department, Status, template
fields, and assign virtual folders to the document.
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Associating Record Attachments with People
When you upload a document to a record, you may want to attach the document to the contact or licensed
professional that is associated with the current record, for the convenience of reusing the same document
in the future records. You can attach the record document to the contact or licensed professional.
To associate a record attachment to people in the application intake form
1. Navigate to the Records portlet to create a new record.
2. Associate one or more contacts or licensed professional with the record.
3. Locate the Documents section in the application intake form, and click Add.
4. Locate and choose the document you want to attach to the record.
5. When adding document definitions to the document, select the contact or licensed professional from the
Also Attach To drop-down list, which is the people you want to attach the document to.
Civic Platform adds the selected document(s) to the contact or licensed professional, and populates
the following document settings from the record to the contact or licensed professional: File Name
(Document Name), Description, Department, Document Group/Category, Description, Modified By/
Date, Uploaded By/On, Size, Type, Source, and template fields.
6. Proceed to the rest record-creation steps.
To associate a record attachment to people in the record portlet
1. Navigate to the Records portlet.
2. Use Search to locate and select the record, and click the Documents tab.
3. Select the document(s) you want to attach to people.
4. Hover the mouse cursor on the Manage Documents button, then select Add to People from the
command menu.
Civic Platform displays the list of contacts or licensed professionals that are associated with the record.
If none are associated with the record, Civic Platform prompts an error message.
5. Select the contact or licensed professional to which you want to attach the selected document(s), and
click Select.
Civic Platform adds the selected document(s) to the contact or licensed professional, and populates
the following document settings from the record to the contact or licensed professional: File Name
(Document Name), Description, Department, Document Group/Category, Document Status/ Status
Date, Description, Modified By/Date, Uploaded By/On, Size, Type, and Source, and template fields.
6. Modify the document settings if needed. You can open the Document Information window for the
document, and modify the following fields: ACA Permissions, Document Group/Category, Description,
Department, Status, template fields, and assign virtual folders to the document.
For information on ACA Permissions, see Defining ACA Permissions for a Document.
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Accessing Attachments via a GIS Map
If your agency uses Accela GIS, you can view documents attached to a record or a parcel from a GIS map.
To access attachments from a GIS map
1. Click the Maps button on the Toolbar.
Accela GIS displays the map viewer.
2. Search for and select an object on the map.
Accela GIS displays a map overlay or icon on the selected object. The object also displays in the
Contents panel.
3. Click the Actions button.
Accela GIS displays the command menu.
4. Click the Show Documents command.
Accela GIS displays a Document window listing attachments associated with the current parcel, as
well as attachments associated with the records related to the current parcel. If the current parcel
was generated by splitting or merging historical parcels, the historical parcel numbers are listed in the
window. You can click these parcel numbers to view the attachments associated with the historical
parcels.
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Defining ACA Permissions for a Document
Civic Platform enables you to define Citizen Access permissions at the individual document level for
documents uploaded to or associated with records, licensed professionals, or reference contacts.
You can define the permissions during the upload process, or you can define the permissions after a
document uploads. The process described in this section shows you how you can define the permissions
to documents that have already been uploaded.
To define Citizen Access permissions for a document
1. Access the document following the steps described in Accessing an Attachment.
2. Click theACA Permission button. The button is either directly available in the portlet or from the
Manage Documents command menu.
Civic Platform displays a portlet with viewable permissions for Citizen Access.
3. When you define ACA Permission for a record document, complete the following fields:
Set Title Viewable
Permission Click Yes, then select the public users for whom you want the attached document
name to be viewable in Citizen Access. Click No to use existing permissions based
on the document type of the attached document.
Note:
Users without this permission will be unable to download or delete the
document, even if the downloadable and deletable permissions (described
below) are granted.
Set Downloadable
Permission Click Yes, then select the public users for whom you want the attached document
to be downloadable in Citizen Access. Click No to use existing permissions based
on the document type of the attached document.
Set Deletable Permission Click Yes, then select the public users for whom you want the attached document
to be deletable in Citizen Access. Click No to use existing permissions based on
the document type of the attached document.
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The ACA Permissions for a record document define the permissions that certain public user has on
the document when the public user views the record. If you set a permission to Yes, you must select
at least one public user group. If you do not select any public user groups, no public users will have
access to the documents, even if they have role-based permissions to view the document type.
4. When you define ACA Permission for a people document, select or deselect the check boxes next to
Title Viewable in ACA, Downloadable in ACA , and Deleteable in ACA.
The ACA Permissions for a people document define the permissions that a public user has on the
document after the public user account is associated with the contact or licensed professional.
5. Click Submit.
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Previewing Attachments
When you want to look at an attachment but do not need to modify it (see Using Electronic Document
Review for more about modifying attachments), use the Preview command.
To preview an attachment
1. Navigate to the record list portlet you are using and use Search to locate the record you want to work
with.
2. Click the link to the record you want.
3. Click the Documents tab.
4. Click the File Name link for the attachment you want to view.
5. To download the file, open the Actions menu for the desired attachment by clicking the down arrow, and
select Preview.
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Downloading Attachments
You can download record attachments to your computer as needed. Keep in mind that once a file is
downloaded, that copy of the file is no longer linked to the application server. You cannot use document
review functionality, and you cannot save changes to the server.
If you make changes to a downloaded file and you want to reattach the file to the record in Civic Platform,
you can do so. See Attaching Files for more information.
To download an attachment
1. Navigate to the record list portlet you are using and use Search to locate the record you want to work
with.
2. Click the link to the record you want.
3. Click the Documents tab.
4. Click the File Name link for the attachment you want to view.
5. To download the file, open the Actions menu for the desired attachment by clicking the down arrow, and
select Download.
Civic Platform displays the attachment in a new window.
6. To download multiple documents, choose the documents and click Manage Documents > Download.
Note that the Civic Platform administrator must grant Upload and Download permission on the
Administration > Agency Profile > Security Policy > EDMS Access Security > {EDMS-Name} to enable
multiple document downloads.
To print multiple documents, choose the documents and click Manage Documents > Print. Note that
the Print option only shows if the Civic Platform administrator has configured FID 8508 Print Multiple
Documents with Full Access.
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Setting the Display Image
Civic Platform provides you with the ability to assign a graphical representation to a record, similar to a
logo. You choose from the list of uploaded photo attachments on the record and set one as the display
image. After the display image is assigned to the record, it displays on the Record detail screen as shown
in Display Image on the Record Detail Page. You can modify the display image at anytime by clearing the
old display image and assigning a new one.
Note:
Not all file types can be used as a display image. You will receive an error message during the set display
image process if you select an attachment in a file format that is not configured for display images. Contact
your agency administrator for a list of compatible file format types, such as JPG.
Figure 17: Display Image on the Record Detail Page
Topics
•Adding a Display Image
•Removing a Display Image
Adding a Display Image
You can search and select a photo and set it as a display image for a record. For example, you may want
to assign a photo of a fish for a fishing license record. After the photo is uploaded to Civic Platform and
assigned to the record, it displays in the Record Detail page. See Display Image on the Record Detail
Page. This section provides instructions on how to add a display image to a record. If you want to remove
or change the display image, see Removing a Display Image.
To add a display image
1. Select a record and click the Documents tab.
Civic Platform displays the documents list portlet.
2. Choose one of the following:
• Add an image attachment to the record. For instructions, see Attaching Files.
• Choose an existing image from the document list portlet.
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3. Select the attachment you want to set as the display image.
4. Click the Set Display Image button.
The image file is set as the display image for the current record. Accela Civic Platform displays a Y in
the Display Image column.
Removing a Display Image
You can change or remove the display image for a record at anytime. This is done by choosing the existing
display image and clicking the Clear Display Image button. Replace the display image by adding a new
one. For instructions on how to add a display image, see Adding a Display Image.
To remove a display image
1. Select a record and click the Documents tab.
Civic Platform displays the documents portlet.
2. Select the current display image, which is the attachment with Y in the Display Image column.
3. Click Clear Display Image.
Civic Platform displays N in the Display Image column, indicating the display image was removed from
the current record.
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Viewing Attachment Information
After an attachment has been associated with a record, you can access details regarding how it was added
and if it has been modified. To view this information as well as other details about the attachment, users
click the Info button in the document list portlet.
To view attachment information
1. Select a record and click the Documents tab.
Civic Platform displays the documents portlet.
2. Identify the document you want to view/edit and mark the check box.
3. Either click the Info button in the toolbar, or select View Doc Info from the Action menu for the desired
document.
The Document Information window displays.
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Deleting an Attachment
When an attachment is no longer needed, you can delete it from Civic Platform. After you delete an
attachment, you cannot recover it.
To delete an attachment
1. Select a record and click the Documents tab.
Civic Platform displays the documents portlet.
2. Select the attachment you want to delete.
3. Click the Delete button.
Civic Platform displays a pop-up window that directs you to confirm the deletion.
4. Click the Yes button.
Civic Platform deletes the file.
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Working with Accela Document Scan
Accela Document Scan gives users the ability to initiate a scan of a document from Civic Platform, and
then attach the scanned document file to the current record.
Use Case: A citizen applies for a hunting license in person. He brings in a hard copy of the certificate that
he received for taking a gun safety course, which is a requirement for a hunting license. The clerk launches
a hunting application record in Civic Platform. When the agency clerk creates the application record, she
navigates to the Documents tab of the application and clicks New from Scan. The clerk inputs the required
information about the document and places the document in the scanner. The clerk initiates the scan
process from Civic Platform, which provides the requisite scanner controls to interact with the scanner.
When the scan completes, the scanned document file appears on the screen. The clerk can preview it
before he saves the file to the application record.
Users can initiate the document scanning functionality from the Documents tab on the following portlets:
Record, Parcel, License Professional, and Meeting.
Note:
You must install Accela Document Scan on each workstation where users plan to use a scanner to
incorporate documents into Civic Platform. See the Civic Platform Installation Guide, available via the
Documentation Library on Community and on the FTP site.
Topics
•Scanning a Document
•Switching Scanners
Scanning a Document
To scan a document
1. Navigate to the Documents tab on the portlet where you want to attach a scanned document.
2. Click New from Scan.
A new document form displays.
3. Complete the fields on the form with available data, then click Continue.
A file download prompt displays.
4. Click Open.
The Accela Document Scan window displays. Instructions for setting up the scanner may display at the
top of the window.
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5. Place your document on the scanner per manufacturer instructions, then pick a Scan As value; for
example, PDF or TIF.
Note:
If you are scanning a multi-page document to a single, multi-page file, you must choose PDF for the
Scan As value.
6. Click Scan.
When the scan is complete, the scanned document file appears in the File Name list on the Accela
Document Scan window.
7. Click Preview to view the scanned document file.
8. If you want to change the name of the file, click the file name and enter a new name. Do not worry
about a filename extension.
Note:
By default, scanned document file names use this format:
• Record attachments: record number + time/date sequence
• Parcel attachments: parcel number + time/date sequence
• Licensed professional or meeting attachments: unique ID stored in the database + time/date
sequence
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9. If you have more documents to scan or if you need to re-scan any document, repeat steps 4-7. If
you need to switch scanners (For example, your agency may have one scanner to handle single
page documents, and another scanner to handle multi-page documents), see Switching Scanners for
information about switching to another scanner.
Note:
If you are scanning multiple documents, you can adjust document settings such as Document Group and
Citizen Access Permissions after you upload your scanned documents.
10.When you finish scanning documents, select the document files you want to upload to Civic Platform.
You can select all files by marking the check box in the title bar (next to File Name).
11.Click Upload.
Selected document files upload to Civic Platform. When done, Accela Document Scan removes
uploaded files from the queue.
12.Click Setting in the upper left corner, then select Exit.
The Accela Document Scan window closes, and you return to the Civic Platform document form (see
illustration in step 2).
13.To scan more documents, follow steps 3-11. Otherwise, click Back to return to the Document list tab.
Your new document scan files display in the list.
Switching Scanners
If you are scanning more than one document and you need to use a different scanner; for example, one
that supports multi-page documents, Accela Document Scan enables you to make the switch from within
the Accela Document Scan window.
To switch to a different scanner
1. Follow steps 1-3 in Scanning a Document to display the Accela Document Scan window.
2. Click Setting in the upper left corner.
3. Choose Select Scanner from the command menu.
A device list dialog displays.
4. Choose the scanner you want to use from the Device List drop-down list.
5. Click OK.
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Examining Attachment Details
The following table lists and defines fields that may be available as you work with attachments.
Table 18: Attachment Fields
ACA Permission Displays the access permissions to the file for the selected ACA user groups. By
default, permission control on the document is inherited from the document type that
the document belongs to in Civic Platform Classic.
Alternate ID This read-only field displays the Alternate ID of the record that the document is
uploaded to.
Department This is the department that is responsible for reviewing the document or who currently
is in possession of it.
Display Image This is a display image, or icon, you can apply to a document. See Setting the Display
Image.
Document Description A brief description of the document.
Document Group/Category This is the document group and category for the file. When selecting a document
group, the category field drop-down list changes to provide list items for the selected
document group.
Document Name This is the title for the document.
Document Status This read-only field displays the status of the document.
Document Status Date This read-only field displays the date the document status was last updated.
EDMS Name The name of your agency’s electronic document management system. Note that this
field may have either of these labels, depending upon your agency’s configuration.
Entity Type This read-only field displays the original entity to which the document is uploaded; for
example, record, inspection, or professional.
Entity This read-only field displays the entity type (Record Type Alias or Record Type,
Inspection Type, or License Type) plus the entity ID (Alt ID, Inspection ID, or State
License #) to which the document is uploaded.
File Name This read-only field shows name of the file as it displays in the source location.
Inspection This read-only field displays the inspection type if the document is attached to an
inspection.
Modified By This read-only field shows the user account that last modified the document.
Modified Date This read-only field shows when the document was last updated in the record.
Record Type Alias This read-only field displays the record type alias, if any, of the record that the
document is uploaded to.
Size This read-only field shows the file size of the document.
Type This read-only field displays the file format of the document; for example, image/JPEG
or PDF.
Uploaded By This read-only field shows when the document was uploaded to the record.
User Email One or multiple email addresses that you want associated with the attachment.
Separate multiple addresses by a comma.
Virtual Folders A virtual folder for storing the attachment. With virtual folders, you can organize
uploaded attachments in groups, enabling you to better track attachments.
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Audit Logs
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with audit logs.
Related Information
Accessing Audit Logs
Available Audit Logs
Filtering Audit Log Data
Audit Log Buttons and Filter Options
Receipt Print Audit
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Audit Logs Overview
Agencies can enable audit log functionality for many different portlets that users work with every day.
Audit logs give you the ability to review historical data for records. For example, when a user creates a
new record, Civic Platform records the first entry in each field for the audit log. Essentially, Civic Platform
records any action to add, update, or delete data from a record for the audit log.
No matter where you access an audit log in Civic Platform, you interact with the logs in the same way.
Though the data you view may differ, the command buttons and filtering process are consistent from log to
log, with some minor variation to filtering options for certain audit log types. For more information about the
different audit logs, see Available Audit Logs
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Accessing Audit Logs
Use the View Log button in the toolbar to access audit logs throughout Civic Platform. If the View Log
button appears in a detail portlet, you access the audit log for the current record only. If the View Log
button is in a list portlet, you access an audit log for all records of that type.
In most cases, you simply click the View Log button to open the audit log. On some portlets, however,
multiple audit logs may be accessible. In these instances, the View Log button becomes a menu of
available logs from which you can choose.
To access an audit log
1. Navigate to the list or detail portlet from which you want to access an audit log.
See Available Audit Logs for a list of audit logs and how you can launch them.
Note:
You can launch several audit logs from more than one portlet. Keep this in mind as you choose a portlet
from which to launch: if you launch an audit log from a detail portlet, it contains historical data for the
current record only. If you launch the audit log from a list portlet, you have access to historical data for all
records of the same type.
2. Do one of the following:
• If View Log is a standard button (see image below), click the button.
• If View Log is a drop-down button (see image below), hover the mouse cursor on the View Log
button to display a list of available audit logs. Click the name of the log you want to launch.
3. Specify an audit type, if options are available.
4. Apply filter options as needed to display the data you want to see. See Filtering Audit Log Data for more
information.
Audit log data displays as defined by your filter.
Available Audit Logs
The following table lists the audit logs/audit log types that are available in Civic Platform, along with
information about where to access the listed audit log and any notable features.
Note:
Many agencies restrict access to audit logs. If you do not see a View Log button where you expect to see
one, consult your system administrator to confirm your level of access.
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Table 19: Available Audit Log/Audit Log Types
Audit Log/Audit Log Type Where to access Notes
App Specific Info Audit Log Record list portlet > View Log >
Record Details Log > App Specific Info
audit type
Record detail portlet > Record tab >
View Log > App Specific Info audit
type
An additional filter option, Subgroup, is
available for this log.
App Specific Info Tables Audit
Log
Record list portlet > View Log >
Record Details Log > App Specific Info
Tables audit type
Record detail portlet > Record tab >
View Log > App Specific Info Tables
audit type
An additional filter option, Subgroup, is
available for this log.
Asset Audit Log Asset list portlet > View Log button Two additional filter options, Condition
Group and Condition Type, are
available for this log.
Condition Audit Log Record list portlet > View Log
> Record Details Log > Record
Condition audit type
Record detail portlet > Record tab >
View Log > Record Condition audit
type
Record detail portlet > Conditions tab
> View Log Record detail portlet >
Conditions of Approval tab > View Log
Two additional filter options, Condition
Group and Condition Type, are
available for this log.
Contact Audit Log Reference Contacts list portlet > View
Log > Contact Log > Contact audit
type
Record details portlet > Contacts tab >
View Log > Contact audit type
An additional filter option, ALT ID, is
available for the record-specific contact
audit log (Record details portlet >
Contacts tab). The Field and Value
filter options are not available for this
log.
Contact Address Audit Log Reference Contacts list portlet > View
Log > Contact Log > Contact Address
audit type
The Field and Value filter options are
not available for this log.
Contact Also Known As Audit
Log
Reference Contacts list portlet > View
Log > Contact Log > Contact Also
Known As audit type
The Field and Value filter options are
not available for this log.
Contact Condition Log Reference Contacts list portlet > View
Log > Contact Condition Log
Two additional filter options, Condition
Group and Condition Type, are
available for this log.
Contact Merge Log - A merge
action is logged as one entry in
the audit log. That entry provides
source contact IDs and target
contact IDs that you can use to
access the contact details and
contact associations before and
after the merge.
Reference Contacts list portlet > View
Log > Contact Log > Contact Merge
audit type
The Field and Value filter options are
not available for this log.
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Audit Log/Audit Log Type Where to access Notes
Contact Relationship Audit Log Reference Contacts list portlet >
View Log > Contact Log > Contact
Relationship audit type
The Field and Value filter options are
not available for this log.
Deleted Record Log - Use this
audit log to view a list of deleted
records.
Record list portlet > View Log >
Deleted Record Log
Log Date is the only filter option.
Document Audit Log Record list portlet > View Log >
Record Details log > Document
audit type. Record detail portlet >
Documents tab > View Log
Three additional filter options,
Document group, Document Type, and
Action Type, are available for this log.
Examination Audit Log Record detail portlet > Examination tab
> View Log
Inspection Audit Log - Use
this audit log to view historical
inspection data.
Inspection list portlet > View Log >
Inspection Log
Record detail portlet > Inspection tab >
View Log > Inspection Log
Log Date is the only filter option.
Checklist Audit Log - Use this
audit log to view historical checklist
data.
Inspection list portlet > View Log >
Checklist Log
Record detail portlet > Inspection tab >
View Log > Checklist Log
Record list portlet > View Log >
Record Details Log > Checklist audit
type
Record detail portlet > Record tab >
View Log > Checklist audit type
An additional filter option, Checklist, is
available for this log.
Licensed Professional Condition
Audit Log
Licensed Professionals list portlet >
View Log
Two additional filter options, Condition
Group and Condition Type, are
available for this log.
Record Status History Audit Log Record detail portlet > Application
History tab > View Log button
The only filter option available for this
audit log is Log Date.
Record Details Log Record list portlet > View Log >
Record Details Log > Record audit
type
Record detail portlet > Record tab >
View Log > Record audit type
n/a
Workflow History Audit Log
- Use this audit log to view the
workflows deleted by the Delete &
Assign Workflow action.
Record detail portlet > Workflow
History tab > View Log > Deleted
Workflow audit type
The Field and Value filter options are
not available for this log.
Workflow Task Audit Log - Use
this audit log to view the workflow
tasks deleted from the Workflow
History tab, or updated in the tab
(the log records the task status
before the update.).
Record detail portlet > Workflow
History tab > View Log > Deleted
Workflow Task audit type
The Field and Value filter options are
not available for this log. When you
delete multiple workflow history entries
in a batch, they are logged as multiple
deleted history workflow tasks and
sub-tasks by the same operator at the
same time in the audit log.
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Audit Log/Audit Log Type Where to access Notes
Workflow Change Audit Log
- Use this audit log to view the
following logs: New ad hoc
task action, task activation,
and supervisor changes in the
Workflow tab of the Record portlet.
Record detail portlet > Workflow
History tab > View Log > Workflow
Change audit type
The Field and Value filter options are
not available for this log.
Workflow Task Assignment
Audit Log - Use this audit log
to view the following logs: Task
assignment, task release, and task
claim in the Workflow tab of the
Record portlet, and the Workflow
Tasks tab of the My Tasks portlet-
Task assignment in the Assign
Task administration portlet
Record detail portlet > Workflow
History tab > View Log > Workflow
Task Assignment audit type
The Field and Value filter options are
not available for this log.
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Filtering Audit Log Data
You can use the filter functionality in the audit log to display only the data that interests you. Most audit
logs in Accela Civic Platform present you with the same filter options. A few offer additional filter options.
See Available Audit Logs for a list of audit logs. If additional filter options are available for an audit log,
Civic Platform lists the additional filters in the Notes column.
To filter audit log data
1. Access the audit log you want to work in. See Accessing Audit Logs for more information.
The audit log window displays.
2. If the Audit Type filter is available, select an audit type from the drop-down list.
3. Use the additional filter fields to further define which historical data you want to view. See Audit Log
Buttons and Filter Options for a list of filter options and filter definitions.
4. Click Filter.
Civic Platform updates the data record list to reflect your filter settings.
Note:
To restore the original view, clear the filter fields and click the Filter button again. You can also close and
re-open the audit log window.
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Audit Log Buttons and Filter Options
The following table lists the filters and options on the Log Detail.
Table 20: Log Detail Filters and Options
ALT ID Some entities, such as parcels, have alternate ID numbers. You can use this field to filter
by alternate ID number. This filter is available for the Contact audit log launched from the
Contacts tab on the record detail portlet, and both the workflow history and workflow task
history audit logs.
Action Type Select a value from the Action drop-down list to display audit log records associated with
the selected action type. This filter is available for the Document audit log only.
Audit Type Select the audit type you want to view. Which types are available varies, depending on
where you launched the audit log window. See Available Audit Logs for a list of audit logs
and associated audit types.
Condition Group Select a condition group from the drop-down list to display data for the conditions in the
selected group only. This filter is available for the following logs: Record Condition Log,
Contact Condition Log, and Asset Condition Log.
Condition Type Select a condition type from the drop-down list to display data for conditions of the
selected type only. This filter is available for the following logs: Record Condition Log,
Contact Condition Log, and Asset Condition Log.
Document Group Select a document group from the drop-down list to display data for documents in the
selected group only. This filter is available for the Document audit log only.
Document Type Select a document type from the drop-down list to display data for documents of a
selected type only. This filter is available for the Document audit log only.
Entity ID Every entity, or record, has a unique ID number. If known, enter the ID number of a
desired record. If you open an audit log from a detail portlet, this field auto-populates with
the ID for the current entity.
Field This filter field pairs with the Value filter. First, specify a modified field in the Field filter,
then enter a valid field value in the Value field to filter the audit log display by that field
value.
Filter button Click this button on the far right side of the Audit Log window to engage the filter settings
you specified. If you do not see the button, scroll to the right or make the window larger.
Checklist Select a checklist from the drop-down list to display data for selected checklist type only.
This filter is available for the Checklist audit type only.
Log Date/Time Enter a date range to filter audit log entries by log entry creation date. If you enter a date
in the left field only, Civic Platform assumes you want records for all dates following the
entered date. Similarly, if you enter a date in the right field only, Civic Platform assumes
you want to view records for all dates prior to the entered date.
Operator This filter field enables you to filter by user name, and then display a list of actions by a
particular user. Click the Select User button to the right of the Operator field to display and
select from a list of users sorted by department and by user group.
Subgroup Select a subgroup from the drop-down list to display only the selected ASI or ASI table
data for which fields were modified. This filter drop-down list is available for the App
Specific Info or App Specific Info Tables audit logs.
Value This filter field pairs with the Field filter. First, specify a field in the Field filter, then enter a
valid field value in the Value field to filter the audit log display by that field value.
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Receipt Print Audit
This portlet enables users to track receipt printing. It displays details about who has printed a receipt via
Record > Payment > Receipt > Print Receipt.
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Calendars
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with calendars.
Related Information
Understanding Calendars
Working with Inspection Calendars
Working with Meeting Calendars
Working with User Calendars
Examining Calendar (and Related) Details
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Understanding Calendars
Civic Platform provides four different calendar types; inspection, meeting, agency holiday, and user. After
your agency administrator configures a calendar, you can manage calendar details and complete related
tasks such as scheduling inspections, reserving meeting centers, and updating meeting agendas.
• Use inspection calendars to schedule, reschedule, cancel, and request inspections. You can
accommodate any inspection type on an application, including the inspection group that Civic Platform
associates with the application and the inspection types from different inspection groups. This way, you
can schedule any special circumstance inspections after an application submittal.
• Use agency holiday calendars and to block out holidays and prevent users from scheduling inspections
or meetings on those days.
• Use user calendars to show your availability to others for scheduling inspections or meetings.
• Use meeting calendars to manage meeting logistics. Access meeting calendars to review and update
meeting details, including the meeting agenda, location, contacts, and results.
Topics
•Understanding the Calendar Portlet
•Viewing the Master Calendar
Understanding the Calendar Portlet
The Calendar portlet consists of three main parts:
Navigation tree portlet - Use this portlet to search calendars by type, name, user group, inspection type,
district, and department. Civic Platform filters calendars by parent categories such as Calendar by Type,
Calendar by Name, or Calendar by User Group. Move through the tree and click the plus (+) or minus (-)
sign next to parent categories to find calendars.
Calendar List portlet - After you select a calendar in the navigation tree portlet, the results display in
this portlet. Civic Platform sorts calendar data into primary tabs that you can click when you want to view
a particular set of data. For example, if you want to view all the inspections associated with a specific
calendar, select an inspection calendar from the Calendar Navigation Tree and click the Inspections
primary tab. The primary tabs available vary depending on the type of calendar that you select; however,
all calendar types offer a Daily, Weekly, and Monthly primary tab view.
Calendar Detail portlet - When you select a calendar item in the List portlet, information related to the
selected calendar displays in this portlet. The tabs and buttons available for you to use vary by calendar
type. The Calendar Detail portlet provides secondary tabs where you can review and modify calendar
information. The secondary tabs might vary, depending on the type of calendar that you select. The tabs
can include inspection details, event details, associated applications, checklist information, attached
documents, or condition information.
Viewing the Master Calendar
Civic Platform provides a master calendar where all calendars and associated items appear in one place.
You can view master calendar items in a daily, weekly, or monthly view.
To view the master calendar
1. Navigate to the Calendar portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Calendar navigation tree.
2. Choose a calendar in the Calendar navigation tree.
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Civic Platform displays the calendar information in the calendar list portlet.
3. To see the master calendar by month, click the Monthly tab.
To see daily or weekly master calendar items, use the date picker to select the desired date(s) for which
you want to see calendar items, then choose All Calendars from the Show drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays the master calendar.
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Working with Inspection Calendars
Topics
•Using Inspection Calendar Tabs
•Using the Manage Inspections Command Menu
•Scheduling an Inspection
•Rescheduling an Inspection
•Cancelling an Inspection
•Entering Inspection Results
•Deleting an Inspection
•Modifying a Scheduled, Rescheduled, or Pending Inspection
•Managing Pending Inspections
•Working with the Edit Inspection Portlet
Using Inspection Calendar Tabs
Use the primary tabs for an inspection calendar on the Calendar list portlet to view and modify calendar
details. The following sections discuss the tabs that may be available.
Topics
•Using the Schedule Tab
•Using the Inspections Tab
•Using the Daily, Weekly, or Monthly Tab
Using the Schedule Tab
The Schedule tab displays the inspection calendar for the current date. Use the scroll bar beneath the
calendar to view future days or past days. To change the weekly view, select the calendar icon next to the
current date.
The inspector calendar highlights the hour block during which an inspection is to occur. For example, if
an inspection is to happen at 9:15 am, then Civic Platform highlights the 9:00 am -10:00 am hour block.
When you select an inspection from the inspector workload calendar, then the inspection detail displays in
the Edit Inspection portlet. You can edit inspection detail, checklists, and conditions in the Edit Inspection
portlet. For more information, see Viewing the Edit Inspection Portlet.
Note:
Only inspectors with assigned inspections display on the inspector calendar.
To view the Schedule tab
1. Navigate to the Calendar portlet and choose the calendar you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the inspection calendar for the current date.
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2. Select the Schedule tab (if not currently displayed).
3. Select a value from the Show drop-down list. Options may include the following:
All Inspectors All the inspectors display on the inspection calendar.
My Team If you are a supervisor, this view displays the inspection calendar for inspectors
assigned to your calendar.
My Workload This selection allows you to view your personal inspection calendar.
Civic Platform displays data based on what you select in the Show field.
Using the Inspections Tab
The Inspections tab displays scheduled inspections associated with the selected calendar. You can
filter inspection data by using the Show drop-down list. You can edit inspection details, checklists, and
conditions in the Edit Inspection portlet after Civic Platform displays them. For more information about the
Edit Inspection portlet, see Viewing the Edit Inspection Portlet.
To view the Inspections tab
1. Navigate to the Calendar portlet and choose the calendar you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the inspection calendar for the current date.
2. Click the Inspections tab.
Civic Platform lists inspections by scheduled date.
3. Select a value from the Show drop-down list to filter the display. Options may include the following.
All Inspections All inspections for the selected calendar display.
My Inspections Inspections assigned to the current user display.
My Team Inspections If you are a supervisor, you can view all the inspections for inspectors
assigned to your calendar.
Pending Inspections Inspections with pending status or inspections with no inspector assignment
from Civic Platform and Citizen Access.
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Requested Pending Inspections Filters the inspection list to show online inspections requested by public
users. These inspections require an inspector and appointment time
assigned.
Scheduled Inspections Inspections with scheduled status.
Using the Daily, Weekly, or Monthly Tab
The Daily tab displays inspections scheduled for the current day.
The Weekly tab provides a weekly view of scheduled inspections and time blocks.
The Monthly tab provides a monthly view of scheduled inspections and time blocks.
You can filter the list of inspections on either the Weekly or the Monthly tab using the Show drop-down list.
To view the daily or weekly inspection calendar
1. Navigate to the Calendar portlet and choose the calendar you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the inspection calendar for the current date.
2. Click the Daily, Weekly, or Monthly tab, depending on what you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the selected inspection calendar view.
3. Filter the inspection list by using the Show drop-down list. Options may include the following:
Current Inspections for this Calendar Current inspections associated with the selected calendar.
Current Inspections for all Calendars Inspections associated with all inspection calendars.
This Calendar Only All inspections associated with the selected calendar.
All Calendars Inspections associated with all inspection calendars.
Supervisor Inspections for this Calendar Supervisors can view their assigned inspections for the
selected calendar.
Supervisor Inspections for all Calendars Supervisors can view their assigned inspections for all
calendars.
Supervisor Unassigned Inspections Supervisors can view all their unassigned inspections for the
selected calendar.
Unassigned Inspections for this Calendar Inspections associated with the selected calendar that Civic
Platform has not assigned to an inspector.
Unassigned Inspections for all Calendars Inspections associated with inspection calendars that Civic
Platform has not assigned to an inspector.
Supervisor Master Calendar The supervisor’s master calendar established in the Calendar
Administration portlet.
Civic Platform displays the inspections that reflect the selected value.
Using the Manage Inspections Command Menu
The Manage Inspections menu on the Inspections tab provides you with a list of actions that you can
perform on one or more inspections.
To access the Manage Inspections Menu
1. Navigate to the Calendar portlet and choose the calendar you want to view.
2. Click the Inspections tab.
Civic Platform displays the Calendar Inspection list portlet.
3. Hover your mouse cursor over the Manage Inspection button in the toolbar.
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The Manage Inspection menu displays.
4. Click any option in the menu to select it.
Scheduling an Inspection
When you schedule an inspection, you define the type of inspection, who the inspector is, and the date
and time that the inspection is to occur. You can also define the scheduling order if you are scheduling
multiple inspections for the same inspector. For example, a building permit application might require
exterior inspections and interior inspections, as well as a final inspection. You can define the order in which
these inspections proceed.
Civic Platform maximizes inspector schedules by allowing you to set inspections that automatically account
for block out times on an inspector’s calendar. For example, Kate, an electrical inspector, is available to be
schedule for inspections from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. She has a blockout period for lunch from 12:00 PM to
1:00 PM. You can schedule a two hour inspection on her calendar that begins at 11:00 AM and ends and
2:00 PM. The inspection occupies the calendar time from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM and the time from 1:00
PM to 2:00 PM, while preserving Kate’s block out lunch period from 12:00 to 1:00 PM.
You can select an inspection from the Inspection List portlet. You can also create and schedule a new
inspection by selecting Schedule Inspections.
Some agencies use an inspection flow or inspection milestone functionality. You can only schedule such
inspections in the sequence that the inspection flow or the milestone order defines.
Note:
If Civic Platform associates an inspection type with an application, and the inspection that precedes it in the
inspection flow (or milestone process) is unscheduled, then the inspection type is grayed out. You cannot
schedule it until you schedule the preceding inspection.
Your agency administrator can configure Civic Platform so supervisors can schedule any inspection at any
time, regardless of the defined order within an inspection flow or a milestone process.
To schedule a new inspection
1. On the Inspections tab for the calendar you are working on, hover over the Manage Inspection button,
then select Schedule Inspections from the menu.
Civic Platform displays the Search Record for Pending Inspections portlet.
2. Either enter the application number for which you want to schedule inspections or leave the field blank,
then click the Search button.
If you left the field blank before searching, a search form displays. If you entered a valid application
number, skip the next step.
3. Enter search criteria as appropriate and click Submit. Select the record you want and click Submit
again.
Civic Platform displays a form you can use to select the inspection(s) you want to schedule.
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4. From the Inspection Group drop-down list, select the inspection group containing the inspection types
you want to schedule.
Civic Platform displays the inspection types in the Available Inspection Types box.
5. Use the arrow controls between the Available Inspection Types box and the Selected Inspection Types
box to select the inspection type(s) you want to schedule. The types displayed in the box to the right are
selected.
6. To schedule an inspection, click Schedule Inspections, then complete the fields on the Schedule
Inspections form. See Schedule Inspections Fields for field definitions.
To request an inspection, click Pending Inspections (below the Available Inspection Types box), then
click OK.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a confirmation message indicating it has scheduled the inspection.
Rescheduling an Inspection
You can reschedule both scheduled and pending inspections as needed to accommodate inspector
schedules and inspector workloads.
Note:
Some agencies configure Civic Platform to create a new inspection record instead of updating the original
inspection record when you reschedule an inspection. Contact your agency administrator to discuss how
your agency handles rescheduling.
To reschedule an inspection
1. On the Inspections tab for the calendar you are working on, select the inspection(s) you want to
reschedule.
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2. Hover over the Manage Inspection button, then select Reschedule Inspections from the menu.
Civic Platform displays the Reschedule Inspections portlet.
3. Complete the fields in the Schedule Inspections portlet. See Schedule Inspections Fields for a list of
field definitions.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform reschedules the inspection(s).
Cancelling an Inspection
You can cancel a scheduled or pending inspection as necessary. Cancelled inspections remain in the list
portlet and remain associated with the record, which enables you to reschedule the inspection at a later
date. If you do not want a cancelled inspection to display in the list portlet, you can delete it. See Deleting
an Inspection, for more information.
To cancel an inspection
1. On the Inspections tab for the calendar you are working on, mark the check box for each inspection you
want to cancel.
2. Hover over the Manage Inspection button, then select Cancel Inspections from the menu.
Civic Platform displays the Cancel Inspections portlet.
3. Click Submit.
Civic Platform cancels the inspection(s).
Entering Inspection Results
After an inspection is complete, you can enter the inspection results from the Inspection tab. For example,
you can record “passed” if you performed an inspection of a water pipe and it met all the inspection
requirements.
You can enter inspection results at any time, regardless of an inspection’s status. For example, a public
user might request a mechanical inspection for a building application. Civic Platform gives this inspection
request a status of Pending. Before an agency user schedules the Pending inspection, an inspector might
complete the inspection.
After the inspection is complete, the inspector can enter the inspection results without first changing the
inspection status. When the inspector enters the inspection results, the values entered in the Inspection
Date and Inspection Time fields automatically populate the Result Date and Result Time fields.
When an inspector enters inspection results, Civic Platform updates inspector workloads accordingly. For
example, Amy, a building inspector, might have eight inspection units per day. On Monday, May 17 at 3:00
PM, Civic Platform Amy to conduct an electrical inspection that requires one inspection unit. For various
reasons, Amy completes the inspection earlier, at 10:00 AM, and enters the inspection results.
After Amy enters the inspection results, Civic Platform updates her daily inspector workload from eight
units to seven units. Amy’s supervisor can then assign Amy to complete another inspection at 3:00 PM on
Monday, May 17. Because of the automatic workload update, the inspection workflow process is smoother,
because it eliminates the restrictions that determine when inspections can occur, and when inspectors can
enter inspection results.
To enter inspection results from the Calendar
1. On the Inspections tab for the calendar you are working on, mark the check box for each inspection you
want to cancel.
2. Do either of the following:
• Hover over the Manage Inspection button, then select Result Inspections from the menu.
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• Hover over the Menu button, then select Result from the menu.
Civic Platform displays the Result Inspections portlet.
3. Enter inspection results as available. See Inspection Scheduling and Results Fields for a list of fields
and field definitions.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform updates the inspection results.
Deleting an Inspection
You can delete an inspection from an application. When you delete an inspection, Civic Platform
permanently removes the inspection record. If you want to cancel an inspection but not remove it from
Civic Platform, see Cancelling an Inspection.
To delete an inspection
1. On the Inspections tab for the calendar you are working on, mark the check box for each inspection you
want to cancel.
2. Click Delete.
Civic Platform confirms the deletion.
Modifying a Scheduled, Rescheduled, or Pending Inspection
You can modify inspection details for inspections with a status of scheduled, rescheduled, or pending.
This way, you can accommodate any unexpected changes that affect inspection details up until the
inspection occurs. For example, if an inspector scheduled to conduct a series of storm drain inspections
is unexpectedly out of the office, you can reassign the scheduled inspections to another inspector or
reschedule the inspections for a later date.
To modify a scheduled, rescheduled, or pending inspection
1. Navigate to the Calendar portlet and choose the calendar you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the inspection calendar for the current date.
2. Click the Inspections tab.
Civic Platform displays the Calendar Inspection list portlet.
3. Select the inspection(s) you want to schedule, reschedule, or cancel.
4. Click the Manage Inspection button from the toolbar and, based on the type of changes you want to
make, click the Schedule Inspections, Reschedule Inspections, or Cancel Inspections button.
Based on your selection, Civic Platform displays the Schedule, or Reschedule Inspections portlet.
5. Click the inspection type in the inspection list.
Civic Platform displays the corresponding inspection details and the inspector calendar.
6. Modify the necessary inspection details. For a complete list of inspection detail fields, see Schedule
Inspections Fields.
7. Click Submit.
Based on the changes you make, Civic Platform displays a confirmation message indicating the
inspection status: scheduled or rescheduled.
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Managing Pending Inspections
Pending inspections offer a projection, for both an agency and an applicant, of the inspections that
must occur before an application moves forward. When you add a pending inspection to an application
that belongs to an inspection flow or inspection milestone process, Civic Platform displays an icon that
indicates the status of the inspection.
If your agency uses inspection flow or inspection milestone functionality, you can only schedule pending
inspections in the sequence as defined within the inspection flow or inspection milestone order. If Civic
Platform associates an inspection type with an application, and the inspection that precedes it in the
inspection flow (or milestone process) is unscheduled, then the inspection type is grayed out. You cannot
schedule it until you schedule the preceding inspection.
Your agency administrator can configure Civic Platform so that supervisors can schedule any inspection at
any time, regardless of its order within an inspection flow or a milestone process.
Accela Wireless and Citizen Access users can also request inspections. For example, a public user without
inspection scheduling privileges can set up a pending inspection. After the user adds a pending inspection,
Civic Platform notifies agency users with inspection scheduling privileges so that they can schedule the
inspection.
You can use the Pending Inspections portlet to add inspections that are outside of the default inspection
group to an application. This alternate method allows you to add and schedule any necessary special
circumstance inspections after an application’s initial submission.
Note:
You can schedule, reschedule, or cancel pending inspections. When you cancel an inspection, Civic
Platform removes it from the application.
To assign pending inspections to an application
1. Navigate to the Calendar portlet and choose the calendar you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the inspection calendar for the current date.
2. Click the Inspections tab.
Civic Platform displays the Calendar Inspection list portlet.
3. Select Manage Inspection> Schedule Inspections.
Civic Platform displays the Search Record for Pending Inspections portlet.
4. Either enter the application number for which you want to request inspections or leave the field blank,
then click the Search button.
If you left the field blank before searching, a search form displays. If you entered a valid application
number, skip the next step.
5. Enter search criteria as appropriate and click Submit. Select the record you want and click Submit
again.
Civic Platform displays the application information in the Pending Inspections portlet.
6. From the Inspection Group drop-down list, select the inspection group containing the inspection types
you want to request.
Civic Platform displays the inspection types in the Available Inspection Types box.
7. Use the arrow controls between the Available Inspection Types box and the Selected Inspection Types
box to select the inspection type(s) you want to request. The types displayed in the box to the right are
selected.
8. Click Pending Inspections.
Civic Platform displays a message confirming that the inspection is pending.
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9. Click OK.
Civic Platform adds the inspection to the Calendar Inspection list portlet.
Working with the Edit Inspection Portlet
The Edit Inspection portlet includes the secondary tabs and related data that display in the Inspection
Calendar Detail portlet. Access this portlet by clicking any inspection listed in the Inspection Calendar
List portlet. You can use the Edit Inspection portlet and secondary tabs to update inspection information,
including inspection details, checklists, conditions, and related documents.
Topics
•Viewing the Edit Inspection Portlet
•Copying an Inspection
•Working with Checklists
•Working with Conditions
•Working with Documents
Viewing the Edit Inspection Portlet
You can update all the fields associated with scheduling an inspection in the Edit Inspection portlet.
This includes editing inspection logistics, such as the start and end times, inspector information, and the
associated application. You can also indicate whether your agency can bill for time spent conducting an
inspection. When inspectors charge for the time spent on an inspection, their respective agency may bill
the citizen for whom they conducted the inspection, such as a contractor or a homeowner.
To view the edit inspection portlet
1. Navigate to the Calendar portlet and choose the calendar you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the inspection calendar for the current date.
2. Select a view from the Show drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays the inspections that correspond to the selected value.
3. Select the desired inspection.
Civic Platform displays the inspection detail in the Edit Inspection portlet.
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4. Edit the desired inspection fields. For more information on inspection fields, see Edit Inspection Fields.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform saves the inspection detail changes.
Copying an Inspection
You can copy an inspection from an existing application and attach it to the application that you are
working with. For more information about working with copied inspections, see Inspections .
To copy an inspection
1. Navigate to the Calendar portlet and choose the calendar you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the inspection calendar for the current date.
2. Click the Inspections tab.
Civic Platform lists inspections in order by scheduled date.
3. Select a view from the Show drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays the inspections that correspond to the selected value.
4. In the Record ID column, click the link next to the application to which you want to copy an inspection.
Civic Platform displays the inspection detail on the secondary tabs.
5. Click Select Record to Copy from.
Civic Platform displays the Record ID list.
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6. Search for the record you want to copy the inspection from and select that inspection.
7. Click Submit.
8. Ensure that the Record Type, Department, Inspector, Inspection Type, and Scheduled Date fields
are complete. For more information on these fields, see Edit Inspection Fields.
9. Click Save.
Civic Platform copies the inspection with all its associated checklists to the record you opened at the
beginning of the task.
Working with Checklists
You can view and you can edit inspection checklists using the Checklists secondary tab. For more
information on using checklists with inspections, see Inspections .
To view an inspection checklist
1. Navigate to the Calendar portlet and choose the calendar you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the inspection calendar for the current date.
2. Select a view from the Show drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays the inspections that correspond to the selected value.
3. Select the desired inspection.
4. Click the Checklist secondary tab.
Civic Platform displays the Inspection Checklist page.
Working with Conditions
You can view and apply inspection conditions using the Conditions secondary tab. For more information on
how conditions relate to inspections, see Inspections .
To view inspection conditions
1. Navigate to the Calendar portlet and choose the calendar you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the inspection calendar for the current date.
2. Select a view from the Show drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays the inspections that correspond to the selected value.
3. Select the desired inspection.
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Civic Platform displays the inspection detail in the Edit Inspection portlet.
4. Click the Conditions secondary tab.
Civic Platform displays any conditions associated with the inspection.
Working with Documents
You can add documents and image files to an inspection using the Documents secondary tab. For
example, during the course of a Fire inspection, the inspector takes a photograph of broken fire equipment.
The inspector can then upload the photograph into the inspection record. You can attach inspection
documents to inspections any time after scheduling in Civic Platform, even after the inspector submits the
results. These documents display in all portlets where a Civic Platform user may view details about the
inspection, including the Building and Calendar portlets.
For information about uploading and accessing documents, see Attachments .
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Working with Meeting Calendars
You create, review and modify meeting agendas and other meeting details in the Civic Platform Calendar
portlet. When you schedule a meeting, you use a meeting calendar and meeting type.
Topics
•Viewing and Finding Scheduled Calendar Items
•Scheduling a Meeting
•Modifying Meeting Details
•Scheduling or Rescheduling a Meeting from the Records Portlet
•Rejecting a Meeting
•Cancelling a Meeting
•Deleting a Meeting or User Event
•Working with Meeting Agendas and Voting
•Viewing a Meeting Agenda
•Adding and Removing Meeting Attendees
•Setting Meeting Attendance
•Setting Meeting Attachments
•Sending Meeting Notifications
Viewing and Finding Scheduled Calendar Items
You can navigate to inspections, meetings, and user events from the Calendars portlet. You can also find
scheduled meetings from the Records portlet and the My Tasks portlet.
To view or find a scheduled calendar item
• View the scheduled item from the Calendars portlet.
1. Access the Calendars portlet.
Civic Platform displays a portlet for navigating calendars.
Note:
You can navigate meeting calendars by type, name, permission, inspection type, or department.
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2. Expand the calendar categories on the left side panel until you find the calendar for which you want
to view scheduled items.
Civic Platform displays scheduled items, that use the selected calendar, under the Daily, Weekly,
and Monthly tabs.
• View or find meetings from the My Tasks portlet.
1. Access the My Tasks portlet (see Navigating with Main Links in the Accela Civic Platform User
Guide).
• To view meetings, click the Meetings tab.
Civic Platform displays your meetings.
• Find meetings.
1. Click Search.
Civic Platform displays the meeting search form.
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2. Complete search criteria in accordance with Meeting Search Criteria.
3. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the search results.
Table 21: Meeting Search Criteria
Label Description
Subject Field containing the meeting subject
Meeting Type Drop-down list containing the available meeting type values. You
determine value options by the MEETING_TYPE Standard Choice.
Location Drop-down list containing the meeting location values. You
determine value options by the MEETING LOCATION Standard
Choice.
Responsible Person First drop-down list is department, second drop-down list is name
Meeting Date, From\To Search by a range of meeting dates.
Meeting Body Drop-down list containing meeting body values. You determine
value options by the MEETING BODY Standard Choice.
Meeting Comments Text area
Attendee If meeting includes the specified attendee, you can search the
meeting by the attendee.
Agenda Record ID Search meeting by meeting associated record ID.
Agenda Alternate ID Search meeting by meeting an alternate record ID.
Agenda Record Application
Name
Search meeting by meeting associated record application name.
• View meetings from the Records portlet
1. Access the Records portlet (see Navigating with Main Links in the Accela Civic Platform User
Guide).
2. Select the record for which you want to access the associated meetings.
• Click the Meetings tab in the record details portlet.
Civic Platform displays meetings for which the selected record is an agenda item.
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• Click the Calendars tab in the record details portlet.
Civic Platform displays the meetings on the monthly calendar.
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Scheduling a Meeting
You can schedule a new meeting from the Calendars portlet, the Records portlet, or the My Tasks portlet.
When you schedule a meeting, you first create the meeting by submitting details, which include the
meeting date, time, location, the maximum number of records for the agenda, and so forth. After you create
the meeting, you can modify other tabs of information related to the meeting.
To schedule a new meeting
• Schedule a meeting from the Calendar portlet.
1. Find the calendar for which you want to schedule an item (Viewing and Finding Scheduled Calendar
Items).
2. Click New.
• Schedule a meeting from the Records portlet.
1. Access the Records portlet (see Navigating with Main Links in the Accela Civic Platform User
Guide).
2. Access the record for which you want to schedule a meeting.
3. Hover over the Manage Meeting drop-down button and select New Meeting.
• Schedule a new meeting from the My Tasks portlet.
1. Access the My Tasks portlet (see Navigating with Main Links in the Accela Civic Platform User
Guide).
2. Click the Meetings tab.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the calendar item details page.
1. Complete the fields in accordance with Calendar Item Details.
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Note:
If the meeting type definition includes a template specification, additional ASI fields may appear on
the details page along with the standard details fields. The fields that appear depend on the template
specification for the meeting type.
Note:
The fields to complete depends on the calendar type (meeting, agency holiday, user) for which you are
scheduling an item.
2. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates the new calendar item.
Modifying Meeting Details
You can modify meeting details through the Calendar portlet, Record portlet, or My Tasks portlet. For
example, you may need to change the meeting date, time, location, or status. If your agency administrator
configures meeting notification e-mails, you can email a meeting change notification to meeting attendees.
To modify meeting details
• Modify meeting details from the Calendars portlet.
1. Find the calendar item for which you want to modify the schedule details (Viewing and Finding
Scheduled Calendar Items).
2. Click the link to the specific calendar item of interest.
Civic Platform displays meeting details.
• Modify meeting details from the My Tasks portlet.
1. Access the My Tasks portlet (see Navigating with Main Links in the Accela Civic Platform User
Guide).
2. Click the Meetings tab.
3. Click the link for the meeting you want to modify.
Civic Platform displays meeting details.
• Modify meeting details from the Records portlet.
1. Access the Records portlet (see Navigating with Main Links in the Accela Civic Platform User
Guide).
2. Select the record for which you want to modify meeting details.
3. Click the Meetings tab in the record details portlet.
Civic Platform displays meetings for which the selected record is an agenda item.
4. Click the link for the meeting you want to modify.
Civic Platform displays meeting details.
• Modify meeting details, as required (Calendar Item Details).
• Click Submit.
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Scheduling or Rescheduling a Meeting from the Records Portlet
To schedule or reschedule meeting from the Records portlet
1. Access the Records portlet (see Navigating with Main Links in the Accela Civic Platform User Guide).
2. Select the record for which you want to schedule or reschedule a meeting.
3. Click the Meetings tab in the record details portlet.
Civic Platform displays meetings for which the selected record is an agenda item.
4. Select the option next to the meeting you want to schedule or reschedule.
5. Hover over the Manage Meeting drop-down button and select Schedule Meeting or Reschedule
Meeting.
Civic Platform displays parameters for the proposed rescheduling.
6. Enter the specified parameters.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a list of scheduled meetings that match your specified parameters.
8. Select the option for the meeting you want to schedule or reschedule.
9. Click Submit.
10.Modify meeting details as required (Modifying Meeting Details).
Civic Platform assigns the record to the meeting and sets the assign status to Scheduled or
Rescheduled.
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Rejecting a Meeting
To reject a meeting
1. Access the My Tasks portlet (see Navigating with Main Links in the Accela Civic Platform User Guide).
2. Click the Meetings tab.
Civic Platform displays your meetings.
3. Click the option for the meeting you want to reject.
4. Click Reject.
Civic Platform removes you from the meeting and sends an email notification to the responsible person.
Note:
You can only reject meetings assigned to you. Only internal users can reject a meeting.
Note:
If you previously received an Outlook invitation to the meeting, Civic Platform generates a normal
Outlook email for the rejection, not an Outlook rejection email.
Cancelling a Meeting
You can cancel a meeting, associated with a specific record, from the Records portlet.
To cancel a meeting
1. Access the Records portlet (see Navigating with Main Links in the Civic Platform User Guide).
2. Select the record for which you want to cancel a meeting.
3. Click the Meetings tab in the record details portlet.
4. Select the meeting you want to cancel.
5. Hover over the Manage Meeting drop-down button and select Cancel Meeting.
Civic Platform displays the dialog to enter a cancellation reason.
6. Complete the dialog.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform removes the meeting from the calendar and changes the assign status to Cancelled.
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Deleting a Meeting or User Event
You can delete a scheduled meeting or delete a user event. To cancel an inspection, see Cancelling an
Inspection
To delete a calendar item
1. Find the calendar item for which you want to modify the schedule details (Viewing and Finding
Scheduled Calendar Items).
2. Click the Daily, Weekly, or Monthly tab.
3. Click the link to the specific calendar item of interest.
Civic Platform displays the schedule details for the selected calendar item.
Note:
You must remove all agenda items (records) from a meeting calendar item before you can delete it.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform deletes the calendar item.
Working with Meeting Agendas and Voting
To work with meeting agendas and votes
1. Find the calendar item for which you want to set the agenda and voting (Viewing and Finding
Scheduled Calendar Items).
2. Click the Daily, Weekly, or Monthly tab.
3. Click the link to the specific calendar item of interest.
Civic Platform displays the schedule details for the selected calendar item.
4. Click the Agenda & Vote tab.
Civic Platform displays current record(s) comprising the agenda, if any.
5. If required, add a record to the agenda.
a. Click Add.
Civic Platform displays details for setting the agenda and vote.
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b. Complete the fields. See Application Record Fields for field definitions.
Civic Platform displays records matching your search criteria.
c. Select the record(s) you want to add to the agenda.
d. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the selected record to the agenda.
6. If required, remove a record from the agenda.
a. Select the records you want to remove from the agenda.
b. Click Remove.
Civic Platform displays the Meeting Reason and Comment dialog.
c. Select a reason and enter optional comments.
d. Click Submit.
Civic Platform removes the record from the agenda.
7. If required, vote on an agenda record.
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a. Click the triangle symbol next to an agenda record to display the voting section.
Civic Platform displays voting options for meeting attendees with voting privileges.
Note:
Only Civic Platform internal users can vote. A responsible internal user can serve as a proxy to vote
for external users.
b. If required, remove an attendee from the voting roster.
a. Select the attendee you want to remove from the voting roster.
b. Click Delete Voter.
Civic Platform removes the attendee from the voting roster.
c. If required, add an attendee to the voting roster.
a. Click Add Voter.
Civic Platform displays the list of attendees not on the voting roster.
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b. Select the attendee.
c. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the selected attendee to the voting roster.
d. Select the vote result from the drop-down list.
e. Click Save.
Civic Platform saves the voting results.
Viewing a Meeting Agenda
The records associated with a meeting determine the meeting agenda. You can review the meeting
agenda for each scheduled hearing.
To view a meeting agenda
1. View or find the meeting for which you want to view the agenda (Viewing and Finding Scheduled
Calendar Items).
2. Click the link to the meeting.
Civic Platform displays meeting details.
3. Click the Agenda & Vote tab.
Civic Platform displays the records associated with the meeting.
Adding and Removing Meeting Attendees
To set meeting attendees
1. Find the calendar item for which you want to set the attendees (Viewing and Finding Scheduled
Calendar Items).
2. Click the Daily, Weekly, or Monthly tab.
3. Click the link to the specific calendar item of interest.
Civic Platform displays the schedule details for the selected calendar item.
4. Click the Attendees tab.
Civic Platform displays the availability of current attendees.
• If required, add one or more attendees.
1. Click Add.
Civic Platform displays a form for adding attendees.
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2. Select the users or groups you want to add as attendees.
3. Click Save.
Civic Platform adds the selected users and groups to the meeting.
• If required, remove one or more attendees.
1. Select the users or groups you want to remove.
2. Click Remove.
Civic Platform removes the selected users or groups from the meeting.
Setting Meeting Attendance
To set meeting attendance
1. Find the calendar item for which you want to set the attendance (Viewing and Finding Scheduled
Calendar Items).
2. Click the Daily, Weekly, or Monthly tab.
3. Click the link to the specific calendar item of interest.
Civic Platform displays the schedule details for the selected calendar item.
4. Click the Attendance tab.
Civic Platform displays details for setting the attendance.
5. For each attendee, set their attendance from the drop-down list as Present or Absent.
6. Click Save.
Civic Platform displays the count of present and absent attendees.
Setting Meeting Attachments
You can attach documents to a meeting, before or after the meeting. You can attach documents directly to
the meeting, or you can also attach documents from agenda items (records) specified for the meeting.
To set meeting attachments
1. Find the calendar item for which you want to set the attachments (Viewing and Finding Scheduled
Calendar Items).
2. Click the Daily, Weekly, or Monthly tab.
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3. Click the link to the specific meeting of interest.
Civic Platform displays the schedule details for the selected meeting.
4. Click the Attachments tab.
Civic Platform displays details for setting the attachments.
5. If required, add one or more attachments to your meeting (see Attachments ).
6. If required, add a record attachment.
a. Click the Record Attachments option.
Civic Platform displays attachments to the records that comprise the agenda of the meeting
(Working with Meeting Agendas and Voting).
b. Select the attachment(s) you want to download.
c. Click Download.
Civic Platform downloads the selected attachment(s).
7. Click Submit.
Sending Meeting Notifications
When you send a meeting calendar item, Civic Platform can send an email of changes to designated
recipients. The meeting type for the meeting determines when to send a notification, who to send the
notification to, and the format to use for the notification.
To send a meeting notification
1. Find the calendar item for which you want to send a notification (Viewing and Finding Scheduled
Calendar Items).
2. Click the Daily, Weekly, or Monthly tab.
3. Click the link to the specific calendar item of interest.
4. Click Send.
Civic Platform displays the email Notification page.
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If your agency implements Microsoft Outlook integration, Civic Platform also displays meeting
notification information for Microsoft Outlook.
For Microsoft Outlook invites, Accela Civic Platform highlights changes to location, date, time, and
internal attendees as shown in the image below.
5. Complete the form in accordance with Email Notification Form Fields.
Table 22: Email Notification Form Fields
Label Description
Outlook Invite for Internal Meeting Attendees
Template Drop-down list of available email templates for internal users, and list of current
internal user meeting attendees.
Outlook Invite for External Meeting Attendees
External Template Drop-down list of available email templates for external users, and list of
external user meeting attendees.
Note:
The email notification form lists attendees who received a prior email notification.
6. If required, modify or view the notification template.
a. Click the icon to view or modify the notification template.
Civic Platform displays the Notification Template detail portlet.
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a. See the section on Communication Manager in the Accela Civic Platform Release Notes and
Addendum for information on creating and modifying notification templates.
b. Click Save.
Note:
You can view the template if you do not have permission to update the template.
7. If required, add an attachment to the email notice.
a. Hover over the attach icon and click the Attach Document link.
a. Civic Platform displays currently attached documents.
b. Select files you want attached to the email notice.
c. Click Select.
Note:
The file size for all selected attachments must not exceed the maximum size. To change the
maximum size, see Communication Manager > General Settings > Attachments settings > Field
“Maximum Size of Total Files.”
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8. Click Send Now.
Civic Platform sends the notification to selected attendees by standard email, Outlook invite, and Civic
Platform alerts.
Note:
If your agency implements Civic Platform integration with Microsoft Outlook, Civic Platform meeting
invites also appear as Microsoft Office meeting invites. Microsoft Office does not communicate action on
Civic Platform meeting invites, acceptance or rejection for example, back to Civic Platform.
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Working with User Calendars
User calendar events specify time periods during which a user is not available for scheduling of other
types of calendar events (meetings or inspections). You can specify the user calendar event as a holiday,
weekend, or block out type.
To schedule a user calendar event
1. Access the Calendars portlet.
Civic Platform displays a portlet for navigating calendars.
Note:
You can navigate user calendars by type or name.
2. Expand the calendar categories on the left side panel until you find the user calendar you want to use to
create the event.
Civic Platform displays scheduled items, that use the selected calendar, under the Daily, Weekly, and
Monthly tabs.
3. Select the user calendar for which you want to schedule an event.
4. Click New.
Civic Platform displays event details.
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5. Complete the fields. See Calendar Item Details for field definitions.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates a new user calendar event.
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Examining Calendar (and Related) Details
There are many detail forms and many entry fields that you might encounter as you work with calendars
and scheduling. The following tables list and define the default fields available in the different interfaces
you encounter.
•Schedule Inspections Fields
•Pending Inspections Fields
•Edit Inspection Fields
•Calendar Item Details
Schedule Inspections Fields
The following fields may be available when scheduling inspections.
Table 23: Schedule Inspections Fields
Address This field automatically populates with the application’s address.
Alternate ID This field displays the alternate identification number for the application. If you
click the link at the alternate ID of an application, a window pops up displaying the
details for the application.
Assign to All Select values from Department and Inspectordrop-down lists to assign all the
inspections to one inspector from a specific department.
Comment Display in ACA Activated when you select the Display Comment in ACA option. This is the type
of user that can view the inspection results comments.
Department The department that includes the inspectors to which you want to assign
inspections.
Desired Date The desired date for the inspection.
Desired Time The desired time for the inspection.
Display Comment in ACA Applies only to Citizen Access users. Indicates whether ACA users can view the
inspection results comments.
Estimated End Time
Estimated Start Time
These fields define the time period within which the inspector should arrive. The
time period displays in the Estimated Arrival Time field in the inspection in Citizen
Access, which enables the applicant to prepare for the inspector’s arrival.
GIS Area If the application for which you are scheduling an inspection has a parent
application that is a project application, then the GIS Object ID of the parent
application appears in this field.
Inspector The inspector to which you want to assign inspections. You can also click the
Current User button to populate this field with the current user's name. When
you select an inspector from this list, all the selected inspections display the staff
member’s name in the Assign to Staff field.
Inspector Calendar The Inspector Calendar displays inspector schedules. For example, if Civic
Platform associates Kate with three inspection calendars, then the Inspector
Calendar displays a combined view of Kate’s inspection assignments for all three
calendars.
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Inspector List The inspector list displays the inspectors selected in the Assign to Staff drop-
down list. The inspector calendar for each selected inspector displays next to the
inspector list. The inspector that best matches the inspection(s) displays at the top
of the list. Inspectors with enabled and configured inspection profiles display at
the top of the list; inspectors without configured inspection profiles display at the
bottom of the list. You can select only one inspector from this list.
Inspection List This list displays all the inspections selected for scheduling. Civic Platform lists
inspections by schedule order. Civic Platform highlights the first inspection by
default.
Inspection Sequence Number This field populates with the inspection sequence number. Sequence numbers are
unique and incremental.
Inspection Type This field displays the type of inspection that you are scheduling.
Latitude The inspection location’s latitudinal coordinates.
Legend The Inspector Calendar Legend indicates the status of inspections on each
inspector’s calendar: Blue - a scheduled inspection, Purple - an unscheduled
inspection, White - available time, Gray - block out time, Orange - default calendar
unit value.
Longitude The inspection location’s longitudinal coordinates.
Next Available Time Indicates whether to schedule the inspection for the next available calendar time.
Civic Platform determines the next available time by using the calendar’s daily
allocated units, scheduled inspections, and default block times. Your agency
administrator determines the calendar daily allocated units and default block times.
Default inspection block times are 8:00 am - 12:00 pm and 1:00 - 4:30 pm.
Next Available Time for
Inspector
Indicates whether to schedule the inspection for the selected inspector’s next
available time.
Record ID The application identification number for which you are scheduling an inspection.
Record Type The application type for which you are scheduling an inspection.
Request Comment Comments about the new inspection. You may identify who requested the
inspection, or any other important details.
Requestor The first, middle, and last name of the person who requested or scheduled the
inspection, if other than the current user.
Requestor’s Phone Number The phone number for the person who requested the inspection.
Scheduled Date The date that the inspection is to take place.
Scheduled End Time The scheduled end time for the inspection. The end time you set for an inspection
overrides the end time as calculated by the associated inspection calendar. When
you modify the inspection end time, the inspection type unit value and the available
inspector units update to reflect the change.
Scheduled Start Time The scheduled time to start the inspection.
Status This field indicates the current status of the inspection. If you are scheduling a
new inspection, the status is “New.” If you cancel an inspection, the status is
“Cancelled.”
Pending Inspections Fields
The following fields may be available for pending inspections.
Table 24: Pending Inspections Fields
Application No. The application number for which you want to request inspections.
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Available Inspection Types This box displays the inspection types associated with the default inspection group for
the application. If your agency sets up inspection flow or inspection milestones for the
selected application, an icon displays that reflects the status of each inspection type.
Delete Use to delete selected inspection types
Existing Pending
Inspections
Current pending inspections for the selected application display in this list. If your
agency sets up inspection flow or inspection milestones for the selected application,
an icon displays that reflects the status of each inspection type. If you cannot schedule
an inspection type in an inspection flow or a milestone process, the inspection type is
grayed out. Only supervisors can schedule inspections outside of the inspection flow
or the milestone order.
Inspection Group This displays all available inspection groups. The selected intake form’s default
inspection group displays first in the list.
Pending Inspections Assigns the inspection types displayed in the Available Inspection Types list to the
selected application. The status for all assigned inspections is Pending.
Pending Inspections List This list displays two types of inspections: existing pending inspections and inspection
types selected from the Available Inspection Types list.
Schedule Inspections Displays the Schedule Inspections portlet for selected inspections. If you enable
inspection flow, and you attempt to schedule inspections that do not belong to an
inspection flow, an error message displays.
Selected Inspection Types Displays the inspection types selected from the Available Inspection Types box. If your
agency sets up inspection flow or inspection milestones for the selected application,
an icon displays that reflects the status of each inspection type.
Selected Records Displays the following information about the application for which you request
inspections: application alternate ID, application name, short notes, and primary/first
address.
Edit Inspection Fields
The following fields may be available when editing inspections.
Table 25: Edit Inspection Fields
Address The application’s address.
Alternate ID The record ID number.
Address The inspection location address.
Billable Indicates whether the agency can bill for time spent on an inspection.
Comment Display in ACA Activated when you select the Display Comment in ACA option. Specifies what
type of user can view the inspection results comments. Choices include All ACA
Users, Record Creator, and Record Creator & Licensed Professional.
Created by ACA This field displays “Yes” if the scheduled inspection originated in Citizen Access;
otherwise, the field displays “No.”
Department The inspector’s department.
Display Comment in ACA Applies only to Citizen Access users. Indicates whether ACA users can view the
inspection results comments.
Document Name Enter the title of the document you are attaching to the inspection.
EDMS Name The name of the electronic document management system. Use this field when
attaching documents to an inspection. For more information, see Working with
Documents.
End Mileage The mileage reading from the vehicle odometer after you complete the inspection.
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End Time The time that the inspector completes the inspection.
File Name The filename and path for the document. Users can click Browse to locate the file
on your computer. The document size may be up to 16MB.
GIS Area If the application with the scheduled inspection has a parent application that is a
also project application, then the GIS Object ID of the parent application appears in
this field.
Inspector The name of the inspector responsible for completing the inspection.
Inspection Date The date that you complete the inspection.
Inspection Sequence Number This field populates with the inspection sequence number. Sequence numbers are
unique and incremental.
Inspection Time The time of day that you complete the inspection.
Inspection Type The type of inspection scheduled.
Latitude The inspection location’s latitudinal coordinates.
Longitude The inspection location’s longitudinal coordinates.
Record ID The application ID number for which the inspection is to occur.
Record Type The type of record for which the inspection is to occur.
Request AM/PM The time block for the scheduled inspection.
Request Comment Comments about the new inspection. You can identify who requested the
inspection or enter other important details. You can also enter predefined
comments by clicking the Standard Comments button.
Request Date Civic Platform automatically generates the request date when a user schedules
and submits a new inspection.
Requestor’s Phone Number The phone number for the person who requested the inspection.
Request Time The time of the inspection request.
Scheduled Date The date when the inspection is to occur.
Scheduled Time The time when the inspection is to occur.
Status This field indicates the current status of the inspection. For example, Denied, Not
Ready for Work, or Stop Work.
Submit AM/PM The time block for the scheduled inspection.
Submit Date The date the inspection was submitted.
Submit Time The time the inspection request was submitted.
Total Mileage The total number of miles required. Civic Platform does not calculate this value
automatically.
Unit Nbr This is the inspections unit number. Unit values typically represent either the
number of hours or the number of inspections.
What does Civic Platform use the Unit Number for?
You can set up inspections so that Civic Platform automatically assigns and
schedules inspectors by using inspector profile information, which includes a
maximum daily number of inspection units. An inspection unit may be the number
of inspections, the number of hours, or another value.
Vehicle ID This is a number that identifies the vehicle used to complete the inspection, such
as the license plate number or VIN.
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Calendar Item Details
The following fields may be available when working with calendar items.
Table 26: Calendar Item Details
Label Description
All-Day Event Indicates whether the event occupies the entire calendar day.
Calendar Item The distinct name for the event that you want to schedule.
Comments Additional description or details about the event.
Date The day to schedule the event.
End Re-occurrence The date to end a recurring event. Blank when continuing an event
indefinitely.
End Time The end time for the event.
Location Applies to meeting calendar type only. The location of the meeting.
Maximum Agenda Items Applies to meeting calendar type only. The maximum number of records you
can review at the meeting.
Meeting Body Applies to meeting calendar type only. An individual or a group of people
responsible for reviewing records in a public setting, such as planning
commission or appeals board.
Meeting Calendar The name of the calendar that you want to use for the meeting. This field only
appears when creating a meeting from the My Tasks, Task Management, and
Records portlets.
Meeting Type Applies to meeting calendar type only. Indicates the type of meeting calendar.
Civic Platform only displays those meeting types for which you have
permission.
Meeting Status Applies to meeting calendar type only. This field only appears when you
schedule an event on a meeting calendar. Determines the status of the
meeting, such as Approved or Pending. The displayed values depend on the
status group for the meeting type.
None For a one-time event without recurrence.
Reminder Specifies the number of days, before the meeting, to send out a reminder
notification.
Repeat every day(s) To repeat an event every specified number of days.
Repeat every week(s) on To repeat an event every specified number of weeks on the specified day of
the week.
Repeat every month(s) on To repeat an event every specified number of months on the specified day of
the month.
Repeat every year(s) To repeat an event every specified number of years.
Responsible Person The responsible person organizes the meeting and assigns attendees. The
responsible person defaults to the logged in user. You can also click the
Current User link to select the currently logged in user.
The Responsible Person drop-down list displays the modules from which
you can select a responsible person. When you select a module from the
Responsible Person drop-down list, Civic Platform displays the users in that
module that you can delegate as the responsible person.
Start Time The start time for the event.
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Label Description
Type The type of event. The types of events listed depend on the type of calendar
for which you specify the details (meeting, agency holiday, user).
Block-out - The user calendar. Blocks out a time or day for which the agency
cannot provide service.
Holiday - The user and agency holiday calendars. Choose this option to
schedule a holiday. During holiday periods, users cannot make reservations
or schedule inspections.
Weekend - The user and agency holiday calendars. Choose this option
to schedule a weekend. During weekend periods, users cannot make
reservations or schedule inspections.
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Contacts
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with contacts.
Related Information
Contacts Overview
Managing Reference Contacts
Managing Record Contacts
Viewing Related Contacts
Applying a Condition to a Reference Contact
Viewing Records Associated with a Contact
Associating Professionals with a Contact
Associating Reference Addresses with a Contact
Managing Public Users Associated with Contacts
Viewing Assets Associated with a Contact
Examining Contact Details
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Contacts Overview
Use the Contacts tab to add, maintain, and view information about the people associated with an
application. There are two classes of contacts:
•Reference contacts
A reference contacts is a contact record that is stored in the database, independent of any application
or record. You can search for and associate reference contact data when you are completing an
application or form. When you associate a reference contact, all of the data for that contact populates
automatically into application. This not only saves time, but improves accuracy across multiple
applications. You can add reference contacts independent of individual records and applications,
build relationships between reference contacts, merge reference contact records, and more. Because
reference contacts
•Transactional record contacts
A transactional record contact is what we call a contact once it has been added to a record or
application, either manually, or by using reference contact information. It is important to distinguish
between transactional contacts and reference contacts, because transactional contact data is pertinent
to that contact only, whereas reference contact data is pertinent to any new or existing record where
that data may appear.
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Managing Reference Contacts
Topics
•Adding a Reference Contact
•Tips on Searching for a Contact
•Looking for Close Matches
•Editing a Reference Contact
•Adding Also Known As Names of a Contact
•Managing Contact Addresses of a Contact
•Managing Attachments Associated with a Contact
•Building Relationships between Reference Contacts
•Merging Contacts
Adding a Reference Contact
You can add new contacts to your reference database. After you add a reference contact, you can look up
the contact when associating contacts with a specific application, service request or other record type.
To add a reference contact
1. Navigate to the Contacts portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of reference contacts.
2. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the contact details on the record tab.
3. Complete fields with available data. See Contact Detail for field definitions. If you are importing contact
details from an external permitting system, see Working in the Applicant and Contact Sections.
4. Click Submit.
Tips on Searching for a Contact
•Performing a Search
You can search for reference contacts using any combination of search criteria, including standard
contact fields, template fields, associated activities, or contact addresses. See Using the Search
Features for information about using search functionality in Civic Platform.
•Searching by Also-Known-As Names
If you search contacts by the First, Middle, Last Name, and/or Full Name fields, Civic Platform not only
checks the standard contact fields, but also the also-known-as names (see Adding Also Known As
Names of a Contact) for matches.
•Looking for Close Matches
Sometimes the search results do not include the contact you intend to find due to a variance in spelling.
If your search does not return expected results, try using the “Close Matches” function to find contacts
that may not be exact matches, but are close matches to your search criteria.
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Looking for Close Matches
You can start a contact close-match search without providing value for the individual/organization
flag. Civic Platform can check the contact fields you already entered, and decide whether to search
for individual or organization close matches. Specifically, if any of the following fields has a value:
Organization Name, FEIN, or DBA/Trade Name, Civic Platform searches for close matches in organization
contacts; Otherwise, it searches for close matches in individual contacts.
Note:
Agencies can use the standard choices INDIVIDUAL_CONTACT_MATCH_CRITERIA and
ORGANIZATION_CONTACT_MATCH_CRITERIA to define the close match criteria for both individual
reference contacts and organization reference contacts. See the Civic Platform Configuration Reference for
more information about Standard Choices.
To look for close matches to your search criteria
1. Perform a standard contact search. See Using the Search Features .
Civic Platform displays the search results that exactly meet the search criteria in the contact list portlet.
2. Click Close Matches to view the close matches to the search criteria.
Civic Platform displays all the close matching contacts.
Editing a Reference Contact
If you need to update contact details, you can search for and modify the contacts records as needed.
Your changes do not affect any applications or any service requests currently associated with the contact.
Your changes do, however, affect any new applications and new service requests that users create and
associate with the contact.
To edit a reference contact
1. Navigate to the Contacts portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of reference contacts.
2. Use search to locate the contact you want to modify, then click the link for that contact to view the
contact details. See Using the Search Features for information about conducting a search in Civic
Platform.
Civic Platform displays the contact details on the record tabs.
3. Modify the fields as needed. See Contact Detail for field definitions.
4. Click Submit.
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Adding Also Known As Names of a Contact
You can add additional (also known as, or AKA) names for a contact into Civic Platform. For example,
when a person changes his/her surname upon marriage, you can add the maiden name as an ‘also known
as’ name. You can delete names from this list as well using the Delete button.
To add an Also Known As name for a reference contact
1. Navigate to the Contacts portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of reference contacts.
2. Select the Also Known As tab.
Civic Platform displays the Also Known As list portlet.
3. Click Add.
Civic Platform displays a new row on the Also Known As list portlet.
4. Complete the fields with available data.
5. Click Save.
Civic Platform saves the Also Known As name.
Managing Contact Addresses of a Contact
You may want to maintain the contact address information for a contact, for example, the mailing address
to send mails to, or the home address of the contact.
You can either directly create a contact address for a contact, or add an existing reference address
(including external addresses) as the contact address.
Your administrator can define contact address identifier fields. Civic Platform regards a contact address
as duplicate if the address has duplicate identifier field values as an existing active contact address in the
same contact, and forbids you from adding it to the contact.
• When Civic Platform synchronizes a record contact with a reference contact, but the record contact has
a duplicate contact address, the contact address in the reference contact directly replaces the contact
address in the record contact.
• When you add a duplicate contact address to replace the one that you are deactivating, the existing
active contact address, instead of the one you are adding, replaces the one that you want to deactivate.
• In previous versions, you may have added duplicate contact addresses. Civic Platform automatically
filters duplicate contact addresses when you look up and select contact addresses to add in records.
Topics
•Creating a Contact Address for a Contact
•Adding an Existing Address as a Contact Address
•Deactivating a Contact Address
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Creating a Contact Address for a Contact
Depending on the configuration by your agency administrators, you can create contact addresses for a
contact with different address types, such as home address, mail address, physical address.
To add a new contact address to a contact
1. Navigate to the Contact portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Contact detail page.
2. Click the Contact Address tab.
Civic Platform displays the contact address list page.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the contact address fields.
4. If needed, check to see whether validation is required for your new address. Otherwise, skip to the next
step.
a. Check whether the Validate button displays in the Contact Address tab.
Even if this button is available, your agency may require you to validate only certain types of contact
addresses against an external address source.
b. Specify the address type and country/region of the address, and then click Validate.
One of three messages displays:
“Address validation is required” means that the address requires validation.
“No validation data source is defined” means that you are creating an address that requires no
validation.
“Failed to connect to the validation data source” means that the address requires validation but Civic
Platform cannot connect to the validation source.
5. Complete the remaining fields with available data. See Contact Address Fields for field definitions.
6. If the address you are adding requires validation, do the following:
a. Click Validate.
Civic Platform displays a list of matching addresses from the external validation source.
b. If you use to add an address from the list, select that address and click Select.
Civic Platform populates the contact address fields with the information from the selected address,
and sets the Validated field to Yes.
c. If you do not want to accept any of the validated addresses as correct, click Cancel.
Civic Platform sets the Validated field of the address to No.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the newly-created contact address in the contact address list page.
Adding an Existing Address as a Contact Address
Your agency administrator may allow you to add an existing reference address (including external address)
as the contact address for a contact.
Note:
Changes you make in contact addresses do not update reference addresses.
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To add an existing address as contact address
1. Navigate to the Contact portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Contact detail page.
2. Click the Contact Address tab.
Civic Platform displays the contact address list page.
3. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the Address detail page.
4. Enter search criteria in the address fields, then click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the results from the search.
5. Select the addresses that you want to add, and click Select.
Civic Platform adds the selected address in the contact address list page.
6. Click the Contact Address ID link for your newly-added address.
7. Complete any blank fields with available data (see Contact Address Fields).
8. Click Save.
9. Repeat Click the Contact Address ID link for your newly-added address. through step 8 for each contact
address you want to update.
Deactivating a Contact Address
You cannot delete contact addresses. However, if a contact address becomes obsolete, you can change
its status to inactive.
To deactivate a contact address
1. Navigate to the Contact portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Contact detail page.
2. Click the Contact Address tab.
Civic Platform displays the contact address list page.
3. Select the contact address you want to deactivate.
4. Click Deactivate.
Civic Platform prompts you to enter the end date.
If the contact address you want to deactivate is the primary contact address in one or more records, you
must define a new contact address and specify the end date for the selected address.
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5. Enter the end date to deactivate the selected contact address.
6. If required, complete the form to define a new contact address to replace the deactivated primary
address. For information on defining a new contact address, see Creating a Contact Address for a
Contact.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform deactivates the selected contact address. If you define a new contact address, Civic
Platform adds the new contact address to the current contact and the record contact(s) which used the
selected contact address as primary.
Managing Attachments Associated with a Contact
The Documents tab for a contact lists all associated attachments. You can download and view an
attachment, upload additional attachments, assign ACA permissions to the attachments, or remove an
unnecessary attachment preconditioned that the attachment is not associated with a record.
After you add a document to a contact, you can look up the document and add it to the record which is
associated with the contact. For more information, see Looking Up People Attachments to Associate with
Records. Note that after you add a document from a contact to one or more records, Civic Platform forbids
you from deleting the documents in the contact.
To download multiple documents, choose the documents and click Manage Documents > Download.
Note that the Civic Platform administrator must grant Upload and Download permission on the
Administration > Agency Profile > Security Policy > EDMS Access Security > {EDMS-Name} to enable
multiple document downloads.
To print multiple documents, choose the documents and click Manage Documents > Print. Note that
the Print option only shows if the Civic Platform administrator has configured FID 8508 Print Multiple
Documents with Full Access.
For more information, see Attachments .
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Building Relationships between Reference Contacts
Building relationships between reference contacts enables you to set up a contact network in Civic
Platform. For example, an individual can be the CEO of an organization (contact), the manager of his team,
and at the same time, the client of his lawyer. You can add associated reference contacts to an individual
contact, and define the roles each one plays for the other in every association.
The reference contact relationship is a network (instead of a hierarchical tree). The relationship that you
set up for two reference contacts has nothing to do with other contacts. You can configure the relationship
between two reference contacts in the Contact Relationship tab of one contact, and view the relationship in
both the contact details.
To manage contact relationship for a reference contact
1. Navigate to the Contact portlet and select the contact with which you want to work.
Civic Platform displays the Contact detail page.
2. Click the Contact Relationship tab.
Civic Platform displays the contact relationship list page.
3. To filter the contact relationship list.
a. Enter one or more filter criteria.
b. Click Filter.
Civic Platform filters the relationship list.
4. To relate one or more reference contacts with the current contact:
a. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the contact search page.
b. Enter search criteria as appropriate, then click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of reference contacts that meet the search criteria.
c. If the search results do not contain the contact(s) you want to add, click Close Matches to retrieve
close match contacts.
d. Select the contact(s) you want to relate with the current contact, and then click Select.
Civic Platform displays the contact role setting portlet.
e. Enter the relationship details.
f. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the new relationship into the relationship list for both the current contact and the
target contact.
5. To edit an existing relationship:
a. Click the link at the Current Contact Role column of the relationship.
Civic Platform displays the contact role setting portlet.
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b. Update any of the fields that display, and click Submit.
Civic Platform updates the selected relationship.
6. To delete or deactivate an existing relationship:
a. Select the contact relationship that you want to remove or deactivate.
b. Click Delete to delete the contact relationship, or Deactivate to deactivate it.
If you delete a relationship, the relationship list no longer displays the relationship.
If you deactivate a relationship, the relationship list still displays the relationship, but the relationship
status becomes Inactive.
Merging Contacts
If your agency enables merge functionality, (see 0322-Reference Merge Contacts in the Civic Platform
Configuration Reference), you can select multiple contacts, select a target contact, select contact
associations, and merge the contacts and their associations in the selected target contact. After you merge
contacts, the target contact remains, and all the other source contacts become disabled.
Note:
Merging contacts is a permanent action. However, Civic Platform does not delete the source contacts. The
contacts are merely disabled. You may be able to restore disabled contacts. See your system administrator.
To merge contacts
1. Navigate to the Contact portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Contact detail page.
2. Select at least two enabled contacts that you want to merge. Note that you may not merge individual
contacts with organization contacts.
3. Click Merge.
Civic Platform displays the list of contacts that you just selected.
4. Select the contact that you want to define as the target contact, and then clickNext.
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Note:
The target contact is the contact to which you want to append the information from the other contacts. It
is the contact you want to keep.
All the contacts that you select for merging are source contacts. All the source contacts except the
target contact become disabled after the merge occurs.
Civic Platform displays the Merge Contact Data dialog.
5. Use the links in the dialog to review and select the information and associations that you want to include
in the target contact.
•Contact Details
This link displays the information about the contact you selected. You must select a contact type and
then confirm the other fields.
•Also Known As
This link lists all the also-known-as names of all the source contacts. You can select the also-known-
as names you want to add to the target contact.
•Contact Addresses
This link is available if you can access the contact addresses tab (Managing Contact Addresses of a
Contact). Click the link to display the contact addresses of all the source contacts. By default, Civic
Platform uses the contact addresses of the contact you selected to merge to the target contact. You
can select more if you want.
•Licenses
This link lists all the licensed professionals associated with the source contacts. By default, Civic
Platform selects all the licensed professionals to merge to the contact. You deselect any licensed
professionals that you do not want to merge.
•Conditions
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This link lists the conditions for all the source contacts. By default, Civic Platform selects only the
conditions for the contact you selected to merge to the target contact. You can select more if you
want.
•Activities
This link lists the activities logged in all the source contacts. By default, Civic Platform selects only
the activities in the contact you selected in Select the contact that you want to define as the target
contact, and then click Next. to merge to the target contact. You can select more if you want.
•Public Users
This link lists the public users associated with all the source contacts. By default, Civic Platform
selects only the public user associated with the contact you selected to merge to the target contact.
You can select more if you want.
After merging, source contacts become disabled and they lose their association with public users.
Some public users may find their account dissociated with all contacts. If this happens, the public
user account becomes disabled, and the public user receives an email notification on the change.
•Assets
This link lists the assets associated with all the source contacts. By default, Civic Platform selects
only the assets associated with the contact you selected to merge to the target contact. You can
select more if you want.
6. Click Finish to merge the contacts.
Civic Platform merges the selected information into the target contact, and disables the other source
contacts.
Civic Platform directly merges all the documents from the source contacts to the target contact. If a
record is associated with a source contact, the record attachments list still displays the document that
users add to the record from the source contact, and the people attachments list of the record displays
that the document is associated with the target contact.
Note:
A document may fail to be merged if the document has duplicate file name with one in the target contact,
or the credentials provided by the user cannot pass EDMS authentication. The document-merging failure
does not affect the overall contact merging result.
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Managing Record Contacts
You can associate one or more reference contacts with an application or a service request. You can also
create new record contacts by entering details about the contact on the Contacts tab of the record detail
form portlet. Depending on your user privileges, you may also be able to look up a contact from your
reference database and simply add the contact information that way.
The Manage Contacts menu on the Contacts tab provides you with a list of actions that you can perform
on one or more records. For example, you can look up contacts to add to a record, add a new contact, and
synchronize record contacts with their reference source.
Topics
•Accessing the Manage Contacts Menu
•Adding a Contact from Reference Contacts
•Adding an Internal User as a Contact
•Adding a New Contact
•Editing a Contact on a Record
•Managing the Synchronization of Contacts
•Removing or Deactivating a Contact on a Record
Accessing the Manage Contacts Menu
1. Go to the appropriate portlet, then locate and choose the building permit or the service request you
want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the detail portlet on the record tabs.
2. Click the Contacts tab.
Civic Platform displays the record contacts list page.
3. Hover your mouse cursor over the Manage Contacts button in the toolbar.
The Manage Contacts menu displays.
4. Left click any option in the menu to select it.
Adding a Contact from Reference Contacts
You can associate one or more contacts with a record. Depending on your user privileges, you may also
be able to look up a contact from your reference database and add all the reference contact information
to your record. If you cannot find the reference contact you want to add, you have the option to create the
reference contact right away.
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To add a contact to a record from reference contacts
1. On the Contacts tab for the record you are working on, hover over the Manage Contacts button
(Accessing the Manage Contacts Menu), then select Look Up from the menu.
Civic Platform displays the contact look-up form.
2. Enter search criteria as needed to find the contact you seek, then click Submit. You can search
reference contacts by contact standard fields, contact activities, or contact addresses. See Examining
Contact Details for field definitions.
Civic Platform displays your search results.
Note:
You may have specified the contact type and type in the search criteria. However, Civic Platform ignores
the type information when performing the search, because users can add reference contacts of any type
to records in various roles (transaction contact types).
3. If the search results contain the contact(s) you want to add, select the contact you want to add and click
Select.
Civic Platform adds the contact to the record.
4. If the search results do not contain the contact you want to add, you can click Close Matches to
retrieve close match contacts (see Looking for Close Matches).
You can also click New in Reference to create a new reference contact.
If the selected contact has only one contact address, Civic Platform adds the selected contact to the
record with its contact address.
5. If the selected contact has multiple contact addresses, you can select which contact addresses to add
in the pop-up Contact Address Look Up Form and then click Select.
Civic Platform adds the selected contact in the record contact list.
6. Change the contact type for the newly-added contact as needed. For more information, see Editing a
Contact on a Record.
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Adding an Internal User as a Contact
Depending on your user privileges, you may be able to look up an internal user on your staff and associate
that user as a contact on a record.
Note:
Enable FID 8506 - Internal User, to make the Look Up Staff command available in the Manage Contacts
menu on the Contacts tab of a record. This command provides the ability to associate internal users to an
application/record as a contact.
Once added, you can configure that contact to receive email notifications and updates for that record. This
gives internal staff such as case workers, investigators, or inspectors the ability to stay on top of a case as
it moves through its life cycle.
To add an internal user as a contact on a record
1. Open the record you want to work with, and navigate to the Contacts section.
2. Hover on the Manage Contacts button to display a command menu.
3. Select Look Up Staff.
4. Enter search criteria to locate the staff member you want to add.
5. Click Submit.
The search results display.
6. Select the contact you want from the results list.
7. Click Select.
A contact form displays. Some of the internal user’s data displays.
8. Complete the rest of the form with available data.
9. Click Submit.
The new contact is added to the record.
Adding a New Contact
You can add contacts manually to a record. Some agencies restrict users from adding certain types of
transactional contacts, preferring that you add them as reference contacts instead. But for cases where
transactional contacts are permissible, you can manually add new contacts to a record without creating a
reference contact.
To add a new contact to a record
1. On the Contacts tab for the record you are working on, hover over the Manage Contacts button
(Accessing the Manage Contacts Menu), then select New.
Civic Platform displays the new contact form.
2. Enter available data in the contact fields. See Contact Detail for field definitions.
3. In the Contact Address sub section, add the address information for the contact.
4. If you selected a contact type that you are allowed to create transactional contacts for, click Submit.
Otherwise, go to the next step.
Civic Platform adds the contact as a transactional contact to the record.
5. If you selected a contact type that can only be added as a reference contact, click Submit:
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Civic Platform displays a list of reference contacts matching the information that you entered.
6. You can proceed in one of three ways:
• Select a contact from the search results, then click Select.
• Click Close Matches to retrieve more close match contacts, select a contact from the new list, and
then click Select.
• Click New in Reference to create a new reference contact, complete the fields in the new contact
form, and click Submit. Once done, you can select the contact you just created, and click Select.
Civic Platform adds the reference contact to the record.
Editing a Contact on a Record
You can edit contact information on an application or a service request record as needed.
To edit a contact on a record
1. Go to the Contacts tab for the record you are working on.
Civic Platform displays a list of contacts associated with the record.
2. If you want to change the contact type, select a type from the Type drop-down list.
Civic Platform updates the record contact with the new type.
Note:
Different contact types may require different contact template fields and contact addresses. If you
change the type, you may lose the template fields and the contact addresses that Civic Platform
associated with the old type.
If Civic Platform requires template fields for the new contact type, Civic Platform prompts you to enter
the required information. Click Yes to continue. and go to Edit any of the fields that display in the
Contact Detail section. See Contact Detail for a list of field descriptions. to complete the required
information.
3. If you want to edit the contact or contact address details, click the Contact Number link for the contact.
Civic Platform displays the contact details.
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4. Edit any of the fields that display in the Contact Detail section. See Contact Detail for a list of field
descriptions.
5. Click Submit.
Managing the Synchronization of Contacts
When you add a record contact by looking up a reference contact (Adding a Contact from Reference
Contacts), the record contacts list provides a Reference Contact ID column and a Sync column. The Sync
column indicates whether a record contact is in sync with its reference or not. For each individual record
contact, you can choose to synchronize it from or to its reference contact, or you can choose to break the
synchronization.
If you added a contact as a transactional contact, there is no corresponding reference contact, so the
Reference Contact ID column is null, and the Sync column value is No. However, you can still look up a
reference contact and synchronize the reference contact with the record contact. After synchronization,
the record contact links with the reference contact in the same way as the contact that you add to a record
from reference.
Note:
The best practice when adding a contact to a record is to search for and select a contact from existing
reference contacts. This method enables you to save time by applying the reference contact information to
the record. You can also avoid duplicate contact information in the database.
Topics
•Synchronizing a Record Contact from its Reference
•Synchronizing a Record Contact to its Reference
•Stopping Synchronization between a Record Contact and its Reference
Synchronizing a Record Contact from its Reference
Record contacts may not be as current as reference contacts. If a record contact is currently not in sync
with the reference, you can the record contact data with the more current reference contact information.
To synchronize a record contact from its reference
1. Go to the Contacts tab for the record you are working on.
Civic Platform displays a list of contacts associated with the record.
2. Select the contact you want to synchronize from its reference. You can only synchronize one record
contact at a time.
3. Hover over the Manage Contacts button, and select Sync from Reference.
If Civic Platform already associates the record contact with a reference contact, Civic Platform
synchronizes the record contact with the reference contact.
If Civic Platform does not yet associate the record contact with a reference contact, you must select the
reference contact to synchronize. Complete the following steps:
a. In the reference contact lookup form, enter search criteria as needed to find the contact you seek,
then click Submit. You can search reference contacts by contact standard fields, contact template
fields, contact activities, or contact addresses. See Contact Detail and Contact Address Fields for
field definitions.
Civic Platform displays your search results.
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b. If the search results do not contain the contact you want to find, click Close Matches to retrieve
close match contacts. For more information on close match search, see Looking for Close Matches.
c. Select the contacts you want to synchronize to the record contact and then click Select.
Civic Platform synchronizes the record contact with the reference contact.
After the synchronization:
• The record contact stays in synchronization with the reference contact.
• The Sync column of the record contact changes to Yes.
• If the previous record contact contains some contact addresses, Civic Platform adds the contact
addresses to the reference contact while also keeping them in the record contact. For more
information on contact addresses, see Managing Contact Addresses of a Contact.
• The contact template fields in the selected reference contact may be different from the contact
template fields in the current contact role in the record. If some template fields are common to both,
Civic Platform copies the values in the fields from the reference contact to the record contact. If
some template fields are unique in the reference contact, the fields remain hidden in the record
contact.
Synchronizing a Record Contact to its Reference
After you update a record contact, if the record contact is currently not in sync with the reference, you may
want to synchronize the information to its reference contact.
To synchronize a record contact to its reference
1. Go to the Contacts tab for the record you are working on.
Civic Platform displays a list of contacts associated with the record.
2. Select the contact you want to synchronize to its reference. You can only synchronize one record
contact at a time.
3. Hover over the Manage Contacts button, and select Sync to Reference.
If Civic Platform already associates the record contact with a reference contact, Civic Platform
synchronizes the record contact with the reference contact.
If Civic Platform does not yet associate the record contact with a reference contact, you must select or
create a reference contact to synchronize. Complete the following steps:
a. In the reference contact lookup form, enter search criteria as needed to find the contact you seek,
then click Submit. You can search reference contacts by contact standard fields, contact activities,
or contact addresses. See Contact Detail and Contact Address Fields for field definitions.
Civic Platform displays your search results.
b. If the search results do not contain the contact you want to find, click Close Matches to retrieve
close match contacts. For more information on close match search, see Looking for Close Matches.
c. To synchronize the record contact to an existing reference contact, select the contact you want to
synchronize the record contact to and click Select.
Civic Platform synchronizes the transactional contact to the reference contact.
d. To synchronize the record contact to the reference as a new reference contact, click New in
Reference to create a new reference contact. After you complete the fields in the popup Contact
New Form, click Submit.
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Note:
The standard contact fields display as read-only in the contact new form, with the values populated
from the record contact.
If some template fields are common in the record contact and the reference contact, the template
fields are editable in the contact new form, with the values populated from the record contact.
Do not edit the values, because when Civic Platform synchronizes the existing information from the
record contact to the new reference contact, your changes get overwritten.
Civic Platform creates the new reference contact as specified, and associates it with the record
contact.
After the synchronization:
• The record contact information synchronizes to the reference contact.
• The record contact stays in synchronization with the reference contact. Civic Platform synchronizes
the change in either side to the other side.
• The Sync column of the record contact changes to Yes.
• If the previous record contact contains some contact addresses, Civic Platform adds the contact
addresses to the reference contact while also keeping them in the record contact. For more
information on contact addresses, see Managing Contact Addresses of a Contact.
Stopping Synchronization between a Record Contact and its Reference
You can choose not to synchronize the information between a record contact and its reference source.
To stop synchronization between a record contact and its reference
1. Go to the Contacts tab for the record you are working on.
Civic Platform displays a list of contacts associated with the record.
2. Select the contact you want to synchronize to its reference. You can only synchronize one record
contact at a time.
3. Hover over the Manage Contacts button, and select Stop Sync.
Civic Platform changes the Sync field to No for the record contact.
Removing or Deactivating a Contact on a Record
If you remove a contact from the record Contacts tab, the contact no longer displays in the record contacts
list. If you deactivate a contact, the contact still displays in the record contacts list, and the contact status
becomes Inactive.
To remove or deactivate a record contact
1. Go to the Contacts tab for the record you are working on.
Civic Platform displays a list of contacts associated with the record.
2. Select the contact you want to remove or deactivate.
3. To remove the contact
a. Hover over the Manage Contacts button.
b. Select Remove.
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Civic Platform removes the contact.
To deactivate the contact
a. Hover over the Manage Contacts button.
b. Select Deactivate.
Civic Platform displays a pop-up End Date window.
c. Enter the contact end date, and then click OK.
Civic Platform sets the contact End Date to the specified date, and changes the contact status to
Inactive.
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Viewing Related Contacts
Building relationships among contacts can help streamline communication between different departments
in your agency. For example, if two individuals are both employees of a business, associating the two
individuals makes it more efficient to handle the contacts of the business.
You do not need to associate contacts with other contacts manually. When you create a record for a
business and add all of the employees of that business to the record as contacts, the relationships
between the individuals establish automatically.
EXAMPLE:
John is the owner of Starbucks #2 and he is an individual contact in Civic Platform. The Related Contacts
tab for John lists 9 items:
• John himself (owner of Starbucks #2)
• Starbucks HQ
• David (owner of Starbucks HQ)
• Eddy (shareholder of Starbucks HQ)
• James (attorney of Starbucks HQ)
• Amy (original owner of Starbucks #1)
• Mike (current owner of Starbucks #1)
• James (attorney of Starbucks #1)
• James (attorney of Starbucks #2)
Figure 18: Contact Relationship Illustration
Topics
•Viewing Related Contact Information
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•Searching for and Filtering Related Contacts
Viewing Related Contact Information
The Related Contacts tab for a contact lists all the records that the contact has an association with, along
with all other associated contacts for each of those records. You can gain both holistic and historical views
of a contact relationship. For example, you can review a list of businesses that a person is both current and
historical party to. You can review a list of all individuals within a business and its sub-businesses, and you
can review a information about individuals that satisfy multiple roles concurrently.
To view related contact information
1. Navigate to the Contact portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Contact detail page.
2. Click the Related Contacts tab.
Civic Platform displays the related contacts and businesses list page.
3. Do any of the following:
• To view the details about the related business, click the Record ID or Alternate ID link for the record
that you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the Record detail portlet for the selected business underneath the Related
Contacts tab.
• To view the details about the related contact, click the Contact Number link next to the contact that
you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the Contact detail portlet for the selected contact underneath the Related
Contacts tab.
• To view the details about the condition on a related contact, click the Condition link next to the
contact that you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the Condition detail portlet for the selected contact underneath the Related
Contacts tab.
• To view the related records about the related business, complete these options:
1. Locate the Related Records column, and click or hover over the View link next to the current
record.
Civic Platform provides shortcuts to the parent, child, and sibling records for the current record in
a pop-up window.
2. Click a related record link in the pop-up window.
Civic Platform displays the Related Records tab for the current business underneath the Related
Contacts tab. Underneath the Related Records tab is the Record detail portlet of the selected
record.
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Searching for and Filtering Related Contacts
There are three ways for you to filter the contents of the Related Contacts list portlet.
• You can search for a related contact by standard record field, standard contact field, contact address
field, or a combination of the fields that display on the Related Contact search form.
• You can create a QuickQuery and apply it to the Related Contacts list portlet. See Understanding
QuickQueries for more information.
• You can filter the contents of the Related Contacts list by Record ID or Alternate ID, Contact Name, or
Contact Type. The Record ID or Alternate ID field only supports exact searches.
Note:
You can only filter the contents of the Related Contacts list by a single field.
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Applying a Condition to a Reference Contact
If a contact is a reference contact, you can apply a condition to it. When you apply a condition to a
reference contact, you set requirements on the reference contact. These requirements must fulfilled before
further actions proceed.
You can create a new condition, or you can also use a standard condition for the reference contact. For
detailed information on conditions, see Conditions .
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Viewing Records Associated with a Contact
You can view all the associated records for a contact, no matter whether the contact is the primary contact
of the records or not.
To view the records associated with a contact
1. Navigate to the Contact portlet and select the contact you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the Contact detail page.
2. Click the Record List tab.
Civic Platform displays the list of records that the contact is associated with.
3. You can use the My QuickQueries functionality to filter the list. You can also select records and create a
set from the selected records. For more information about sets, see Understanding QuickQueries .
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Associating Professionals with a Contact
Civic Platform allows you to associate or dissociate licensed professionals with a contact at any time. Also,
you can synchronize the contact information to its associated licensed professionals. This relationship is
particularly useful when several licensed professionals all belong to the same contact (for example, an
organization contact), and the licensed professionals share the same contact information with the contact.
Topics
•Adding Licensed Professionals to a Contact
•Synchronizing Contact Info to Associated Professionals
Adding Licensed Professionals to a Contact
You can associate one or more licensed professionals with a contact. You can access data about
an associated licensed professional directly from the Contact portlet. You can also click the licensed
professional link to navigate to the Professionals portlet.
To search for a licensed professional and associate it with a contact
1. Navigate to the Contact portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Contact detail page.
2. Click the Professionals tab.
Civic Platform displays the associated licensed professionals list page.
3. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the licensed professional search page.
4. Enter the search criteria in the licensed professional fields.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the results from the search.
6. Select the licensed professional(s) you want to associate with the contact.
7. Click Select.
Civic Platform associates the licensed professional with the contact.
8. To disassociate a professional from the current contact, select the licensed professional you want to
remove, then click Delete.
Synchronizing Contact Info to Associated Professionals
When certain contact information is updated in a reference contact, you can synchronize that information to
some or all of its associated licensed professionals. The contact fields subject to synchronization include all
the fields common to both the Contact portlet and the Professionals portlet with the exception of the Status
field.
To synchronize contact information to associated professionals
1. Navigate to the Contact portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Contact list page.
2. Click the Professionals tab.
Civic Platform displays the associated licensed professionals list page.
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3. Select the licensed professionals to which you want to synchronize the contact information, and then
click Sync Contact Info.
Civic Platform synchronizes the contact information for the current contact to all the selected licensed
professionals.
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Associating Reference Addresses with a Contact
Civic Platform provides the ability to build associations between contacts and reference addresses.
You can directly create a reference address for a contact or add an existing referent address to a contact.
Topics
•Creating a New Reference Address for a Contact
•Associating an Existing Reference Address with a Contact
•Deleting a Reference Address from a Contact
Creating a New Reference Address for a Contact
If you create a reference address in the Contact portlet, you can search for and apply the reference
address as normal reference address, as if you had created it created in the reference address portlet.
To add a new reference address to a contact
1. Navigate to the Contact portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Contact detail page.
2. Click the Address tab.
Civic Platform displays the associated address list page.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the address fields.
4. Complete the fields as described in Table 85: Address Fields.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the address.
Associating an Existing Reference Address with a Contact
If a reference address already exists in the system, you can search for it and apply it to a contact.
To search for an address and associate it with a contact
1. Navigate to the Contact portlet.
Many times this portlet may have its own main link or be grouped with the APO portlets.
Civic Platform displays the Contact detail page.
2. Click the Address tab.
Civic Platform displays the associated address list page.
3. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the Address detail page.
4. Enter the search criteria in the address fields. For the field description, see Table 85: Address Fields
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the results from the search.
6. Select the address you want to associate with the contact.
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7. Click Select.
Deleting a Reference Address from a Contact
You can delete a reference address from a contact if it no longer applies. When you delete a reference
address, you remove the association between the contact and the reference address; however, Civic
Platform does not delete the reference address from the database.
To delete a reference address from a contact
1. Navigate to the Contact portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Contact list page.
2. Click the Address tab.
Civic Platform displays the associated address list page.
3. Select the address you want to delete.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform deletes the address from the contact.
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Managing Public Users Associated with Contacts
To enable a public user account, you must associate it with a reference contact. You can directly associate
a public user with a contact in the reference contact portlet, and view or edit the public user details there.
Note:
If a reference contact is inactive, you cannot associate any public user with the contact. If a reference
contact is the only contact associated with an enabled public user, you cannot disable the contact.
To manage the association between a contact and a public user
1. Navigate to the Contact portlet and select the contact you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the Contact Details.
2. Click the Associated Public User tab.
Civic Platform displays the Associated Public User list portlet.
3. Do any of the following:
• To associate a public user with the current contact:
1. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the public user search form.
2. Use Search to locate the public user you want to associate.
3. Enter any search criteria in the appropriate fields. See Public User Search Fields for field
definitions. See Using the Search Features for more information about searching.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the list of public users that match your search criteria.
5. Select the public user you want to associate with the contact, and click Connect.
Civic Platform associates the selected public user with the contact.
• To view and edit a public user associated with the contact.
1. Click the Email field for the public user you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the public user detail form.
2. Update any fields as necessary. See Public User Search Fields for field definitions.
3. Click Save.
Civic Platform saves your change.
• To remove the association of a public user with the contact.
1. Select the public user from which you want to remove the association.
2. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the association of the public user from the contact.
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Viewing Assets Associated with a Contact
You can review a read-only list of assets associated with a reference contact via the Assets tab.
To view assets associated with a contact
1. Navigate to the Contact portlet and use Search to locate and select the contact you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the contact details.
2. Click the Assets tab.
Civic Platform displays a read-only list of assets associated with the contact.
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Examining Contact Details
The following tables list and define fields that may be available when working with contacts.
•Contact Detail Fields
•Contact Address Fields
•Contact Relationship Fields
•Public User Search Fields
Contact Detail Fields
The table below lists and defines fields that may be available as you work with and search for contacts.
Table 27: Contact Detail
Address Line 1Address
Line 2Address Line 3
The contact’s address information. You may have up to three lines of address
information.
Birth Date The contact’s birth date. This field is active only when Contact Type = Individual.
Birthplace City The contact’s birthplace city. This field is active only when Contact Type = Individual.
Birthplace Country/
Region
The contact’s birth country or region. This field is active only when Contact Type =
Individual.
Birthplace State The contact’s birthplace state. This field is active only when Contact Type = Individual.
Business Name 2 If Contact Type = Individual, this is the business, trade, or “doing business as (DBA)”
name for the contact.
If Contact Type = Organization, this is the additional business, trade, or “doing business
as (DBA)” name for the contact other than the Organization Name, and DBA/Trade
Name.
City The city in which the contact resides.
Contact Number (Only for contacts associated with records.) An auto-generated ID number that identifies
the contact in the record.
Contact Status For reference contacts, this field indicates the status of the contacts (enabled or
disabled). For contacts associated with records, this field indicates the status of the
association between the contact and the record.
Contact Type This field defines the type of entity that is the contact; for example, individual or
organization.
Country/Region The country or region in which the contact resides.
DBA/Trade Name The contact’s preferred business or trade name. This field is active only when Contact
Type = Organization.
Deceased Date The date of death for the contact, if applicable. This field is active only when Contact
Type = Individual.
Driver’s License Number The driver’s license number of the contact. This field is active only when Contact Type =
Individual.
Driver’s License State The driver’s license state of the contact. This field is active only when Contact Type =
Individual.
Email The contact’s email address.
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End Date (Only for contacts associated with records) The date when the contact is no longer
associated with the current record. When this date is earlier than the current date, the
status of the contact automatically changes to Inactive.
Fax The contact’s fax number, with Country and Area Code.
FEIN The Federal Employer Identification Number. This field is active only when the Contact
Type = Organization.
First Name The contact’s first name. This field is active only when Contact Type = Individual.
Full Name The contact’s full name. This field is active only when Contact Type = Individual.
Gender The contact’s gender. This field is active only when Contact Type = Individual.
Last Name The contact’s last name. This field is active only when Contact Type = Individual.
Middle Name The contact’s middle name. This field is active only when Contact Type = Individual.
Notify contact with
Record update
(Only for contacts associated with records) Indicates whether Civic Platform should
notify this contact when the application or service request status changes.
Number (ID) A unique auto-generated number that identifies this contact in your Civic Platform
system.
Notes Any notes you want to enter for the contact.
Organization Name The organization to which the contact belongs. This field is active only when Contact
Type = Organization.
Passport Number The contact’s passport number. This field is active only when Contact Type = Individual.
Permissions Indicates the level of access by the contact to associated records in Citizen Access.
Options include: Full (full access), Schedule Inspections Only(read-only access in the
My Record list and Record search result list in Citizen Access plus ability to schedule
inspections), Read (read-only access in the My Record list and the Record search result
list in Citizen Access, and None (no access).
Phone 1, Phone 2, Phone
3
The contact’s phone number(s).
P.O. Box The contact’s post office box number.
Preferred Channel The method by which the contact prefers to receive notification; for example by phone,
email, fax, or postal mail.
Race The contact’s race/ethnicity.
Reference Contact ID An auto-generated ID number that identifies the reference contact in Civic Platform.
Relationship The contact’s relationship to the application or the service request.
Salutation Salutation to use when addressing the contact; for example Mr. or Ms. This field is active
only when Contact Type = Individual.
SSN The contact’s Social Security Number. This field is active only when Contact Type =
Individual.
Start Date (Only for contacts associated with records) The date when the contact becomes
associated with the current record. This field defaults to the date when you add the
contact to a record.
State The state in which the contact resides.
State ID Number The contact’s state ID number. This field is active only when Contact Type = Individual.
Suffix This is the suffix to a contact name, such as: Jr., Sr., or PhD.
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Sync (Only for contacts associated with records) Indicates whether the record contact is in
sync with its reference source contact.
Yes indicates that the following information for the record contact is in sync with its
reference source: standard field values (except for Contact Type, Start Date, End Date,
and Contact Status), template field values common to both, and contact addresses.
No indicates that only the contact addresses for the contact are in sync with its reference
source, or that a record contact has no reference source.
Title The contact’s business title. This field is active only when Contact Type = Individual.
Type The type of contact. Civic Platform uses contact types to group contacts with similar
functions.
Zip The contact’s zip code.
Contact Address Fields
The table below lists and defines fields that may be available as you work with contact addresses.
Table 28: Contact Address Fields
Address Line 1/2/3 The primary/secondary/tertiary line of the contact address.
Address Type The contact address type. Your agency administrator configures the address type.
Examples include home address or mail address.
City The city where the contact resides.
Contact Address ID The system-generated sequence ID for the current contact address.
Country/Region The country/region where the contact resides.
Direction The street direction designation of the primary address line in the contact address. For
example, “N” as in “North” Main Street.”
End Date The date when the contact address ceases to be active.
Fax The fax number of the contact address, with Country and Area code.
Full Address The full address of the contact address.
House # Alpha (end) The ending street number that makes up the address. You can enter alphanumeric
characters in this field. For example, if the address is “10-23 WHITESTONE,” “23” is
the ending street number.
House # Alpha (start) The beginning street number that makes up the address. You can enter alphanumeric
characters in this field. For example, if the address is “10-23 WHITESTONE,” “10” is
the beginning street number.
Level # (end) The ending level number (floor number) that makes up the address within a complex,
used to identify a floor or level of a multi-story building/sub-complex.
Level # (start) The beginning level number (floor number) that makes up the address within a
complex, used to identify a floor or level of a multi-story building/sub-complex.
Level Prefix The prefix for the level numbers (floor numbers) that make up the address.
Phone The phone number of the contact address, with Country and Area code.
Primary Indicator that this address is the primary contact address. Only one contact address
can be the primary address at any given time.
Recipient The contact person for the contact address.
Start Date The date when the contact address starts to be active.
State The state where the contact resides.
Status The status of the contact address:
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Street # (end) Street #
(start)
The street number(s) of the address associated with the contact. If the address
includes multiple street numbers (for example, a fourplex), you can use the Street
# Start and Street # End fields to define the range of numbers. Otherwise, you can
specify a singular street number in either field. Agencies can configure the Street #
Start and End fields to support range search (adding To-From fields), allowing users to
search for one or multiple street numbers within a user-defined range.
Street Name The street name of the primary address in the contact address.
Street Prefix The street prefix of the primary address in the contact address.
Street Suffix (Direction) The street suffix of the primary address in the contact address.
Street Type The street type of the primary address in the contact address. For example, Street,
Boulevard, or Lane.
Unit # (end) Unit # (start) The unit range of the primary address in the contact address.
Unit Type The unit type designation of the primary address in the contact address. Enter the unit
type of the location. For example, enter CONDO, APT, or SUITE.
Validated Displays whether the contact address Accela Civic Platform has validated the address
against an external address source.
ZIP Code The ZIP code of the contact address.
Contact Relationship Fields
The table below lists and defines fields that may be available as you work with contact relationships.
Table 29: Contact Relationship Detail
Current Contact Role The role that the current contact plays for the contact you just selected.
Target Contact Role The role that the contact you just selected plays for the current contact.
Start Date The date when the relationship starts.
End Date The date when the relationship ends.
Relationship Status The current status of the relationship. It is active or inactive.
Public User Search Fields
The table below lists and defines fields that may be available as you search for Public Users.
Table 30: Public User Search Fields
Address The public user’s address.
Business Name The public user business name, if applicable.
Cell Phone The public user’s cellular phone number.
City The public user’s city of residence.
Confirm Password The public user’s password. This field is a second entry of the password for
verification.
Email The public user’s email address. By default, this is the User ID.
Fax The public user’s fax number.
First Name The public user’s first name.
Home Phone The public user’s home telephone number.
Last Name The public user’s last name.
Middle Name The public user’s middle name.
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Pager The public user’s pager number.
Password The public user’s password used when logging in to Citizen Access.
Password request answer The answer to the password request question.
Password request
question
Password request question. If a public user forgets his password, he can answer this
question. If the answer is correct, Civic Platform sends an email with the password to
the email address provided from registration.
Preferred Contact Channel The preferred method to use when contacting the public user. For example, email,
phone, fax, or mail.
Preferred Phone The public user’s preferred phone number.
State The public user’s state of residence.
User ID The user ID for logging in to Citizen Access. The default User ID is the email address
provided in registration. You can modify this field.
User Role Defines whether the public user is a Citizen User or an Admin User. Admin users have
the ability to perform administrative tasks in Citizen Access.
Work Phone The public user’s work telephone number.
Zip The public user’s zip code.
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Licensed Professionals
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with licensed professionals.
Related Information
Licensed Professionals Overview
Adding a Reference Professional
Associating Records and Licensed Professionals
Editing Information about a Reference Professional�
Adding a New Professional from the Record Detail Portlet
Disassociating a Professional from a Record via the Record Detail Portlet
Managing Public Users Associated with a Professional
Managing Attachments Associated with a Professional
Examining Licensed Professional Details
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Licensed Professionals Overview
A licensed professional is an individual holding a business license. Your agency may have an official list
of professionals with business licenses from the state licensing board. You can use this list as a reference
when associating a professional with an application or a service request. You can also add and edit
reference professional records manually in the database. You can add conditions (see Conditions ), and
you can associate records to professionals.
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Adding a Reference Professional
You can add new professionals to your reference database. After you add a reference professional, that
professional is available to associate with records.
To add a reference professional
1. Navigate to the Professionals portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of reference professionals.
2. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the professional intake form.
3. Complete the fields with available data. See Professional Detail Fields for field definitions.
Note:
A licensed professional can have the same license number assigned to multiple license types. However,
you must add a new licensed professional record for each license type.
4. Click Submit.
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Associating Records and Licensed Professionals
You can associate and disassociate licensed professionals to/from a record from the record detail portlet
and the Professionals portlet.
Topics
•Viewing Associated Records from the Professionals Portlet
•Associating/Disassociating Records with a Professional via the Professionals Portlet
•Viewing Licensed Professional Information from the Record portlet
•Associating Professionals with a Record via the Record Portlet
Viewing Associated Records from the Professionals Portlet
You can view associated records as needed from the Professionals portlet.
To view an application or a service request from the Professionals portlet
1. Navigate to the Professionals portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of reference professionals.
2. Use search to locate and select the professional you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the professional details on the secondary tabs.
3. On the Professional details portlet, click the Associated Record List tab.
Civic Platform displays a list ofrecordsassociated with the professional.
4. Click the link to the record that you want to view/edit.
The Record detail portlet displays.
Associating/Disassociating Records with a Professional via the Professionals
Portlet
You can associate or disassociate records with a given professional from the Professionals portlet.
To associate records with a Professional
1. Navigate to the Professionals portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of reference professionals.
2. Use Search to locate and select the Professional you want to work with.
3. On the Professional details portlet, click the Associated Record List tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of records associated with the professional.
4. Click Look Up.
5. Enter search criteria as appropriate to locate the records you want and then click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a list of records that match the search criteria.
6. Select the record(s) that you want to associate or disassociate.
7. To associate the record(s) with the current licensed professional, click Select.
Civic Platform adds the selected records to the Associated Record List.
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Note:
Civic Platform cannot associate a record to a professional if the requested record status is “Denied”. To
update the status of the record, see Deleting Records.
8. To disassociate the record(s) from a professional profile, click Delete.
Note:
Citizen Access users cannot view disassociated records for a licensed professional.
Viewing Licensed Professional Information from the Record portlet
You can view associated professionals as needed from the Record detail portlet.
To view licensed professional information from the Record portlet
1. Navigate to the Record list portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of records.
2. Use search to locate and select the record you want to work with.
3. Click the Professionals tab in the Record detail portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of professionals associated with the current record.
4. Click the License # link for the professional you want to view.
Civic Platform displays information about the selected professional.
5. You can edit data on this form. Click Submit to save your changes.
Civic Platform saves the modifications to the record.
Note:
Modifications apply only to the current record. Reference professional data is not updated. To modify
reference professional data, work from the Licensed Professionals portlet.
Associating Professionals with a Record via the Record Portlet
You can associate one or more reference professionals from with an application or a service request.
Information about the professional automatically writes to the record from the database. Afterwards, users
can edit the data as needed; however, Civic Platform does not apply the edits to the original reference
professional record (See Editing Information about a Reference Professional� for information).
To associate a professional to a record
1. Navigate to the Records portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of records.
2. Use search to locate and select the record you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the record detail portlet.
3. Click the Professionals tab in the Record detail portlet.
Civic Platform lists any existing professionals already added to the record.
4. Click Look Up and enter search criteria to locate the professional(s) you want.
Civic Platform displays the search results.
5. Choose one or more professionals and click Select.
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6. Click Submit.
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Editing Information about a Reference Professional
You can modify the reference professional data as needed. Your changes do not apply to existing records
currently associated with the professional. They do, however, apply to new records that you create.
To edit information about a reference professional
1. Navigate to the Professionals portlet by clicking the main link.
Civic Platform displays a list of reference professionals.
2. Use search to locate and select the professional record you want to modify.
3. Modify data as needed. See Professional Detail Fields for field definitions.
4. Click Submit.
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Adding a New Professional from the Record Detail Portlet
You can add new professionals to a Record via the Professionals tab of the Record detail portlet. Keep
in mind, however, that Accela Civic Platform does not store professionals added from this location in the
reference database. To add a new professional to your reference database, see Adding a Reference
Professional.
To add a new professional to a Record
1. Navigate to the Records portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of records.
2. Use search to locate and select the record you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the record detail portlet.
3. Click the Professionals tab in the Record detail portlet.
Civic Platform lists any existing professionals already added to the record.
4. Click New.
5. Complete the fields with available data. See Professional Detail Fields for field definitions.
6. Click Submit.
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Disassociating a Professional from a Record via the Record
Detail Portlet
You can disassociate a professional from an application or a service request as needed. Doing so removes
the association to the record from the Professionals detail portlet as well.
To disassociate a Professional from a Record
1. Navigate to the Records portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of records.
2. Use Search to locate and select the record you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the record detail portlet.
3. Click the Professionals tab in the Record detail portlet.
Civic Platform lists any existing professionals already added to the record.
4. Select the professional(s) you want to disassociate.
5. Click Delete.
Civic Platform updates the professional list.
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Managing Public Users Associated with a Professional
You can directly associate a public user with a licensed professional in the licensed professional portlet,
and view or edit the public details.
To manage the association between a licensed professional and a public user
1. Navigate to the Licensed Professional portlet and select the licensed professional you want to work
with.
Civic Platform displays the Licensed Professional Details.
2. Click the Associated Public User tab.
Civic Platform displays the Associated Public User list portlet.
3. Do any of the following:
• To associate a public user with the current licensed professional:
1. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the public user search form.
2. Use Search to locate the public user you want to associate.
3. Enter search criteria in the appropriate fields.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the list of public users that match your search criteria.
5. Select the public user you want to associate with, and click Connect.
Civic Platform associates the selected public user with the licensed professional.
• To view and edit a public user associated with the licensed professional.
1. Click the Email field of the public user you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the public user detail form.
2. Update any fields as necessary.
3. Click Save.
Civic Platform saves your change.
• To remove the association of a public user with the licensed professional.
1. Select the public user from which you want to dissociate.
2. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the association of the public user from the licensed professional.
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Managing Attachments Associated with a Professional
Use the Documents tab on a licensed professional record to manage all associated attachments. For
more information about working with attachments, see Looking Up People Attachments to Associate with
Records
Any attachment associated with a licensed professional record can be added to a record which is
associated with that licensed professional. For more information, see Attachments . Note that after you add
a document from a licensed professional to one or more records, Civic Platform forbids you from deleting
the documents in the licensed professional.
To download multiple documents, choose the documents and click Manage Documents > Download.
Note that the Civic Platform administrator must grant Upload and Download permission on the
Administration > Agency Profile > Security Policy > EDMS Access Security > {EDMS-Name} to enable
multiple document downloads.
To print multiple documents, choose the documents and click Manage Documents > Print. Note that
the Print option only shows if the Civic Platform administrator has configured FID 8508 Print Multiple
Documents with Full Access.
If an external inspector uses Citizen Access to upload inspection results in the form of a CSV file, you can
find that file in the Documents tab for the licensed professional associated with the inspector.
To update inspection results according to a CSV file
1. Navigate to the Licensed Professional portlet and select the licensed professional you want to work
with.
Civic Platform displays the Licensed Professional Details.
2. Click the Documents tab.
Civic Platform displays the Document list portlet.
3. Select the CSV file that an external inspector uploaded and you have reviewed.
4. Click Result Inspections.
Civic Platform updates inspection results based on the contents of the CSV file. If the CSV file contains
more than 200 inspections, Civic Platform automatically creates a batch job named Result Inspection
with CSV to handle the volume.
After the update process is complete, Civic Platform changes the document status of the CSV file to
Executed. Meanwhile, Citizen Access may display an announcement of the update completion to the
external inspector if configured to do so. If any inspections failed to update, Civic Platform generates a
log file that lists all the failed inspections.
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Examining Licensed Professional Details
The table below lists and defines fields that may be available as you work with Licensed Professionals.
Table 31: Professional Detail Fields
Address The address information for the licensed professional. You may have up to three
lines of address information.
Business License # The business license number issued to a professional by your agency. A licensed
professional can have the same license number assigned to multiple license types,
such as Electrical, Mechanical, and Plumbing licenses.
Business License
Expiration Date The date when the business license is due to expire.
Business Name 1 The primary name of the business associated with the professional license.
Business Name 2 The secondary business name in the text field, if applicable.
Contractor Business Name The contractor business name.
Contractor License Number The license number of the contractor.
Comp Insurance Company
Code The code associated with the worker’s compensation insurance provider for the
professional.
City The city name. You can use the Get City button to choose a city from a list.
Comment Any comments about the business license or professional.
Display in ACA Indicates whether to display the professional record in Citizen Access.
Display Inspection in the
past # of Days This field is specific to food facility licenses. A positive integer represents a number
of inspection days in the past, starting from the current date, and excluding days that
no inspections occur. Civic Platform displays any inspections that occurred in the
defined time period.
For example, enter “3” into this field. The current date is 1/2/2015. For a specific
food facility license, no inspection is scheduled to occur on the current day. The
last three inspection-resulting days are listed as 1/1/2015, 1/7/2014, and 1/1/2014,
the inspections that occurred in any of these three days display in the Previous
Inspection section for that food facility license in Citizen Access.
Email The email address of the licensed professional.
Fax # The fax number of the licensed professional.
FEIN If applicable, enter the federal employer identification number of the licensed
professional.
First Name The first name of the licensed professional.
Insurance Amount The cost, in dollar amounts, of the professional’s insurance policy.
Insurance Company The name of the company that insures the professional.
Insurance Expiration Date The date when the insurance policy is due to expire. Click the calendar icon to locate
the date using a calendar.
Last Name The last name of the licensed professional.
License State Choose the state where the professional business license was issued.
License Expiration Date Enter the date when the state license is due to expire. Click the calendar icon if you
want to use a calendar to locate the date.
License Issue Date The issue date of the state license. Click the calendar icon to use a calendar to
locate the date.
License Last Renewal Date The last renewal date for the state license. Click the calendar icon if you want to use
a calendar to locate the date.
License Type Choose the type of license held by the professional; for example, Architect, Plumber,
or Provider.
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Licensing Board Choose the licensing board. For example, the Louisiana State Licensing Board for
Contractors.
Middle Name The middle name of the licensed professional.
Phone The phone number of the licensed professional. You can list more than one phone
number using the Phone 1, Phone 2, and Phone 3 fields.
Policy # The insurance policy number of the licensed professional.
SSN The social security number of the licensed professional.
State The state where the mailing address is located.
State License # The official number that identifies the business license as issued by the state and
held by the professional.
Status The current status of this professional record. If you are searching for a professional,
use the drop-down list to search for either Disabled or Enabled professionals or both.
Title The title of the licensed professional.
Workers Comp Exempt The workers’ compensation exemption status.
Workers Comp Expiration
Date The expiration date of the workers’ compensation insurance policy.
Workers Comp Policy # The workers’ compensation insurance policy number.
Zip The zip code of the licensed professional.
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Education and Examination Providers
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with provider education and examinations.
Related Information
Adding a Provider
Associating Examination Subjects with a Provider
Scheduling an Examination
Assigning a Proctor to Administer an Examination
Selecting Examination or Education Records for an Application
Approving Examination or Education Records
Working with Registered Records
Viewing an Examination Calendar
Adding Examination Sites
Updating Scores
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Provider Overview
You can create education and examination provider records in the Licensed Professional portlet, using
license type to identify the different provider types. You can also enter and track information about
examinations and examination sites.
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Adding a Provider
When you configure a licensed professional record as an examination provider, Civic Platform enables a
Provider tab on the record detail portlet. Define a provider type to indicate they type of education that they
offer: education, continuing education, or examination.
To create a Provider record
1. Navigate to theLicensed Professionalportlet.
Civic Platform displays the Licensed Professional list portlet.
2. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the license professional detail form.
3. In the Professional Detail tab, enter the required information about the education provider.
•License Type – select Provider.
•Business Name – enter the name of the educational institution
•License State – enter the state where the educational institution is located.
•Status – select Enabled.
• Complete other fields as needed.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates a new licensed professional record, and adds the Provider tab to the detail
portlet.
5. Select the Provider tab.
Civic Platform displays the Provider form.
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• If you entered a Business Name on the Professional Detail page, the name displays here. You may
edit the name as needed.
• Enter a Provider Number, if needed. If you leave this field blank, Civic Platform may automatically
assign a provider number if configured to do so.
Note:
Some agencies configure Civic Platform to auto-generate sequential provider numbers using the
Sequence Generator. For more information, contact your system administrator or see Chapter 20:
Autonumbers, in the Accela Civic Platform Administration Guide.
6. Select the provider type:
•Education Provider – the provider offers a degree required to receive a professional license.
•Continuing Education Provider – the provider offers maintenance or recertification programs for
an existing professional license.
•Examination Provider – the provider administers professional certification or licensing
examinations. Depending on your agency’s agreement with external providers, the provider may
maintain their exam data within Civic Platform or on an external system accessible from Civic
Platform via a URL link.
Note:
If your agency accesses exam data on an external system , select the Use External URL option and
supply the URL. Click Test Connection to test your URL. Consult with your system administrator for
more information. (Civic Platform currently supports integration with the Exam Builder exam site)
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the provider to the list of professionals.
If you selected examination provider as the provider type, Civic Platform adds two secondary tabs to the
record: Examination and Examination Sites.
8. To work with exam subjects offered by a provider, see Associating Examination Subjects with a
Provider
9. To schedule exams, see Scheduling an Examination.
10.To assign proctors, see Assigning a Proctor to Administer an Examination.
11.To work with exam registrants, see Working with Registered Records.
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Associating Examination Subjects with a Provider
You can assign an examination subject to an examination provider in the provider (licensed professional)
record. Some agencies choose set up and associate examination providers and examinations so that they
are available for users to select. See “Associating an Examination Subject with Examination Providers” in
the Accela Civic Platform Administrator Guide for more information
To add an examination to a examination provider
1. Navigate to the Licensed Professional portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Licensed Professional list.
2. Use the search functionality to locate the provider you want to work with. See Using the Search
Features for information about searching.
3. From the search results, click the provider you want to work with.
The provider record displays in the Licensed Professional detail portlet.
4. Select the Examination tab.
If you do not see this tab, the selected provider is not configured to be an examination provider. See
Select the provider type: of the Adding a Provider section for more information.
Civic Platform displays the Examination tab.
5. Click Assign.
Civic Platform displays the Examination form.
6. Complete the fields that display.
If the examination you want to add is not listed in the drop-down list, contact your administrator. See
Examination Fields for field definitions.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns to the Examination tab where your new examination entry displays.
8. To schedule the exam, see Scheduling an Examination.
9. To work with exam registrants, see Working with Registered Records.
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Scheduling an Examination
You can schedule an examination, assign one or more exam locations, and assign proctors as needed.
To schedule an exam in the examination provider record
1. Use the search functionality to locate the provider you want to work with. See Using the Search
Features for information about searching.
2. From the search results, click the provider you want to work with.
The provider record displays in the Licensed Professional detail portlet.
3. Select the Examination tab.
If you do not see this tab, the selected provider is not configured to be an examination provider. See
Select the provider type: of the Adding a Provider section for more information.
Civic Platform displays a list of assigned examination subjects.
4. Click an examination name link to open the examination detail form.
5. Click the Schedule tab.
Civic Platform displays the scheduling form.
6. Select the date and time of the exam:
• If you are scheduling only one examination time:
1. Enter the date of the exam in the Schedule Start Date field. You can use the date picker tool to
the right of the field.
2. Specify the Start Time and End Time of the exam
3. For Recurrence, select None.
• If you are scheduling multiple examination times on the same day:
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1. Enter the date of the exams in the Schedule Start Date field. You can use the date picker tool to
the right of the field.
2. Click the Add Time Period command above the Start Time and End Time fields to add a new
time period row. Repeat until you have enough rows for each time you want to schedule.
3. Specify the Start Time and End Time of each exam.
4. For Recurrence, select None.
• If you are scheduling multiple examination times on different days:
1. Enter the date of the first exam in the Schedule Start Date field. You can use the date picker tool
to the right of the field.
2. Use the Add Time Period command above the Start Time and End Time fields to add a new
time period row if you have more than one time period per day.
3. Specify the Start Time and End Time of the each exam.
4. For Recurrence, select from the available recurrence options. You can schedule exams to recur
daily, weekly, monthly, or annually. You can set an end date for the schedule, and you can
configure block out days (for example, holidays or weekends). See Examination Schedule Fields
for more information about recurrence options.
7. Select the examination site(s) where the examination will be administered.
Note:
Examination sites must be added in the Examination Sites tab of the Provider record before you can
select them here. See Adding Examination Sites.
a. Click Add to the right of the Examination Sites label.
The Examination Sites dialog displays.
b. Select the site(s) you want to add to your scheduling form.
c. Click Select.
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Civic Platform returns to the Schedule tab with the selected examination site(s) displayed in the
Location section of the form.
8. Assign proctors for each exam site you added. See Assigning a Proctor to Administer an Examination
for detailed steps.
9. Click Save.
After you submit a schedule, exam sessions display in the license applications as options for exam
selection. For detailed information about how to select an exam session in a license application, see
Working in the Examination Section.
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Assigning a Proctor to Administer an Examination
When you assign proctors for exams, Civic Platform sends a notification to the selected individual(s),
inviting him/her to proctor exams which are listed in the email. The email provides the contact with the
opportunity to accept or decline the assignment by clicking the appropriate link.
Note:
To support the proctor notification functionality, the following scripts are available: ProctorAssignedAfter and
ProctorUnassignedAfter.
Topics
•Tracking Proctor Invitations and Responses
•Removing a Proctor from an Examination Event
•Reassigning an Examination to a New Proctor
To assign a proctor to an examination from the Schedule tab
Note:
The following process assumes that you have already scheduled the examination and defined examination
sites for the examination. If you have not done these tasks, see Scheduling an Examination before you
assign a proctor.
1. Navigate to the Licensed Professional portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Licensed Professional list.
2. Use the search functionality to locate the provider you want to work with. See Using the Search
Features for information about searching.
3. From the search results, click the provider you want to work with.
The provider record displays in the Licensed Professional detail portlet.
4. Select the Examination tab.
5. Click the exam you want to work with.
6. Select the Schedule tab and scroll down to the Examination Sites list.
7. Click Assign Proctors for the exam site where you need a proctor.
The Assign Proctors dialog displays.
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8. If you scheduled multiple examination sessions, you can use the From-To fields to filter the exams you
want to assign.
For example, to filter the list of exams for a single day, select the same date for both the From and the
To fields, then click Filter.
9. Select the exam sessions that you want the proctor to administer.
10.Click Continue.
11.Enter search criteria to locate the person you want to proctor the exam(s). The individual must be an
existing reference contact. See Adding a Reference Contact for information about adding a new contact
if needed.
12.Click Submit.
The search results display.
13.Select the individual(s) that you want to invite to proctor the selected exam(s).
14.Click Select.
Civic Platform sends an email invitation to the selected contact, inviting the individual to proctor the
selected exams. The email includes information about the exam(s) and provides the contact with the
opportunity to accept or decline the assignment by clicking the appropriate link.
Tracking Proctor Invitations and Responses
When you assign a proctor for an examination site, Civic Platform sends an email invitation to the selected
contact. The email includes information about the exam(s) and provides the prospective proctor with an
opportunity to accept or decline the proctor assignment by clicking the appropriate link.
You can use the Registered Records tab to track whom you have sent proctor assignment invitations to,
and what responses Civic Platform has received in reply.
When you select the time and site of any exam, Civic Platform lists the proctor assignments. This listing
includes the proctor name and the status of the assignment. Status options include Assigned, Accepted,
and Rejected, along with the date that the status was last updated.
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Based on the information you see, you may decide to remove a proctor from this list and reassign an
examination to a new proctor. See Reassigning an Examination to a New Proctor for more information.
Removing a Proctor from an Examination Event
You can remove proctors from an exam event using functionality on the Registered Records tab. When
you remove a proctor, Civic Platform sends an email to that proctor to notify him/her of the change in
assignment.
To remove a proctor, follow the procedure described in Reassigning an Examination to a New Proctor.
Reassigning an Examination to a New Proctor
When you assign a proctor to an examination, Civic Platform sends the prospective proctor an email
invitation which he/she may accept, decline, or ignore. Once you have made the initial assignment, you
can track the responses to your invitations from the Registered Records tab for an exam. If you see that
a proctor has either rejected an assignment or has not responded to the invitation, you can remove that
individual as a proctor for the exam and assign a new proctor, all from the Registered Records tab.
To assign a new proctor to an exam
Note:
The following process assumes that you have already scheduled the examination, defined examination
sites, and assigned proctors for the examination. If you have not done these tasks, see Scheduling an
Examination before you assign a proctor.
1. Navigate to the Licensed Professional portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Licensed Professional list.
2. Use the search functionality to locate the provider you want to work with. See Using the Search
Features for information about searching.
3. From the search results, click the provider you want to work with.
The provider record displays in the Licensed Professional detail portlet.
4. Select the Examination tab.
5. Click the exam you want to work with.
6. Select the Registered Records tab.
7. From the Time and Site dropdown lists, select the examination event for which you want to reassign a
proctor.
Proctor information for the selected event displays below the Time/Site.
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8. To view details about a proctor, click the View link for the proctor.
9. To remove a proctor from the list, click the Delete link for the proctor you want to remove.
Civic Platform prompts you to confirm the deletion.
10.Click OK.
Civic Platform removes the proctor and sends an email to the proctor, informing him/her of the action.
11.Click Assign Proctors in the toolbar.
A Contact Search form displays.
12.Enter search criteria and click Submit.
Contacts matching your search criteria display.
13.Select the individual that you want to assign to proctor this exam.
14.Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the individual to the Proctor list on the Registered Records tab with a status of
Assigned. Civic Platform also sends an email invitation to the newly assigned proctor, prompting him/
her to accept or decline the assignment.
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Selecting Examination or Education Records for an Application
After you define a primary contact for the application, you can search for education, continuing education,
and examination data registered with the referenced contact, and then select the examination and
education information you want to use with the application. Civic Platform assists you in this by auto-
selecting any listed education/examination record that meets the application requirements.
To add a contact reference’s examination or education records to a new or existing application
1. If you are creating a new application, follow your agency’s process for creating a new application and
selecting a primary contact.
2. Proceed to the Exam, Education, or Continuing Education section of the application and click Lookup
(if your application intake form has includes multiple contact sections, the Lookup button is not
available).
Civic Platform displays a list of examination, education, or continuing education records associated
with the primary contact for the application. If Civic Platform identifies a record that meets that current
application requirements, it auto-selects that record for you.
3. Select the examination, education, or continuing education record(s) that you want to use for the current
application.
4. Click Submit.
The selected record(s) become part of the application, and Civic Platform prevents the records from
deletion in the Contact Reference portlet.
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Approving Examination or Education Records
Authorized agency users can manually approve and disapprove education and examination records. The
reference contact can view and use the data for multiple applications.
To approve/disapprove an exam or education record
1. Navigate to the Records portlet.
2. Use search to locate and select the application you want to work with.
The Record detail portlet displays.
3. Click the tab (Examinations, Education, or Continuing Education) containing the records you want to
approve/disapprove.
4. Select the object(s) you want to approve/disapprove.
5. Click Approve to approve the object.
Click Disapprove to disapprove the object.
If approved, the object record auto-synchronizes to the reference contact.
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Working with Registered Records
Topics
•Viewing Registrants
•Rescheduling an Exam for Selected Registrants
•Canceling an Exam Session for Selected Registrants
•Assigning an Exam Session to Multiple Registrants
Viewing Registrants
1. Navigate to the Licensed Professional portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Licensed Professional list.
2. From the Licensed Professional list, click the record number of the desired examination provider record.
Civic Platform displays the Provider record in the Licensed Professional detail portlet.
3. Select the Examination tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of assigned examinations.
4. Click an examination name to view the examination details.
5. Click the Registered Records tab.
Civic Platform displays the Registered Records sub-section.
6. Use the Previous and Next buttons to view data for other exam dates. You can also use the Time and/
or the Site field to filter the registered records by exam time and exam site.
Rescheduling an Exam for Selected Registrants
1. Select the desired registrants that need to be rescheduled.
2. Click Reschedule.
Civic Platform displays a window with a list of reasons for rescheduling.
3. Select a reason for rescheduling and click Next
4. Select a new exam session.
Canceling an Exam Session for Selected Registrants
1. Select the rosters from which you want to disassociate the exam session.
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2. Click Cancel.
Civic Platform displays a window with a list of reasons for canceling exam session.
3. Select a reason and click Next.
Civic Platform disassociates the exam session from the license application and removes the license
application from the Registered Records sub-section.
Assigning an Exam Session to Multiple Registrants
1. Select an exam time and location from the Time and the Site drop-down lists.
2. Click Register More.
Civic Platform displays the Record Search portlet.
3. Enter search criteria as appropriate and click Submit.
Civic Platform lists the records matching your search criteria.
4. Select the records to which you want to assign the exam session.
5. Click Submit.
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Viewing an Examination Calendar
Use the examination calendar to review exam information for a provider in daily, weekly, and monthly view
modes. In the selected mode, you can click an exam item to see the exam sessions and the number of
registrants for each exam session. See Scheduling an Examination to learn how to schedule examinations
for an examination subject.
You can access the examination calendar from the Examination tab for a selected examination provider.
This view enables you to view a comprehensive calendar of all the exams offered by the examination
provider.
You can also access the examination calendar from the Registered Records tab for an examination. This
view enables you to view a calendar that shows scheduled times for the selected examination only.
Figure 19: Examination Calendar
To view an examination calendar
1. Navigate to the Licensed Professional portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Licensed Professional list.
2. From the Licensed Professional list, click the record number of the desired examination provider record.
Civic Platform displays the Provider record in the Licensed Professional detail portlet.
3. Select the Examination tab.
4. Click View Calendar in the toolbar.
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Civic Platform displays the Examination Calendar window.
5. Click Day, Week, or Month to view the exam session information in daily, weekly, or monthly mode.
6. Click one of the exam items.
Civic Platform displays the exam sessions along with the number of the registered rosters for each
session at the bottom of the window, as shown in the Examination Calendar.
7. Click an exam session to access the Registered Record portlet.
8. Click the left or right arrow to move one month back or forward.
9. Click This Month to locate current month.
10.You can also search for exam items by specifying examination subject or examination site.
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Adding Examination Sites
Once you create exam locations, you can associate them with exam sessions. To learn how to schedule
an exam, see Scheduling an Examination.
To create an examination site
1. Navigate to the Licensed Professional portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Licensed Professional list.
2. Click the record number of the desired examination provider record. See Adding a Provider to learn how
to create an examination provider record.
Civic Platform displays the Provider record in the Licensed Professional detail portlet.
3. Select the Examination Sites tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of examination locations.
4. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the Examination Sites form.
5. Complete the fields that display. For a list of field descriptions, see Examination Site Fields.
6. Click Submit.
Updating Scores
Depending on agreements your agency may have with the providers of certification-level examinations,
providers can upload scores directly via Citizen Access, or agency users can enter scores using Civic
Platform. You can also update scores by synchronizing from an external system via a URL link.
To update scores by uploading a score file to the examination provider record
1. Navigate to the Licensed Professional portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Licensed Professional list.
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2. Click the record number for the desired examination provider record. See Adding a Provider to learn
how to create an examination provider record.
Civic Platform displays the provider record in the Licensed Professional detail portlet.
3. Select the Documents tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of attachments.
4. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the file upload page.
5. Follow the procedure for attaching a document as described in Attaching Files.
Civic Platform uploads the score file to the database.
6. Click Update Scores.
Civic Platform updates the scores to the mapping license applications.
Note:
If Civic Platform has no mapping license application registered for the exam, Civic Platform creates an
exam entry for it based on data from the CSV file.
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Examining Contact, Professional, and Provider Details
The following tables list and define the default fields available in the different interfaces you will encounter
when working with contacts and licensed professionals.
•Examination Fields
•Examination Schedule Fields
•Examination Site Fields
Examination Fields
The table below lists and defines fields that may be available as you work with Examinations.
Table 32: Examination Fields
Examination Names Select an examination subject from the drop-down list.
Grading Style This field populates when you select an examination subject. However, you can
change the default value to one of the following: Pass/Fail, Passing Score, Passing
Percentage, or None. If you select Passing Score or Passing Percentage, an
additional field displays where you may enter the score/percentage required to
pass the examination.
Comments This field populates when you select an examination subject. You can modify the
content as needed.
Status This field populates when you select an examination subject.
Associated Fee Items Associate fee items for the examination schedule.
Accept Scheduling Requests
in ACA
Indicates whether to an examination subject is available option for public users to
select in Accela Citizen Access.
Advance Time (Hours)
Required to Schedule/
Reschedule/Cancel the
Examination
A number of hours to indicate that, in the number of hours before the exam
session takes place, users (license applications) may not select, reschedule, or
cancel this exam session.
Examination Schedule Fields
The table below lists and defines fields that may be available as you work with examination scheduling.
Table 33: Examination Schedule Fields
Add Time Period The exam duration (Start Time and End Time). You can add more Time period by
clicking the Add Time Period.
Block Out Days The specific dates that the provider cannot provide exams.
End Re-occurrence When the recurring schedule is scheduled to end. If left blank, a schedule repeats
indefinitely.
Examination Site The exam location.
None Indicates a one-time exam without recurrences.
Repeat every day(s) Used to generate an exam session every x number of days.
Repeat every week(s) Used to generate an exam session every X number of weeks, as well as the day of
the week when the exam session is to take place.
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Repeat every month(s) Used to generate an exam session every X number of months, as well as the day
of the month when the exam session is to take place.
Repeat every year(s) Used to generate an exam session every X number of years,.
Schedule Start Date The date for the first exam session in a set of scheduled sessions.
Examination Site Fields
The table below lists and defines fields that may be available as you work with examination sites.
Table 34: Examination Site Fields
Accessibility Indicates whether the exam location provides disabled accessibility.
Address Line 1 The first line of the exam location.
Address Line 2 The second line of the exam location.
Address Line 3 The third line of the exam location.
Country/Region The country or region name for the exam location.
City The city name for the exam location.
Driving Directions Information on how to drive to the exam location.
Max. Seats The number of seats that the exam room accommodates.
Phone The exam center’s contact phone number.
State The state where the exam is located.
Status Indicates whether an exam site can be applied to exam schedules or not.
Zip The zip code for the exam location.
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Electronic Document Review
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with electronic document review.
Related Information
Electronic Document Review Overview
Installation and Configuration
Electronic Document Review Workflow
Document Review Walkthrough (Acrobat)
Using Electronic Document Review
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Electronic Document Review Overview
Civic Platform integrates with Adobe Acrobat Pro to give agencies the ability to digitally manage PDF
documents and plans efficiently and effectively for the entire life cycle of a project. With the Electronic
Document Review (EDR) feature, you can attach single or multiple PDF documents to a record. You can
then assign the documents for review to one or more reviewers. Reviewers can access and manage their
assigned documents either via the record or via their individual My Tasks portlet. Users can use the Global
Search portlet to search for specific documents as needed using document-oriented search criteria.
You can open attached PDF documents in Adobe Acrobat Pro directly from Civic Platform. Once open,
you can use Acrobat Pro’s annotating tools to review, comment, and mark up plans. Accela provides a
set of standard review stamps as a quick start feature you can use for your review. When you complete a
review, you can use the Civic Platform add-on toolbar buttons to save your commentary and annotations to
the Civic Platform application server. The Accela add-on toolbar also provides configurable online access
to ICC eCodes as well as state codes and local codes as required. Reviewers can look up codes and
regulations, and use standard copy/paste functionality to cite regulations via annotations that they added
the PDF.
To better manage the life cycle of documents, a Document Audit log is available (see Audit Logs for more
information). The Document Audit log records all changes made to attached documents, including the
moment when Civic Platform attaches a document to a record, as well as annotations and comments that
users added, modified, and saved.
Note:
If your agency uses an EDMS system to store documents, an EMSE API function,
aa.Document.downloadFile2Disk, is available that your agency can use in scripting to download documents
from the EDMS server to a Civic Platform server location, where they can be accessed and sent out as part
of an automated email attachment.
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Installation and Configuration
Topics
•Installation
•Configuring Doc Status Auto-update
•Configuring Resubmission Auto-assignment
Installation
Before you can put EDR to use in your agency, you must install the following applications on each
workstation where a user plans to use EDR.
• Adobe Acrobat Pro
• .NET Framework 4 Client Profile
• Electronic Document Review
For complete installation instructions, and for tips to create custom stamps, buttons, and other objects, see
the Civic Platform Installation Guide, available via the Documentation Library on Community and on the
FTP site.
Configuring Doc Status Auto-update
When multiple reviewers are reviewing the same document and a consensus is reached by all reviewers
on the review status, the overall document status can be updated automatically. For example, during
a plan review, if all of the reviewers update their individual document review statuses to Corrections
Required, Civic Platform updates the overall document status to a corresponding status that you specify,
for example, Denied. If all of the reviewers update their review status to Approved you can configure the
overall document status to update to Approved, and so forth.
To configure this feature:
1. Navigate to Civic Platform Administration > Setup > Document > Doc Status Auto Update.
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2. Click New.
3. Select the Document Group, Document Type, and Document Review Status that will automatically
update the overall Document Status to a status that you specify when a consensus is reached by all
reviewers..
In the following example, the Plan Review group has six plan reviewers who are reviewing a Document
Type "Plans." When all six plan reviewers select the Document Review Status "Corrections Required,"
Civic Platform updates the overall Document Status to "Denied."
4. Click Submit.
Configuring Resubmission Auto-assignment
In this scenario, when all members of a building department are assigned a workflow task to review plans,
and all of the reviewers complete their reviews, but one reviewer updates the Document Review Status to
Corrections Required, you can configure the document to be assigned to that reviewer automatically when
it is re-submitted.
To configure this feature:
1. Navigate to Civic Platform Administration > Setup > Document > Resubmission Auto
Assignment.
2. Click New.
3. Select the Document Group, Document Type, and Document Review Status that will automatically
assign the document to the appropriate reviewer.
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4. Click Submit.
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Electronic Document Review Workflow
This simplified example demonstrates one way that an agency can incorporate the EDR feature into a
permit processing workflow.
Roles
•Public User (homeowners, contractors, or architects)
Members of the public can submit supporting documentation needed for their projects using Citizen
Access. Documents saved in PDF format can be submitted singly or in batches. After submittal, the
individual can identify his documents and enter relevant comments for each document. Agencies can
configure Civic Platform to send the submittor an email when action occurs on his documents or when
the submittor must take further action. The submittor can also log in to Citizen Access at any time to
check the status of his project, including his documents.
•Document Intake Personnel (Permit Technician, Document Intake Clerk)
In many agencies, it is the job of one or more individuals to receive documents, record their receipt,
assign control numbers, and then date the documents so that users can track them throughout the life
cycle of a project/permit process. This person then routes the appropriate documents to the appropriate
staff for review. In some agencies, an intake clerk might break up PDF documents into several smaller
files so that relevant pages can go to the proper destinations. Users can accomplish all of these tasks
with Electronic Document Review.
•Plan Reviewer (Building Inspectors, Fire Code Inspectors, Engineers)
Depending the nature and scope of the agency, this individual’s role in the Electronic Document Review
process is to interact directly with documents via a review process. This person can make comments,
insert annotations, perform measurements, and save his commentary to Civic Platform as part of the
electronic project file.
•Processor (Plans processor)
This individual’s role in the Electronic Document Review process may vary by agency, but typically, this
person reviews the annotations from the plan reviewers, and then ensures that the proper stamps exist.
This person then uses the Check-in Revision button in the Accela Add-on toolbar to merge the original
PDF and the annotations into a new document. Civic Platform stores this new document in the record
along with the original PDF.
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Document Review Walkthrough (Acrobat)
The following is a simplified use case scenario of the path a document might travel when submitted to an
agency by a citizen as part of a planning or approval process.
Step 1: Submission
• A citizen wants to build an extension to his house. He works with a general contractor who needs
to submit a permit application and supporting documentation and plans to the City Building Permits
Department for approval before starting work.
• The contractor has an Citizen Access account already established on the City’s system, so she logs in
to the Citizen Access portal on the Building Permits Department website.
There, she completes the permit application, pays her fees, and submits supporting documentation in
PDF format.
Step 2: Intake and Distribution
• At the Building Permits Department, the agency administrator has created a workflow to manage the
permit application process. The first task is application acceptance. Civic Platform assigns this task to a
Permit Clerk, who sees his new task in his My Tasks portlet. It is his job to ensure that the application is
complete, and that all the required documentation is available. He opens the record for this new permit
application and then checks the application information.
References
• Chapter 15: Workflow (Accela Civic Platform Administrator Guide)
•Workflows and Workflow Tasks .
• He then opens the Documents tab on the record, where he uses Electronic Document Review
functionality to open each submitted document in Adobe Acrobat Pro. There, he uses Acrobat Pro’s
stamping function to mark the document pages with a custom Receipt stamp that shows the current
date, and he publishes the documents back to the Civic Platform application server. After he finishes,
he sets the workflow task status to ‘completed,’ which allows the workflow to move along to the
next step, Plan Review. If your agency has configured the workflow to auto-assign plan reviews to
personnel, that may occur now. Otherwise, he can manually assign documents for review from the
Documents tab.
References
•Reviewing a Document in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
•Opening a PDF document for review from Civic Platform.
•Using Stamps.
•Workflows and Workflow Tasks .
• The Permit Clerk verifies the plan review task assignments to the Building and Fire departments.
Step 3: Review
• The Building Structural Plan Reviewer is tasked with reviewing the plans to ensure that they comply
with building codes and building regulations. She logs in to Civic Platform and finds the assigned
document review tasks that are awaiting her attention in the Document Review Tasks tab of her My
Tasks portlet. She selects Review from the Action menu for the document to open the building plan.
The document launches in Adobe Acrobat Pro, where she can insert comments and annotations, take
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measurements and update review checklists. She uses the ICC codes button in the Accela toolbar to
launch a building code reference website, from which she copies code text into a note.
She uses a custom “Approved with Changes” stamp to mark the document. The stamp includes the
current date and the name of the reviewer. She then saves and publishes the comments and returns to
the My Tasks portlet, where she opens the Document Information window and goes to the Doc Review
Tasks tab, where she updates the review status to ‘Approved with Changes.’
References
•Completing a Doc Review Checklist�.
•Reviewing a Document in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
•Opening a PDF document for review from Civic Platform.
•Annotating Documents.
•Saving Annotations and Comments
• At the same time, the Fire Plan Reviewer is tasked with reviewing the plans to ensure that they comply
with fire code regulations. He logs in to Civic Platform and finds the assigned task is waiting for him in
his My Tasks portlet. He launches the document in need of review by selecting Review from the Action
menu for the document.
As with the first reviewer, Civic Platform launches the document in Adobe Acrobat Pro, where the
reviewer makes comments and update review checklists as necessary.
He uses a custom Approved stamp to mark the document. The stamp includes the Fire Department
seal, the current date, and the name of the reviewer. He wants to see if other reviewers have added any
other annotations while he was working, so he clicks the Get Updates button. The saved comments by
the other reviewer appear, and this reviewer is able to see that the Building Structural Reviewer flagged
and commented on the same section of wall where he found some issues. He completes his review,
publishes the document, and goes to the Doc Review Tasks tab, where he updates the review status to
‘Review completed’.
References
•Completing a Doc Review Checklist�
•Reviewing a Document in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
•Annotating Documents.
•Viewing Other Reviewer Comments within the PDF.
Step 4: Permit Desk Review
• After all the reviews are complete, the workflow queues the Plans Processor for a final review of the
permit application record. He goes to the Workflow tab and opens the Sub Tasks tab that lists all of the
review sub tasks. He opens the Document Information window, and launches the PDF file.
• After reviewing the comments and annotations made by the plan reviewers and ensuring that all the
appropriate stamps are in place, he clicks the Check-In button. Civic Platform merges the original PDF
file with all the reviewer comments and creates a new file.
• He names the new file PlanReview1.pdf, sets the permissions on it so it is accessible on Citizen
Access. He then updates the workflow status to ‘Revision Required,’ which automatically sends an
email to the general contractor. The email informs the contractor that she needs to make changes.
References
•Opening a PDF document for review from Civic Platform..
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•Attachments
Step 5: Follow-through to Inspection to Closure
• The general contractor logs in to Citizen Access to check the status of the building permit application
and then download the annotated copy of the plans. She sees the comments and annotations about
the changes required before the agency can approve the plans. She complies with the corrections and
uploads a revised version of the plans.
• The Building Department Plans Processor receives an email that is auto-generated by Citizen Access
that notifies him that the contractor submitted new plans. The Plans Processor opens the revised plans,
date stamps them, and then routes them back to the Building and Fire Department plan reviewers.
After each of the plan reviewers approves the revised plans, the Processor stamps the plans with the
Agency Seal stamp, applies a digital signature, and then clicks the Check-In button. He names the new
file FinalPlans.pdf and updates the Workflow status to Ready to Issue. The general contractor pays the
remaining fees due and she receives a building permit so she can start construction.
• When the building inspector inspects the project, he is able to open the FinalPlans.pdf file from Mobile
Office, which he can then reference to ensure that the project is consistent with the approved plans.
Upon a successful inspection, the inspector records an approved Final Inspection.
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Using Electronic Document Review
The Electronic Document Review feature fits seamlessly into a project workflow. This section describes
how to perform several electronic document review processes.
Topics
•Attaching a Document
•Searching for a Document
•Attaching a Document to a Workflow Task
•Assigning a Document to One or More Reviewers
•Viewing Document Review Tasks by Document
•Editing a Document Review Task
•Working with Document Review Checklists
•Reviewing a Document in Adobe Acrobat Pro
•Interacting with Document Review Comments from Civic Platform
•Viewing the Document Review History for a Document
See also: Attachments and Workflows and Workflow Tasks for related information.
Attaching a Document
Users can use Citizen Access to submit supporting documents as part of a permit application process.
When users submit document files, Civic Platform attaches the files to a record where a permit clerk
or similar can interact with them. a Civic Platform user can also submit supporting documents from
the Documents tab for a record. For example, a clerk may add document attachments that a customer
submitted via email, or submitted in hard copy (which the clerk converts to electronic format by scanning).
For documents to be eligible for Electronic Document Review processing, they must be in PDF file format
when you attach them to the record. Most standard business and graphics applications have an option to
save or print to PDF.
Note:
If you have a document to attach that is not in PDF format, but you want to incorporate it into your Electronic
Document Review process, consider opening that document, then saving/printing it to PDF. You can then
attach the PDF to the record.
Topics
•Attaching a Document to a Record via Citizen Access
•Attaching a Document to a Record via Civic Platform
Attaching a Document to a Record via Citizen Access
If Citizen Access is available, homeowners, contractors, and other citizens can submit necessary
documentation in support of permit applications from the Citizen Access portal. You can process and
review documents using the Electronic Document Review functionality. You can also make annotated
documents available to the submitter via the same Citizen Access portal as needed.
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Note:
If you allow the public to submit documents via Citizen Access, make sure that you have defined PDF as a
document attachment type.
To learn more about defining document attachment types, see Document Attachments in the Citizen Access
Administrator Guide.
Attaching a Document to a Record via Civic Platform
You can attach one or more PDF files at a time from the Documents tab of any record type. Many agencies
set limits on file size and/or file type. The Batch Upload window lists these limits at the top when you add a
new attachment. For details instructions on attaching a document, see Attaching Files.
Searching for a Document
The Global Search portlet supports searches for document attachments by using document-related search
criteria such as document name, document description, and document category.
When Civic Platform returns search results, it lists any matches to the search criteria in a Documents list.
You can do any of the following:
• Click the document name to view the Document Information window for any listed document.
• Click the Review link in the Review column to open a document in Adobe Acrobat Pro, where you can
comment, annotate, and use stamps.
• Click the record number link to open the record that contains the desired document.
For more information about performing a global searches, see Using the Search Features .
Attaching a Document to a Workflow Task
You can attach one or more documents to a workflow task as needed. After you assign a document to a
workflow task, the document becomes a workflow sub task. You can access the document and assigned it
to reviewers from the Sub Tasks tab on the Workflow page.
Note:
You may want to reorganize your workflow task organization to incorporate the Electronic Document Review
processes into your agency workflows
To attach a document to a workflow task
1. Locate the document you want to assign. You can do this by going to the Documents tab for the
selected record. You can also use Global Search to locate the document. See Searching for a
Document for more information.
2. Select Assign from the Actions menu for the document you want to assign.
The Document Information window launches, with the Doc Review Tasks tab displayed.
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3. Click the Workflow Task Selector button to the right of the Workflow Task field.
The available workflow tasks for the current record display.
4. Select the Workflow Task to which you want to apply the current document.
The selected task appears in the Workflow Task box.
5. Click Submit to save or continue on to assign reviewers. See Assigning a Document to One or More
Reviewers below.
Assigning a Document to One or More Reviewers
You can assign a document to one or more reviewers after you have attached the document to a workflow
task. After you assign the document, the reviewer can use Electronic Document Review functionality to
open the document in Adobe Acrobat Pro, review it, and save his comments back to Civic Platform.
To assign a document to a reviewer
1. Locate the document you want to assign. See Searching for a Document.
2. Select Assign from the Actions menu for the document you want to assign.
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The Document Information window launches, with the Doc Review Tasks tab displayed.
3. If you have not done so yet, assign the document to a workflow task. See Attaching a Document to a
Workflow Task.
4. Click the Department Selector button to the right of the Department label.
A tree list of departments displays.
5.
6. Check the box for the Department where the intended reviewer works, then close the department tree
list.
7. Click the Staff Selector button to the right of the Staff label.
A tree list of staff in the selected department displays.
8. Select the individual to whom you want to assign this document review task.
9. Select the discipline of the document review task. The discipline is the area of focus in the task. Civic
Platform tags all the comments from the reviewer with the discipline.
10.Use the Page # and Comments tab to give specific review instructions to the reviewer if needed.
11.If you want to assign this document to additional reviewers, click the Add button, then repeat steps 5
through 9.
12.Click Submit to save the Review assignment.
Civic Platform updates the task on the Sub Tasks list for the Workflow task, and the task appears on the
Document Review Tasks tab of the My Tasks portlet for the assigned reviewer.
Viewing Document Review Tasks by Document
If you assign a document to more than one reviewer, you can view a list of review tasks for that document
as needed.
To view a list of document review tasks by document
1. Locate the document that you want to work with. You can search the Documents tab for the selected
record, the Sub Tasks tab on the Workflow page, or the Document Review Tasks tab on the My Tasks
portlet.
You can also use Global Search to locate a document. See Searching for a Document for more
information.
2. Select View Document Info from the Actions menu for the document you want to edit.
3. The Document Information window launches. Select the Doc Review Tasks tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of document review tasks.
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Editing a Document Review Task
You may need to modify the details for a document review task for a number of reasons; for example, you
may need to reassign the task, or you may need to add additional instructions in the Comments box.
To edit a document review task
1. Locate the document you want to edit. You can search the Documents tab for the selected record or the
Sub Tasks tab on the Workflow page.
You can also use Global Search to locate a document. See Searching for a Document for more
information.
2. Select View Document Info from the Actions menu for the document you want to edit.
3. The Document Information window launches. Select the Doc Review Tasks tab.
4. Highlight the task that you want to edit.
Civic Platform displays the document review task details.
5. Modify the task details as needed.
6. Click Submit to save your changes.
Working with Document Review Checklists
Topics
•Assigning One or More Checklists to a Document Review Task
•Completing a Doc Review Checklist
Assigning One or More Checklists to a Document Review Task
You can assign one or more checklists to a document review task. The checklists are the guidelines for the
reviewers to follow to ensure that they review all the required aspects of a document during the document
review task.
To assign one or more checklists to a document review task
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1. Locate the document you want to assign.
2. Select View Document Info from the Actions menu for the document you want to assign.
The Document Information window launches.
3. If you have not done so yet, assign the document to a document review task. See Assigning a
Document to One or More Reviewers.
4. Go to the Checklists tab for the document with one of the following approaches:
• Select the Doc Review Checklists tab;
• Select the Doc Review Tasks tab. Click the link to the doc review task, and then click the Checklist
tab of the doc review task.
The Document Information window displays the checklists added to the document or document
review task. The Checklist ID column is empty for the checklists which you have not assigned to any
doc review task.
The tab may already display a few checklists:
• For a document which is submitted for the first time, Civic Platform automatically adds, if there are
any, the Auto Create checklists in the checklist group which is associated with the document type.
The Checklist ID column is empty because you have not assigned the checklist to a document
review task yet.
• For a document which is a re-submittal of an existing document, Civic Platform automatically not
only carries over the open comments, but also carries over the checklist that has failed checklist
items, of which administrators enabled the Carry-over Failed Items option, from the existing
document. The Checklist ID shows the assigned reviewer and the assign date for each checklist as
in the existing document.
5. To add more checklists to the tab, do the following:
a. Click Search.
b. From the Group drop-down list, choose the group that includes the checklist you want to assign to
the document review task.
Civic Platform displays a list of checklists attached to the selected checklist group.
c. Select the checklists you want to add. To select all checklists, mark the check box that appears at
the top of the list.
d. Click Submit.
6. To delete a checklist from the tab, select the checklist and click Delete.
7. If needed, you can add more checklist items to a checklist. Do the following:
a. Click the link at the checklist you want to add checklist items.
Civic Platform displays a list of checklist items included in the current checklist.
b. Click the Add link next to the Checklist Items heading in the list.
The checklist item selection window displays.
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c. Locate the desired checklist item.
If known, choose the checklist group and checklist that contains the checklist item from the drop-
down lists, or enter the checklist item key word and click the search icon.
d. Select the desired checklist item, and click Select.
Civic Platform adds the checklist item into the checklist.
e. If necessary, you can click the Delete link next to the checklist item that you newly added to
remove the item from the checklist. Note that you cannot remove a checklist item that your agency
administrator configured in the checklist.
8. Select each checklist you want to assign and click Assign.
The Document Information window displays the list of existing doc review tasks for the document.
Note:
You can select and assign a checklist which you already assigned to a doc review task. After you assign
the checklist to a new task, the previous assignment no longer exists, but the updates that the reviewers
made to the checklist during the previous review task remain with the checklist.
9. Select the doc review task to which you want to assign the selected checklist(s) to, and click Submit.
The Document Information window returns to the checklists view. The Checklist ID shows the assigned
reviewer and the assign date of each checklist.
Completing a Doc Review Checklist
To complete a doc review checklist, you can enter information and update the status of each checklist
item. Completion of a checklist allows you to keep a record of detailed review results, and helps to ensure
consistency and completeness in carrying out the doc review task.
To complete a doc review checklist
1. Find the checklist you want to complete with one of the following approaches:
• In the Document Information window for the document you are reviewing, select the Doc Review
Tasks tab. Click the link to the doc review task, and then click the Checklist tab of the doc review
task.
• In the Document Information window for the document you are reviewing, select theDoc Review
Checklists tab.
• While reviewing the document in Adobe Acrobat Pro, click the Open Checklists button in the Accela
Add-on Tools.
2. Click the link to the checklist you want to complete.
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Civic Platform displays a list of checklist items.
3. You can add more checklist items to the checklist in the Checklists or Doc Review Checklists tab. Do
the following:
a. Click the Add link next to the checklist Items heading in the checklist.
The checklist item selection window displays.
b. Locate the desired checklist item.
If known, choose the checklist group and checklist that contains the checklist item from the drop-
down lists, or enter the checklist item key word and click the search icon.
c. Mark the check box next to the desired checklist item, and click Select.
Civic Platform adds the checklist item into the checklist.
d. If necessary, you can click the Delete link next to the checklist item that you newly added to
remove the item from the checklist. Note that you cannot remove a checklist item that your agency
administrator configured in the checklist.
4. Do the following to update a checklist item:
a. Click the arrow next to a checklist item to expand the item details.
b. Complete the fields in the detail section as needed.
c. Add a comment for the item as needed.
a. Click the Standard Comment link to select a standard comment, or manually enter the
comment.
b. While you are reviewing the document in Adobe Acrobat Pro, if you want to add the comment as
a comment in the document and associate the checklist item with the comment, mark the Add
to Document check box. If you want to remove the comment from the document, deselect the
check box.
Note:
If you set the checklist item to a status of the Approved result type, and the comment in the item
is added in the document, Civic Platform closes the document comment when you submit the
checklist. Closed document comments no longer display in Adobe Acrobat Pro in the subsequent
document reviews.
In Adobe Acrobat Pro, if you set a document comment to the Canceled, Completed, or Rejected
status and publish the change, Civic Platform closes the document comment but does not change
the status of the corresponding checklist item.
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c. Click the Sync link to set up synchronization between the comment in the checklist item and the
comment in the document. When you click the Sync link, Civic Platform automatically marks the
Add to Documentcheck box.
Note:
You must manually publish the comment in the document after they are added to the document
from the checklist item.
d. To upload a file to the checklist item, click the Attachment(s) icon, and follow the procedure for
attaching a document as described in Attaching Files.
e. Update the item status.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you finish updating the checklist.
6. Click the Submit button to save the changes.
Reviewing a Document in Adobe Acrobat Pro
You can launch PDF document attachments for review in Adobe Acrobat Pro from several locations
in Civic Platform. After you launch a document attachment, you can make full use of Adobe Acrobat’s
commenting and annotation tools to mark up documents. After completing your review, you can use the
Accela Toolbar Add-on tools to save your comments to the Civic Platform application server.
Topics
•Opening a PDF document for review from Civic Platform
•Annotating Documents
•Saving Annotations and Comments
•Viewing Other Reviewer Comments within the PDF
Opening a PDF document for review from Civic Platform
You can open a PDF document attachment in Adobe Acrobat Pro from the Documents secondary tab, the
My Tasks tab, or the Global Search portlet.
Note:
If you do not see a Review link in these locations, either Civic Platform did not assign the listed document to
you for review, or you do not have workflow supervisor access. Contact your system administrator.
From the Documents tab
1. Locate and select the record containing the document you want to open.
2. Open the Documents tab for the record.
3. Identify the document you want to open and select Review from the Actions menu for that document.
From the My Tasks
1. Open the My Tasks portlet and click the Document Review Tasks tab.
2. Identify the document you want to open and select Review from the Actions menu for that document.
From the Global Search
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1. Conduct a search for the document you want using the Document Name, Document Description, or
Document Category as your search criteria.
2. In the Documents search results, identify the document you want to open, and click the Review link for
that row.
Annotating Documents
Adobe Acrobat Pro comes with a number of annotation tools that Civic Platform users can use as they
review digital documents and digital plans for a project. Users can use Acrobat tools to comment, highlight
content, insert graphical indicators, and even use ‘stamps’ to apply a graphical image to the pages of
a PDF file. You can customize stamps to include data from the project file (e.g., application number,
applicant name), the current date/time, and other relevant information.
The following sections describe some of these tools as well as some possible uses for them when
reviewing plans and other project documents. You can pattern your agency’s workflow from our examples.
You can also use any of the additional Adobe Acrobat X Pro functionality to best help you achieve the
outcome that you seek.
Note:
This document describes only some of the many possible uses you can leverage when working with
Adobe Acrobat Pro and Electronic Document Review. Adobe provides full documentation for the all of
the functionality that comes with their product. Refer to the Adobe Online Help to learn about additional
functionality not described in this document.
Topics
•Using the Accela toolbar
•Inserting Annotations and Commentary
•Using Stamps
•Using the Measuring Tool
Using the Accela toolbar
When you run the Document Review Client Installation, it installs an Adobe Acrobat plug-in that includes
several buttons for you to use when you review documents/plans. See the table below for descriptions of
each of the buttons available in the Accela toolbar.
Accela recommends that you publish your comments and annotations frequently to avoid loss of work in
the event of an unexpected application shutdown.
Button Description
Check-in Revision Use this button to save all comments made by the current user, and merge
all comments added to the document by multiple users and the original PDF
file into a new document that you must name. This button is typically the
final action in a review process and it is accessible only if your administrator
enables FID 8474.
e-Codes You can add one or more buttons to your toolbar to launch pre-configured
URLs in a new browser window. You must configure this button to point to
the ICC eCode site that you want to reference. Your agency must have an
account and licensing set up with ICC to use the site.
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Button Description
Publish Comments Use this button to save comments made by the current user to the Civic
Platform application server and allow others users to view the saved content.
This button is typically the final action of a reviewer when all commentary
is complete and ready for others to view. Note that Civic Platform saves
comments to a file separate from the PDF file that you reviewed. You can
merge the comments into the PDF file by using the Check-in Revision
button.
Get Updates Use this button to save comments made by the current user to the Civic
Platform application server but not allow others to view the saved comments.
At the same time, Civic Platform downloads and displays any published
comments by other users. Note that Civic Platform saves comments to a file
separate from the PDF file that you reviewed. You can merge the comments
into the PDF file by using the Check-in Revision button.
Inserting Annotations and Commentary
You can activate the annotation and drawing markup tools in several different ways. You can select a tool
from the ‘Quick Tools’ toolbar at the top of the window, from the Comments or Tools side panels, from a
right-click menu, or by entering keyboard shortcuts to invoke certain commands. Use the method that best
suits you. In this documentation, we provide instructions to access commands via the side panel. If you
prefer to use another method to access quick tools, you should do so.
Click a link to learn more about common annotating tasks.
•To insert a sticky note
•To draw a cloud around an area, an object, or a group of objects
•To draw a box around an object and commenting on it
To learn more about other annotation possibilities using Adobe Acrobat tools, refer to the Adobe
documentation accessible via the Help menu in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
Note:
When you review PDF attachments that are part of a Civic Platform file, it is very important that you launch
the PDF from Civic Platform. You should then use the Civic Platform tools in Acrobat Pro to save your
comments and annotations back to Civic Platform.
To insert a sticky note
1. Launch the PDF you are reviewing from Civic Platform.
2. Click Comment on the right side of the toolbar to open the side panel. If you are using another method
to invoke Adobe tools, skip this step.
If you do not see the Annotations panel listed, use the Show/Hide Panels button to display a menu
where you can choose which panels to display. Click Annotations to show the panel. A check mark next
to the name means the panel is visible.
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3.
Click the Add Sticky Note button in the Annotations panel.
4. The mouse cursor changes to a sticky note.
5. Position the cursor where you want to place the sticky note on the document and click.
Civic Platform places a sticky note icon and a message box displays.
6. Enter your comments in the box.
7. To complete the task, click anywhere outside the box.
8. Use the Civic Platform toolbar to save or publish your comments.
To draw a cloud around an area, an object, or a group of objects
A cloud is an enclosed polygonal shape you can draw around objects or areas. A cloud is consists of
multiple line segments you define by clicking.
1. Launch the PDF you are reviewing from Civic Platform.
2. Click Comment on the right side of the toolbar to open the side panel and then make sure you see the
Annotations panel. If you are using another method to invoke Adobe tools, skip this step.
3. Click the Cloud button in the Annotations panel.
4. The mouse cursor changes to a pointer.
5. Position the cursor where you want to start drawing the cloud perimeter and then click to define the start
point.
6. Move the pointer to the next position on the perimeter of your cloud and click to create a line segment.
7. Continue moving the pointer and clicking to define your cloud’s perimeter.
8. To finish, either click the start point again, or right-click and select Complete.
9. To insert a comment about the area or object you just highlighted, double-click the cloud to open a
message box.
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10.Enter your comments, then click anywhere outside the box.
11.Use the Civic Platform toolbar to save or publish your comments.
To draw a box around an object and commenting on it
1. Launch the PDF you are reviewing from Civic Platform.
2. Click Comment on the right side of the toolbar to open the side panel and then make sure that you can
see the Drawing Markups panel. If you are using another method to invoke Adobe tools, skip this step.
3. Click the Rectangle button .
4. Position the cursor where one of the corners of the rectangle is to be, then click and drag the cursor
diagonally to the opposite corner of the rectangle. Release the mouse button.
5. Double-click the rectangle border to open a message box.
6. Enter your comments and then click anywhere outside the box.
7. Use the Civic Platform toolbar to save or publish your comments.
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Using Stamps
One of the Annotations tools available for you to use in Adobe Acrobat Pro is the Stamp tool. When you
click the Stamp button, a menu displays. The menu offers you a list of images that you can place on a PDF
document as needed with a click of your mouse button. Included in this list is a sub-set of dynamic stamps
that incorporate real-time data such as the time, the date, and identity information from the Identity form in
Adobe Acrobat.
You can also create custom stamps that include images of your own design. For example, you can create
stamps that include your agency’s name or logo. You can even create dynamic custom stamps that display
the current time/date, the current user, and more.
Note:
For information about creating dynamic stamps in Adobe Acrobat Pro, check out http://acrobatusers.com,
which is an Adobe-sponsored user community.
To place a stamp on a document
1. Launch the PDF you are reviewing from Civic Platform.
2. Click Comment on the right side of the toolbar to open the side panel and then make sure you can see
the Drawing Markups panel. If you are using another method to invoke Adobe tools, skip this step.
3. Click the Add Stamp button to display a menu of available stamps.
4. Select the desired stamp from the menu.
The mouse cursor takes on the image of the selected stamp.
5. Position the cursor where you want to place the stamp on the document and click.
Civic Platform places the stamp.
6. Resize the stamp as needed.
• Click the stamp image to turn on the resizing handles in each corner of the image.
• Click and drag any resizing handle to make the stamp bigger or smaller. Release the mouse key
when done.
7. Rotate the stamp as needed.
• Click and drag the rotate handle (rounded handle located in the upper center of the image) to rotate
your stamp image to the desired orientation. Release the mouse key when done.
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8. Add comments to the stamp as needed.
• Double-click the stamp image and enter your commentary in the box that appears.
Note:
If you are stamping the same image on multiple pages; for example, a time/date received stamp, you
can use the Keep Tool Selected command to use the stamp repeatedly without having to re-select
the Add Stamp button each time. Simply use the desired stamp, then right click the Add Stamp button
and select Keep Tool Selected. You can now stamp your document over and over again with the click
of a button.
Using the Measuring Tool
Adobe Acrobat Pro provides you with an easy-to-use measurement tool that you can use to measure
distance, perimeter, and area on a plan or drawing. You can define the units of measurement and the scale
ratio of your measurements to reflect the units.
The Measuring tool is accessible from both the toolbar and the Analyze panel in the Tools panel.
Before you use the Measuring tool, it is useful to set the scale ratio you want to use, so that your
measurements display in the proper units.
Note:
If you do not see the measuring tool in your toolbar or Tools panel
• You can add the button to the toolbar. Click the Customize Quick Tools button
• in the toolbar and choose Measuring Tool from the Analyze group.
• You can add the tool to the Tools panel. Click the Show or Hide Panels button and select Analyze. The
measuring tool is in that group.
Processes
•To set the scale ratio
•To measure the height, width, perimeter, or area of an object
To set the scale ratio
1. Click the Measuring tool in either the toolbar or the side panel to activate it.
2. Right click anywhere on the page
A command menu displays.
3. Click Change Scale Ratio to display a Change Ratio dialog.
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4. Enter the numbers and units of measurement that reflect the scale of the drawing to the actual size of
the objects.
Note:
If you have a ratio that includes a fraction, such as 1/8 in =1 ft, you can enter this ratio in two ways:
• Enter 1/8 as a decimal. Enter 0.125 in = 1 ft
• Keep the same ratio but convert the fraction to a whole number by multiplying both 1/8 inch and 1
foot by 8. Enter 1 in = 8 ft
5. Click OK.
Your new scale ratio settings remain in effect until you change them again.
To measure the height, width, perimeter, or area of an object
1. Click the Measuring tool in either the toolbar or the side panel to activate it.
2. Select a measurement type:
Click the distance tool to measure the distance between two points.
Click the perimeter tool to measure the outside edge of an object. You can also use this tool to
measure a series of line segments that do not necessarily define a perimeter.
Click the area tool to measure the area of a region you define.
3. Draw one or more line segments to define the object that you are measuring.
• Distance: Click at one end of the line segment. Drag the mouse cursor to the other end of the line
segment and then click to define the end point. Drag the measurement line to the desired location
and then click again to complete.
• Perimeter: Click each point defining the line segments you are measuring in sequence. For example,
click the 4 corners of a rectangle in clockwise or counter-clockwise order. Double-click the last point
to complete.
• Area: Click each sequential point defining a line segment in the boundary of the region you want to
measure. For example, click the 3 corners of a triangle in clockwise or counter-clockwise order. Click
the first point again to complete.
4. Add a label if needed.
• Right click the measurement.
• Select Add Label from the command menu.
• Enter pertinent data you want to include with your measurement.
• Click OK.
To learn more about using the Measuring Tool or modifying the appearance of your measurements,
consult the Adobe Acrobat Pro documentation.
About Bates Numbering and Actions
Bates Numbering is a method for numbering pages within one or more documents, such that Acrobat Pro
assigns a unique Bates number to each page of each document. The unique Bates number indicates its
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relationship to other Bates-numbered documents, and can also be the vehicle for adding other information
such as time/date stamps. You can set up Bates numbering with the Actions wizard in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
When applied to a document or series of documents, the numbering appears as a header or footer on the
pages of each PDF in the batch.
Accela provides several Bates Numbering and other actions that you can use as a template or model for
creating your own actions. The following procedure describes how to access the Accela-created actions,
how to apply them, and how to modify them. If you want to create new Bates Numbering actions, refer to
the Adobe Acrobat documentation.
To access and apply existing actions, including the Accela created ones
1. With a PDF open, select Tools in the toolbar to expose the Tools side panel.
2. Select Action Wizard.
Several options become available: you can create a new action, edit an existing action, or call an
existing action from the list of available actions.
3. Click an action in the list to apply it to the current document.
To use Accela created actions as templates to create your own actions
1. With a PDF open, select Tools in the toolbar to expose the Tools side panel.
2. Select Action Wizard.
3. Select Edit Actions.
An Edit Actions dialog opens.
4. Select the action you want to use as a template and click Copy.
5. Click the Save button to create a new Action that is a duplicate of the original.
6. Highlight the newly created copy and click Rename.
7. Give your new action a unique name. Do not use “AEDR” in the title. Click Save.
8. With the newly renamed action still highlighted, click Edit.
9. In the Edit Action dialog, click the Configure this task icon for the step you want to modify.
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10.Use the Add Header and Footer form to make changes to the step as needed, then click OK.
11.Repeat the previous steps to configure additional steps if applicable.
12.Click OK, then click Save.
Saving Annotations and Comments
You can save any annotations, comments, stamps, and measurements that you add to a document during
the Electronic Document Review process, back to the Civic Platform application server for others to view.
Accela recommends that you save/publish frequently. When all reviews are complete, you can then merge
all the annotations, comments, stamps, and measurements together with the original PDF file and save this
new document to the record with a new name. The original PDF remains in its unedited state.
Note:
To publish commentary/annotations or check in revisions to the Civic Platform server, you must launch the
document that you are reviewing from Civic Platform.
To save/publish your annotations
1. Review a PDF document launched from Civic Platform. You may use any review tools or measurement
tools available in Adobe Acrobat Pro to annotate the document.
2. Click the Publish Comments button in the Accela Add-on Tools to save your work to the Civic
Platform application server. Other colleagues with access to the document can view your annotations.
To check in a document with all revisions
1. Review a PDF document launched from Civic Platform. You may use any review tools or measurement
tools available in Adobe Acrobat Pro to annotate the document.
2. Click the Check In Revision button in the Accela Add-on Tools to merge all saved annotations,
comments, stamps, and measurements with the PDF file you are reviewing.
3. Save the new file to the Documents tab for the record, while preserving the original PDF file in
submitted state. Be sure you save your file with a PDF extension (do not assume that it is appended
automatically), or the file might not get checked in.
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Viewing Other Reviewer Comments within the PDF
You can view the comments, stamps, measurements, and annotations of other reviewers when you are
working with Electronic Document Review documents. It can be helpful to know what other reviewers may
have said or discovered.
To get review comment updates
1. Open a PDF document from Civic Platform using the Review link
2. Click the Get Updates button in the Accela Add-on Tools to publish your comments to the Civic
Platform application server, and then download all comments and annotations published by other Civic
Platform users for the current document.
Interacting with Document Review Comments from Civic Platform
You can search for, review, edit or delete the comments and annotations made on a PDF attachment via
the Doc Review Comments tab on the Document Information window.
Topics
•Viewing and Editing the Document Review Comments
•Deleting Review Comments on a Document from Civic Platform
Viewing and Editing the Document Review Comments
All comments and annotations made on a PDF document attachment by a reviewer are viewable from the
Document Information window for the document after the reviewer has clicked the Publish Comments
button in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
To view and edit a document’s comments
1. Locate the document you want to edit. You can do this by going to the Documents tab for the selected
record or to the Sub Tasks tab on the Workflow page.
You can also use Global Search to locate the document. See Searching for a Document for more
information.
2. Select View Document Info from the Actions menu for the document you want to edit.
The Document Information window launches.
3. Click the Doc Review Comments tab in the left panel.
The Doc Review Comments page displays.
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You can use Search to locate a particular comment. Search criteria include a search by document page
number, by comment date, by reviewer, and by comment content. See Using the Search Features for
more information about searching in Civic Platform.
4. Edit the Discipline or Status of the comment as needed.
The status of a comment is either Open or Closed. In Adobe Acrobat Pro, if you set a document
comment to the Canceled, Completed, or Rejected status and publish the comment, the comment
status is Closed in the Doc Review Comments tab. If you change the status of a comment from Open to
Closed in the Doc Review Comments tab, the comment no longer displays in Adobe Acrobat Pro in the
subsequent document reviews.
If you are working on a document which is a re-submittal of an existing document, the comments list of
the document includes all the Open comments of the existing document. If you open the re-submittal
document in Adobe Acrobat Pro, the comments display in the document in the same position as in the
previous document.
5. Click the link at the comment to view the comment details. If the comment is added from a checklist
item, the checklist item information displays as read-only with the comment details
Deleting Review Comments on a Document from Civic Platform
You can remove review comments from a document via the Doc Review Comments tab on the Document
Information window.
Note:
There are 2 reasons to be careful when deleting comments:
1) Removing comments from the Doc Review Comments tab in Civic Platform replicates to the document
itself. After you remove the comments in Civic Platform, they disappear in the PDF as well.
2) Civic Platform does not prompt you to confirm the deletion. The second you click Delete, the action is
irreversible.
To remove one or more review comments
1. Access the Doc Review Comments tab for the desired document as described in Viewing and Editing
the Document Review Comments.
The Doc Review Comments page displays.
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2. Select each comment you want to delete.
The Document Information window launches.
3. Click the Delete button.
Civic Platform removes the comments in both Civic Platform and in the PDF document.
Viewing the Document Review History for a Document
You can use the Doc Review History tab on the Document Information window to view a historical listing
of information about interactions with the document, beginning with the initial upload of the document and
including any saves, check-in actions, and re-submissions.
To view the document review history
1. Locate the document you want to work with. You can do this by going to the Documents tab for the
selected record or to the Sub Tasks tab on the Workflow page.
You can also use Global Search to locate the document. See Searching for a Document for more
information.
2. Select View Document Info from the Actions menu for the document you want to edit.
The Document Information window launches.
3. Click the Doc Review History tab in the left panel.
The Doc Review History page displays.
4. View additional details by clicking the right-arrow carets in the left column.
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Enforcement
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with enforcement cases.
Related Information
Enforcement Overview
Creating a New Case
Managing Citations
Managing Evidence for a Case
Examining Enforcement (and Related) Details
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Enforcement Overview
You can collect, manage, and resolve enforcement cases concerning complaints and violations against
specific individuals, properties, owners, contractors, or businesses. Based on the severity of a violation,
you can issue a citation. Civic Platform stores citations that users create, along with any collected
evidence, in the appropriate case record along with court dates and defendant information.
Use Case
A citizen registers a complaint about an abandoned vehicle on private property. The complaint routed
to code enforcement for the police to check for involvement in criminal activity. The police discover the
vehicle is being stored illegally on private property. Code enforcement issues a citation for trespassing and
abandoning a vehicle to the vehicle owner, and they schedule a hearing date for the defendant to appear
in court. Pictures of the car and the car contents might be used at the hearing to support the legal claim.
Between the time of the citation and the hearing, the car and the pictures might be held at various locations
for investigation. Civic Platform tracks and stores this information for each case.
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Creating a New Case
When you create a new case, you can then collect information about a violation by or a complaint against
individuals, properties, owners, contractors, and businesses. In addition to the original complaint or
violation, any citations, and any court information, can be tracked. You can associate incidents, other
cases, citations, and evidence to the case.
Civic Platform reviews and prioritizes the cases by severity, and agencies can configure Civic Platform
to add the cases to a workflow to accommodate an agency’s business rules. For example, an agency
receives a complaint of an abandoned vehicle and they need to route it to the police for investigation. A
workflow that the agency created notifies the police department when the agency receives this type of
complaint. The police department uses the information in the open case to find the abandoned vehicle and
complete their investigation. Civic Platform records any citations issued under the initial case along with the
applicable court hearing information.
To create a new case
1. Go to the Enforcement portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Enforcement case list portlet.
2. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the Record Type Select dialog.
3. From the Group drop-down list, select the enforcement group you want.
Civic Platform displays a list of enforcement application types.
4. From the Type drop-down list, select the type of enforcement application you want to create.
Civic Platform displays the Subtypes and Categories drop-down lists of case application types.
5. Optional: Select the Subtype and Category, if available. Some agencies use Subtype and Category to
define the enforcement application that they want to create.
Civic Platform creates and displays an enforcement form based on your choices.
6. Complete the fields with available data. See Case Application Field Definitions for field definitions.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform generates a case application number (Record ID) and then updates the contact list and
owner list.
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Managing Citations
The ability to create citations in Civic Platform enables you to keep track of offenses, violators,
enforcement officers, dates, and other information relevant to the violations that require citations.
Note:
It is good practice to use the same citation number for both the citations recorded in Civic Platform and the
corresponding official citation documents.
Topics
•Adding, Editing, and Deleting Citations
•Managing Defendants
•Managing Violations
Adding, Editing, and Deleting Citations
After you add a citation, you can add defendants and violations as appropriate. For information, see
Managing Defendants and Managing Violations.
1. Open the Enforcement portlet and locate the case record you want to modify.
2. Click the Citations tab.
Civic Platform displays the citation summary and citations associated with the case.
3. Do one of the following:
To add a new citation:
a. Click Add.
Civic Platform displays the citation form.
b. Complete the fields with available data (see Citation Fields for field definitions).
c. Click Submit.
To edit a citation:
a. Click the Citation #link that you want to edit.
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b. Click Edit and modify the fields as needed.
c. Click Save.
To delete a citation:
a. Click Delete next to the citation you want to delete.
Managing Defendants
Defendants are individuals that are scheduled to appear in court regarding a citation. Civic Platform stores
a defendant’s contact information and court information along with the citation data for reference.
Adding, Editing, and Deleting Defendants
A citation issued to an individual may require that the individual appear in court. These individuals are
referred to as defendants. You can use Civic Platform to add them to the citation. To add a defendant to a
citation you open the initial case or complaint and then select the applicable citation.
1. Open the Enforcement portlet and locate the case record you want to modify.
2. Click the Citations tab.
Civic Platform displays the citation summary and citations associated with the case.
3. Click the Citation # link of the citation you want to work with.
4. Do one of the following:
Add a defendant
a. In the Defendant section, click Add.
Civic Platform displays the Defendant—New window.
b. Complete the form with available data (see Citation Defendant Fields for field definitions).
c. Click Save.
Civic Platform adds the defendant to the citation.
Edit defendant data
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a. Click the link to the defendant you want to edit.
Civic Platform displays the defendant details.
b. Modify the fields as needed.
c. Click Save.
Civic Platform saves the defendant details.
Delete a defendant
a. Click Delete next to the defendant you want to delete.
Civic Platform deletes the defendant from the citation.
Managing Violations
Your agency administrator set up violations. When you apply a violation to a citation, you can choose from
a list of standard violation codes.
Adding a Violation to a Citation
You can add violations that occur in reference to a citation, to the citation record.
To add a violation to a citation
1. Open the Enforcement portlet and locate the case record you want to modify.
2. Click the Citations tab.
Civic Platform displays the citation summary and citations associated with the case.
3. Click the Citation # link for the desired citation.
Civic Platform displays the citation details.
4. In the Violation section, click Add.
Civic Platform displays the Violation—Add form.
5. Select the applicable violation code from the Violation Codes drop-down list.
6. Click Save.
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Managing Evidence for a Case
Law enforcement authorities and case investigators collect facts to support a claim that requires
discussion, decision, or investigation. Civic Platform provides the ability to collect and manage such facts.
Any material object or any paraphernalia admissible as testimony in a court of law for a case may be
evidence. You can upload documents into Civic Platform as evidence. If the same evidence applies to
multiple cases, you can clone the evidence and apply it to an existing case or to a case created using the
Record from Model feature.
You can check evidence in and out from Civic Platform. Chain of custody and disposition of evidence can
be tracked with supervisory access to Civic Platform. For example, an investigator needs to take evidence
to a laboratory for analysis. A user with supervisor permission checks out the item and comments that he
checked out the item to deliver it to XYZ Laboratories. Civic Platform stamps the entry with the date and
time, then saves the transaction to history. When the evidence returns from the laboratory, the user with
supervisor permission checks the evidence back into Civic Platform and specifies the location, which is
storage area C at Building ABC. Civic Platform saves data about the item, the date/time, and the item’s
history.
Topics
•Adding Evidence
•Attaching a Document as Evidence
•Viewing and Updating Evidence
•Viewing Evidence History
•Changing Evidence Status
Adding Evidence
1. Open the Enforcement portlet (typically found on the Enforcement console tab) and locate the case
record you want to add evidence to.
2. Select the Evidence tab.
Civic Platform displays the Evidence list portlet.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the Evidence New form.
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4. Complete the form with available data (see Evidence Fields for field definitions).
5. Click Submit.
Attaching a Document as Evidence
You can collect document or images and add them to a case as evidence. For further information about
uploading and accessing documents, see Attachments .
To attach a document as evidence for a case
1. Open the Enforcement portlet and locate the case record to which you want to add evidence.
2. Select the Evidence tab.
Civic Platform displays the Evidence list portlet for the case.
3. Choose the Evidence Type associated with your document.
Civic Platform displays the Evidence details.
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4. Click the Documents tab.
Civic Platform opens the Evidence Document portlet.
5. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the Evidence Document screen.
6. Complete the fields with available data (see Examining Attachment Detailsfor field definitions).
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform uploads the document.
Viewing and Updating Evidence
1. Open the Enforcement portlet and locate the case record to which you want to add evidence.
2. Click the Evidence tab.
Civic Platform displays the Evidence list portlet with all evidence for the case listed.
3. Choose the evidence record you want to view/update.
Civic Platform displays the evidence details for the item.
4. Enter any new data as needed (see Evidence Fields for field definitions).
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5. Click the Submit button.
Civic Platform updates the evidence record.
Viewing Evidence History
The evidence history provides details about any modification to the chain of custody, including who
checked evidence out, where they took the evidence, and when they transported the evidence.
To view evidence history
1. Open the Enforcement portlet (typically found on the Enforcement console tab) and locate the case
record you want to add evidence to.
2. Select the Evidence tab.
Civic Platform displays the Evidence list portlet.
3. Choose the evidence for which you want to view a history.
Civic Platform opens the Evidence Detail form.
4. Click the History tab.
Civic Platform displays the historical tracking for the evidence.
Changing Evidence Status
A user with normal permissions can view the Status field as read-only at any time. However, only a
supervisor can make changes to the custody status in Evidence History. For information about viewing
evidence history, see Viewing Evidence History.
To change evidence status
1. Open the Enforcement portlet.
2. Click the Evidence tab.
Civic Platform displays the Evidence list portlet.
3. Locate and select the item you want to modify from the Evidence List.
Civic Platform opens the Evidence Details.
4. Select a chain of custody status from the drop-down list. See Chain of Custody Fields for the options
available to you.
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5. Click Submit.
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Examining Enforcement (and Related) Details
The following tables list and define the default fields available when working with Enforcement cases and
citations.
•Case Application Field Definitions
•Citation Fields
•Citation Defendant Fields
•Evidence Fields
•Chain of Custody Fields
Case Application Field Definitions
The table shown below lists and defines the default fields available when working with Case Applications.
Table 35: Case Application Field Definitions
Alt ID An alternate ID used to identify the case application.
Assigned Date The date that the case application assignment to a department or individual occurs. Click
the calendar icon located next to the From and To fields to specify a date range.
Assigned To
Department
The department responsible for the case application.
Assigned to Staff The individual within a department that is responsible for the application.
Anonymous Indicates whether the complaint caller elects not to reveal his identity.
Brief Description A brief description to help identify the case application.
Record Description A brief description of the case application.
Record ID The number used to identify the case application. Civic Platform generates a record ID
when you create a case. Users cannot modify the record ID. However, you can create an
alternate ID if needed.
Record Name The name of the enforcement case.
Record Type The type of application.
Channel Reported The incoming channel through which an applicant submitted the application request or
complaint. For example, the case application might come through the mail, email, public
internet site, or phone call.
Citation # The citation number for the case application.
City The city designation to the primary address associated with the case application.
Closed By The user that closed the request or complaint.
Closed Date The date the case application was closed. Click the calendar icon located next to the
From and To fields to specify a date range.
Closed Department The department responsible for closing the Record.
Closed Staff The individual responsible for the case application.
Contact Email The email address of the primary contact associated with the case application.
Contact First Name The first name of the primary contact associated with the case application.
Contact Last Name The last name of the primary contact associated with the case application.
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Contact Middle Name The middle name of the primary contact associated with the case application.
Contact Relationship The primary contact’s relationship to this case application.
Contact Type The type of contact associated with the case application, such as “applicant.”
Detailed Description Enter a detailed work description of the case application.
Enforcement Officer
Name/ID
The name or ID of the enforcement officer.
Email The email address of the primary contact associated with the case application.
First Name The first name of the primary contact associated with the case application.
Last Name The last name of the primary contact associated with the case application.
Middle Name The middle name of the primary contact associated with the case application.
Opened Date The date that Civic Platform created the case application record.
Opened Department The department responsible for creating the Record.
Opened Staff The individual responsible for creating the case application.
Organization Name The primary contact associated with the case application, such as the name of the
organization to which the contact belongs.
Owner Name The primary owner associated with the case application.
Priority The priority level for the case application.
Reported Date The date that your agency received the case application.
Reported Time The time that your agency received the case application.
Reported Type The type of complaint or incident.
Status The status of the case application, such as Opened, Closed, and Unassigned.
Sub Type A more specific classification for the Record.
Citation Fields
The table shown below lists and defines the default fields available when working with Citations.
Table 36: Citation Field Definitions
Appearance Date The date that the defendant must appear in court.
Booking Indicates if there was a booking with the citation.
Citation # The identification number of the citation.
City The name of the city where the citation was enforced.
City The name of the city wherein resides the court that is responsible for hearing the
complaint.
Civil Case # The civil case number corresponding to a citation and a case number.
Comment Any comments regarding the citation.
Court Address The address of the court responsible for hearing the complaint.
Court Code The name or abbreviation of the court responsible for hearing the complaint.
Date The issued date of the citation.
Defendant Signature Indicates whether the defendant signed the complaint.
Enforcement Officer The name of the officer who issued the citation.
Enforcement Officer ID The identification number of the officer who issued the citation.
Infraction Indicates whether an infraction took place.
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Inspector ID The identification number of the inspector who discovered or reviewed the violation.
Misdemeanor Indicates whether a misdemeanor occurred.
Offense Witnessed Indicates whether there was a witness to the offense.
Phone The courthouse phone number
State The name of the state where the violation occurred.
State The state where the court is located.
Violation Address The address of the violation.
Violation Location A description of the location where the violation occurred. A description helps when you
cannot provide an address, street name, or building location.
Zip The zip code where the violation occurred.
Citation Defendant Fields
The table shown below lists and defines the default fields available when working with Citation defendants.
Table 37: Citation Defendant Field Definition
Birth Date The birth date of the defendant.
City The city for the defendant’s address.
Country The country for the defendant’s address.
Eye Color The defendant’s eye color.
Gender The defendant’s gender.
Hair Color The defendants hair color.
Height (feet ' inches ”) The height of the defendant.
ID # Enter the defendant’s official identification number. F
ID (Issue State) The state that issued an ID number to the defendant.
Name (F/M/L) The first, middle, and last name of the defendant.
Notes Any additional comments about the defendant.
Primary Defendant Indicates whether the defendant is the primary defendant.
Social Security # The social security number of the defendant.
State The state for the defendant’s address.
Vehicle ID The defendant’s vehicle identification number or license plate number for any vehicle
involved in the citation.
Violator Address The address of the defendant.
Weight (lbs.) The weight of the defendant in pounds.
Zip The zip code for the defendant’s address.
Evidence Fields
The table shown below lists and defines the default fields available when working with evidence.
Table 38: Evidence Fields and Field Descriptions
Chain of Custody The status for the evidence. Only a user with supervisor rights can modify this field.
Comments An area to provide more information about the evidence.
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Date/Time The time and date of the transaction. Civic Platform automatically provides the
information for this field.
Description A brief description about the evidence.
Disposition The reason that an item is checked out or locked.
Evidence Type The type of evidence. Use this as a way to organize evidence.
Location The current physical location for the evidence.
Record By The name of the user who last modified the record.
Serial No The serial number of the evidence item. For example, a serial number for a firearm.
Units The quantity for the units of measure.
Units of Measure The form of measurement used to quantify the content. For example, ounces, pounds,
inches, feet.
Value The dollar value of the item, (how much it is worth).
Chain of Custody Fields
The table shown below lists and defines the default fields available when working with Chain of Custody.
Table 39: Chain of Custody Field Options
Checked In Indicates that the item is checked in at the primary holding location. When adding new
evidence to a case, this is the default.
Checked Out Indicates that the item has moved to a location other than the primary location.
Locked Indicates that the item is locked and cannot be moved to another holding location.
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Inspections
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with inspections.
Related Information
Working with Inspections
Working with Checklists and Route Sheets
Working with Inspection Conditions
Attaching Documents to an Inspection
Examining Inspection (and Related) Details
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Working with Inspections
There are many tasks that you can perform when working with inspections. Choose from the list of topics
below for information about working with inspections.
Topics
•About Scheduling Inspections
•Scheduling an Inspection from the Record Portlet
•Scheduling an Inspection from the Inspections Portlet
•Carrying Over Checklist Items
•Viewing Inspection Statistics
•Editing Inspection Milestones
•Rescheduling an Inspection
•Cancelling an Inspection
•Transferring Inspections
•Adding Related Inspections
•Displaying an Inspection in Citizen Access
•Working with Inspections in Accela GIS
•Managing Pending Inspections
•Copying an Inspection
•Editing a Default Inspection
•Assigning an Inspection
•Entering Inspection Results
About Scheduling Inspections
Your agency administrator configures the inspection types that are available for scheduling in an
application. Your agency administrator can also configure the maximum number of inspections per day
for an inspector (although users with supervisory privileges can schedule inspections that exceed the
maximum number of inspections, or on holidays or weekends).
After selecting the application for which to schedule inspections, you can specify when each inspection
should occur, and by which inspector. If your agency predefines an inspection flow or a series of
milestones, you must follow the orders in the milestones to schedule inspections. Inspections can be
scheduled in multiple ways:
• Specify an exact date and time for the inspection to occur.
• Specify an estimated date and time of the inspection.
• Schedule the inspections automatically (if configured).
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You can schedule multiple inspections for the same application, and can also schedule inspections from
different inspection groups. The inspector follow the checklist of each inspection to complete all the
inspections required in an application, and can conduct both the necessary workflow inspections and other
inspections that do not affect the inspection workflow.
If you prefer, you can schedule the date and time now and then assign an inspector later.
Scheduling an Inspection from the Record Portlet
You can schedule an inspection by parcel, discipline, date, and ‘completed by’ time. An inspector can
receive an assignment manually, or automatically based on the schedule detail, such as department, date,
and time.
To schedule an inspection from the Record portlet
1. Navigate to the Record portlet.
1. Use search to locate the application you want to work with. See Using the Search Features for more
information about performing searches.
2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
3. Click the Inspections tab in the details portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of the assigned inspection types for the selected application.
4. Hover your mouse cursor on Manage Inspections and select Schedule Inspections.
Civic Platform displays the Pending Inspections portlet.
5. Select the inspection group containing the inspection types you want to schedule from the Inspection
Group drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays the selected inspection group and associated inspection types in the Available
Inspection Types box.
6. Select the inspection types you want to schedule from the Available Inspection Types list.
7. Click the right arrow button to move the selected inspection types to the Selected Inspection Types list.
Civic Platform automatically adds the new inspections to the list of pending inspections at the bottom of
the page and auto-checks the new inspections for scheduling.
8. Do one of the following:
• To create pending inspections:
1. Click Pending Inspections.
Civic Platform sets all selected inspections to pending and prompts you to close the window.
2. Click OK to return to the Inspections portlet.
• To schedule an inspection:
1. Click Schedule Inspections.
2. Complete the fields in the Schedule Inspections portlet. For a complete list of fields, see
Inspection Scheduling and Results Fields.
3. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a confirmation message.
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Scheduling an Inspection from the Inspections Portlet
There are two ways to schedule an inspection from the Inspections portlet. Which method is available
depends on your agency’s configuration.
•Using the Manage Inspections Button to Schedule an Inspection
•Using the New Button to Schedule an Inspection
Using the Manage Inspections Button to Schedule an Inspection
1. Navigate to the Inspections portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of inspections.
2. Hover your mouse over Manage Inspection to display a command menu.
3. Select Schedule Inspections.
Civic Platform displays the Pending Inspections portlet.
4. You can locate and select one or more records by doing one or both of the following:
• Enter an application number in the Application No. field and click Search.
Civic Platform lists the application record meeting the search criteria that you entered, along with
inspection setup fields.
• Leave the field blank and then click Search to open a page containing additional search criteria you
can use to locate the records you need.
1. Enter search criteria and then click Submit.
Civic Platform lists the application records meeting the search criteria that you entered.
2. Select each application record you want to schedule inspections for.
3. Click Submit.
Civic Platform lists the selected records, along with inspection setup fields. If you perform more
than one search on different criteria and select application records from multiple search result
sets, your selections append to the list of previous selections. This multiple search process
enables you to schedule several inspections for different applications at the same time.
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5. After you have selected all the application records you want to work with, select the inspection group
containing the inspection types you want to schedule from the Inspection Group drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays the selected inspection group and associated inspection types in the Available
Inspection Types box.
6. Highlight the inspection type(s) you want to schedule.
7. Use the right arrow button to move the selected inspection type(s) to the Selected Inspection Types
box.
The selected inspection type(s) now appear in the Selected Inspection Type box.
8. Do one of the following:
• Click Pending Inspections to request an inspection for an application, then click OK.
A confirmation message displays.
• Click Schedule Inspectionsto schedule an inspection for an application, complete fields as needed,
then click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a confirmation message.
Using the New Button to Schedule an Inspection
1. Navigate to the Inspections portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of inspections.
2. Click New.
Civic Platform displays a search portlet.
3. You can locate and select one or more records by doing one or both of the following:
• Enter a record number in the Record # field and click the Search button.
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Civic Platform lists the application record that meets the search criteria that you entered, along with
inspection setup fields.
• Leave the field blank and then click the Search button to open a page containing additional search
criteria you can use to locate the records you need.
1. Enter search criteria and then click Submit.
Civic Platform lists the application records meeting the search criteria that you entered.
2. Select the record you want to schedule inspections for.
3. Click Submit.
Civic Platform lists the selected records.
4. Select the inspection group containing the inspection types you want from the Inspection Group drop-
down list.
Civic Platform displays the selected inspection group and associated inspection types.
5. Select the inspection type you want to schedule.
6. Select Required or Optional.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the selected inspection details of the record.
8. Complete the fields in the Inspections portlet with available data. See Inspection Scheduling and
Results Fields for a list of fields and definitions.
9. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a confirmation message.
Carrying Over Checklist Items
If your agency administrator enabled the checklist item carry-over feature, when you schedule an
inspection in an application, if some previous inspection in the application has failed checklist items that
are still hanging, the new inspection carries over the failed checklist items.
To carry over failed inspection items
1. Navigate to the Record portlet, and use Search (See Using the Search Features ) to locate the
application you want to work with.
2. Click the Inspections tab.
3. Hover your mouse over the Manage Inspection button to display a command menu
4. Select Schedule Inspections.
Civic Platform displays the Schedule Inspections portlet.
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5. Complete the fields. See Inspection Scheduling and Results Fields for field definitions.
6. Click Submit.
If someone canceled, rescheduled, or completed an inspection of the same type in the application,
and the inspection contained failed checklist items which are still hanging, Civic Platform displays the
Carryover checklist items page.
7. Select the checklist items you want, then click Submit.
Civic Platform carries over the failed checklist items and schedules an inspection.
Viewing Inspection Statistics
Before you assign an inspection task, you might find it useful to review inspector information, such as
availability. You can also view an inspector’s previous work status and compare it to other inspectors’
workloads. You can view inspection statistics to perform these tasks.
To view inspection statistics
1. Navigate to Inspections portlet.
2. Hover your mouse cursor over the Menu button to display a command menu, then select Statistics.
Civic Platform displays the statistics page.
3. Choose a department, an inspector, schedule date from and schedule date to from the drop-down lists.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns the inspector’s statistics.
Editing Inspection Milestones
The agency administrator may have set an inspection flow or a milestone order that determines which
inspections that the agency must complete, as well as the order of the inspections in the workflow. After
an inspection flow begins, the inspector cannot schedule inspections out of order. Agency personnel
must complete previous required inspections in the workflow before the inspector can schedule the next
inspection.
However, users with supervisory privileges can edit inspection milestones within individual applications.
After the supervisor updates the inspection milestone values in the application, Civic Platform regenerates
the inspection flow data based on the new inspection milestone values.
To edit inspection milestones
1. Locate the application you want to work with.
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Civic Platform displays the application record.
2. Click the Inspections tab.
Civic Platform displays the Inspections tab.
3. Click Edit Flow.
Civic Platform displays the Edit Milestones page.
4. In the Milestone field for each inspection type, enter a non-negative integer that represents the
checkpoint for that type.
5. Select Required or Optional to indicate whether an inspector can schedule inspections within the next
milestone before completing the current inspection
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform updates the milestone order.
Rescheduling an Inspection
There are many reasons that you might need to reschedule an inspection. You may need to reschedule an
inspection because a contractor did not finish the work on time or perhaps the inspector did not have time
to do the inspection on the originally scheduled date.
You can reschedule an inspection via the Service Request /Building portlet or the Inspection portlet.
Note:
If you reschedule an inspection from a group that is not the default inspection group, the rescheduled
inspection does not affect the inspection workflow.
Topics
•Rescheduling an Inspection from the Building Portlet
•Rescheduling an Inspection from the Inspections Portlet
Rescheduling an Inspection from the Building Portlet
1. Locate and open the application you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
2. Click the Inspections tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of scheduled and completed inspections.
3. Select each inspection you want to reschedule.
4. Hover your mouse over Manage Inspectionto display a command menu, then select Reschedule
Inspections.
Civic Platform displays the Reschedule Inspections portlet.
5. Complete the fields in the Schedule Inspections portlet. For a list field descriptions, see Inspection
Scheduling and Results Fields.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform confirms rescheduled inspection.
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Rescheduling an Inspection from the Inspections Portlet
You can reschedule inspections from the Inspections portlet as necessary.
To reschedule an inspection from the Inspections portlet
1. Navigate to the Inspections portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Inspections list portlet.
2. Select the inspection you want to reschedule.
3. Hover your mouse over Manage Inspectionto display a command menu, then select Reschedule
Inspections.
Civic Platform displays the Reschedule Inspections portlet.
4. Complete the fields in the Schedule Inspections portlet. For a list field descriptions, see Inspection
Scheduling and Results Fields.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform confirms the rescheduled inspection.
Cancelling an Inspection
Inspections need to be cancelled on occasion. For example, if a builder is waiting for materials to finish
a job, or inclement weather delays the finish date of a project, an inspection should be cancelled and
rescheduled as needed.
Note:
If you cancel an inspection from a group that is not the default inspection group, the cancelled inspection
does not affect the inspection workflow.
Topics
•Cancelling an Inspection from the Building Service or Request Portlet
•Cancelling an Inspection from the Inspections Portlet
Cancelling an Inspection from the Building Service or Request Portlet
1. Navigate to the Building or Service Request portlet as appropriate.
2. Use search to locate the record you want to work with. See Using the Search Features for more
information about searching.
Civic Platform displays a list of records.
3. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the record details portlet.
4. Click the Inspections tab in the details portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of scheduled and completed inspections.
5. Select each inspection you want to cancel.
6. Hover your mouse cursor over the Manage Inspection button to display a command menu.
7. Select Cancel Inspections.
Civic Platform displays the Cancel Inspections portlet.
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8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform confirms that the inspection is cancelled.
Cancelling an Inspection from the Inspections Portlet
1. Navigate to the Inspections portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Inspections list portlet.
2. Select the inspection(s) you want to cancel.
3. Hover your mouse cursor over the Manage Inspection button to display a command menu.
4. Select Cancel Inspections.
Civic Platform displays the Cancel Inspections portlet.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform confirms that the inspection is cancelled.
Transferring Inspections
You can move inspections from one inspector’s queue to other inspectors’ queues as needed. You can
implement a number of different scenarios using this functionality:
• You can transfer all of an individual’s inspection assignments at one time to another individual.
• You can transfer all of an individual’s inspection assignments at one time to multiple individuals using
auto-assign.
• You can cancel all of an individual’s inspection assignments at one time.
• You can transfer multiple inspection assignments (assigned to multiple individuals) at one time to one
person.
• You can transfer multiple inspection assignments (assigned to multiple individuals) at one time to
multiple individuals using auto-assign.
• You can cancel multiple inspection assignments (assigned to multiple individuals) at one time.
Topics
•Transferring All of an Individual’s Inspection Assignments
•Removing All of the Inspections from an Individual’s Queue
•Transferring Inspections Assigned to Multiple Inspectors
•Unassigning Multiple Selected Inspections
Transferring All of an Individual’s Inspection Assignments
You can transfer all of an individual’s inspection assignments at one time either to another individual, or
to multiple individuals (using auto-assign functionality). When you transfer inspection assignments using
auto-assign, Civic Platform checks the calendars of potential recipients and then makes assignments that
do not conflict with existing assignments. Civic Platform then generates an alert that lists any inspection
assignments that remain unassigned because of calendar conflicts. You can open the alert message and
access the affected inspection records, and manually reassign the inspections.
To transfer an individual’s inspection assignments
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1. Access either the Inspections portlet or the Inspection tab on the record detail portlet, the Calendar
portlet, or the My Tasks portlet, depending on which view you want.
2. Do one of the following:
• To transfer inspections from a single individual to another individual:
1. Do not select any inspection events.
2. Hover your mouse cursor on the Manage Inspections button to display a command menu.
3. Select Transfer Inspections.
The Transfer form displays.
4. Use the top two fields to select the department and name of the individual you want to transfer
inspection assignments from.
5. Use the bottom two fields to select the department and name of the individual you want to
transfer inspection assignments to.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform transfers all open inspections to the new individual. If there are any scheduling
time conflicts, you can check the Alerts portlet for links to the inspections with conflicting times,
and manually reschedule those inspections.
• To transfer inspections from a single individual to multiple individuals using auto-assign:
1. Do not select any inspection events.
2. Hover your mouse cursor on the Manage Inspections button to display a command menu.
3. Select Transfer Inspections.
The Transfer form displays.
4. Use the top two fields to select the department and name of the individual you want to transfer
inspection assignments from.
5. Leave the bottom two fields blank.
6. Select Auto Assigned to appropriate inspector.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform transfers all open inspections to new inspectors using auto-assign functionality.
If Civic Platform encounters inspections that it cannot transfer due scheduling time conflicts,
you can check the Alerts portlet for links to the inspections with conflicting times, and manually
reschedule those inspections as needed.
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Removing All of the Inspections from an Individual’s Queue
You can use the transfer form to quickly and easily clear all of the inspections in an individual’s queue,
moving them to the unassigned queue.
To remove all of an individual’s inspection assignments
1. Access either the Inspections portlet or the Inspection tab on the record detail portlet, the Calendar
portlet, or the My Tasks portlet, depending on which view you want.
2. Hover your mouse cursor on the Manage Inspections button to display a command menu.
3. Select Transfer Inspections.
The Transfer form displays.
4. Use the top two fields to select the department and name of the individual you want to transfer
inspection assignments from.
5. Leave the bottom two fields blank.
6. Clear the Auto Assigned to appropriate inspector option.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a warning that you did not select a destination and that Civic Platform will
change all assigned inspections for the named individual to an unassigned status.
8. Click OK.
Civic Platform moves all of the selected inspectors to the unassigned queue.
Transferring Inspections Assigned to Multiple Inspectors
You can transfer inspections assigned to multiple inspectors either to a single individual or to multiple
inspectors using auto-assign functionality. You can only transfer scheduled inspections.
To transfer inspections assigned to multiple inspectors
1. Access either the Inspections portlet or the Inspection tab on the record detail portlet, the Calendar
portlet, or the My Tasks portlet, depending on which view you want.
2. From the list of inspections, select the inspections you want to transfer. You can only transfer scheduled
inspections (Status = Scheduled) or resulted inspections that are not yet completed.
3. Hover your mouse cursor on the Manage Inspections button to display a command menu.
4. Select Transfer Inspections.
The Transfer form displays.
5. Do one of the following:
• Transfer the selected inspection events to a single individual.
1. Choose the department, then the staff member to whom you want to transfer the inspection
events.
2. Click Submit.
• Transfer the selected inspection events to multiple individuals using auto-assign.
1. Leave the Department and Staff fields blank.
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2. Select the Auto Assigned to appropriate inspector option.
3. Click Submit.
Unassigning Multiple Selected Inspections
You can use the transfer form to quickly and easily move multiple selected inspections to the unassigned
queue so that they can be reassigned.
To unassign multiple inspections
1. Access either the Inspections portlet or the Inspection tab on the record detail portlet, the Calendar
portlet, or the My Tasks portlet, depending on which view you want.
2. From the list of inspections, select the inspections you want to unassign.
3. Hover your mouse cursor on the Manage Inspections button to display a command menu.
4. Select Transfer Inspections.
The Transfer form displays.
5. Leave the two fields blank and clear the Auto Assigned to appropriate inspector option.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform warns that you did not select a destination and that Civic Platform will change all
assigned inspections for the named individual to an unassigned status.
7. Click OK to proceed.
Civic Platform moves all of the selected inspections to the unassigned queue.
Adding Related Inspections
You can add an inspection with one or more inspections. The Related Inspections tab provides a tree view
of related inspections.
To add related inspections
1. Navigate to the Inspection portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of inspections.
2. Click an inspection link.
Civic Platform displays the inspection details portlet.
3. Click Look Up.
4. Complete the fields and click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a list of related inspections.
5. Select the inspection you want to add.
6. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the related inspection to the tree view.
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Displaying an Inspection in ACA
You can define whether or not to display inspections in ACA from the Civic Platform console. This ability
allows agencies to define specific types of inspections to display to or hide from public users by default,
while still giving agency users the ability to apply show/hide setting to individual inspections. This section
describes how to set an inspection to display in or hide from ACA.
To set an inspection in Building portlet to display in or hide from ACA
1. Navigate to the record list portlet
2. Use search to locate the record you want to work with. See Using the Search Features for more
information about searching.
Civic Platform displays a list of records.
3. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the record details portlet.
4. Click the Inspections tab.
Civic Platform displays the current list of inspections for the application.
5. Do one of the following:
• If you have a Manage Inspection drop-down button in your toolbar, hover your mouse over
Manage Inspectionto display a command menu, then select Display Inspections in ACA or Hide
Inspections in ACA.
• If you do not have a Manage Inspection drop-down button in your toolbar, select the inspections
you want, then click Display in ACA or Hide in ACA, depending on what you want to do.
Working with Inspections in GIS
Accela GIS can plot inspections on a map. With the map, you can do various jobs such as routing
inspections.
To plot an inspection on a map
1. Navigate to the Inspections portlet.
2. Select each inspection that you want to plot on a map.
3. Do one of the following:
• Click GIS.
Civic Platform launches the map viewer with a purple map marker that indicates the scheduled
location of the inspection.
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• Click GIS and select one of the following options:
•Show Scheduled Location
Civic Platform launches the map viewer and then displays a purple map marker that indicates the
scheduled location of the inspection.
•Show Scheduled and Submitted Locations
Civic Platform launches the map viewer and then displays both the scheduled and inspected
locations of the inspection with different map markers. The purple map marker indicates where
the scheduled location is. The orange map marker indicates where the inspector submits the
inspection.
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Managing Pending Inspections
Pending inspections can inform both an agency and an applicant about the inspections that need to occur
before the agency can process an application. When you add a pending inspection to an application that
belongs to an inspection flow or an inspection milestone process, Civic Platform displays an icon that
indicates the status of the inspection.
If your agency uses inspection flow or inspection milestone functionality, you can only schedule pending
inspections in sequence within the inspection flow or inspection milestone order. If you attempt to associate
a pending inspection type with an application when the prior inspection in the inspection flow or inspection
milestone process is unscheduled, Civic Platform disables the inspection type until you schedule the
preceding inspection. Your agency administrator can configure Civic Platform so that supervisors can
schedule any inspection at any time, regardless of its order within an inspection flow or inspection
milestone process.
Accela Wireless and Citizen Access users can request inspections. For example, a public user without
inspection scheduling privileges can set up a pending inspection. After he adds the pending inspection,
agency users with inspection scheduling privileges receive a notification about the pending inspection, and
they can schedule the inspection.
You can use the Pending Inspections portlet to add inspections that are outside of the default inspection
group to an application, which enables you to add and schedule any necessary special circumstance
inspections after an application’s initial submission.
Note:
You can schedule, reschedule, or cancel pending inspections. When you cancel an inspection, Civic
Platform removes it from the application. You cannot result a pending inspection.
Topics
•Requesting an Inspection from the Building Portlet
•Requesting an Inspection from the Inspections Portlet
Requesting an Inspection from the Building Portlet
You can create a pending inspection from the Building portlet as necessary.
To create a pending inspection from the Record List Portlet
1. Navigate to the record list portlet (such as Building or Service Request) and use Search to locate the
record you want to work with. See Using the Search Features for more information about searching.
Civic Platform displays a list of records.
2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the record details portlet.
3. Click the Inspections tab.
Civic Platform displays the current list of inspections for the application.
4. Move your mouse cursor over the Manage Inspection button to display a command menu.
5. Select Schedule Inspection.
Civic Platform displays the Pending Inspections portlet.
6. Select the inspection group from which you want to add pending inspections from the Inspection Group
drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays the selected inspection group and associated inspection types in the Available
Inspection Types box.
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7. Click the inspection types you want to add as pending.
Civic Platform highlights the selected inspections.
8. Click the right arrow to move the inspection types to the Selected Inspection Types box.
Civic Platform displays the inspection types in the Pending Inspections list.
9. Click Pending Inspections.
Civic Platform displays a confirmation message indicating that the inspection is pending.
10.Click OK.
Civic Platform adds the inspections to the Inspections list portlet.
Requesting an Inspection from the Inspections Portlet
You can create a pending inspection from the Inspections portlet as necessary.
To create a pending inspection from the Inspections Portlet
1. Navigate to the Inspections portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Inspections list portlet.
2. Hover your mouse cursor over Manage Inspection to display a command menu.
3. Select Schedule Inspections.
Civic Platform displays the Pending Inspections portlet.
4. Select the inspection group from which you want to add pending inspections from the Inspection Group
drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays the selected inspection group and associated inspection types in the Available
Inspection Types box.
5. Click the inspection types you want to add as pending.
Civic Platform highlights the selected inspections.
6. Click the right arrow to move the inspection types to the Selected Inspection Types box.
Civic Platform displays the inspection types in the Pending Inspections list.
7. Click Pending Inspections.
Civic Platform displays a message confirming that the inspection is pending.
8. Click OK.
Civic Platform adds the inspections to the Inspections list portlet.
Copying an Inspection
You can copy an inspection from any existing record and attach it to the current record. To help you
choose an appropriate inspection to copy, you can view a list of related checklists. You can copy any
inspection that has a matching Inspection Group Code with the current record.
Note:
To review a checklist and verify you are copying the correct inspection, click the checklist tab and the
checklist you want to view. Return to the inspection list detail page by clicking the inspection detail tab.
Your agency administrator defines the security settings that dictate what your level of access is to checklists
assigned to an inspection. For example, if an inspection is read-only, you can only view it. You cannot
modify, delete, or copy checklists assigned to the inspection.
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To copy an inspection from the Inspection portlet
1. Navigate to the Inspection portlet and use search to locate the record you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays a list of inspections.
2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want to copy.
Civic Platform displays the inspection details.
3. Click Select Record to Copy from in the Inspections portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Record ID list.
4. Search for and select the record you want to copy the inspection from.
5. Click Submit
Civic Platform copies the inspection.
Note:
If the inspection status is Scheduled, you can edit the Schedule comment. If the inspection status is a
result, you can edit both the Schedule and the Result comment.
6. When you finish editing the copied inspection, click Submit.
Civic Platform copies the inspection with all its associated checklists to the Record you opened at the
beginning of the task.
Editing a Default Inspection
Civic Platform adds default inspections automatically when you create a new application or a new service
request. Your agency defines which inspections that Civic Platform adds by default. For example, your
agency may require that all new building applications have electrical, plumbing, and framing inspections or
that all new service request applications have investigation, progress, and completion inspections.
You can edit a default inspection. However, you may only change whether a default inspection is optional
or required.
Assigning an Inspection
Agencies can assign inspections to inspectors either manually or automatically. There are several
methods to choose from when assigning inspections. For example, the inspector with the lightest workload
might receive the first inspection assignments, or an agency might schedule an inspection based on the
requirements of the inspection type.
Inspections may be assigned automatically to inspectors following the auto assign configuration by the
agency administrators. Automatic assignment searches availably inspectors by disciplines first, then by
districts, then by inspector workload or availability.
Note:
Civic Platform follows the following priorities to get the district of an application: (1) The inspection district
setting of the application parcel; (2) The inspection district setting of the application address; (3) The
inspection district that the application parcel belongs to in the GIS map. A parcel may overlays multiple GIS
inspection districts. Your agency administrator may have configured to get the inspection district by the
major portion of the parcel maps to. Or, a dialog box prompts you to select the inspection district.
Civic Platform allows you to assign and re-assign inspections from both the Inspections and Building
modules. The topics below describe how to assign inspections from both.
Topics
•Assigning an Inspection from the Inspection Portlet
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•Assigning an Inspection Automatically from the Inspections Portlet
•Reassigning an Inspection Automatically from the Inspections Portlet
•Assigning an Inspection Automatically from the Service Request or Building Portlet
•Automatically Scheduling by District
•Automatically Scheduling by Districts, Disciplines, Calendar, and Workload
Assigning an Inspection from the Inspection Portlet
1. Go to the Inspection portlet. If you are using default settings, this appears on the Inspections main link.
Civic Platform displays a list of inspections.
2. Select the scheduled inspection(s) you want to assign. If a record has more than one inspection
associated with it, you can schedule multiple inspections for that record at the same time.
3. Hover your mouse cursor over the Menu button to display a command menu.
4. Select Assign Inspector.
Civic Platform displays the Assign Inspection detail form portlet.
5. Select the department from the Assign to Department drop-down list.
6. Select the staff member from the Assign to Staff drop-down list.
If you click the Current User link, your user name goes in the Assign to Staff field, and the associated
department field updates to reflect your department.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform assigns the inspection and displays the inspection list.
Assigning an Inspection Automatically from the Inspections Portlet
Inspections may be set up by the agency administrator so they are scheduled automatically when a new
application is created. When prompted to automatically schedule inspections, a schedule is identified
which will be used to assign the appropriate inspector and schedule the appropriate date and time to the
inspection.
The parameters used in determining the automatic inspection assignment are built into Civic Platform in
order to effectively determine automated inspection assignments. Automatic assignment is predetermined
to search by disciplines first, then by districts, then by inspector workload or availability.
To assign an inspection automatically from the Inspections portlet
1. Navigate to the Inspection portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of inspections.
2. Click New.
3. In the Record ID column, click the link for the record you want.
Civic Platform displays the record details.
4. Click Auto Assign.
5. Complete the following fields.
Date Select the date of the inspection.
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Requester Phone Number Enter the phone number for the person who requested the inspection.
Auto Assign Civic Platform automatically assigns an inspector.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform automatically assigns the inspection to an inspector.
Reassigning an Inspection Automatically from the Inspections Portlet
1. Navigate to the Inspection portlet and use search to locate the record you want to work with (See
Using the Search Features for more information).
Civic Platform displays a list of inspections.
2. Select the record you want by clicking the record ID link.
Civic Platform displays the record details.
3. In the Auto Assign column, click the link for the inspection you want to reassign.
Civic Platform displays the inspection details for the inspection that you chose.
4. Complete the fields.
Date Select the date of the inspection.
Requester Phone Number Enter the phone number for the person who requested the inspection.
Auto Assign Civic Platform automatically assigns an inspector.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform automatically assigns the inspection to the qualified inspector with the lightest workload.
Assigning an Inspection Automatically from the Service Request or Building
Portlet
1. Open the Building or Service Request record you want to work with and locate the application you want
to work with by clicking the record ID link in the Record ID column.
Civic Platform displays the record details.
2. Click the Inspections tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of scheduled and completed inspections for the record.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays a list of inspections required for the record.
4. Click Auto Assign.
Civic Platform displays the new inspection details.
5. Complete the available fields.
Date Select the date of the inspection.
Requester Phone Number Enter the phone number for the person who requested the inspection.
Auto Assign Civic Platform automatically assigns an inspector.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform automatically assigns the inspection to the qualified inspector with the lightest workload.
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Reassigning an Inspection Automatically from the Building or Service Request
portlet
1. Open the Building or Service Request portlet and locate the record you want to work with.
2. Click the record ID link in the Record ID column for the record you want.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
3. In the Auto Assign column, click the link of the inspection you want to reassign.
Civic Platform displays the inspection details of the inspection that you chose.
4. Complete the available fields.
Date Select the date of the inspection.
Requester Phone Number Enter the phone number for the person who requested the inspection.
Auto Assign Civic Platform automatically assigns an inspector.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the new inspection details.
Automatically Scheduling by District
Agencies covering large geographic areas (districts) often establish and assign regions to their inspectors.
The agencies use application addresses and parcel addresses to determine the available districts, and
then use this information as criteria to determine a list of valid inspectors for the inspection.
You must associate districts with both inspections and inspectors to automatically schedule inspections.
You can manually assign the districts to inspections. You can also assign districts by selecting areas in
Accela GIS. See your agency administrator for information on how to associate districts with inspections
using Accela GIS and on how to set up an inspector profile.
To automatically schedule an inspection by district
1. Go to the Inspection portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Assign Inspection screen.
2. From the list of Inspections, select the Assign by District link next to the inspection you want to work
with.
Civic Platform displays the Address and Parcels with districts.
3. Click Select next to the address or parcel you want.
Civic Platform displays a list of valid inspectors within the district selected.
4. Click Select next to the inspector you want.
Civic Platform assigns the inspector to the inspection.
Automatically Scheduling by Districts, Disciplines, Calendar, and Workload
There are four factors that you need to take into account for automatic inspection scheduling:
• Geographic area (also known as a district).
• Discipline.
• Calendar availability.
• Workload availability.
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You can schedule Inspections by parcel, discipline, and the date and time of required completion of the
inspection. You can also assign an inspector at this time, or your agency can configure Civic Platform to
automatically assign an inspector based on entered parameters.
If you schedule an inspection for the wrong date/time, you can reschedule it or cancel it as needed.
Note:
If a user has supervisory privileges, he can schedule inspections that exceed the maximum number of
inspections per day. He can also schedule inspections on holidays or weekends.
To automatically schedule an inspector to an inspection
1. Go to the Inspection portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Inspection Scheduling—Inspection List screen.
2. From the list of Inspections, select the Auto Assign link next to the inspection you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the Inspection Scheduling—Schedule window.
3. Complete the fields with available data. See Inspection Scheduling and Results Fields for field
definitions.
Note:
As you enter data, Civic Platform filters the list of available inspectors for assignment to match the
entered data.
When you select an inspector, the Department field automatically populates with the selected inspector’s
department.
4. Click Auto Assign.
Civic Platform displays a list of valid inspectors for the criteria.
5. Click Select next to the inspector you want.
Civic Platform returns to the Inspection Scheduling - Schedule portlet and automatically populates the
department name and inspector name.
6. Click Submit.
Entering Inspection Results
After completing an inspection, inspectors can enter inspection details and inspection results either
directly and/or by filling in the checklist item results. If an inspector conducts a series of inspections
simultaneously, he has the ability to quickly update the inspection status and results for all of the
inspections in one action.
Inspectors can enter inspection results at any time, regardless of an inspection’s status. For example,
a public user without inspection scheduling privileges requests a mechanical inspection for a building
application. Civic Platform assigns a status of Pending to the inspection. However, before the agency
officially schedules the inspection, an inspector completes the inspection. He can still enter his results,
even though the status is Pending.
Upon entering inspection details, Civic Platform updates inspector workloads accordingly. For example,
Amy, a building inspector, has eight inspection units per day. On Monday, Amy’s schedule has her
conducting an electrical inspection at 3pm (utilizing one inspection unit). However, Amy completes the
inspection at 10am instead, and enters the inspection results. Civic Platform updates her daily workload
from eight units to seven units. Amy’s supervisor can then assign another inspection to Amy at 3pm.
Note:
Supervisors can modify any result field that an inspector populates.
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Topics
•Entering Results for Inspections
•Editing an Inspection Result
•Following Up an Inspection
Entering Results for Inspections
After completing an inspection, you can update the inspection details. You may enter results for multiple
inspections. However, some inspections may have specific information that differs from others. Such
inspections are not updated. Civic Platform provides a summary listing which inspections were not
updated, along with the reasons why not.
To enter inspection results for inspections
1. Open the Inspection list portlet either via the main link or via the Inspections tab of a record.
2. Select the inspection for which you want to enter a particular result.
3. Complete the checklist. See Completing a Checklist for more information.
4. Access the Result Inspections portlet in one of two ways:
• Hover your mouse over Manage Inspectionto display a command menu, then select Result
Inspections.
• Hover your mouse Menu to display a command menu, then select Result.
Civic Platform displays the Result Inspections portlet.
5. Update the available fields.
Note:
(1) Values entered in the Inspection Date and Inspection Time fields auto-populate the Result Date and
Result Time fields.
(2) If you have no supervisory privileges, the Inspection Score, Inspection Result, and Inspection Grade
fields may be read-only.
For field definitions, see Inspection Scheduling and Results Fields.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a summary of the updated inspections, skipped inspections, and failed updates.
The inspection list reflects the changes to the inspections.
Editing an Inspection Result
Civic Platform provides the ability for a supervisor to modify an inspection after it has been resulted.
To enter inspection results
1. Locate the inspection you are working on, either via the Inspections main link or via the Inspections tab
for the record you are working with.
2. Select the inspection you want to work with.
3. Access the Result Inspections portlet in one of two ways:
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• Hover your mouse over Manage Inspectionto display a command menu, then select Result
Inspections.
• Hover your mouse over Menu to display a command menu, then select Result.
Civic Platform displays the Result Inspections portlet.
4. Update the available fields. See Inspection Scheduling and Results Fields for field definitions.
5. Click Submit.
Following Up an Inspection
Some agencies elect to configure some inspection types to require follow-up inspections.
To follow up an inspection
1. Navigate to the Inspection portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of inspections.
2. Select the inspection that you want to work with.
3. Hover your mouse over Menu to display a command menu, then select Result.
4. Complete the Status and the Schedule Date fields.
5. Click Save.
Civic Platform displays the follow-up inspections.
6. Select the follow-up inspection and click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the follow-up inspection.
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Working with Checklists and Route Sheets
Checklists and route sheets are tools designed to help inspectors complete inspections. A checklist may
be a checklist, a questionnaire, or an outline of the steps involved in a particular type of inspection. A route
sheet is comparable to a day planner, as it lets an inspector organize all of the inspections for which he or
she is currently responsible.
Topics
•About Checklist Items
•Adding a Checklist to an Inspection
•Copying a Checklist to an Inspection
•Adding Checklist Items to a Checklist
•Completing a Checklist
•Managing Attachments Associated with a Checklist Item
•Removing a Checklist from an Inspection
•Organizing a Route Sheet
•Accessing a Checklist from a Route Sheet
•Accessing a Checklist Item from the Inspection Documents Portlet
About Checklist Items
A checklist contains a number of checklist items for inspectors to use. When inspectors work with a
checklist during an inspection, they set a status for each checklist item on the list. The scores of all the
checklist items automatically populate, and some checklist items may be automatically checked as “major
violation.” The total score and number of major violations determine the inspection result, including
inspection status and inspection grade.
Some agencies set certain checklists and checklist items as required. Required checklists with required
checklist items must be completed. However, if a required checklist does not have any required checklist
items, you can skip the checklist. If a checklist is not required, checklist items may not be required either.
Adding a Checklist to an Inspection
Your agency may configure a checklist for each type of inspection your agency does. If your agency has
not defined a checklist for an inspection type you are working on, you can add one from a list of reference
checklists. You can also copy checklists from a one inspection type to another.
To add a checklist to an inspection
1. Locate the inspection you are working on, either via the Inspections main link or via the Inspections tab
for the record you are working with.
2. Click the link for the inspection that you want to update.
Civic Platform displays the inspection details.
3. Click the Checklists tab.
4. Click Search.
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5. From the Group drop-down list, choose the group that includes the checklist you want to add to the
inspection.
Civic Platform displays a list of Reference Checklists attached to the selected Checklist group.
6. Select the checklist(s) you want to add. To select all reference checklists, select the box at the top of
the list.
You can also enter a Checklist ID. The Checklist ID displays on the checklist detail page when you
enter the inspection results.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform updates the checklist list.
Copying a Checklist to an Inspection
You can copy a checklist from one inspection and apply it to another. If an inspection already has a
checklist associated with it and you copy the same checklist over to the inspection, Civic Platform will
overwrite the original checklist with the copied version.
Note:
Access to a checklist is assigned to an inspection based on the specific inspection security settings by your
agency administrator. For example, if an inspection is read-only, you can only view it. You cannot modify,
delete, or copy checklists assigned to the inspection.
To copy a checklist to an inspection
1. Locate and open the application to which you want to apply the inspection information.
Civic Platform displays the Application Summary page.
2. Navigate to Inspection tab.
Civic Platform displays the Inspection Type list.
3. Click the inspection type name you want to view.
Civic Platform displays Inspection details.
4. Click the Checklist tab.
Civic Platform displays the Inspection Checklist page.
5. Hover your mouse on Menu to display a command menu, then click Copy.
Civic Platform displays the Look up Checklists.
6. Search for and select the record with the checklist(s) you want to copy over.
• Select the record you want and click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the inspection list and checklists from the record.
7. Select the checklists you want to copy.
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns to the original inspection type and then displays all checklists.
Adding Checklist Items to a Checklist
When a checklist does not contain a checklist item that you want, you can add a checklist item from any
existing reference checklist.
To add a checklist item to a checklist
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1. Locate the inspection you are working on, either via the Inspections main link or via the Inspections tab
for the record you are working with.
2. Click the link for the inspection that you want to update.
Civic Platform displays the inspection details.
3. Click the Checklist tab.
Civic Platform displays the checklist currently associated with the inspection.
4. Click the link for the checklist you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays a list of checklist items.
5. Click the Add link next to the Checklist Items heading in the list.
The checklist item selection window displays.
6. Locate the desired checklist item.
If known, choose the Checklist Group and Checklist that contains the checklist item from the drop-down
lists, or enter the checklist item key word and click the search icon.
7. Select the desired checklist item, and click Select.
Civic Platform adds the checklist item into the checklist.
8. If necessary, you can click the Delete link next to the checklist item that you newly added to remove the
item from the checklist. Note that you cannot remove a checklist item that your agency administrator
configured in the checklist.
Completing a Checklist
Completion of a checklist enables inspectors to keep a record of detailed inspection results, and may also
serve as a checklist during an inspection.
Unless you have supervisor permission, you must complete all the required checklists in an inspection
before you set an inspection status to Approved. However, if you set the inspection status to Pending or
Denied, there is no validation that required checklists have been completed.
To complete a checklist
1. Locate the inspection you are working on, either via the Inspections main link or via the Inspections tab
for the record you are working with.
2. Click the link for the inspection that you want to update.
Civic Platform displays the inspection details.
3. Click the Checklists tab.
Civic Platform displays the checklists currently associated with the inspection.
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4. Click the link for the checklist you want to complete.
Civic Platform displays a list of checklist items.
5. For each checklist item, select a status. All required items must be completed.
When you select an item status, the item score auto-populates with a pre-defined value for the status.
You can also enter the item score manually.
The total score and the number of major violations for the checklist automatically updates when you
change the status and score of a checklist item.
Note:
(1) If you have no supervisory privileges, your agency administrator may only allow you to modify the
checklist item statuses, and forbid you from editing inspection result, inspection grade, checklist total
score, and checklist major violation.
(2) You can click the History link in the History column of a checklist or checklist item, to view the history
results of the checklist or the checklist item.
6. Click Submit.
Managing Attachments Associated with a Checklist Item
You can associate attachments to checklist items and manage those attachments as needed.
To manage attachments associated with a checklist item
1. Locate the inspection you are working on, either via the Inspections main link or via the Inspections tab
for the record you are working with.
2. Click the link for the inspection that you want to update.
Civic Platform displays the inspection details.
3. Click the Checklist tab.
Civic Platform displays the checklists for the inspection.
4. Click the link for the checklist you want to complete.
Civic Platform displays a list of checklist items.
5. Expand the desired checklist item, then do one of the following.
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• To associate documents or image files with the checklist item, click the Upload File icon.
For instructions, see Attachments .
Civic Platform lists attachments under the checklist item. Checklist item attachments are also
accessible via the Attachments tab for the inspection that the checklist item belongs to.
• To open or download an existing attachment, click the link to the attachment name.
• To remove an attachment, click the Delete icon next to the desired attachment.
Removing a Checklist from an Inspection
If you add the wrong type of checklist to an inspection, you can remove it. Be careful not to delete
completed checklists as you may lose inspection details recorded on the checklist.
To remove a checklist
1. Locate the inspection you are working on, either via the Inspections main link or via the Inspections tab
for the record you are working with.
2. Click the link for the inspection that you want to remove.
Civic Platform displays the inspection details.
3. Click the Checklists tab.
4. Select the checklist that you want to remove.
5. Click Delete.
Civic Platform updates the checklist list.
Organizing a Route Sheet
A route sheet helps inspectors organize inspections by minimizing the time and distance that they travel.
Contact your agency administrator to enable this feature.
To organize a route sheet
1. Navigate to the Inspections portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of inspections.
2. Click Route Sheet.
Civic Platform displays the Inspection Route Sheet page.
3. Select the relevant department from the Department drop-down list.
Civic Platform populates the Inspector drop-down list based on the department selection.
4. Select an inspector from the Inspector drop-down list. Click Current User to populate the field with
your user name.
5. Define the date range for the scheduled inspections in the From and To fields.
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6. Click Filter.
Civic Platform filters the inspection list.
7. Select the date for which you want to route inspections.
Civic Platform displays the inspection list.
8. Optimize your inspection route. You can use GIS, or you can use a third party optimizer, provided your
agency has configured the integration for it.
• To use Accela Silverlight GIS:
1. Review the inspection list and update inspection details. For field definitions, see Inspection
Route Sheet Fields.
2. Enter a value in the Order field to determine the inspection order, if needed.
3. Click Show Route Map. Re-route the inspection list using Accela Silverlight GIS functions.
Accela Silverlight GIS displays the inspection route based on the order of the inspections:
If inspections are in numerical order, Accela Silverlight GIS displays the inspection route in
assigned order. If some but not all inspections are in numerical order, Accela Silverlight GIS
displays the inspection route in the assigned order. Inspections without an assigned numerical
order display as individual markers. If none of the inspections are in numerical order, Accela
Silverlight GIS optimizes the inspection route by distance and displays the route.
4. Use the Accela Silverlight GIS Actions menu to route the inspection.
For example, use the Optimized by Distance map command to route inspections for minimal
travel distance. Use the Optimized by Time map command to route inspections for minimal
travel time.
5. Use the Send Items Order map command to send the route list to Civic Platform.
Civic Platform updates the route list.
• To use a third-party optimizer:
Note:
To use this feature, your agency must integrate a third-party route optimizer with Civic Platform.
Contact your agency administrator for help.
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1. Click Order By, then select an option from the drop-down menu. Options include Public Transit,
Walking, Driving, and Show Locations on Map.
If you select Show Locations on Map, Civic Platform launches the map viewer and plots the
inspections on the map.
9. Click Save.
Civic Platform saves the route list.
Accessing a Checklist from a Route Sheet
While you are viewing the individual inspections for a particular application, you may want to view the
checklist associated with a particular inspection on the route sheet.
To access a checklist from a route sheet
1. Access the Classic Administration Portlet. See "Accessing the Classic Administration Portlet" in Accela
Civic Platform Administrator Guide.
2. Click Daily tab.
3. Go to the Inspection portlet. If you are using default settings, this appears on the Inspections main link.
Civic Platform displays a list of inspections.
4. Click the Route Sheet link.
Civic Platform displays the Inspection Route Sheet page.
5. Click the red dot for the inspection you want.
Civic Platform displays the Inspection Checklist Summary screen.
Accessing a Checklist Item from the Inspection Documents Portlet
You can access a checklist item from the Documents tab on an inspection record.
To access a checklist item from the Inspection Documents portlet
1. Find the inspection you are working on with one of the following approaches:
• Go to the record open the application. In the Inspections tab, click the link to the inspection you
want.
• Go to the Inspection portlet. In theInspection Type column, click the link to the inspection you
want.
2. Click the Documents tab.
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Civic Platform displays the attachments associated with the inspection and the attachments associated
with the checklist items of the inspection.
3. Click the link to the desired checklist item.
Civic Platform displays the details about the checklist item.
4. Update fields as needed.
5. Click History to view a history actions for the checklist item.
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Working with Inspection Conditions
You can apply conditions (such as Hold, Lock, or Notice) to inspections as needed. Civic Platform
automatically applies any condition assigned to an Inspection Group and/or Type to a scheduled
inspection.
An inspection condition can impact a checklist, determining whether users can edit the checklist or not.
You can view the conditions associated with an inspection on the Conditions tab. Conditions applied to an
inspection also display in the Condition status bar in the inspection portlet. Condition Status Bar
Topics
•Applying a Condition from the Conditions Tab
•Changing the Display Order of Conditions
•Deleting a Condition
Applying a Condition from the Conditions Tab
You can apply a new condition to an inspection from the Conditions tab on an inspection record.
To apply a condition from the Conditions tab
1. Navigate to the Inspections portlet
Civic Platform displays inspection details
2. Click the Conditions tab.
Civic Platform displays any conditions associated with the inspection.
3. Complete the fields as described in Conditions Form Fields.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform applies the custom condition and then displays the condition for the inspection.
Changing the Display Order of Conditions
Organize the display order of multiple conditions associated with an inspection.
To change the display order of a condition
1. Navigate to the Inspections portlet
Civic Platform displays inspection details
2. Click the Conditions tab.
Civic Platform displays any conditions associated with the inspection.
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3. Enter a number to indicate the placement in the Display Order box for each condition. For example, to
display a condition at the top of the list, enter 1.
4. Click Reorder.
Civic Platform applies the new display order, with the objects listed in numerical order.
Deleting a Condition
If you applied a condition by mistake or if a condition is no longer applicable, you can delete it. When you
delete a condition, Civic Platform does not completely remove it. Instead, the condition display order field is
deactivated so it does not display.
To delete a condition from an inspection
1. Navigate to the Inspections portlet
Civic Platform displays inspection details
2. Click the Conditions tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of conditions associated with the inspection.
3. Select the condition you want to remove.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform deactivates the Display Order field.
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Attaching Documents to an Inspection
Users can attach documents and images to an inspection. For example, during the course of a fire
inspection, the inspector takes a photograph of broken fire equipment. The inspector can then upload the
photograph into the inspection record.
Users can attach inspection documents to inspections any time after scheduling in Civic Platform -- even
after the inspector submits the results. These documents display in all relevant portlets where you can
view inspection details, including the Building and Calendar portlets. When viewed in the permit application
portlet, Civic Platform automatically sorts inspection documents and then lists them below the general
attached documents for the record.
For information about uploading and accessing documents, see Attachments .
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Examining Inspection (and Related) Details
The following tables list and define the default fields available in the different interfaces you might
encounter.
Inspection Scheduling and Results Fields
The table below lists and defines fields that may be available as you work with Inspection Scheduling and
Results.
Table 40: Inspection Scheduling and Results Detail
ACA Role Specify which users have access to view Inspection Comments. Select one or more of
the following options: All Citizen Access Users, Record Creator, Licensed Professional,
Owner, and/or Contact.
Address Enter the inspection address.
Comment Display in
ACA
Select to activate the display of inspection comments in Citizen Access. Define who can
view the comments in the Citizen Access Role field.
Department Use the drop-down list to choose the department responsible for completing the
inspection. You can change the assignment as needed when rescheduling an
inspection. See Rescheduling an Inspection.
Display Comment in
ACA
Applies only to Citizen Access users. Specify if Citizen Access users can view the
inspection results comments. To hide all comments from all Citizen Access users, clear
this option.
Display in ACA Select to display the inspection in Citizen Access.
Document Name Enter the title of the document you are attaching to the inspection.
EDMS Name Select the Electronic Document Management System from the drop-down menu.
This field relates to attaching documents to an inspection. For more information, see
Attaching Documents to an Inspection.
End Mileage Enter the reading from the odometer that displays in the vehicle after you complete the
inspection.
End Time Enter the time when you finished the inspection.
File Name Enter the fully qualified path or click Browse to locate the file on your computer. The
document size may be up to 16MB.
Inspection Contact
Name
Enter the first, middle, and last name of the person who requests the inspection. You can
either enter the name manually or use the data picker beside this field to find a contact.
Inspection Contact
Phone Number
Enter the phone number of the person who requests the inspection.
Inspection Date Use the calendar icon to choose the date when you complete the inspection.
Inspection Grade The grade of the inspection result. The status is auto-filled based on the checklist results
and the settings by your agency administrator. Supervisors may have the privileges to
manually override the inspection grade.
A grade may display for the grade depending on the settings by your agency
administrator.
Inspection Score The score of the inspection.
The inspection score is auto-calculated based on the checklist total scores and the
settings by your agency administrator. Supervisors may have the privileges to manually
override the inspection score.
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Inspection Sequence
Number
The sequence number automatically assigned when Civic Platform creates an
inspection.
Sequence numbers are unique and incremental. Inspection reports can display the
inspections in the order that they occur.
Inspection Time Displays the current time. Use the drop-down lists to choose a different time and indicate
whether the time is AM or PM.
Inspection Type The type of inspection selected for scheduling.
Inspector Use the drop-down list to choose the inspector within the department responsible for
completing the inspection.
If you are responsible for opening the inspection, click the Current User link to enter
your user name into the field. When you click the Current User link, the associated
department field updates to reflect the correct department for the current user. You
can change the assignment as needed when you reschedule an inspection. See
Rescheduling an Inspection.
Latitude When using a GPS device, enter the latitudinal coordinates.
Longitude When using a GPS device, enter the longitudinal coordinates.
Record Comment Displays the comments that have the Apply to Inspections check box selected in the
Comments tab of the associated record.
If you can edit comments in the record comment tab, you can click the Edit link besides
this field to edit the record comment, which directly updates the original comment in the
record comment tab. If you can delete comments in the record comment tab, you can
click the Remove link next this field to remove a comment.
Record ID The unique identification number of the record ID requiring this inspection.
If you click the link at a Record ID, a window pops up displaying the details for the
record.
Record Type Choose the type of record that requires an inspection.
Request Comment Enter comments about the new inspection. You may identify who requested the
inspection, or any other important details.
Request Date Date when Civic Platform automatically schedules and submits a new inspection.
Requestor Enter the first, middle, and last name of the person who processes the inspection
request or who schedules the inspection, if other than the current user. The current
user’s log in name populates automatically. If a user schedules the inspection using
Citizen Access or IVR, the user’s name automatically populates in this field.
Requestor Phone
Number
Enter the phone number for the person who processes the inspection request or who
schedules the inspection. If a user schedules the inspection using Citizen Access or IVR,
the user’s phone number automatically populates in this field.
Request Time Civic Platform automatically generates a value for this field when a user schedules and
submits a new inspection.
Required/Optional Use the drop-down list to set the inspection as required or optional.
Result Comment Enter inspection result comments. You can also click the Selection icon to choose from a
list of standard comments.
Scheduled Date The date when a user schedules the inspection. When scheduling an inspection, this
field displays the current date by default. You can click the calendar icon to choose a
different date. You can also choose “Get Next Working Day.”
If you are resulting an inspection, this field is read-only and displays the inspection
scheduled date.
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Scheduled Time Displays the current time. Use the drop-down lists to choose a different time and indicate
whether the time is AM or PM.
Scheduled Start Time Use the drop-down list to set an inspection start time.
Scheduled Start Time
AM/PM
Use the drop-down list to set the AM or PM of the inspection start time.
Note:
If configured by your agency administrator, you may be required to specify the
inspection AM/PM only Because without you specifying the actual inspection
time, it is more convenient for inspectors to optimize their route sheet.
You may only specify the Scheduled Start Time AM/PM with or without the
Scheduled End Time AM/PM.
Scheduled End Time Use this optional drop-down list to set an inspection end time.
Scheduled End Time AM/
PM
Use the drop-down list to set the AM or PM of the inspection end time.
Note:
If configured by your agency administrator, you may be required to specify the
inspection AM/PM only. Because without you specifying the actual inspection
time, it is more convenient for inspectors to optimize their route sheet.
If you specify the Scheduled End Time AM/PM, you must also specify the
Scheduled Start Time AM/PM.
Start Mileage Enter the mileage from the odometer before you travel to a new inspection site.
Start Time Enter the time when you started the inspection.
Status The current status of the inspection.
When you result an inspection, the status auto-fills based on the checklist results and
the settings by your agency administrator. If you have no supervisor privileges, you may
have no right to edit the field.
Submit Date Automatically generated when you schedule and submit a new inspection.
Submit Time Automatically generated when you schedule and submit a new inspection.
Total Mileage Enter the total number of miles required. This value does not calculate automatically.
Total Time Enter the total number of hours required to complete the inspection.
Vehicle ID Enter a number that identifies the vehicle used to complete the inspection, such as the
license plate number or VIN. The agency should determine how to identify the vehicle.
Unit # Enter the unit number using any combination of alpha numeric characters.
Inspection Route Sheet Fields
The table below lists and defines fields that may be available as you work with inspection route sheets.
Table 41: Inspection Route Sheet Fields
Address The record address for the inspection.
Alternate ID The alternate identification number for the inspection.
Estimated End Time Use the drop-down list to choose the latest time that the inspector might arrive.
You can also select the Estimated Start Time to form a time period when the inspector
might arrive. The time period displays in the Estimated Arrival Time field in Citizen
Access. If an applicant schedules an inspection in Citizen Access, this field displays
the end time of the inspection time period.
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Estimated Start Time Use the drop-down list to choose the earliest time that the inspector might arrive.
You can also select the Estimated End Time to form a time period when the inspector
might arrive. The time period displays in the Estimated Arrival Time field in the
inspection in Citizen Access. If an applicant schedules an inspection in Citizen
Access, this field displays the start time of the inspection time period.
Filter Click this button to filter the inspection list based on the criteria entered in the
Department, Inspector, and Scheduled Date fields.
Inspection Count The number of inspections scheduled each day.
Inspection Type The type of inspection, such as Rough Grade, Plumbing, or Electrical.
Order The inspection order in which Civic Platform schedules the inspections. Enter up to
four integers in this field.
Record ID The record identification number for the inspection.
Request Comment Comments entered when the requestor created the inspection.
Scheduled Date The date of the inspection.
Scheduled End Time The projected end time for the inspection.
Scheduled Time The projected start time for the inspection.
Show Route Map Click this button to view or update an inspection route using Civic Platform GIS.
Status The status of the inspection, such as Scheduled or Result Pending.
Unit Nbr The number of inspection type units required to complete the inspection.
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Licenses
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with licenses.
Related Information
License Overview
Managing Renewal Information
Modifying License Details
Modifying Application Specific Information
Modifying License Contacts
Modifying Educational Credentials
Paying a License Fee
Managing Associated PERMITS Plus APDs
Examining License Details
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License Overview
You can use Civic Platform to handle a variety of different types of licenses. For example, an electrician
needs an electrical license, a refrigerator repair man might need a mechanical license, a doctor must have
a medical license, a business owner must have an operating license, and everyone who drives needs a
drivers license.
When you work with licenses, you might need to perform a number of tasks. You might create new license
applications, renew existing licenses, edit contact information, collect educational data, review the workflow
and condition history, and more. In addition, you can add invoiced fees, take in payments, or check related
payment history.
Agency administrators can configure the process for accepting license applications. If the applicant for a
license is an Citizen Access public user, an agency administrator can accept or reject a license manually.
If your agency uses the PERMITS Plus permitting system, your agency administrator can configure certain
Civic Platform list portlets so you can associate a PERMITS Plus APD to a Civic Platform record. This
association enables you to view and search for associated APDs from the Civic Platform Licenses module.
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Managing Renewal Information
Topics
•Viewing License Renewal Information
•Renewing a License
•Renewing a License by Workflow
Viewing License Renewal Information
View the status of a license renewal to determine if a license is active, expired, delinquent, invalid,
pending renewal, or about to expire. When you stay on top of license renewal statuses, you can help keep
contractor, sub-contractor, and individual licenses current, enabling construction projects to proceed on
schedule.
To view license renewal information
1. Go to the License portlet.
2. Use search as needed to find the license you want to view.
3. Click the link of the license you want to work with.
4. Click the Renewal Info tab.
Civic Platform displays the License Renewal Detail page.
5. Review the fields described in Renewal Information Fields.
6. Click Cancel to return to the previous view.
Renewing a License
Professional and business licenses require renewal periodically to remain current and valid per applicable
local, state, or federal law. You can check the status of a license to determine if the license is about to
expire, has expired, or is delinquent.
When you initialize a license renewal, the information from the parent license copies automatically to a
new application intake form for the applicant. Civic Platform processes this partial application as a child
application to the parent license. After the renewal is submitted and the renewal process is complete, Civic
Platform associates the most current information, such as expiration date, with the parent license.
A license renewal is complete when the application and required supporting tasks as defined in the
renewal workflow are complete, and licensees pay in full any fees associated with the renewal. Tasks
associated with a license renewal may include the passing of an exam, continuing education hours earned,
or the submission of additional documents to the agency.
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Users can renew a license and pay for the fees at the agency or online via Citizen Access. An agency can
also manually move the license through the renewal process through Workflow. See Renewing a License
by Workflow.
To renew a license
1. Navigate to the License portlet.
2. Use search as needed to find the license you want to view.
3. Click the link of the license you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the license detail in the record detail portlets.
4. Verify the status of the license if necessary. See Viewing License Renewal Information.
5. Click the Renewal tab.
Civic Platform displays the Renewal portlet.
6. Click Renew. This button displays only when a license expires, nears expiration, or is delinquent.
Note: If the license cannot be renewed and the supervisor override feature is enabled, the
user sees a prompt indicating the error and allows a supervisor to override the blocked renewal.
If a supervisor authorizes an override by entering his or her username, password, and an
override reason, the renewal process continues. For details about the supervisor override, see
Supervisor Override.
Civic Platform opens the application intake form. The parent record information copies to the child
record.
7. Enter data as available. For field definitions, see Renewal Information Fields.
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the renewal record in the renewal record list portlet for the parent license.
Renewing a License by Workflow
Users at an agency can manually move a license through the renewal process by updating the New Status
field for workflow tasks. Updating this field may be useful to a supervisor who needs to quickly force the
renewal process to the next phase in the workflow due to an internal error at the agency.
To manually move a license through the renewal workflow
1. Navigate to the License portlet.
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2. Click the application related to the license renewal.
Civic Platform opens the license details.
3. Click the Workflow tab.
Civic Platform displays the Workflow Tasks detail.
4. Click the folder associated with the workflow task that you want to update. For example, the Application
Process folder.
Civic Platform displays the associated task details.
5. Locate the New Status field and choose one of the options from the drop-down list.
For a list of options, see Renewal Workflow New Status Options.
6. Click Submit.
7. Update the New Status fields for each workflow task folder as needed.
Workflow Task Folders may include:
• Application Submittal
• Check Credentials
• Review
• License/Permit Issuance
• License Status
• Closure
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Modifying License Details
You can modify the license renewal information for the record.
To edit license details
1. Go to the License portlet.
2. Click the link of the license you want to renew. Use Search to locate a specific record.
3. Modify any fields that display on the Record page.
For a list of field descriptions, see License Details.
4. Click Submit to save your changes.
Civic Platform displays the Record Specific Information page.
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Modifying Application Specific Information
You can modify Information that is specific to a particular license application as needed.
For example, if configured by the agency administrator, users that want to update a trade name license
can record three business or trade names. After the user saves the additional trade name, Civic Platform
associates the updated license with the user’s professional profile and sends an email notification of
the additional trade name approval. For more information about professional profiles, see Licensed
Professionals.
To modify license specific information
1. Go to the License portlet.
2. Click the link of the license you want to renew.
3. Click the App Specific Info tab.
4. Modify data as needed.
Civic Platform displays the App Specific Info page.
5. Click Submit to save your changes.
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Modifying License Contacts
Sometimes you may need to make changes to the contacts associated with a license. For example, a
subcontractor may relocate his office, or replace employees, or you might add a homeowner so you can
apprise him about the progress of the project. You can modify license contact details through the Contact
tab of the license record.
Topics
•Adding a Contact to a License
•Deleting a Contact from a License
Adding a Contact to a License
1. Go to the License portlet and click the link of the license you want to modify.
2. Click the Contact tab in the record detail display.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the New Contact page.
4. Complete the fields with available data. See Contact Details for field definitions.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the contact list with the new contact.
Deleting a Contact from a License
1. Go to the License portlet and click the link of the license you want to work with.
2. Click the Contact tab
3. Select each contact you want to delete.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform deletes the contact from the list of contacts.
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Modifying Educational Credentials
Many agencies require licensed professionals to submit evidence of ongoing education and/or competence
to maintain or renew their occupational licenses. You can add information to a license on the Education,
Continuing Education, and Examination tabs. Your agency administrator can set up licenses by type so
that users must fulfill certain requirements as part of the Check Credentials phase of a renewal workflow.
For more information see Renewing a License by Workflow.
Topics
•Modifying Education Information
•Modifying Continuing Education Information
•Modifying Examination Information
Modifying Education Information
Education information includes details about degrees, majors, and educational institutions attended.
To modify education information
1. Go to the License portlet and click the link of the license you want to modify.
2. Select the Education tab in the record detail portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Education information currently associated with this license.
3. Modify the existing information as necessary
• To insert a new row, click Add. For information on completing the form fields, refer toWorking in the
Continuing Education Section .
• To delete a row, select the line that you want to remove and then click Delete.
4. When you finish making your changes, click Submit.
Civic Platform updates the record with your changes.
Modifying Continuing Education Information
Continuing Education refers to the ongoing professional development requirements necessary for the
maintenance or renewal of many occupational licenses. Requirements vary widely across professions,
but typically include a specified number of Continuing Education units that a licensee must complete for
recertification or renewal. Acceptable units may include specific course requirements, a certain number of
private or informal study hours, a number of practical work hours during a given period, for example.
Civic Platform allows your agency to track the Continuing Education requirements as well as the progress
made toward their completion on the Continuing Education tab of the license record.
To modify continuing education information
1. Go to the License portlet and click the link of the license you want to modify.
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2. Select the Continuing Education tab in the record detail portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Continuing Education information currently associated with this license.
3. Modify the existing information as necessary
• To insert a new row, click Add. For information on completing the form fields, refer to Working in the
Continuing Education Section.
• Select the row to remove, then click Delete.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform updates the record with your changes.
Modifying Examination Information
Agencies often use acceptable scores on certification level exams to demonstrate a certain level of
competence before a licensee can obtain an occupational license.
Depending on your agency’s agreement with external provider, the provider may maintain their exam data
within Civic Platform or maintain their exam data on an external system and integrate the data with Civic
Platform via a URL link. Civic Platform records exam modifications to the log. You can click the View Log
button to view the change history. Consult with your agency administrator for the specific information that
your agency needs provide to examination providers who choose to use this option.
Users can also enter examination information manually on the Examination tab of the license record.
To modify examination information
1. Go to the License portlet and click the link of the license you want to modify.
2. Select the Examination tab in the record detail portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Examination information currently associated with this license.
3. Modify the existing information, as necessary
• To add a new exam session, click Add. For information on completing the form fields, see Working
in the Examination Section.
• To change to another exam session, click the Reschedule link, then select a reason for
rescheduling from the pop-up window.
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Note:
Agencies define the reasons for rescheduling and cancelling in the Standard Choice
REASON_FOR_RESCHEDULING_ CANCELING_EXAMINATION. See the Civic Platform
Configuration Reference for more information about Standard Choices.
If the fee items associated with the new exam are different from the ones in the previous exam
session, Civic Platform keeps the fee items with the Paid status from the previous exam, deletes the
fee items with the New status, and voids the fee items with the Invoiced and Unpaid status.
If the fee items associated with the new exam are the same as the ones in the previous exam
session, Civic Platform keeps the existing fee items.
• To cancel an exam session, click the Cancel link next to the Examination Date, and then select a
reason for canceling the session.
Civic Platform changes the schedule Status to Pending.
If the original status of the examination being canceled was Scheduled or Ready to Schedule, Civic
Platform keeps the fee items with the Paid status, deletes the fee items with the New status, and
voids the fee items with the Invoiced and Unpaid status.
• To remove an exam session, select the row that you want to remove and then click Delete.
Civic Platform keeps the fee items with the Paid status (but removes the association between the
examination and fee items), deletes the fee items with the New status, and voids the fee items with
the Invoiced and Unpaid status.
4. When you are finished making your changes, click Submit.
Civic Platform updates the record with your changes.
5. Click View Log to view changes to the exam schedules. See Audit Logs for more information.
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Paying a License Fee
After you complete the license information and then review the fee information associated with the license,
you can apply the payment to the license. Based on an agency’s business practices and user permissions,
not all users may be able to apply payments to fees.
To pay a license fee
1. Go to the License portlet and click the link of the license you want to modify.
2. Select the Payment tab in the record detail portlet.
Civic Platform displays all the invoices and transactions related to the license.
3. Click Pay.
Civic Platform displays the Fee Payment screen.
4. Modify the applicable payment information fields as needed. SeePayment Information for field
definitions.
Civic Platform displays the Payment Notice page.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the generate receipt page.
6. If you want to generate a receipt, click Submit.
Civic Platform displays two windows: a detailed Receipt and a Receipt Summary. You can print the
Receipt Summary page.
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7. If you want to print the receipt, click Print Receipt
Civic Platform prints the receipt on the default printer.
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Managing Associated PERMITS Plus APDs
If your agency uses the PERMITS Plus permitting system, you can associate PERMITS Plus APDs to Civic
Platform records. Civic Platform lists the associated APDs as child records in the licenses list.
Topics
•Associating a PERMITS Plus APD to a Record
•Viewing a Related PERMITS Plus APD
•Removing a Related PERMITS Plus APD
•Searching for a PERMITS Plus APD
Associating a PERMITS Plus APD to a Record
If your agency uses the PERMITS Plus permitting system and is transitioning to Vantage360, you can
maintain your PERMITS Plus APD records even as you begin to create new records in Civic Platform. As
your agency makes the transition from PERMITS Plus APDs to Civic Platform Records, you can associate
existing APDs to newer records and work with them simultaneously.
To associate a PERMITS Plus APD to a Record
1. Use Search to locate the existing records with the data you want to copy.
Civic Platform displays the record detail portlet.
2. Click the Related Records tab.
Civic Platform displays the Related Record Records record detail portlet.
3. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays a license Search portlet.
4. In the Data Source field drop-down menu, choose P+ - Permit Plus.
Complete other fields as needed. For a list of fields definitions, see Application Record Fields.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of PERMITS Plus APDs that match your search criteria.
6. Select the APD you want to associate.
7. Click Select as Parent to set the APD record as the parent of the current record, or click Select as
Child to set the APD record as the child of the current record.
Civic Platform associates the APD record to the Record.
Viewing a Related PERMITS Plus APD
1. Use Search to locate the record with the data you want to copy.
Civic Platform displays the detail portlet.
2. Click the Related Records tab.
Civic Platform displays the APDs and Records related to the license. The symbol [P+] identifies APDs.
Removing a Related PERMITS Plus APD
1. Use Search to locate the record with the data you want to copy.
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Civic Platform displays the detail portlet.
2. Click the Related Records tab.
Civic Platform displays the APDs and Records related to the license. The symbol [P+] identifies APDs.
3. Select the PERMITS Plus APD you want to remove.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the APD from the Related Records list.
Searching for a PERMITS Plus APD
If your agency subscribes to PERMITS Plus, you can search for an APD from the Civic Platform Licenses
portlet. Clicking an APD hyperlink launches PERMITS Plus and opens the selected record.
To search for a PERMITS Plus APD
1. Navigate to the Service Requests or Building Permit portlet.
Civic Platform displays the list portlet.
2. Click Search.
Civic Platform displays the search portlet.
3. Locate the Data Source field drop-down menu and choose P+ - Permit Plus.
Enter other search criteria as needed.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the APD search results. APD records show P+ as their data source; Civic
Platform records show no data source.
5. Click the link for the record you want to view.
Civic Platform launches PERMITS Plus and displays the APD detail portlet.
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Supervisor Override
Supervisors can override Civic Platform's license renewal process that prevents citizens from renewing
licenses when they have outstanding fees. For example, a citizen might have outstanding fees when they
come to the agency for a license renewal. In this case, the citizen cannot renew the license because of the
fee violation. However, if they pay the fees and submit proof of payment to the cashier, a supervisor can
authorize the renewal of the license in real-time.
To allow a supervisor to override a blocked license renewal, a supervisor role must be designated by the
Civic Platform administrator and the supervisor override functionality must be enabled for the renewal
record type. For details about the required configuration, see Civic Platform Administration Guide >
Enabling Supervisor Override.
Assuming the supervisor override feature is enabled and the supervisor role is set up, if an application or
license to be renewed has unpaid fees, Civic Platform shows the following prompt when a cashier clicks
the Renew button:
To override the renewal error, a user with the supervisor role can enter his/her username and password,
click Authorize, and enter an override reason. When the supervisor clicks Submit, the renewal process is
unblocked and continues to create the renewal record.
For more information about license renewal, see Civic Platform Administration Guide > License Renewal.
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Examining License Details
The following tables list and define the default fields available in the different interfaces you might
encounter when you work with licensing.
•License Details
•Renewal Information Fields
•Renewal Workflow New Status Options
•Contact Details
•Payment Information
License Details
The following table lists and defines fields that you may see on the License details portlet.
Table 42: License Details
Alternate ID An alternate ID for the Record. Many agencies use a shortened form of the Record
ID number.
Brief Description A brief description that helps you to identify this license.
Record ID The number used to identify a license. This number generates this automatically.
You cannot modify this number.
Record Name The name of the license.
Record Type The type of license. The type may be a concatenation of module, type, sub-type,
and category.
Detailed Description A detailed work description for this license.
Expiration Date The date the license expires.
Expiration Status The status of the license (for example, about to expire, delinquent, active).
Status The current status of the license. If you are updating license details, you an
change this status. Use the drop-down list to choose a status.
Status Group If you are searching for a license, you can specify what status group the license
status belongs to.
Renewal Information Fields
The following table lists and defines fields that you may see on the Renewal Information tab.
Table 43: Renewal Information Fields
Expiration Code This is the code, set by your agency and agency administrator, that identifies the
license renewal process.
Expiration Date The expiration date of the license that Civic Platform automatically assigned when it
created the license.
Expiration Interval Indicates how often the license expires.
Expiration Status Shows the current status of the license. Status may include: pending, expired,
delinquent, or active.
Grace Period Interval Indicates the length of the grace period after the license expires.
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Number of Penalty Periods Indicates the number of penalty periods allowed for this license. Each penalty
period is the length of the penalty interval and occurs following the grace period or a
previous penalty period.
Pay Period Group The pay period group for this renewal process. Any fees assessed for licenses with
this renewal process come from this pay period group.
Penalty Fee Code This identifies the fee code used to calculate the penalty fee associated with the
license.
Penalty Fee Function This generates the penalty fee. Civic Platform runs this function within the License
batch process. Civic Platform does not use the function if you choose to assess fees
manually.
Penalty Interval Indicates the length of each penalty period related to the license.
Renewal Fee Code This code identifies the fee item used to calculate the renewal fee.
Renewal Fee Function This allows you to generate a renewal fee. It is not used if you choose to assess fees
manually.
Renewal Workflow New Status Options
The following table lists and defines fields that you may have available in the Workflow Status.
Table 44: Renewal Workflow New Status Options
Accepted An application review is complete; the information is acceptable.
Accepted/ No Review The renewal is approved without a review of the renewal information.
Approved The application has been reviewed; the information is acceptable.
Denied The license cannot be reviewed. For example, the business did not pass an
inspection.
Issued The renewal has been accepted and the license issued.
On Hold The renewal is postponed but not rejected. For example, the administrator needs
to verify the payment information.
In Process The renewal is in the process of completing the associated task.
Not Issued The renewal has been accepted, but the license has not been issue.
Not Required The step is not needed to renew the license.
Pending The renewal is postponed but not rejected. For example, the administrator needs
to verify the payment information.
Ready to move to next task. The application requirements have been met and the renewal can move to the
next task in the workflow.
Contact Details
The following table lists and defines fields you may have available in the Contact Details.
Table 45: Contact Details
Address 1 The street address for the contact.
City The city where the contact is located.
Country The country the contact is located.
Email The email address for the contact.
Fax The fax number for the contact.
First Name The first name of the contact.
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Last Name The last name of the contact.
Notes Any additional notes that identify the contact.
Organization Name The name of the organization the contact is affiliated with.
Phone 1 The primary phone number for the contact.
Phone 2 The secondary phone number for the contact.
Preferred Channel The communication method that the contact prefers. For example, if a contacts prefers
to be contacted via email, select “email.”
Relationship The contact’s relationship to the license.
State The state where the contact is located from the drop-down list.
Type The contact type.
Zip The zip code where the contact is located.
Payment Information
The following table lists and defines fields you may have available in the Payment Information section.
Table 46: Payment Information
Amount The payment amount.
CC Auth Code The three digit authorization number located on back of the credit card.
CC Exp Date The expiration date of the credit card being used for the payment.
CC Holder Name The name of the credit card holder
Comment Comments pertaining to the payment.
Method The payment method. For example, cash, credit card, debit card, check, or money
order.
Payee The person who is paying the fee.
Reference # The reference number associated with the payment. For example, a check number or
the last four digits of a credit card.
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Model Maintenance
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with models.
Related Information
Model Maintenance Overview
Creating a New Model
Deleting a Model
Creating a Model Record
Managing Variations
Examining Model Details
| Model Maintenance | 587
Model Maintenance Overview
You can create applications for a residence based on a model. A model is a preliminary work or
construction that serves as a plan from which a final product is to be made.
To create new applications based on models, you must create and maintain the models. For example,
suppose that a contractor plans to build a large subdivision containing five basic house models. Each of
these models can have many different variations such as: the number of bedrooms and location, style of
fireplaces, size of garage, and size and design of decks. The basic floor plans of these models will remain
the same. The application types remain the same and a significant portion of the application information
would be identical from application to application. You can create five different application models with
variations to accommodate the different variation choices. Then, when the contractor submits building
applications, you may simplify the application intake process by using existing models.
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Creating a New Model
Once you create a new model, you need to add variations and create a record model.
To create a new model
1. Navigate to Modeling Maintenance.
Civic Platform displays the Modeling Maintenance window.
2. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the Model detail form.
3. Complete the fields with available data. See Model Detail Fields for field definitions.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the new model to the Modeling Maintenance list.
5. Add variations as necessary. See Managing Variations.
6. Add a model record for the model. See Creating a Model Record.
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Deleting a Model
You may delete a model when it is no longer used. Be certain that you will not need the model in the future
because once a model is deleted, you cannot retrieve it.
To delete a model
1. Navigate to Modeling Maintenance.
Civic Platform displays the Modeling Maintenance window.
2. Select the models you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
Civic Platform deletes each model you selected and removes them from the model list.
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Creating a Model Record
To create a model record
1. Navigate to the Record portlet.
Civic Platform displays the record list portlet.
2. Click Create From Model.
Civic Platform displays a list of models.
3. You can use search to locate the model you want to work with.
4. Select the models you want and then click Select or click the link in the Name column.
Civic Platform displays the selected model details.
5. Update the information for the model record as you would for a new application.
You may need to supply application information, address information, owner information, application
specific information, and other information depending on the application type. Remember that this is the
model, so leave fields blank that will have different information for each application based on the model.
See Modeling Main Page Fields for field definitions.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates the model record.
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Managing Variations
A model serves as a template that can also auto-populate many fields on a new application. However,
differences will arise from one application to another. For example, in a subdivision with three basic
models, residents may choose to add bay windows, fireplaces, a central vacuum system, or they might
increase the square footage of the family room, thereby increasing the overall square footage. Other
residents might choose not to get central air conditioning or they might combine two adjoining bedrooms
into one. Someone may remove certain features to get their house built on a tighter budget.
Such deviations can be managed by creating variations for a model. Each variation can list several
choices, each of which can be configured to save time during the application intake process.
Topics
•Creating a Variation
•Deleting a Variation
•Establishing Choices for a Variation
•Deleting Variation Choices
•Establishing Choice Occupancies for a Variation
•Deleting Choice Occupancies from a Variation
Creating a Variation
The first step to creating a variation is to name it and establish the principle details. Once you have
created a variation, you may add variation choices and occupancies. For instructions on managing
variation choices, see Establishing Choices for a Variation. For instructions on managing occupancies, see
Establishing Choice Occupancies for a Variation.
To create a variation
1. Choose Modeling Maintenance.
Civic Platform displays the Modeling Maintenance window.
2. Create a new model or open the model you want to work with (see Creating a New Model).
3. Click the Variations tab.
Civic Platform displays the Variations tab.
4. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the Variation Detail form.
5. Enter available data in the form fields. See Variation Details for field definitions.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the new variation to the Variations tab.
7. Update variation details as described in Establishing Choices for a Variation.
Deleting a Variation
You may delete a variation if it is no longer needed or if it was created by mistake.
| Model Maintenance | 592
Note:
Deletion is permanent. If you are uncertain whether a variation is unnecessary, you can disable it rather than
deleting it.
To delete a variation
1. Choose Modeling Maintenance.
Civic Platform displays the Modeling Maintenance window.
2. Create a new model or open the model you want to work with (see Creating a New Model).
3. Click the Variations tab.
Civic Platform displays the Variations tab.
4. Select the variation you want to delete.
5. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the variation from the Variations tab.
Establishing Choices for a Variation
A variation typically provides choices. For example, you can create a fireplace variation that offers choices
such as wood burning, electric, gas, or none. Or you can create a building materials variation that offers
choices such as stone, brick, or marble.
To establish choices for a variation
1. Create a new variation or open the variation you want to work with (see Creating a Variation).
Civic Platform displays the Variation Detail tab.
2. Click the Variation Choice tab.
Civic Platform displays the Variation Choice tab.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the Choice Detail tab.
4. Enter data as appropriate.
Choice Name This is the option you are offering. For example, if you are creating a fireplace
variation, you can enter Gas Brick, Electric Brick, Gas Rock, and None as different
choices.
Default Choice Defines whether a choice is the default selection.
Display Order This defines the display order of variation choices in the drop-down list. For
example, if you want the most common variation choices listed at the top, you can
set a high display order value.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the detail to the Variation Choice tab.
Deleting Variation Choices
To delete variation choices
1. Open the variation you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the Variation Detail tab.
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2. Click the Variation Choice tab.
Civic Platform displays the Variation Choice tab.
3. Select the variation choice you want to delete.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the selected variation choices from the Variation Choice tab.
Establishing Choice Occupancies for a Variation
Choice occupancies are the details about a variation that save time and effort. For example, if a variation
increases the square footage of a plan, the choice occupancy can automatically adjust the new square
footage on the application.
To establish choice occupancies for a variation
1. Create a new variation or open the variation you want to work with (see Creating a Variation).
Civic Platform displays the Variation Detail tab.
2. Click the Variation Choice tab.
Civic Platform displays the Variation Choice tab.
3. Click the link for the variation detail you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the Choice Detail tab.
4. Click the Choice Occupancies tab.
Civic Platform displays the Choice Occupancies tab.
5. Click New.
Civic Platform displays a Occupancy and Unit Type form.
6. Select the desired Occupancy and Unit Type values.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the occupancy to the Choice Occupancies tab.
Deleting Choice Occupancies from a Variation
You may delete a choice occupation from a variation if it is no longer needed or if it was created by
mistake. Deletion is permanent.
To delete choice occupancies from a variation
1. Open the variation you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the Variation Detail tab.
2. Click the Variation Choice tab.
Civic Platform displays the Variation Choice tab.
3. Click the link for the variation detail you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the Choice Detail tab.
4. Click the Choice Occupancies tab.
Civic Platform displays the Choice Occupancies tab.
5. Select the choice occupancies that you want to delete.
| Model Maintenance | 594
6. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the selected occupancies from the Choice Occupancies tab.
| Model Maintenance | 595
Examining Model Details
The tables in this section list and define the fields that you may see on the portlets and forms you work with
when doing model maintenance.
Model Detail Fields
The following table lists and defines the available fields (listed in alphabetical order) on the Model detail
form.
Table 47: Model Detail Field Descriptions
Active Indicates if a model active or disabled.
Allow Others to Modify Indicates whether other users (other than the creator) can make changes to a model.
Allow Others to Use Indicates whether other people within your agency can create applications using this
model.
Category The category of the model record.
Created By The user who created the model.
Created Date The model creation date.
Detailed Description A description of the model. The description may include specifics that help to identify
the model and set it apart from similar models.
Group The group from the model record.
Maximum Init Count This number defines how many applications a user can create from the model at any
one time.
Name The name for the model.
Subtype The subtype from the model record.
Title The title for your model.
Type The type from the model record.
Modeling Main Page Fields
The following table lists and defines the available fields (listed in alphabetical order) on the Modeling main
page.
Table 48: Modeling Main Page Field List
Category The category from the model record.
Group The group from the model record.
Location Option A suitable location for the modeling record. Options include:
No Prompting: Civic Platform does not prompt a window and directly creates a
model record.
Prompt for Address: Civic Platform searches for an existing address and
associate it with the model record.
Prompt for Parcel:Civic Platform searches for an existing parcel and associate it
with the model record.
Use Current Parcel Owner: Defines whether to use the current parcel owner
information.
Maximum Init Count This number limits how many applications you can create from the model at any
one time.
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Quantity to Initialize This is the quantity you want to initialize for your model.
Set Membership Option Select Set Membership information.
Status The status of the model.
Subtype The subtype from the model record.
Type The type from the model record.
Variation Details
The following table lists and defines the available fields (listed in alphabetical order) for Variation.
Table 49: Variation Details
Active Defines whether the variation is available for use.
Allow Multiple Choice Defines whether to allow a user to choose one or more options for a singe variation.
For example, in an electrical variation, a person might select one or more of the
following choices: additional outlets, ceiling fans, additional light switches, and
stereo wiring.
Display Order This defines the display order of variations. 1 is first in the display order.
Variation Name A name for the variation.
Choice Occupancy Details
The following table lists and defines the available fields (listed in alphabetical order) for Choice Occupancy.
Table 50: Choice Occupancy Details
Adjust/Set Defines whether to adjust or set the square footage or the count. For example, a
variation removes ten feet from the width of a two-story house that is 30 feet deep, you
can adjust the square footage by -600 square feet.
Display Order This defines the display order of occupancy choices.
Occupancy Displays the occupancy that you chose when you created the variation choice
occupancy. Use the valuation calculator to establish the occupancy options.
Qty The quantity by which you want to adjust or set the square footage or the count. For
example, if a variation adds a bay window that is three feet by five feet, you adjust the
square footage by 15 feet.
Sqft/Count Displays the square footage or the count that coincides with the variation choice
occupancy. Use the valuation calculator to establish the square footage and the count.
Unit Displays the unit that coincides with the variation choice occupancy. Use the valuation
calculator to establish the units.
Unit Type Displays the unit type that you chose when you created the variation choice occupancy.
Use the valuation calculator to establish the unit types.
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Property
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with addresses, parcels, and owners
(APO).
Related Information
Property Overview
Managing Addresses
Managing Parcels
Managing Owners
Managing Section, Township, and Range
Examining Property-Related Portlets
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Property Overview
You can use Civic Platform to track the addresses, parcels, and owners related to an application. Typically,
a property is the physical location of a building project. You can describe a property using official parcel
information, standard address information, and owner information. Civic Platform stores the records you
create using address, property, and owner information in your reference database.
Depending on your agency’s settings, associated address, parcel, owner, structure, and establishment
records can populate a permit record either automatically or following a prompt. This action facilitates data
entry and ensures accuracy when creating a record. Talk to your agency administrator for information
about reference data synchronization.
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Managing Addresses
When you search for an address when creating a new application, you are searching a database of stored
addresses that you can associate with applications. Depending on your privileges, you may be able to
create new reference addresses as well as modify existing address records in the database.
Topics
•Working with Reference Addresses on the Addresses Portlet
•Associating an Address with a Parcel
•Associating or Disassociating a Contact with an Address
•Associating or Dissociating an Address with an Application Record
•Associating an Address with an Address Type
•Associating an Inspection District with an Address
•Locating an Address with Accela GIS
•Working with External APO Data
Working with Reference Addresses on the Addresses Portlet
Use the Addresses portlet to search for, edit, or add addresses to the reference database. You cannot
delete addresses from the reference database after you add them. However, you can disable an address,
which prevents users from associating that address with new applications, while preserving any existing
association of the address in an application.
Note:
The ability to add or edit reference addresses to the database is dependent on your user privileges. If you
do not have sufficient privileges, you can add an address to an application manually (see Adding a New
Address to a Building Application).
To locate an existing reference address
1. Click the Addresses main link.
Civic Platform displays the Addresses Search page.
2. Locate the address you want to work with and click the link.
Civic Platform displays the address details.
3. If you are editing the address record, make changes to the address fields as needed, then click Submit.
If you want to view a list of applications associated with the address, click the Record Detail tab.
To add a reference address
1. Click the Addresses main link.
Civic Platform displays the Reference Address Search page.
2. Click Cancel.
Civic Platform displays the Reference Address list portlet.
3. Click New.
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Civic Platform displays the address details on the tabs.
4. Enter data in the Address fields as available, taking care to populate required fields. See Address Fields
for field definitions.
5. Click Submit
Civic Platform creates the new reference address, which is now available for association to
applications.
Associating an Address with a Parcel
You can associate one or more parcels to a reference address. Your agency can configure Civic Platform
to update parcel information (either automatically or at a prompt) in an application when a user adds or
removes the associated address.
To associate a parcel to an address
1. Locate an existing reference address in the Addresses list portlet (see Working with Reference
Addresses on the Addresses Portlet) and click the link for the address you want to work with
Civic Platform displays the address details on the tabs.
2. Click the Parcel tab in the Address detail form.
If there are existing parcels associated with the address, Civic Platform lists them in this tab.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays a detail form.
4. Identify the parcel you want to associate.
• To enter a parcel manually, complete the Parcel form and click Submit.
• To locate and select an existing parcel, click Look Up.Enter search criteria as needed to locate the
desired parcel and click Submit. Select the parcel(s) you want to associate and click Select.
Civic Platform confirms that it successfully associated the parcel to the address.
Associating or Disassociating a Contact with an Address
You can create associations between contacts and addresses, which allows for a contact to have address
information independent of the owner-parcel relationship. A contact can also have an address associated
with a parcel as needed.
To associate an address to a contact
1. Locate an existing reference address in the Addresses list portlet (see Working with Reference
Addresses on the Addresses Portlet) and click the link for the address you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the address details on the tabs.
2. Click the Contact tab.
Civic Platform displays the address contact list page.
3. Identify the contact you want to associate.
• To enter a new contact, click New, complete the Contact Detail form (see Contact Detail Fields for
field descriptions), then click Submit.
• To locate and select an existing contact, click Look Up. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the
desired contact and click Submit. Select the contact(s) you want to associate and click Select.
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Civic Platform displays the contact in the contact list portlet.
To disassociate a contact from an address
1. Locate the address you want to work with in the Addresses list portlet (see Working with Reference
Addresses on the Addresses Portlet) and click the link for the address.
Civic Platform displays the address details on the tabs.
2. Click the Contact tab.
Civic Platform displays the address contact list page.
3. Select each contact you want to disassociate from the address.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform deletes the contact from the address.
Associating or Dissociating an Address with an Application Record
You can associate one or more addresses with an application. You can add addresses manually, or select
an address from the reference database. Your agency can configure Civic Platform to update parcel,
owner, structure, or establishment information associated with the address (either automatically or at a
prompt) in an application when a user adds or removes the associated address.
Topics
•Adding an Address from a Reference Database
•Adding a New Address to a Building Application
•Viewing Associated Applications
•Editing an Address on a Record
•Removing an Address from an Application
Adding an Address from a Reference Database
To add an address from your reference database
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
See Using the Search Features for information about searching.
2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
3. Click the Addresses tab that displays on the tabs.
4. Click Look Up.
5. Enter search criteria as needed to located the desired address.
6. Click Submit to execute the search.
Civic Platform displays your search results.
7. Select each address you want to add.
8. Click Select.
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9. If any parcel, owner, structure, or establishment records has an association with the address, one of the
following occurs, depending on your agency’s settings:
• The associated reference data automatically populates the application. If this is the case, you do not
receive notification that the data populated until you click Submit in the next step.
• Associated reference data displays. Select which data you want to add to the application then click
Select.
Civic Platform adds the address and any associated reference data that you selected to the
application.
• If the associated reference data does not populate automatically or there is no prompt, you must
manually add the data to the record.
10.Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the address to the work order or the asset.
Adding a New Address to a Building Application
You can add an address to a record manually when you do not find it in the reference database.
Note:
Civic Platform does not store new addresses that you add from these areas in the reference database. To
add a new address to your reference database, see Working with Reference Addresses on the Addresses
Portlet.
To add an address to a building application
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
See Using the Search Features for information about searching.
2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
3. Click the Addresses tab that displays on the tabs.
4. Click New.
5. Complete the fields with available data. See Address Fields for field definitions.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform saves the address.
Viewing Associated Applications
You can view reference addresses associated with applications from the Addresses portlet. You can view
application details by selecting the ID for the application.
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To view applications associated with a reference address
1. Navigate to the Addresses portlet and use Search to find the address you want to work with.
2. Click the link the Street # column for the address you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the address details.
3. Click the Record List tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of applications associated with the address.
4. To view or update application details, click the link to the application that you want to view.
Editing an Address on a Record
After you add an address to a record, you can modify the address details as needed.
Note:
Editing an address for an application does not change the details about the address in your reference
database or affect any other applications with the same address. The changes affect only the application
that you are currently working on.
To edit an address for an application
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
See Using the Search Features for information about searching.
2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
3. Click the Addresses tab.
Civic Platform displays the address associated with the application.
4. Locate the address you want to edit in the Street # column.
Civic Platform displays the Address Detail portlet.
5. Edit any of the fields that display. For a description of the fields, see Address Fields.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform saves the changes to the address.
Removing an Address from an Application
If an address is no longer relevant to the item or is no longer an association, you can remove it from the
application. Removal of an address from an application does not delete the address from the reference
database, however, not does it affect other applications associated with the same address. Removal of an
address from an application only removes the association between the address and application.
To delete a address from an application
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
See Using the Search Features for information about searching.
2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want.
Civic Platform displays the record details portlet.
3. Click the Addresses tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of addresses associated with the application.
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4. Choose the addresses you want to delete.
5. Click Delete.
6. If any parcel, owner, structure, or establishment record has an association with the address, one of the
following occurs, depending on your agency’s settings:
• The associated reference data automatically deletes from the record.
• A pop-up window displays the associated reference data. You can select which data you want to
delete from the record, then click Select.
Civic Platform removes the address and any associated reference data that you selected from the
application.
• If the associated reference data does not delete automatically and no prompt displays, you must
manually delete the data from the record.
Civic Platform removes the address from the list.
Associating an Address with an Address Type
You can associate an address with an address type, such as Street Address or Parcel Address. Address
types enable users to classify and group addresses according to the application type. Address types apply
to multiple portlets including Address, Asset, Parcel, and Record.
To associate an address with an address type
1. Navigate to the Addresses portlet and use Search to find the address you want to work with.
2. Create a new address or select the address you want to associate with an address type.
Civic Platform displays the address details.
3. Click the Address Type tab.
Civic Platform displays the Address Type portlet.
4. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the Address Type Lookup portlet.
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5. Enter the Address Type and Description and click Submit.
Civic Platform displays all address types that match your look up criteria.
6. Select the address type(s) you want to associate with the address.
7. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the selected address type(s) to the address.
8. To remove an address type, select the address type you want to remove, and click Delete.
Civic Platform updates the address record.
Associating an Inspection District with an Address
Users can group the addresses assigned to them by district. For example an inspector can group
addresses as he organizes inspections within a designated area. For more information about districts, see
Chapter 47, Inspections, in the Accela Civic Platform Administrator Guide.
To assign a district to an address
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
See Using the Search Features for information about searching.
2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
3. Click the Address tab.
Civic Platform displays the address list in the detail portlet.
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4. Under the Number column in the address list, click the hyperlinked name of the address.
Civic Platform displays the Address Detail portlet.
5. Click the District tab.
Civic Platform displays the District tab in the detail portlet.
6. Click Search.
Civic Platform displays the Inspection District list in the detail portlet.
7. Select the district(s) you want to assign to the address.
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the selected district(s) in the District list.
Locating an Address with Accela GIS
You can use Accela GIS to locate addresses. Accela GIS is an interface that works in conjunction with the
Civic Platform V360 interface to provide automated maps from a central database. Accela GIS gives staff
direct access to view geographic representations of all land-use, zoning, and infrastructure information
associated with a parcel, permit, inspection, or plan. If your agency uses Accela GIS, you can use the map
viewer to locate an address and any related applications.
For more information on how to locate an address using Accela GIS, refer to the Accela Civic Platform GIS
documentation set.
To locate addresses with Accela GIS
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
See Using the Search Features for information about searching.
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2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
3. Click the Addresses tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of addresses associated with the application.
4. Select each address you want to view on the map.
5. From the drop-down located next to the GIS button, select the map service you want to use.
6. Use the GIS toolbar buttons to locate an address, locate the latitude and longitude, or save a location.
You can also center the map and zoom in or zoom out.
Civic Platform displays the addresses you selected as red dots on the Accela GIS map.
Working with External APO Data
Your agency administrator can configure the Address portlet in a way that allows you to view records
associated with address data from an external application server . You can also run reports for associated
records. For information on running reports, see Accessing and Running a Report via a List Portlet.
To view external APO data
1. Find the address you want to work with.
Navigate to the Addresses portlet and click Search.
2. Complete any fields that display. For a description of the fields, see Address Fields.
3. Locate the address you want to work with in the Street # column.
Civic Platform displays the address details.
4. Click the Record List tab.
Civic Platform displays the records associated with the selected external address information.
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Managing Parcels
When you search for a parcel when creating a new application, you are searching a database of stored
parcels that you can associate with applications. Depending on your privileges, you may be able to create
new reference parcels as well as modify existing parcel records in the reference database.
Topics
•Adding a Reference Parcel
•Searching for a Reference Parcel
•Associating a Parcel to an Application
•Working with Parcel Conditions
•Working with Parcel Documents
•Working with Associated Inspection Districts
•Working with Reference Data
•Working with Parcel Activities
•Associating a Public User with a Parcel
•Working with Associated Trust Accounts
•Establishing a Parcel Genealogy
•Working with External APO Data
•Viewing Parcels in Accela GIS
Adding a Reference Parcel
You can add new parcels to your reference database. After you add a reference parcel, you can look up
the parcel when associating parcels with a specific application.
To add a reference parcel
1. Click the Parcels main link.
Civic Platform displays the Reference Parcel Search page.
2. Click Cancel.
Civic Platform displays the Reference Parcel list portlet.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the Create New Parcel page.
4. Complete any of the fields that display. See Parcel List Portlet Fields.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the parcel to the reference database.
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Searching for a Reference Parcel
After you add a parcel to your reference database, you can search for the parcel and view the parcel
details as well as any applications that the parcel has an association with. The parcel number is the only
required field when searching for a parcel.
The parcel number, owner name, and street name fields support wildcard searches. See Performing a
Wildcard Search for information.
To search for a reference parcel
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet and click Search.
2. Complete any fields that display. For a description of the fields, see Parcel List Portlet Fields.
Note:
According to your agency’s settings and the form layout, there may be template fields in addition to the
standard fields listed in Parcel List Portlet Fields. The additional fields are active attributes defined in the
parcel template in Civic Platform.
3. Locate the parcel you want to work with in the Parcel # column.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
4. To add a parcel to a record, click Add reference parcel to record.
5. To view a list of applications associated with the parcel, click the Record Detail tab.
Associating a Parcel to an Application
You can associate one or more parcels to an application.
Agencies can configure Civic Platform such that any address, owner, structure, or establishment record
associated to a parcel populates to a record when you associate the parcel to the record. Contact your
agency administrator for information about your agency’s configured functionality for synchronizing
reference data.
Topics
•Adding a New Parcel to an Application
•Adding a Parcel from a Reference Database
•Viewing Records Associated with a Parcel
•Adding Records into a New Set
•Copying or Moving Applications Between Parcels
•Editing a Parcel Associated with an Application
•Removing a Parcel from an Application
Adding a New Parcel to an Application
Civic Platform does not store any new parcels that you add to an application in your reference database.
To add a new parcel to your reference database, see Adding a Reference Parcel.
To add a new parcel to a building application
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
See Using the Search Features for information about searching.
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2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
3. Click the Parcels tab.
4. Click New.
5. Complete any of the fields that display.
For descriptions of common fields, see Parcel List Portlet Fields.
6. Click Submit.
Adding a Parcel from a Reference Database
You can add a parcel to an application by searching for an existing parcel in your reference database.
To add a parcel from a reference database
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
See Using the Search Features for information about searching.
2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
3. Click the Parcel tab.
4. Click Look Up to locate a reference parcel.
5. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the parcel you want and click Submit.
Civic Platform displays your search results.
6. Select the parcels you want to add.
7. Click Select to add the reference parcel to a record.
8. If the parcel has any associated addresses, owners, structures, or establishments, one of the following
occurs, depending on your agency’s settings:
• The associated reference data automatically populates the application. If this is the case, you do not
receive notification that the data uploaded until you click Submit in step 11.
• A pop-up window displays the associated reference data. Select which data you want to add to the
record and then click Select.
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The parcel and any associated reference data that you selected upload to the application.
• If associated reference data does not upload automatically or following a prompt, you must manually
add the data to the record.
9. Click Submit.
The Parcel tab displays a message that Civic Platform added the parcels.
Viewing Records Associated with a Parcel
After you look up a reference parcel, you can view a list of record associations for the parcel .
To view records associated with a reference parcel
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet and use Search to locate the parcel you want to work with.
2. Click the link in the Parcel # column for the parcel that you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
3. Click the Associated Record List tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of records associated with the parcel.
4. Complete one of these options:
• Select the From Current Parcel Only option.
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Civic Platform displays the records associated with the selected parcel on the Associated Record
List tab.
• Select the From Current Parcel or Its History option.
Civic Platform displays the records associated with the selected parcel and its parents,
grandparents, or ancestors on the Associated Record List tab.
5. To view or update record details, click the link to the record that you want to view.
Adding Records into a New Set
You can add records associated with a reference parcel or its genealogically related parcels into a new set.
To create a set of parcel records
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet and use Search to locate the parcel you want to work with.
2. Click the link in the Parcel # column for the parcel that you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
3. Click the Associated Record List tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of records associated with the parcel.
4. Select the records that you want to add into a new set.
5. Click Create a Set.
Civic Platform displays the SET ID form in the portlet.
6. Complete the fields with available data.
Set ID This is an alphanumeric abbreviation that identifies the new set. For example, enter
“EDP.” The value may be auto-generated.
Set Name This is a name that identifies the new set.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates the set and adds all the selected records into the set.
Copying or Moving Applications Between Parcels
When you split or merge a parcel, you may need to adjust the parcel-application associations. To help
accomplish this task, Civic Platform enables you to copy or to move applications between genealogically
related parcels.
To copy or move an application
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet and use Search to locate the parcel you want to work with.
2. Click the link in the Parcel # column for the parcel that you want to work with.
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Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
3. Click the Associated Record List tab.
Civic Platform displays the Associated Record List tab for the parcel.
4. Select the application that you want to copy or move.
5. Click Copy to copy the application to a genealogically related parcel.
Click Move to move the application to a genealogically related parcel.
Civic Platform displays a list of parcels, including the current parcel and its immediate parents, siblings,
and children.
6. Select the parcel(s) that you want to copy or move the application to.
7. Click Submit.
If you are copying, Civic Platform attaches the selected application to the newly selected parcel(s) while
retaining the association between the application and the original parcel.
If you are moving, Civic Platform attaches the selected application to the newly selected parcel(s) and
removes the application from the original parcel.
Editing a Parcel Associated with an Application
After you add a parcel to an application, you can edit the parcel details as needed to correct mistakes or
complete partial information.
Note:
When you edit a parcel for an application, you are not changing the details about the parcel in your
reference database, nor do your changes affect any other applications with the same parcel. Your changes
affect only the current application.
To edit an parcel associated to an application
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use search to locate the record you want to work with.
See Using the Search Features for information about searching.
2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want.
Civic Platform displays the record detail portlet.
3. Click the Parcels tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of parcels associated with the application.
4. Click the Parcel # link for the parcel that you want to edit.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
5. Update parcel data as needed. See Parcel List Portlet Fields for field definitions.
6. Click Submit.
Removing a Parcel from an Application
You can remove a parcel from an application as needed. Removal of a parcel from an application does not
delete the parcel from your reference database, nor does it affect other applications associated with the
same parcel.
To delete a parcel from an application
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1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
See Using the Search Features for information about searching.
2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
3. Click the Parcels tab that displays on the tabs.
Civic Platform displays a list of parcels associated with the application.
4. Select the parcel(s) you want to delete.
5. Click Delete.
6. If the parcel has any associated addresses, owners, structures, or establishments, one of the following
occurs, depending on your agency’s settings
• Civic Platform automatically removes the associated reference data from the record and notifies you
of the action.
• A pop-up window displays the associated reference data. Select which data you want to remove
from the application and then click Select.
Civic Platform removes the parcel and any associated reference data that you selected from the
application.
• If Civic Platform does not remove the associated reference data automatically or following a prompt,
you must manually remove the data from the record.
Civic Platform updates the parcel list, removing the parcel you selected and other associated
reference data, where applicable.
Working with Parcel Conditions
After you create parcel records, you can use the Conditions tab to manage the conditions applied to
parcels. Based on your agency’s user group settings, you may or may not have access to the parcel
conditions and all the features described in this section. Contact your agency administrator for more
information.
Topics
•Adding a Condition
•Viewing Associated Conditions
•Copying or Moving a Condition
•Deleting a Condition
Adding a Condition
You can create a custom condition for the parcel or apply a standard condition associated with the parcel
group or parcel type. For detailed information on conditions, see Conditions .
To add a custom condition to a parcel
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet.
2. Locate the parcel you want to work with, and click the link in the Parcel # column.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
3. Click the Conditions tab.
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Civic Platform displays the Conditions tab for the parcel.
4. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the New Condition portlet.
5. If you are creating a custom condition, complete the fields with available data. For a description of the
fields, see Conditions Form Fields.
6. If you are creating a standard condition:
a. Click the appropriate Standard Condition hyperlink.
Civic Platform displays the Standard Condition search portlet.
b. Enter search criteria to locate the standard condition you want, then click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of standard conditions that match your search criteria.
c. Click Edit for the standard condition you want to attach to the parcel.
Civic Platform populates the New Condition form with the values from the standard condition you
selected.
d. Edit the fields as needed.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the condition to the record.
Viewing Associated Conditions
You can view the custom conditions and standard conditions applied to a parcel or the conditions applied
to the parcel and its parents, grandparents, or ancestors.
To view associated conditions
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet.
2. Locate the parcel you want to work with, and click the link in the Parcel # column.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
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3. Click the Conditions tab.
Civic Platform displays the Conditions tab for the selected parcel.
4. Select whether to display conditions for the current parcel (From Current Parcel Only), or for the
current parcel and its parents, grandparents, or other ancestors (From Current Parcel or Its History).
5. Click the link to any condition to view details.
Copying or Moving a Condition
When you split or merge a parcel, you may need to adjust the conditions applied to the parcel. To help
accomplish this task, Civic Platform enables you to copy or to move conditions between genealogically
related parcels.
To copy or move a condition
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet.
2. Locate the parcel you want to work with, and click the link in the Parcel # column.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
3. Click the Conditions tab.
Civic Platform displays the Conditions tab for the parcel.
4. Select the condition that you want to copy or move.
5. Click Copy to copy the associated condition to a genealogically related parcel.
Click Move to move the associated condition to a genealogically related parcel
Civic Platform displays a list of parcels, including the current parcel and its immediate parents, siblings,
and children.
6. Select the parcel that you want to copy or move the condition to.
7. Click Submit.
If you are copying, Civic Platform associates the selected condition with the newly selected parcel while
retaining the association between the condition and the original parcel.
If you are moving, Civic Platform associates the selected condition to the newly selected parcel and
dissociates the condition with the original parcel.
Deleting a Condition
You can delete any associated condition for a parcel. After you remove the condition, it is no longer applied
to the parcel, but it is still available for review only on the Conditions tab.
To delete a condition
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet.
2. Locate the parcel you want to work with, and click the link in the Parcel # column.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
3. Click the Conditions tab.
Civic Platform displays the Conditions tab for the parcel.
4. Select the From Current Parcel Only option.
Civic Platform displays the conditions associated with the selected parcel on the Conditions tab.
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5. Select the condition you want to delete.
6. Click Delete.
Civic Platform disables the condition.
Working with Parcel Documents
After you have created parcel records, you can use the Document tab for the parcel to manage associated
documents. For detailed information about uploading, downloading, and removing documents, as well as
viewing document information, see Attachments . Based on your agency’s user group settings, you may
or may not have access to all the features described in this section. Contact your agency administrator for
more information.
Topics
•Viewing Associated Documents
•Copying or Moving a Document
•Downloading and Printing Multiple Documents
Viewing Associated Documents
You can view the documents associated with a parcel or the documents associated with the parcel and its
parents, grandparents, or ancestors.
To view attached documents
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet.
2. Locate the parcel you want to work with, and click the link in the Parcel # column.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
3. Click the Document tab.
Civic Platform displays the Document tab for the selected parcel.
4. Select whether to display documents for the current parcel (From Current Parcel Only), or for the
current parcel and its parents, grandparents, or other ancestors (From Current Parcel or Its History).
5. Click the link to any document to view details.
Copying or Moving a Document
When you split or merge a parcel, you may need to adjust the parcel-attachment relationship. To help you
accomplish this task, Civic Platform enables you to copy or to move attachments between genealogically
related parcels.
To copy or move a document
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet.
2. Locate the parcel you want to work with, and click the link in the Parcel # column.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
3. Click the Document tab.
Civic Platform displays the Document tab for the parcel.
4. Select the documents that you want to copy or move.
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5. Click Copy to copy the documents to a genealogically related parcel.
Click Move to move the documents to a genealogically related parcel.
Civic Platform displays a list of parcels, including the current parcel and its immediate parents, siblings,
and children.
6. Select the parcel that you want to copy or move the documents to.
7. Click Submit.
If you are copying, Civic Platform attaches the selected document to the newly selected parcel while
retaining the association between the document and the original parcel.
If you are moving, Civic Platform attaches the selected documents to the newly selected parcel and
removes the documents from the original parcel.
Downloading and Printing Multiple Documents
To download multiple documents, choose the documents and click Manage Documents > Download.
Note that the Civic Platform administrator must grant Upload and Download permission on the
Administration > Agency Profile > Security Policy > EDMS Access Security > {EDMS-Name} to enable
multiple document downloads.
To print multiple documents, choose the documents and click Manage Documents > Print. Note that
the Print option only shows if the Civic Platform administrator has configured FID 8508 Print Multiple
Documents with Full Access.
Working with Associated Inspection Districts
After you have created parcel records, you can use the District tab for the parcel to manage the associated
inspection districts. Based on your agency’s user group settings, you may or may not have access to all
the features described in this section. Contact your agency administrator for more information.
Topics
•Associating an Inspection District with a Parcel
•Copying or Moving an Inspection District
Associating an Inspection District with a Parcel
Users can associate the parcels with inspection districts, which enables inspectors, for example, to
organize inspections within a designated area.
To associate a district with a parcel
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet.
2. Locate the parcel you want to work with, and click the link in the Parcel # column.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
3. Click the District tab.
Civic Platform displays the District tab for the selected parcel.
4. Locate the inspection district you want to associate. You can either search for the district using the
standard search functionality, or you can use GIS to locate the district.
• If you are using standard search, click Search, select the district you want to associate, and then
click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the selected district to the District tab for the parcel.
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• If you are using GIS to locate districts, click GIS.
Accela GIS opens.
1. Select the district layer in the Layers panel to activate it.
2. Use the map search panel to locate the inspection district you want, then select that district. You
can also use the map selection tools to select an inspection district on the map.
3. From the Actions or Context menu, select Send GIS Features.
Civic Platform adds the selected district to the District tab for the parcel.
Copying or Moving an Inspection District
When you split or merge a parcel, you may need to adjust the parcel area of inspection districts. To help
you do this, Civic Platform enables you to copy or to move inspection districts between two genealogically
related parcels.
To copy or move an inspection district
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet.
2. Locate the parcel you want to work with, and click the link in the Parcel # column.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
3. Click the District tab.
Civic Platform displays the District tab for the parcel.
4. Select the inspection district that you want to copy or move.
5. Click Copy to copy the inspection district to a genealogically related parcel.
Click Move to move the inspection district to a genealogically related parcel.
Civic Platform displays a list of parcels, including the current parcel and its immediate parents, siblings,
and children.
6. Select the parcel that you want to move the inspection district to.
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7. Click Submit.
If you are copying, Civic Platform attaches the selected inspection district to the newly selected parcel
while retaining the association between the inspection district and the original parcel.
If you are moving, Civic Platform attaches the selected inspection district to the newly selected parcel
and removes the inspection district from the original parcel.
Working with Reference Data
After you create parcel records, you can associate reference data to them, view reference data, copy/move
reference data between two genealogically related parcels, and remove associated reference data from
parcels as needed. Reference data includes addresses, owners, structures and establishments.
Based on your agency’s user group settings, you may or may not have access to all the features described
in this section. Contact your agency administrator for more information.
Topics
•Associating a Reference Address to a Parcel
•Copying or Moving Reference Data
Associating a Reference Address to a Parcel
You can track relationships between reference parcels and reference records of other types by associating
the reference records to parcels.
To associate an address with a parcel
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet and use Search to locate the parcel you want to work with.
2. Click the link in the Parcel # column for the target parcel.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
3. Click the Address tab.
Civic Platform displays the Address tab for the selected parcel.
4. Locate the address you want to associate. You can enter an address manually, you can search for an
address using the standard search functionality, or you can use GIS to locate an address.
• If you are entering an address manually:
1. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the Address detail portlet.
2. Complete fields with available data. For a description of the fields, see Address Fields.
3. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the address to the parcel.
• If you are searching for an existing address:
1. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the Address search portlet.
2. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the address you want.
3. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of addresses that match your search criteria.
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4. Select the address that you want to associate to the parcel.
5. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the address to the parcel.
• If you are using GIS to search for an address:
1. Click GIS.
Accela GIS opens.
2. Select a layer in the Layers panel to activate it.
3. Use the map search panel to locate the address you want, then select that address. You can also
use the map selection tools or the Geocoding Address Locator to locate an address on the map.
4. From the Actions or Context menu, select Send Address.
Civic Platform adds the address to the parcel.
Associating a Reference Owner to a Parcel
You can track relationships between reference parcels and reference records of other types by associating
the reference records to parcels.
To associate an owner with a parcel
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet and use Search to locate the parcel you want to work with.
2. Click the link in the Parcel # column for the target parcel.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
3. Click the Owner tab.
Civic Platform displays the Owner tab for the selected parcel.
4. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the Owner search portlet.
5. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the owner you want to associate.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a list of owners that match your search criteria.
7. Select the owner you want to add to the parcel.
8. Click Select.
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Civic Platform adds the owner to the parcel.
Associating a Reference Structure or Establishment to a Parcel
You can track relationships between reference parcels and reference records of other types by associating
the reference records to parcels.
To associate a structure or establishment with a parcel
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet and use Search to locate the parcel you want to work with.
2. Click the link in the Parcel # column for the target parcel.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
3. Click the Structures & Establishments tab.
Civic Platform displays the Structures & Establishments tab for the selected parcel.
4. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the Structure or Establishment search portlet.
5. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the structure or establishment you want to associate.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of structures or establishments that match your search criteria.
7. Select the structure or establishment you want to associate to the parcel.
8. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the structure or establishment to the parcel.
Copying or Moving Reference Data
When you split or merge a parcel, you may need to maintain associated reference data. To help you do
this, Civic Platform enables you to copy or move associated reference data between genealogically related
parcels.
To copy or move an associated reference object
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet and use search to locate the parcel you want to work with.
2. Click the link in the Parcel # column for the target parcel.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
3. Click the tab containing the reference data you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the corresponding reference record tab for the selected parcel.
4. Select the reference object (such as an address or structure) that you want to copy or move.
5. Click Copy to copy the reference object to a genealogically related parcel.
Click Move to move the reference object to a genealogically related parcel.
Civic Platform displays a list of parcels, including the current parcel and its immediate parents, siblings,
and children.
6. Select the parcel that you want to copy or move the reference object to.
7. Click Submit.
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If you are copying, Civic Platform associates the selected reference object to the newly selected parcel
while retaining the association between the reference object and the original parcel.
If you are moving, Civic Platform associates the selected reference object to the newly selected parcel
and removes the reference object from the original parcel.
Working with Parcel Activities
After you have created parcel records, you can use the Activity tab to manage the activities associated with
the parcel. From the Activity tab, you can create activities for parcels, view or update associated activities,
copy or to move activities between two genealogically related parcels, and disassociate activities from
parcels. For detailed instructions about how to work with activities for parcels, see Activities .
Associating a Public User with a Parcel
After you have created parcel records, you can use the Associated Public User tab to associate one or
more public users to a parcel. This linked relationship is particularly useful when the public user initiates
an application in Citizen Access. He or she can use the auto-fill feature to populate parcel details on
the application intake form with one click. For more information about public users, contact your agency
administrator.
To associate a public user with a parcel
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet and use Search to locate the parcel you want to work with.
2. Click the link in the Parcel # column for the target parcel.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
3. Click the Associated Public User tab.
Civic Platform displays the Associated Public User list portlet.
4. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the Associated Public User search portlet.
5. Enter search criteria as needed and click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of public users that meet the search criteria.
6. Choose the public user whom you want to associate with the parcel.
7. Click Connect.
Civic Platform creates a link between the parcel and the public user.
Working with Associated Trust Accounts
If there is an association between a parcel and one or more trust accounts, you can use the Associated
Trust Accounts tab for the parcel to manage the associated trust accounts. Based on your agency’s user
group settings, you may or may not have access to all the features described in this section. Contact your
agency administrator for more information.
Topics
•Viewing Associated Trust Accounts
•Copying or Moving Associated Trust Accounts
Viewing Associated Trust Accounts
You can view the trust accounts associated with a parcel.
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To view an associated trust account
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet and use Search to locate the parcel you want to work with.
2. Click the link in the Parcel # column for the target parcel.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
3. Click the Associated Trust Accounts tab.
Civic Platform displays the Associated Trust Accounts tab for the selected parcel.
4. Click the Account ID link of the trust account you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the Trust Account detail portlet.
Copying or Moving Associated Trust Accounts
When you split or merge a parcel, you may need to maintain parcel-trust account associations. To help
you do this, Civic Platform enables you to copy or to move trust accounts between genealogically related
parcels.
To copy or move an associated trust account
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet and use Search to locate the parcel you want to work with.
2. Click the link in the Parcel # column for the target parcel.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
3. Click the Associated Trust Accounts tab.
Civic Platform displays the Associated Trust Accounts tab for the selected parcel.
4. Select the trust account that you want to copy or move.
5. Click Copy to copy the trust account to a genealogically related parcel.
Click Move to move the trust account to a genealogically related parcel.
Civic Platform displays a list of parcels, including the current parcel and its immediate parents, siblings,
and children.
6. Select the parcel that you want to copy or move the trust account to.
7. Click Submit.
If you are copying, Civic Platform associates the selected trust account to the newly selected parcel
while retaining the association between the trust account and the original parcel.
If you are moving, Civic Platform associates the selected trust account to the newly selected parcel and
removes the trust account from the original parcel.
Establishing a Parcel Genealogy
A parcel genealogy is a record of historical parcels and any applications associated with those parcels.
You can use the parcel genealogy to track the evolution of any parcel in the genealogy.
To build a parcel genealogy, you need to establish a relationship between existing parcels. There are
several types of relationships that you can establish. For example, you can split a parent parcel into
multiple descendants. You can also merge parcels together in a “spousal” relationship, or choose to
combine multiple parcels into a single descendant. Each time you establish a relationship between parcels,
Civic Platform records your action as a genealogical transaction.
The two main types of genealogical transactions that you can perform are merges and splits. The
illustration below shows examples of genealogy transactions. A split transaction allows you to disable
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a single parent parcel so you can create one or more child parcels. A merge transaction allows you to
disable two or more parent parcels so you can create a single descendent, or child parcel.
Figure 20: Parcel Genealogy Transactions
Note:
Genealogy transactions are not reversible. After a parcel genealogy transaction, parent parcels become
disabled. Only the descendants of the transaction remain active. You cannot search for or add disabled
parcels to an application or future genealogy transaction.
Each parcel in a parcel genealogy has a unique parcel number that identifies it. When splitting or merging
parcels, you have the option of creating new parcel numbers for child parcels or applying the parcel
number of a parent parcel to its child.
As soon as you perform a transaction, all parent parcels involved in the transaction become disabled. The
transaction might generate new parcel records or just update the parent parcel to the child parcel. If you
choose to update the parent parcel to the child parcel, you have the option of retaining a read-only copy of
the parent parcel in the reference database.
Note:
Each parent and descendant parcel has a unique parcel number, and each parcel may have an association
with one or more applications. Parcel genealogy transactions do not affect existing applications. When
you create new applications, you can search for or add only parcels that a user has not disabled through a
genealogy transaction.
Topics
•Splitting a Parcel
•Merging Parcels
•Viewing a Parcel Genealogy
Splitting a Parcel
Multiple children in a parcel genealogy imply a split. After you split a parcel, Civic Platform disables the
original parcel.
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When you select an active parcel from the Parcel list portlet or when you navigate to the Genealogy
Summary tab for an active parcel, you can click Split to launch the Split Parcel wizard.
To split a parcel
1. Either navigate to the Genealogy Summary tab for the parcel, or select the parcel that you want to split
from the Parcels portlet.
2. Click Split.
Civic Platform launches the Split Parcel wizard.
3. Complete one of these options.
• To generate new child parcel numbers automatically:
1. Select the Auto-generate Child Parcel IDs option.
2. Complete the following fields.
Number of Child Parcels Enter the number of child parcels that you want to create.
Common Starting Digits Enter the common digits that each child parcel number is to begin with.
Ending Digits to
Increment From
Enter the remaining digits for the first child parcel number. The parcel number
for the subsequent child parcel increments by 1 based on the parcel number
of the previous child record.
• To enter child parcel numbers manually:
1. Select the Manually Enter Child Parcel IDs option.
2. Enter a parcel number in the Parcel ID field for each child parcels.
By default, Civic Platform lists only two child parcels. Click the Add link to add more child parcels.
You can remove the third child parcel or any subsequent ones by clicking the Delete link next to the
parcel.
If you want to use the parent parcel as a child parcel of the split, click the Use Parent Parcel as a
Child link. Civic Platform populates the parent parcel number into the Parcel ID field of the first child
automatically.
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4. Click Next.
You move to the next step of the Split Parcel wizard.
5. Select which child parcel you want to edit from the Select a Child Parcel drop-down list.
6. Complete the fields with available data. See Parcel List Portlet Fields for field definitions.
Note:
If you select the All Child Parcels option from the Select a Child Parcel drop-down list, the Parcel Details
tab is not available. The parcel details copy from the parent parcel to all child parcels automatically.
7. Click each object tab on the left to manage available objects.
The Split Parcel wizard displays objects associated with the parent parcel.
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8. Use the drop-down list next to each associated object to determine your action for that object - either
No Action, Copy, or Move.
To control all the associated objects on a single tab at a time, use the Reset All Todrop-down list.
Note:
By default, all associated objects copy from the parent parcel to the child parcel using the parent parcel
number. For any other child parcel, only associated trust accounts copy by default.
9. To restart the application workflow on child parcels, select the Restart Workflow option in the Records
tab.
10.Click Next.
You move on to the Split Summary page.
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11.Complete these fields on the Split Summary page.
Retain Parent Parcel Data Select this option to retain the parent parcel as a read-only reference record. It is no
longer associated with the objects that you just moved to one or more child parcels.
When you do not select this option, Civic Platform updates the parent parcel directly
as the child parcel using the parent parcel number.
This option is available only when a child parcel uses the parent parcel number.
Description A description with details about the split.
Date The date when the split occurred.
12.If you want to view a child parcel, click the View details link next to the child parcel from the Child
Parcels list.
Civic Platform displays the Parcel Summary window for the selected parcel. The Parcel Summary
window contains the parcel details, as well as a list of the objects associated with the parcel.
13.Click Finish.
Civic Platform splits the parcel as you specified and establishes a parcel genealogy transaction. If you
chose to retain parent parcel data, Civic Platform returns to the Genealogy Summary tab for the parent
parcel. Otherwise, Civic Platform returns to the Genealogy Summary tab for the child parcel using the
parent parcel number.
Merging Parcels
Multiple parents in a parcel genealogy imply a merge. After you merge parcels, Civic Platform disables the
original parcels.
To merge parcels
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1. Either navigate to the Genealogy Summary tab for the parcel, or select the parcel that you want to
merge from the Parcels portlet.
2. Click Merge.
Civic Platform launches the Merge Parcel wizard.
3. You can select parcels to merge in more than one way.
• To add parent parcels from a list:
1. Click Add More Parcels.
Civic Platform displays a search window.
2. Enter search criteria as needed and click Submit.
A list of parcels matching your search criteria displays.
3. Select the parcels that you want and click Select.
Civic Platform adds the selected parcel to the Parcels to Merge list.
4. Repeat steps a through d for each additional parent parcel that you want to include in the merge.
• To add parent parcels from the map:
1. Click Add Parcels from Map.
Accela GIS opens and activates the parcel layer.
2. Search for a parcel using the map Search panel and select one or more parcels to include in the
merge.
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3. From the Actions or Context menu, select Send GIS Features.
Civic Platform adds the selected parcel to the Parcels to Merge list.
4. Repeat steps a through d for each additional parent parcel that you want to include in the merge.
4. Enter the child parcel number in the Child Parcel ID field.
If you want to use a parent parcel as the child parcel of the merge, select the parent parcel and then
click Use as Child Parcel.
5. Click Next.
The Manage Child Parcel Data page displays.
6. Complete the fields with available data. See Parcel List Portlet Fields for field definitions.
Note:
If the child parcel uses the parcel number of a parent parcel, then parcel details automatically copy from
the parent parcel. Otherwise, you must manually enter parcel details.
7. Click each object tab on the left to manage available objects.
The Merge Parcel wizard displays objects associated with the parent parcels.
Note:
If an object has an association with multiple parent parcels, the object list only displays a single record
for the object.
8. Use the drop-down list next to each associated object to determine your action for that object. Options
include No Action, Copy, or Move.
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Note:
If a child parcel uses the parcel number of a parent parcel, all objects associated with the parent parcel
copy to the child parcel by default. For objects associated with the other parent parcels, you must select
an action for each one individually.
9. If you want to restart the application workflow on child parcels, select the Restart Workflow option in
the Records tab.
10.Click Next.
The Merge Summary page displays.
11.Complete these fields.
Retain Parent Parcel Data Available when a child parcel uses the parent parcel number, this option defines
whether or not to retain the parent parcel as a read-only reference record. If the
option is enabled, the parcel no longer has an association with the objects that
moved to child parcels. If disabled, the parent parcel is directly updated as the child
parcel using the parent parcel number.
Description A description with details about the merge.
Date The date when the merge occurred.
12.To view a child parcel, click View details.
Civic Platform displays the Parcel Summary window for the child parcel.
13.Click Finish.
Civic Platform merges the parcels as specified and establishes a parcel genealogy transaction. If you
chose to retain parent parcel data, Civic Platform returns to the Genealogy Summary tab for the parent
parcel that Civic Platform uses as the child parcel in the merge. Otherwise, Civic Platform returns to the
Genealogy Summary tab for the child parcel.
Viewing a Parcel Genealogy
After you establish a parcel genealogy, you can review it from the perspective of any parcel involved in
the genealogy. From the perspective of this reference parcel, each genealogy shows two sections of
transactions: History and Children.
The History section shows you any transactions from which the selected parcel descends, including
the parents, grandparents, and even ancestors of the parcel. The transactions display in descending
chronological order, which means the latest transaction always displays at the top of the History section.
The Children section only shows you any transactions for which the selected parcel is the parent. This
section only includes one generation of descendants. In addition to parents, grandparents, ancestors, and
children, you can interact with siblings and spouses of a selected parcel. Siblings are co-descendants of
the same parents. Spouses are co-partners in a merger. Siblings and/or spouses are visible in both the
History and Children sections.
If the selected parcel is active, then you may be able to split the parcel or merge it with other parcels
through the Genealogy Summary page. Based on your agency’s user group settings, you may or may
not have access to the Merge and Split buttons on the Genealogy Summary page. Contact your agency
administrator for more information.
To view a parcel genealogy
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet and use search to locate the parcel you want to work with.
2. Click the link in the Parcel # column for the target parcel.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
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3. Click the Genealogy Summary tab.
Civic Platform displays the Genealogy Summary page.
4. Click the link to any parcel in the genealogy.
Civic Platform displays the genealogy summary for the selected parcel.
5. To view the parcels involved on the map, click the View in Map link.
Civic Platform displays the GIS map viewer.
Working with External APO Data
External address, parcel and owner (APO) data refer to the APO data from external data source. Your
system administrator can configure Civic Platform in a way that allows you to view records associated with
external parcels data. You can also run reports for associated records. For information on running reports,
see Accessing and Running a Report via a List Portlet.
If your agency administrator configure a GIS map layer as external parcel source, you can retrieve GIS
objects from the map layer as external parcels, and attach the external parcels to records.
To work with external APO data
1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet and click GIS.
2. Complete any fields that display. For a description of the fields, see Parcel List Portlet Fields.
3. Click the Parcel # column for the parcel you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
4. (For external parcels from GIS source) Hover your mouse cursor on GIS, and then select Show/Select
GIS Objects.
Civic Platform launches the GIS map viewer.
Different from other external parcels, external parcels from the GIS source can support the same
commands as those available for internal parcels in the GIS map viewer, including Show Accela
Record, Send Features, and Create New Record. For information on working with parcels in the GIS
map viewer, see Accela GIS User Guide.
5. Click the Associated Record List tab.
Civic Platform displays the records associated with the selected external parcel information.
6. Click the Document tab. You can attach documents to the external parcel as needed.
Viewing Parcels in GIS
Use GIS functionality to locate parcels. GIS provides automated maps from a central database and gives
staff direct access to view geographic representations of a parcel.
To view a parcel in GIS
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1. Navigate to the Parcels portlet and use Search to identify a parcel you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays a list of parcels.
2. Select the parcel you want to view in GIS.
3. Click GIS.
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Managing Owners
Civic Platform stores property owner information in the database. A property owner is any person,
company, or organization that owns the parcel associated with an application. An application can have
multiple property owners associations.
Depending on your privileges, you may be able to create new reference owner, and modify existing
owner records in the database. However, you cannot delete owners from the database. Instead, you can
disable owner records, which prevents users from associating those owners with new applications, while
preserving any existing association with applications.
Topics
•Adding a Reference Owner
•Finding a Reference Owner
•Associating an Owner to an Application
•Adding an Owner to a Parcel
•Removing an Owner Associated to a Parcel
•Associating or Disassociating a Public User with an Owner
Adding a Reference Owner
You can add new owners to your reference database. After you add a reference owner, you can look up
the owner when associating owners with a specific application.
To add a reference owner
1. Navigate to the Owner portlet and use search to locate the owner you want to work with.
2. Click the link in the Name column for the target owner.
Civic Platform displays the owner details.
3. Complete the fields with available data. See Owner List Portlet Fields for field definitions.
4. Click Submit.
Finding a Reference Owner
To search for a reference owner
1. Navigate to the Owner portlet and click Search.
2. Complete the fields with available data. See Owner List Portlet Fields for field definitions.
Note:
According to your agency’s settings and the form layout, there may be template fields in addition to the
standard fields listed in Owner List Portlet Fields. The additional fields are active attributes defined in the
address template in Civic Platform.
3. Click the link in the Name column for the target owner.
Civic Platform displays the owner details.
4. To view a list of applications associated with the owner, click the Record Detail tab.
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Associating an Owner to an Application
Each application can have one or more owners associated with it. You can manually add a new owner to
an application. You can also select an existing owner from your reference database.
Topics
•Adding a New Owner to an Application
•Adding an Owner from a Reference Database
•Viewing Applications Associated with an Owner
•Editing an Owner Associated to a Record
•Removing an Owner from an Application
Adding a New Owner to an Application
Civic Platform does not store new owners that you add to an application in your reference database. To
add a new owner to your reference database, see Adding a Reference Owner.
To add an owner to a building application
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
See Using the Search Features for information about searching.
2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want.
3. Click the Owners tab.
4. Click New.
5. Complete the fields with available data. See Owner List Portlet Fields for field definitions.
6. Click Submit.
Adding an Owner from a Reference Database
You can add an owner to an application by searching for an existing owner in your reference database.
To add an owner to an application
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use search to locate the record you want to work with.
See Using the Search Features for information about searching.
2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want.
3. Click the Owners tab.
4. Click Look Up and enter search criteria as appropriate to find the owner you want to add.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays your search results.
6. Choose one or more owners, then click Select.
If the selected owner(s) have associated addresses, parcels, structures, or establishments, the
associated data may auto-populate to the relevant fields or it may display in a selection form, depending
on how your agency configured the process.
If there are no associated objects, you can add them manually.
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7. If an associated data list displays, select the data you want to add to the application, then click Select.
The owner and any associated reference data that you selected populate to the application.
8. Click Submit.
The owner and any associated reference data that you selected populate to the application.
Viewing Applications Associated with an Owner
After you look up a reference owner, you can view a list of associated applications for the owner.
To view applications associated with a reference owner
1. Locate and select the owner you want to work with. See Finding a Reference Owner for more
information.
2. Click the Record List tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of applications associated with the owner.
3. To view or update application details, click the link to the application that you want to view.
Editing an Owner Associated to a Record
After you add an owner to a record, you can edit the owner details as needed to correct mistakes or
complete partial information.
Note:
When you edit owner data on a record, your changes do not replicate to the owner record in your reference
database, nor do they replicate to any other records with the same owner. Your changes only affect the
current record.
To edit owner data on an application
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
See Using the Search Features for information about searching.
2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want.
3. Click the Owners tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of owners associated with the application.
4. In the Name column, click the link to the owner that you want to edit.
Civic Platform displays the details on the tabs.
5. Modify owner information as needed.
6. Click Submit to save your changes.
Removing an Owner from an Application
You can remove an owner from an application as needed. Removal of an owner from an application does
not delete the owner record from your reference database, nor does it affect other applications associated
with the same owner.
To delete a owner from an application
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
See Using the Search Features for information about searching.
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2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want.
3. Click the Owners tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of owners associated with the application.
4. Select each owner you want to delete.
5. Click Delete.
If the selected owner has any associated address, parcel, structure, or establishment records you may
be prompted to select the data you want to remove.
6. Select which data you want to remove from the record and then click Select.
Civic Platform removes the parcel and any associated reference data you selected from the record.
Civic Platform updates the owner list.
Adding an Owner to a Parcel
You can associate one or more owners with a parcel record. After an owner-parcel association occurs, if
you populate or delete the information from one, the associated information populates or is removed from
the record automatically or following a prompt. For example, if you delete parcel information from a record,
Civic Platform also removes the associated owner information. This is controlled by your agency’s settings,
so contact your agency administrator with questions about synchronizing reference data.
To associate an owner to a parcel
1. Navigate to the Parcel portlet and use Search to locate and select the parcel you want to work with.
2. Click the link in the Parcel # column for the target parcel.
Civic Platform displays the parcel details.
3. In the parcel detail form portlet, click the Owner tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of owners associated with the parcel.
4. Click New.
5. Enter an owner manually or locate an owner from the reference database:
• To enter an owner manually, complete the Owner fields with available data, then click Submit. See
Owner List Portlet Fields for field descriptions.
• To select an owner from the database, click Look Up and enter search criteria to find the desired
owner, then click Submit. Select the owner(s) you want to associate and click Select.
Civic Platform confirms the owner-parcel association
Removing an Owner Associated to a Parcel
You can remove any owner associated to a parcel. When you do this, Civic Platform does not delete the
owner record from the reference database. Only the association is removed.
To disassociate an owner from a parcel
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1. Navigate to the Owner portlet and use search to locate and select the owner you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the owner details.
2. In the owner detail form portlet, click the Parcel tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of owners associated to the parcel.
3. Select each owner you want to disassociate from the parcel and click Delete.
Civic Platform confirms the removal of the associated owner from the parcel.
Associating or Disassociating a Public User with an Owner
You can associate or disassociate owners and public users with one another at any time. This linked
relationship is particularly useful when you want a public user to be able to view comments or view
document attachments associated with a record using Citizen Access. For more information about public
users, refer to Chapter 21, Public Users, in the Accela Civic Platform Administrator Guide.
To associate a public user with an owner
1. Navigate to the Owner portlet and use search to locate and select the owner you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the owner details.
2. Click the Associated Public User tab.
Civic Platform displays the Associated Public User list portlet.
3. Use search to locate the Public User you want to associate the current owner with.
Civic Platform returns a list of public users that meet the search criteria.
4. Select each public user you want to associate with this owner.
5. Click Connect.
Civic Platform creates a link between the owner and the public user.
To disassociate a public user with an owner
1. Follow steps 1-3 to associate a public user with an owner.
2. Select each public user you want to remove
3. Click Delete.
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Managing Section, Township, and Range
Some areas of land are surveyed using the rectangular-survey system, otherwise known as the township-
range system. Two lines run at right angles to each other through the territory—a base line running east
and west and a meridian line running north and south. The land then divides into sections from the point of
this intersection as follows:
Township. Townships measure approximately six miles on a side, making thirty-six square miles. Each
township is divided into 36 sections, each section being 1 square mile. The sections within the township
are numbered starting with the Northeast corner of the township. Numbers entered for township represent
the measure of units North or South of the base line.
Range. Represents the measure of units east and west of the base line.
For example, Township 3 North, Range 9 West, 5th Principal Meridian identifies a specific township that is
3 tiers north from the base line and 9 tiers west (Range) of the 5th Principal Meridian.
Section Number. A piece of a township measuring 640 acres, one square mile, numbered with reference
to the base line and meridian line.
Topics
•Adding Township Range Information
•Deleting Township Range Information
Adding Township Range Information
You can add section, township, and range information to an application.
To add township range information
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
See Using the Search Features for information about searching.
2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want.
3. Click the Section Township Range tab.
Civic Platform displays the Section Township Range page.
4. Click Add.
Civic Platform displays the Section Township Range—Add page.
5. Complete the fields with available data. For a description of the fields, see Section, Township, and
Range List Portlet Fields.
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6. Click Save.
Deleting Township Range Information
1. Navigate to the portlet you are working in, and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
See Using the Search Features for information about searching.
2. Click the link in the Record ID column for the record you want.
Civic Platform displays the application details.
3. Click the Section Township Range tab.
Civic Platform displays the Section Township Range page.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform displays a pop-up window requesting confirmation.
5. Click OK.
Civic Platform removes the record from the application.
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Examining Property-Related Portlets
The following tables list and define the fields that may be available in the forms and portlets you see when
working with Properties.
•Address Fields
•Parcel List Portlet Fields
•Owner List Portlet Fields
•Section, Township, and Range List Portlet Fields
Address Fields
The following table lists (in alphabetical order) and defines the default fields available on the Address list
portlet.
Table 51: Address Fields
Address Description A description of the address.
Address Status The current status of the address record. You cannot associate disabled
addresses with a permit application. Use the drop-down list to search for either
Disabled or Enabled addresses or both.
Address Type Select the Address Type Code for the address from the drop-down list
Audit Date The creation/modification date of the address.
Audit ID The identification code of the person who created or modified the address.
City The city where the address is.
Country The country where the address is.
Description A description of the address.
Direction Use this drop-down list to indicate a street direction. For example, choose N to
indicate a north direction. This usually indicates the directional area of a city or
street, for example, North Broadway.
Distance Enter a distance from another landmark used to locate the address.
Event ID Any event scheduled for the address.
Fraction In combination with the Street # field, this field indicates a fractional street number.
If you are searching for an address, you can specify a range of fractional street
numbers using the corresponding Start and End fields.
House # Alpha (end) The ending street number that makes up the address. You can enter alphanumeric
characters in this field. For example, if the street name/number is 10-23A
WHITESTONE, then 23A is the ending street number.
House # Alpha (start) The beginning street number that makes up the address. You can enter
alphanumeric characters in this field. For example, if the street name/number is
10-23A WHITESTONE, then 10 is the beginning street number.
Inspection District The inspection district within which the address resides.
Inspection District Prefix The prefix for the inspection district within which the address resides.
Level # (end) The ending level number (floor number) that makes up the address within a
complex, used to identify a floor or level of a multi-storey building/sub-complex.
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Level # (start) The beginning level number (floor number) that makes up the address within a
complex, used to identify a floor or level of a multi-storey building/sub-complex.
Level Prefix The prefix for the level numbers (floor numbers) that make up the address.
Neighborhood The neighborhood within which the address resides.
Neighborhood Prefix The prefix for the neighborhood within which the address resides.
Prefix Any part of the address that should come before the street name/number, such as
a direction. For example “north” in North Willow Drive.
Primary Indicates whether the address is the primary residence or business location
associated with an application. You can associate many addresses with an item,
but only one address is the primary address. If you need to delete a primary
address, change this field to No and delete.
Secondary Road The road for the secondary address.
Secondary Road Number The number of the address’s secondary road.
Source Flag The Accela application that stores this address information, such as Civic Platform,
Kiva, or Tidemark.
Source Number A number that identifies the Accela application that stores the address information.
State The state where the address is.
Street # (Start/End) The street number(s) of the address. If the address includes multiple street
numbers (for example, a fourplex), you can use the Street # Start and Street # End
fields to define the range of numbers. Otherwise, you can specify a singular street
number in either field. Agencies can configure the Street # Start and End fields to
support range search (adding To-From fields), allowing users to search for one or
multiple street numbers within a user-defined range.
Street Name The street name for the address.
Street Suffix (Type) Choose a type of street, such as Lane or Boulevard.
Unit # (Number) The unit number, for example, apartment number. If you are searching for an
address, you may be able to specify a range of unit numbers in the corresponding
Start and End fields.
Unit Type The type of structure for this address, for example, apartment or condo.
Validated Indicates the validation status of an address against an external address source.
X Coordinate If you use a GPS device, this is the longitudinal coordinate for this address.
Y Coordinate If you use a GPS device, this is the latitudinal coordinate for this address.
Zip The zip code where the address is.
Parcel List Portlet Fields
The following table lists (in alphabetical order) and defines the default fields available on the Parcel list
portlet.
Table 52: Parcel Detail
Block The name, or street number, of the block associated with this application. A parcel may
contain one or more blocks.
Book This is a reference to the physical location of this parcel information in the County
Assessor’s, or other responsible department’s records.
Exemption Value Enter the total value of any tax exemptions that apply to the land within the parcel.
Improved Value The total value of any improvements to the land within the parcel.
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Land Value The total value of the land within the parcel.
Legal Description The legal description of the parcel, the parcel boundaries, or the characteristics. You may
also include a reference to the official documents that contain this description.
Lot The name, or boundaries, of the lot associated with the application.
Page This is a reference to the physical location of this parcel information in the County
Assessor's, or other responsible department's records.
Parcel Area The total area of the parcel. Your agency determines the standard unit of measure (for
example, square feet).
Parcel Number The official parcel number determined by the county assessor or any other responsible
department.
Range A range number to download applications within that range number.
Section The section number.
Street Suffix (Direction) The street suffix which indicates the direction. For example, E, NE, and SW. This field is
available in the reference parcel search portlet.
Subdivision The subdivision associated to the application.
Township The township number.
Tract The name of the tract associated with this application. A tract may contain one or more
related parcels; for example, three parcels with the same owner.
Owner List Portlet Fields
The following table lists and defines the default fields available on the Owner list portlet.
Table 53: Owner Fields
Address Line 1 The first line of the owner's address.
Address Line 2 The second line of the owner's address.
Address Line 3 The third line of the owner's address.
City The city where the address is.
Fax Enter the owner’s fax number.
Name The name of the owner. This may be an individual person, business, or organization.
Phone Number The owner's daytime telephone number.
State The state where the address is.
ZIP Code The zip code where the address is.
Section, Township, and Range List Portlet Fields
The following table lists and defines the default fields available on the Section, Township, and Range list
portlet.
Table 54: Section, Township, and Range Field Details
Section The name of the section.
Township The name of the township (usually identified on a north-south grid ).
Range The range (usually identified on an east-west grid).
PLSS Type The Public Land Survey System type.
PLSS Lot Number The Public Land Survey System lot number, up to five digits.
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Random Audits
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with random audits.
Related Information
Random Audit Overview
Creating a Random Audit Set
Generating or Regenerating a Random Audit Set
Deleting a Random Audit Set
Viewing the Random Audit History
Executing a Script on an Audit Set
Running a Report on an Audit Set
Examining Random Audit Details
| Random Audits | 646
Random Audit Overview
You can use parameters to designate a specific group of records (such as licenses) or inspections, and
then generate a random audit set from within that group. Once you have generated an audit set, you can
execute scripts, run reports, and filter the audit set.
USE CASE 1:
Regulations require your agency to perform an audit of continuing education requirements for 45% of all
pharmacist licensees. The Random Audit feature enables you to select a license type “Pharmacist” and
then choose either a percentage or a quantity of Pharmacist licensees. Civic Platform then generates a
random list of records for an audit. You can send a form letter to the audited licensees to inform them that
they must complete and submit the original continuing education paperwork to renew their license. After
you audit a licensee, Civic Platform makes a note in the file to exclude that licensee in the next audit.
USE CASE 2:
Your agency has multiple inspectors whose job it is to inspect restaurants in the same region. To ensure
that inspectors complete necessary inspections on a random basis rather than based on preferred territory,
your agency can use the random audit feature to assign a random list of businesses to each inspector.
A record or an inspection can belong to multiple audit sets. Civic Platform does not exclude records or
inspections with locked or hold conditions from audit sets.
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Creating a Random Audit Set
When you define the parameters of a random audit set, you determine which records that Civic Platform
can randomly choose from for the audit. You can use several factors to define which records go into an
audit set, including record type, completed date, assigned to staff, and inspection district. You can also
define how many items to include in the audit set, either as a specific number or as a percentage of the
items that fall within your parameters.
You can define your audit parameters to ignore any audit frequency settings that the agency administrator
defined. For example, if the agency administrator sets the audit frequency for the Licensing module to
twelve months, you cannot audit a record in that module more than one time in any twelve-month period.
When you create or edit an audit set, you can override the audit frequency settings for the record type by
selecting Include Previously Audited Records.
To create a random audit set
1. Navigate to the Sets portlet and click the Random Audit tab.
Civic Platform displays the Random Audit list and detail portlet.
2. Hover the mouse cursor on the New button to display a command menu.
3. Select either Record Audit or Inspection Audit.
Civic Platform displays the new random audit set form.
4. Complete the fields as required with available data. See Random Audit Set Fields for field definitions.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates the set and adds it to the list of random audits. The set contains no records until
you generate the audit set.
To generate an audit set, see Generating or Regenerating a Random Audit Set.
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Generating or Regenerating a Random Audit Set
After you have defined the parameters for the audit set, you can generate the audit set. Civic Platform
returns a list of randomly chosen records or inspections within the parameters of the audit set. You can
now execute a script or run a report on this set of items.
If you have supervisor privileges, the Generate Audit button displays with the label ‘Regenerate Audit’ after
initial set generation.
To generate a random audit
1. Navigate to the Sets portlet and click the Random Audit tab.
Civic Platform displays the random audits list and detail portlet.
2. Locate the random audit you want to generate. Click the link under the Set ID column for the random
audit set you want to generate.
Civic Platform displays the random audit set detail portlet.
3. Click the Set Member tab.
4. If you just created the set, click Generate Audit to create the audit set.
If you already generated the set, a list of records displays in the Set Member tab.
5. If you want to update the audit set, click Regenerate Audit.
Civic Platform returns a set of items chosen randomly according to the parameters defined for the audit
set. The number of items in the set displays on the Set Member tab.
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Deleting a Random Audit Set
If you no longer need to track the set of records or inspections defined by a random audit set, you can
delete the set. After you delete an audit set, Civic Platform removes all of the data pertinent to the
members from the Audit History tab. For more information about Audit History, see Viewing the Random
Audit History.
To delete a random audit set
1. Navigate to the Sets portlet and click the Random Audit tab.
Civic Platform displays the random audit list portlet and detail portlet.
2. Select the random audits you want to delete.
3. Click Delete.
Civic Platform deletes the audit set.
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Viewing the Random Audit History
Each time Civic Platform includes a record or an inspection in a random audit, Civic Platform stores
information about that audit in the Random Audit History tab for each member included in the audit.
To access the random audit history from the record or the inspection
• With the Record detail portlet open, navigate to the Random Audit History tab for the record.
• With the Inspection detail portlet open, navigate to the Random Audit History tab for the inspection.
To access the random audit history from the Set portlet
1. Navigate to the Sets portlet and click the Random Audit tab.
Civic Platform displays the Random Audit list and detail portlet.
2. Click the hyperlink for the audit set which includes the item of interest.
3. Click the Set Member tab.
4. Identify and click the item of interest.
5. Navigate to the Random Audit History tab for the item.
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Executing a Script on an Audit Set
After you have a set of records or inspections that match your audit set parameters, you can execute
scripts on the set of items.
USE CASE: You run a random audit on all inspections that external inspectors completed in the past
month and you want to schedule a surprise inspection on each randomly-selected inspection. Your agency
defines an EMSE script to generate surprise inspections based on the results of the random audit. The
surprise inspection is a regular inspection in Civic Platform, and it is a child inspection of the audited
inspection. If the surprise inspection type’s setting “Display in ACA” is set to Yes, external inspectors can
see the surprise inspection from the new inspection list in Citizen Access.
Note:
Your agency administrator must configure EMSE scripts that you can execute on an audit set. Contact your
agency administrator with any questions about the scripts available for random audits.
To execute a script on an audit set
1. Locate the audit set for which you want to execute a script.
a. Navigate to the Sets portlet.
b. Click the Random Audit tab.
c. In the list of audit sets, click the link to the set you want under the Set ID column.
Civic Platform displays the random audit set list portlet and detail portlet.
2. In either the Set or Set Member tab, hover over Execute Script to display a list of scripts.
3. Click the name of the script you want to execute.
The script executes on the audit set.
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Running a Report on an Audit Set
After you have a set of records or inspections that match your audit set parameters, you can run reports on
the set of records.
Note:
Your agency administrator must configure any report you want available to run on an audit set. Contact your
agency administrator with any questions about the reports available for random audits.
To run a report on an audit set
1. Locate the audit set for which you want to run a report.
a. Navigate to the Sets portlet.
b. Click the Random Audit tab.
c. In the list of audit sets, click the link to the set you want under the Set ID column.
Civic Platform displays the random audit set list tab and detail tab.
2. In either the Set or Set Member tab, hover over the Reports button to display a list of available reports.
3. Click the name of the report you want to run.
The report engine runs the report and downloads a copy to your machine. A pop-up window displays
the Send Email button.
4. Click Send Email to send a copy of the report by email.
Civic Platform displays a pop-up window to configure email settings.
5. Select one or both of the options.
All set member Records’
contacts This sends the report via email to all contacts associated with each record in the
audit set.
Other This sends the report via email to recipients you designate. Enter email addresses
in the provided textbox. Separate email addresses with a semicolon.
6. Click Submit.
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Examining Random Audit Details
The following table lists and defines the default fields available when working with random audits.
Table 55: Random Audit Set Fields
Assign Date This date range limits returned records or inspections to those assigned within that
range.
Assigned to Department Filters returned records or inspections by department.
Assigned to Staff Filters returned records or inspections by staff member.
Audit Type This is a read-only field. This field indicates whether the audit set includes records
or inspections.
City Filters returned records or inspections by city.
Closed Date This date range limits returned records or inspections to those assigned within that
range.
Comments Comments for the audit set.
Completed Date This date range limits returned records or inspections to those completed within
that range.
District Filters returned records or inspections by district. This field is specific to inspection
audit sets.
Expiration Date This date range limits returned records or inspections to those expired within that
range.
Expiration Status Filters returned records or inspections by expiration status.
External Inspector This filters returned inspections to include inspectors who have Civic Platform user
accounts but cannot log in to Civic Platform. For example, contract inspectors and
self-certified inspectors are external inspectors. This field is specific to inspection
audit sets.
Include Previously Audited
Records Excluding the Last x
Month(s)
This option overrides any administrator‑defined audit frequency settings at the
record type, module, or agency level for a user-defined number of months.
Inspection Date This date range limits returned inspections to those whose inspection dates are
within that range. This field is specific to inspection audit sets.
Inspection District Filters returned records or inspections by inspection district.
Inspection Result Filters returned records or inspections by inspection result. This field is specific to
inspection audit sets.
Inspection Type Filters returned records or inspections by inspection type. This field is specific to
inspection audit sets.
Opened Date This date range limits returned records or inspections to those opened within that
range.
Random By This field defines (by percentage or by number) the quantity of random records or
inspections to audit.
Record Type Filters returned records or inspections by record type. When you select an item,
you also select all subordinate items for your selection in the audit set. The
selected record types display in the field.
Record Without Zero Balance This option include records with unpaid fees in the audit set or includes inspections
associated with those records.
Set ID This a unique identification number for the random audit set.
Set Name This is the name of the set.
State Filters returned records or inspections by state.
Status Filters returned records or inspections by status.
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Zip Code Filters returned records or inspections by zip code.
| Sets | 655
Sets
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with sets.
Related Information
Set Overview
Creating a New Set
Applying Conditions to a Set
Adding a Comment to a Set
Applying Licensed Professionals to a Set
Applying Owners to a Set
Applying Contacts to a Set
Cloning a Set
Deleting a Set
Maintaining Existing Sets
Creating Records from Parcel Sets
Importing Parcels from AGIS to a Parcel Set
Allocating Set Payments
Generating Reports for Sets
Executing a Script for Sets
Performing Random Audits on Sets
Working with a Set of Sets
Examining Set Details
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Set Overview
The Set function enables you organize multiple records, parcels, addresses, and/or licensed professionals
into a group, or set, and then use the group for batch processing. For example, you can use a set to
simultaneously update several records at the same time. Other functionality includes generating reports
and running scripts for all set members in the set.
The Set portlet displays a tab for each set type and provides set details that accommodate the functionality
for each. Although the portlets for each set type are similar, some functionality only applies to specific
set types. All set types can accommodate conditions, the execution of scripts, and the running of reports.
Agencies can configure Civic Platform so that users can generate a record or a record set from a parcel
set.
You can also combine record sets to create a “set of sets,” which enables you to engage in set analysis,
fee analysis, and payment processing for multiple record sets simultaneously.
Your agency administrator must configure this functionality before it is available for use.
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Creating a New Set
You can group together multiple records, related records, parcels, addresses, or licensed professionals to
create a new set.
To create a new set in the Set portlet
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Set portlet.
2. Click the tab in which you want to create a set. For example, click the Records tab to create a record
set or the Parcel tab to create a parcel set.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the Set ID form in the portlet.
4. Complete the fields with available data.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates the set.
6. If you want to add set members to the set, see Adding Set Members to a Set.
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Applying Conditions to a Set
Civic Platform applies conditions to set members just as it does with individual records. When you apply a
condition to a set, the action applies to all records within the set simultaneously For more information about
conditions, see Conditions .
Note:
An agency administrator must enable this feature (see FID 8357 Set Conditions and FID 8352 Parcel Set
Create Conditions in the Civic Platform Configuration Reference for more information).
To apply conditions to a set
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Choose the set to which you want to apply a condition.
Civic Platform displays the set details
3. Click the Conditions tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set conditions list portlet.
4. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the Set conditions detail portlet.
5. Enter available data in the fields.
6. Click Submit.
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Adding a Comment to a Set
You can apply a comment to all set members simultaneously. After you apply a condition, the record,
parcel, address, or licensed professional with the condition displays on the Comments tab for the set.
Note:
An agency administrator must enable this feature.
To apply a comment to a set
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Choose the set to which you want to add a comment.
Civic Platform displays the set details
3. Click the Comments tab.
Civic Platform displays the set comments list portlet.
4. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the set comments detail portlet.
5. Add a comment.
6. Click Submit.
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Applying Licensed Professionals to a Set
When applying licensed professionals to a set, the licensed professionals are applied to set members
simultaneously. They display on the Licensed Professionals tab for the set. For more information about
licensed professionals, see Licensed Professionals.
Note:
An agency administrator must enable this feature.
To add or remove a licensed professional
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Choose the set to which you want to apply a licensed professional.
Civic Platform displays the set details.
3. Click the Licensed Professional tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set Licensed Professional list portlet.
4. To add a licensed professional, click New, enter available data, and click Submit.
5. To delete a license professional, select the licensed professional(s) you want to remove, then click
Delete.
| Sets | 661
Applying Owners to a Set
When applying owners to a set, the owners are applied to set members simultaneously and displayed on
the owners tab for the set. For more information about owners, see Managing Owners.
Note:
An agency administrator must enable this feature.
To add or remove an owner
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Choose the set you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the set details.
3. Click the Owners tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set Owner list portlet.
4. To add an owner, click New, enter available data, and click Submit.
5. To delete an owner, select the owner(s) you want to remove, then click Delete.
| Sets | 662
Applying Contacts to a Set
When applying Contacts to a record set, the Contacts are applied to set members simultaneously and
displayed on the Contacts tab for the set. For more information about Contacts, see Contacts.
Note:
An agency administrator must enable this feature.
To manage contacts for a set
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Verify you are in the record set portlet. If not, click the Records tab.
3. Choose the set to which you want to apply a contact.
Civic Platform displays the set details.
4. Click the Contacts tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set Contacts list portlet.
5. Do one of the following tasks
• Add a new contact:
1. Click New.
2. Enter available data, and then click Submit.
• Associate an existing contact:
1. Click Look Up.
2. Enter search criteria and click Submit.
3. Select one or more contacts, and click Select.
4. Enter the date that the contact becomes active to all set members, and click OK.
• Delete a contact:
1. Select each contact you want to remove, then click Delete.
• Deactivate a contact:
1. Select the contact that you want to deactivate on the record.
2. Click Deactivate.
3. Enter the date that the contact becomes inactive to all set members, and click OK.
| Sets | 663
Cloning a Set
You can create a set service request by cloning an existing set service request. Customize the way that
Civic Platform clones the set by completing the associated fields and check boxes.
To clone a set
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Select the set you want to clone.
3. Click Clone.
Civic Platform displays the Clone Set portlet.
4. Enter available data in the fields. See Set Cloning Field Descriptions for field definitions.
5. Click Submit.
Based on your selection, Civic Platform may ask if you are cloning a fee or a parcel.
6. If you select fees, click OK to accept the fee to the new record in the set.
If you select parcels or addresses on each record, select the parcel or address that you want to clone
and click Submit.
7. Click Return.
| Sets | 664
Deleting a Set
When you delete a set, you are not deleting the individual records - you are only deleting the grouping of
them together.
To delete an existing set
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Click the tab containing the set you want to delete.
3. Select each set that you want to delete.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform displays the Set ID form in the portlet.
| Sets | 665
Maintaining Existing Sets
Sets enable you to group related records, parcels, addresses, or licensed professionals so that you can
process the group as a batch. The topics in this section discuss many of the actions that you can perform
while maintaining your sets.
Topics
•Adding Set Members to a Set
•Cloning a Record within a Set
•Editing Set Name and Comments
•Deleting Records from a Set
•Changing the Status in a Record Set
•Viewing the Set Status History
•Attaching Documents to a Set
•Viewing Record Sets
•Updating a Task for Set Records
•Copying Set Members
Adding Set Members to a Set
You can add one or more set members as needed to a set. You determine which ones belong to a set and
how many the set includes. There is no limit to the number of set members that you can add to a set nor to
the number of sets to which a record (or a parcel, an address, or a licensed professional) can belong.
To add a record to a set
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Use Search to locate the desired set, then click the Set ID link for the set to which you want to add a
record.
Civic Platform displays the Set ID details in the portlet.
3. Click the Set Member tab.
4. Click Look Up.
• If you add a record to a record set, select Look Up Record.
5. Enter the search criteria to locate the records, parcels, addresses, or licensed professionals you want to
add. See Using the Search Features for instructions on locating a record or an object.
Note:
You can add external parcels as set members of a parcel set, or add external addresses as set members
of an address set.
6. Click Submit.
| Sets | 666
Civic Platform displays a list of records, or parcels, addresses, or licensed professionals that match
your look up criteria.
7. Select each record or object that you want to add to the set.
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the selected set members to the set.
Note:
You can usually sort set members by any column in the set members list, except that if a parcel set
contains external parcels, you can only sort the set members by Parcel #, not by the other columns.
Cloning a Record within a Set
You can create a new record by cloning an existing set record.
To clone a set record
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Use Search to locate the set with the record that you want to clone.
Civic Platform displays the search results in the Set ID portlet.
3. Click the Set ID link of the set with the record you want to clone.
Civic Platform displays the Set ID details.
4. Click the Set Member tab.
5. Select the record that you want to clone. You can clone only one record at a time.
6. Click Clone.
Civic Platform displays the cloning form.
7. Specify the number of clones to create.
8. Select the data elements that you want to copy from the source record to the newly created clone(s).
9. If you select a data element that allows you drill down further and select more specific data elements,
click the hyperlink provided next to the data element (such as Select) to launch a dialog that allows you
to choose which of the data elements to copy.
For example, if you click the Select link for Conditions of Approval, a dialog displays, prompting you to
select which conditions to copy both by severity and by condition status.
| Sets | 667
a. To select all of the options in a list, select the bolded option at the head of the list.
b. To select certain options in a list, clear the bolded option at the head of the list and select only those
options you want to copy.
c. Click OK.
10.If you select Status or New Status, you can use the drop-down list to specify a particular status to
copy. Otherwise, leave the drop-down list field blank to copy all status options.
Note:
When you select StatusorNew Status, Civic Platform enables the Status History option and you can
select it as well.
11.Click Submit.
Civic Platform numbers each cloned record in sequence +1 from the original record.
Civic Platform displays a message listing the number of successfully cloned records in the Set Member
list portlet.
Editing Set Name and Comments
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Use Search to locate the set that you want to edit.
Civic Platform displays the search results in the Set ID portlet.
3. Click the link in the Set ID column for the set you want.
Civic Platform displays the Set tab with the Set Name and Comment fields.
4. Modify the fields as needed.
5. Click Submit.
Deleting Records from a Set
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
| Sets | 668
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Use Search to locate the set that with the record that you want to remove.
Civic Platform displays the search results in the Set ID portlet.
3. Click the link in the Set ID column for the Set you want.
Civic Platform displays the Set tab with the Set Name and Comment fields.
4. Click the Set Member tab.
5. Select each record that you want to remove from the set.
6. Click Delete.
Changing the Status in a Record Set
When you change the status of a set, Civic Platform applies the change to set members simultaneously
and also displays the new status on the Status tab for the set.
Note:
An agency administrator must enable this feature (see 8364-Set Status Change in the Civic Platform
Configuration Reference for more information about configuring FIDs).
To change the status of set members
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Verify you are in the Record set portlet. If not, click the Records tab.
3. Choose the set to which you want to apply a change of status.
Civic Platform displays the set details.
4. Click the Status tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set Status form portlet.
5. Complete the fields.
Action by Use the drop-down list to select the user who is changing the status for the set.
Action by Department Use the drop-down list to select the department from which the status request
originated.
Comments Enter any comments regarding the change of status.
New Status Use the drop-down list to select the status for the set members.
Status Date Enter the date or use the calendar to select the date of the change of status.
6. Click Save.
Viewing the Set Status History
Use the Set Status History tab on the Set detail portlet to review and/or track the status history of a set.
Civic Platform creates status history records each time there is a status change or a status comment
change. The Set Status History is a valuable reference tool for bulk document printing, because it enables
you to view the a summary of activity (based on the set status), such as who performed tasks and when.
To view set status history
| Sets | 669
1. Access the Set details portlet either by clicking the Set link in the Main Links section at the top of your
console or by clicking the Set tab on the record detail portlet.
2. Click the Set Status History tab.
The Set Status History page displays.
The display includes the following columns of data: Set Status, Set Status Date, and Set Status
Comment.
3. Click any data column header to sort the set status history records by that column in ascending or
descending order.
Attaching Documents to a Set
You can use the Documents secondary tab on the Set detail portlet to attach documents, such as receipts
for a set payment, to an entire set of records. This ability is separate from the ability to attach documents to
records that are members of a set.
Note:
If you have a set script that auto-generates a report for the set, Civic Platform saves that report to this tab.
When you attach a document to a set, you use the same process as you use when attaching a document
to a record. See Attaching Files for information about attaching documents to a record or a set.
Viewing Record Sets
The Set tab on the Record detail portlet lists the sets for which the current record is a set member. You
can search the list and you can view data about the sets such as set ID, set name, set type, the latest set
status and set status date, set comments and more. If you click the set ID link for a set, you can access the
Set detail portlet directly.
To access the Set tab for a record
1. Navigate to the Record list portlet.
2. Either use the portlet Search functionality or invoke a QuickQuery to locate the record you want to work
with.
3. Click the Record ID link to open the Record detail portlet.
4. Click the Set tab.
The Set page displays.
5. To view set details, click the Set ID link for the set you want to see.
The Set details portlet displays.
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Updating a Task for Set Records
If you assign a task to the records in a set, you can edit ongoing task details such as record type, status, or
responsible department as needed.
To update a task for set records
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
2. Click the Records tab.
Civic Platform displays the sets.
3. Click a set link in the Set ID column.
4. Click the Workflow Status tab.
Civic Platform displays the task list.
5. Click the Status Change tab.
Civic Platform displays the set workflow status portlet.
6. Complete the fields.
Record Type Choose a record type that you want to change its task status.
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Task Choose a task whose status you want to change.
Status From Use to filter by a former status value.
Status To Use to filter by a new status value.
Status Date Use to filter by the date when the task reached its current status.
Action By
Department
Use to filter by the department that last updated the task status.
Action By Use to filter by the individual who last updated the task status.
Comments Use to add the comments for the task status update.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform saves the status change you made to the task.
Copying Set Members
You can copy set members from one set to another without impacting the set member list for the source
set. When you copy set members, you select a target set, which is the set where you want to add
members, then you select a source set, from which you want to copy members. Civic Platform adds all
source set members that do not already exist in the target set to the set member list for the target set.
Note:
When you copy set members from a source set to a target set, Civic Platform does not remove the set
members in the source set. Your source set remains intact.
To copy set members from one set to another
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Use Search in the Set list portlet to locate the target set to which you want to add members.
3. Click the Set ID link for the desired target set to open the set details portlet for your target set.
4. Hover your mouse cursor on the Look Up button and select Look Up Set.
A search form displays.
5. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the source set from which you want to copy set members.
6. Click Submit.
A list of sets matching your search criteria displays.
7. Select the set that you want to use as your source set.
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8. Click Select.
Civic Platform copies the set members from the source set to the target set.
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Creating Records from Parcel Sets
Civic Platform enables the creation of records and record sets from a parcel set. Specify the parcel
condition and status criteria in the applicable fields.
Note:
An agency administrator must enable this feature.
To create a Record from a parcel set
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Click the Parcel tab.
3. Choose the parcel set for which you want to generate a record.
Civic Platform displays the set details.
4. Click the Create Record tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set Create Record portlet.
5. Enter data in the fields as available. See Record Creation Field Descriptions for field definitions
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the new record set in the Record Set list portlet. All rejected parcels display in
the Parcel Set List portlet under the Rejected Parcel Set ID.
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Importing Parcels from GIS to a Parcel Set
Use Accela GIS to collect parcels for a parcel set. After you name a parcel set, you can click the GIS
Import button to open the map viewer and select the applicable parcels for your set. For more information
on how to import parcels from GIS to a parcel set, refer to the respective Accela Civic Platform GIS
documentation set.
To import parcels from GIS
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Click the Parcel tab.
3. Choose the parcel set to which you want to add parcels from GIS.
Civic Platform displays the set details.
4. Click the Set Member tab.
Civic Platform displays each parcel in the parcel set.
5. Click GIS Import.
Civic Platform displays the GIS map viewer.
6. Select the parcels from the Map viewer.
The list of selected parcels is displayed at the bottom of the view.
7. Select Send Features to AA from the drop-down list.
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the parcels in a parcel list pop-up window.
9. Select each parcel that you want to add to the parcel set.
10.Click Submit.
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Allocating Set Payments
Using set functionality, you can accept and allocate payments made toward the fee items that belong to
any record within a record set, saving time and improving efficiency.
You can accept full or partial payment towards the total outstanding balance for all records within the set
(you cannot accept a payment that exceeds the total outstanding balance). After entering the payment
amount, you can determine what amount of the total payment you want to allocate to each fee item within
the set.
Civic Platform summarizes the set, including the following information:
• Total number of records in the set
• Number of fee items that have been paid
• Total job value of all records in the set
• Total fees that have been assessed and invoiced for the set
• Any payments that have been made toward the set
• Outstanding balance for all records in the set.
Note:
Before you can save set payment information, you must start a cashier session. For information about
managing cashier sessions, see Working with a Cash Drawer Interface . For more information about
accepting and allocating set payments, see Accepting and Allocating Set Payments .
To accept and allocate set payments
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Use Search to locate the set you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the search results in the Set ID portlet.
3. Click the link in the Set ID column for the Set you want.
Civic Platform displays the Set ID detail portlet.
4. Click the Payment tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set Payment detail portlet.
5. Click Pay.
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Note:
Your agency administrator must enable Standard Choice, Allow_Negative_Fee_Transfer_As_Credit, in
order to process a negative fee item on a record in a set.
The Set Payment detail portlet displays.
6. Complete the fields with available data as required. See Payment Details for a Set for field definitions.
7. Click Submit.
If you did not start a cashier session yet, Civic Platform displays a cashier session pop-up window. See
Working with a Cash Drawer Interface for more information.
Civic Platform displays a Set Payment Allocation pop-up window.
8. If you are receiving a payment for the entire balance, click Full Pay.
If you are receiving only partial payment, determine what part of the payment you want to allocate to
each fee item and enter that amount in the Amount field for each fee item.
9. Click Submit.
Civic Platform generates a receipt summarizing the payment. A set payment has a unique set receipt
number; the payment for each individual record has its own receipt number as well. You can print this
receipt or save it to a file, as necessary.
If your agency uses a cash drawer and receipt printer, Civic Platform prints a receipt and displays the
itemized receipt in a pop-up window.
10.If Civic Platform displays the receipt in a pop-up window so you can print the receipt as needed. Close
the window when you finish.
11.If payment method = Check and your agency uses a receipt printer, insert the check in the printer to
print the endorsement on the check.
If payment method = Cash and the payment amount is more than the amount due, Civic Platform
calculates the amount of change due.
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Generating Reports for Sets
Civic Platform provides the same functionality for printing and viewing reports for a set as it does for
individual Records, parcels, addresses, or licensed professionals. After a report is selected, the specified
report runs one time for each set member.
Note:
Report Manager configuration defines the list of reports available for sets. If you have problems running a
report, contact your agency administrator.
To generate set member reports
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Click the Set Type tab which holds the applicable set.
3. Choose the set to which you want to run a report.
Civic Platform displays the set details.
4. Click the Set Member tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set Status list portlet
5. Select the set members for which you want reports generated.
6. Click Reports.
7. Select a report from the drop-down list.
Civic Platform generates a report for each specified set member.
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Executing a Script for Sets
Civic Platform provides the ability to run a pre-configured EMSE (event manager and script engine) script
from the Set detail portlet on set members for record, parcel, address, and licensed professional sets.
Note:
This feature requires an agency administrator to set the relevant Function Identifications (FIDs) to Full
Access and configure the related Standard Choices for each set type.
If you have problems executing a script, contact your agency administrator.
1. Navigate to the Set portlet.
Civic Platform displays the portlet.
2. Click the set type tab which holds the applicable set.
3. Choose the set to which you want to execute a script.
Civic Platform displays the set details.
4. Click the Set tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set Status form portlet.
5. Click Execute Script.
6. Select a script from the drop-down list.
Civic Platform executes the script on all set members.
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Performing Random Audits on Sets
You can designate a specific group of records (permits, applications, work orders) using parameters you
create, and then generate a random selection set for audit purposes from within that group. Use this audit
set to execute scripts, run reports, apply filters, and otherwise audit the set of records.
Example: You want to audit twenty electrical licenses. After you define the set parameters, the audit set is
generated, creating a list of twenty randomly selected electrical licenses that fall within the set parameters.
A script is executed to contact the licensees, notifying them that they are being audited (or to automatically
create mailing labels to send hard copies). The script then generates a report to audit fees and continuing
education requirements.
Each permit, application, work order, or other type of record can belong to multiple audit sets. Records
with locked or hold conditions are not excluded. For more information about managing random audits, see
Random Audits.
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Working with a Set of Sets
You can create a set of sets by combining record sets, enabling you to use batch processing for multiple
record sets. For example, you can identify and pay unpaid invoiced fee items for multiple record sets
simultaneously. Another example: You may want to combine record sets related to a particular building or
development project, providing a convenient method for analyzing and processing records, calculating total
job values, assessing/verifying fees, and processing fee payments.
Note:
Your agency administrator must set the relevant Function Identifications (FIDs) to Full Access and configure
the related Standard Choices for the sets of sets feature to properly function.
Topics
•Administering Sets
•Analyzing Sets
•Analyzing Fees
•Processing Payments
Administering Sets
You can create and modify sets of sets, view fees, and process payments for Record member sets using
the Sets tab.
Topics
•Creating a Set of Sets
•Deleting a Set of Sets
•Associating a Record with a Set of Sets
•Viewing Set of Sets Members
•Removing a Record Set from a Set of Sets
Creating a Set of Sets
Create a set of sets to analyze record set information for multiple Record sets, including reviewing fees
assessed and making payments.
To create a set of sets
1. Click the Sets main link
Civic Platform displays the Set portlet.
2. Click the Sets tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set of Sets list portlet
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3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the New Set of Sets portlet.
4. Complete the New Set of Set portlet fields:
Set ID Civic Platform automatically generates a code for the set of sets. If you want to
change the ID, enter a unique alphanumeric abbreviation.
Set Name Enter a name that identifies the set of sets. If you enter an existing name, Civic
Platform displays a warning message.
Comment Enter any comments that identify the set of sets or explain its purpose.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the set to the Set of Sets list portlet.
6. Click the Set Member tab in the Set of Sets detail portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Record Set ID Numbers for set members.
7. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the Record Set Search page.
8. Complete the fields in the Record Set Search page and click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the set or sets that match your search criteria.
9. Select the set that you want to add to the set of sets and click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the set to the set of sets.
Deleting a Set of Sets
Delete a set of sets as needed. When you delete a set of sets, you simply remove record set member
associations you do not delete record sets.
To delete a set of sets
1. Click the Sets main link
Civic Platform displays the Set portlet.
2. Click the Sets tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set of Sets list portlet.
3. Select the sets of sets that you want to delete and click Delete.
Civic Platform deletes the set of sets.
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Associating a Record with a Set of Sets
Associate record sets with a set of sets based on your agency’s needs. You may want to associate record
sets related to a similar building or a development project.
1. Click the Sets main link
Civic Platform displays the Set portlet.
2. Click the Sets tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set of Sets list portlet.
3. Click the set of sets to which you want to add set members.
Civic Platform displays the Set of Sets Detail portlet.
4. Click the Set Member tab.
Civic Platform displays the Record Set ID Numbers for set members.
5. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the Record Set Search page.
6. Complete the fields in the Record Set Search page and click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the set or sets that match your search criteria.
7. Select the sets that you want to add to the set of sets and click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the set to the set of sets.
Viewing Set of Sets Members
You can view set member records and record details using the Set Member tab.
To view Record set members
1. Click the Sets main link
Civic Platform displays the Set portlet.
2. Click the Sets tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set of Sets list portlet.
3. Select the set of sets for which you want to view set members.
Civic Platform displays the Set of Sets detail portlet.
4. Click the Set Member tab.
Civic Platform displays the Record set ID Numbers for set members.
5. To view record details for a particular set, click a set ID.
Civic Platform displays the Record Set Detail portlet.
Removing a Record Set from a Set of Sets
You can remove a record set from a set of sets as needed. Removal of a record set from a set of sets
simply dissolves the association between the record set and the set of sets. the record set remains intact.
To remove a record set from a set of sets
1. Click the Sets main link
Civic Platform displays the Set portlet.
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2. Click the Sets tab.
Civic Platform displays the set of sets list portlet.
3. Click the Set Member tab in the set of sets detail portlet.
Civic Platform displays the record set ID numbers for set members.
4. Select the record set that you want to remove from the associated set of sets and click Delete.
Civic Platform confirms that the removal of the record set from the associated set of sets.
Analyzing Sets
The Set Analysis portlet displays fee information for set member records. The fields list the set member
records based on whether they have active conditions at Lock or Hold severity levels. Records with Lock or
Hold conditions display in the locked column; Records that do not have active conditions with locks display
in the Not Locked column.
Note:
A Record can belong to more than one record set. If a record is a member of two sets , and both sets belong
to the same set of sets, then the respective record details display only one time in the Set Analysis portlet.
You can easily determine the fee status for set of set Record members using the Set Analysis portlet.
When you select the Set Analysis tab, Civic Platform iterates through the set of sets members and displays
financial data, including the total invoice balance and the total fees paid.
To view set analysis information
1. Click the Sets main link
Civic Platform displays the Set portlet.
2. Click the Sets tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set of Sets list portlet.
3. Click the set of sets for which you want to view set analysis.
Civic Platform displays the Set of Sets Detail portlet.
4. Click the Set Analysis tab.
Civic Platform iterates through the set and displays the financial data.
5. Review the fields for the selected set of sets. See Set Analysis Field Descriptions for field descriptions.
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Note:
The field values in List 5: “Set Analysis Field Descriptions” on page 484 are based on the setting of the
Standard Choice ALLOW_NEGATIVE_FEE_TRANSFER_AS_CREDIT to a value of Yes. If your agency
administrator sets the Standard Choice Value to No, then the fields only display Records without any
remaining overpaid invoiced fee items.
Analyzing Fees
The Fee Analysis tab displays fees related to all the Record set members in a set of sets. When you select
the Fee Analysis tab, Civic Platform iterates through the Record set members and builds a grid displaying
total Record fees, payments, and balances due.
Note:
A single Record may be associated to multiple Record sets. If a Record is a member of two sets that are
associated with the same set of sets, then the respective Record details display only one time in the Fee
Analysis portlet.
To view fee analysis information
1. Click the Sets main link
Civic Platform displays the Set portlet.
2. Click the Sets tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set of Sets list portlet.
3. Click the set of sets for which you want to view set analysis.
Civic Platform displays the Set of Sets Detail portlet.
4. Click the Fee Analysis tab.
Civic Platform iterates through the set and displays the financial data.
5. Review the fields for the selected set of sets. For field descriptions, see Fee Analysis Fields.
Processing Payments
You can use the Payment tab to apply partial or full payments to record members in a set of sets. This
allows you to run batch processing on a larger scale than you can with the existing Record set payments
functionality. Use the buttons at the top of the portlet to pay full and partial invoices, pay specific fee items
for set members, and void payments.
Note:
A single Record may be associated to multiple Record sets. If a Record is a member of two sets that
are associated with the same set of sets, then the respective Record details display only one time in the
Payment portlet.
Topics
•Working with the Fee Items Pay button
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•Working with the Pay button
•Voiding a Payment
Working with the Fee Items Pay button
The Fee Items Pay button allows you to specify payments for particular set of sets Record members. You
can apply a specific amount to all Record invoiced fee items. The specified fee payment amount is only
applied to Record members where the invoiced fee item amount due is greater than or equal to the amount
being applied to the fee item. After you submit a specified payment, the Pay page displays and the Amount
box is populated with the total amount. You can pay only this amount by selecting the payment method and
clicking the Submit button on the Pay page. Use the buttons at the top of the portlet to Submit, Reset, or
Cancel payments.
To make specific fee item payments
1. Navigate to the Cashier Session portlet and click New Session.
Civic Platform begins a cashiering session.
2. Click the Sets main link
Civic Platform displays the Set portlet.
3. Click the Sets tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set of Sets list portlet.
4. Click the set of sets for which you want to make a payment.
Civic Platform displays the Set of Sets Detail portlet.
5. Click the Payment tab.
Civic Platform iterates through the set and displays the financial data.
6. Review the fields for the selected set of sets. For field descriptions, see Payment Processing Fields.
7. Click Fee Items Pay at the top of the portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Fee Items Pay page.
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8. Complete the fields for the selected set of sets. For field descriptions, see Fee Items Pay Fields.
Note:
If a Record has multiple fee items that are the same, only the first fee item displays in the Fee Item List.
Duplicate fee items for individual Records do not display.
9. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the Pay page. The specified amount displays in the Amount field, which is read-
only.
10.Complete the fields on the Pay page. For field descriptions, see Payment Details for a Set.
Working with the Pay button
You can make full or partial payments for set of sets Record members using the Pay button.
Topics
•Making Full Payments
•Making Partial Payments
Making Full Payments
You can pay record set member invoice amounts in full as necessary.
To make a full payment
1. Navigate to the Cashier Session portlet and click New Session.
Civic Platform begins a cashiering session.
2. Click the Sets main link
Civic Platform displays the Set portlet.
3. Click the Sets tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set of Sets list portlet.
4. Click the set of sets for which you want to make a payment.
Civic Platform displays the Set of Sets Detail portlet.
5. Click the Payment tab.
Civic Platform iterates through the set and displays the financial data.
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6. Review the fields for the selected set of sets. For field descriptions, see Payment Processing Fields.
7. Click Pay at the top of the portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Pay page and populates the Amount field with the total invoice balance due.
8. Complete the fields on the Pay page and click Submit. For a list of field descriptions, see Payment
Details for a Set.
Civic Platform applies the payment amount to set of set Record members.
Making Partial Payments
1. Navigate to the Cashier Session portlet and click New Session.
Civic Platform begins a cashiering session.
2. Open the Sets portlet and click the Sets tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set of Sets list portlet.
3. Click the set of sets for which you want to make a partial payment.
Civic Platform displays the Set of Sets Detail portlet.
4. Click the Payment tab.
Civic Platform iterates through the set and displays the financial data.
5. Review the fields for the selected set of sets. For field descriptions, see Payment Processing Fields.
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6. Click Pay at the top of the portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Pay page. For a list of field descriptions, see Payment Details for a Set.
7. To make a partial payment, which means paying less than the invoice balance due for all set of set
Record members, enter a smaller amount in the Amount field and clickSubmit.
Civic Platform displays the Apply Payment page.
8. Complete the fields on the Apply Payment page. For a list of field descriptions, see Apply Partial
Payment Fields.
9. Click Save.
If you are making a partial payment towards any of the fee items using cash, Civic Platform displays a
message indicating the remaining change due.
10.Click OK to continue.
Civic Platform displays a payment receipt
Voiding a Payment
1. Navigate to the Cashier Session portlet and click New Session.
Civic Platform begins a cashiering session.
2. Click the Sets main link
Civic Platform displays the Set portlet.
3. Click the Sets tab.
Civic Platform displays the Set of Sets list portlet.
4. Click the set of sets for which you want to make a partial payment.
Civic Platform displays the Set of Sets Detail portlet.
5. Click the Payment tab.
Civic Platform iterates through the set and displays the financial data.
6. Locate the Transactions section, select the payment you want to void, then click Void.
Civic Platform displays the Void Sets of Sets Payment page.
7. Enter any comments related to the voided transaction, such as a reason for the void transaction
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform voids the transaction.
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Examining Set Details
The following tables list and define the default fields available in the different interfaces you may encounter
when working with sets.
•Set Cloning Field Descriptions
•Record Creation Field Descriptions
•Payment Details for a Set
•Set Analysis Field Descriptions
•Payment Processing Fields
•Fee Items Pay Fields
•Apply Partial Payment Fields
•Fee Analysis Fields
Set Cloning Field Descriptions
The following fields are available by default when cloning a set.
Table 56: Cloning a Set Field Descriptions
Application Specific
Information
Select this option to clone the Application Specific Information for each set member.
Additional Info Select this option to clone the additional information for each set member.
Contacts Select this option to clone the contacts for each set member.
Fees Select from the following options.
Clone All Fees: Select this option to clone all fees for all set members.
Prompt for Each Member: Select this option to prompt for fee transfer come up for
each set member. Click OK to transfer the fees for the set member, Click Cancel to
reject the transfer of fees for the set member.
Do Not Clone Fees: Select this option to reject the cloning of fees for set members.
From (Record ID) Select the first Record ID in the range of Records you want to clone.
Inspection Conditions Select this option to clone the inspection conditions for each set member.
Inspections Select this option to clone the inspections for each set member.
To (Record ID) From the drop-down list, select the end record ID in the range of records you want to
clone.
Licensed Professionals Select this option to clone the licensed professionals for each set member.
Locations Specify how you want to handle Address and Parcel information.
No Prompting: Civic Platform clones parcel and address information for each set
member. (default)
Prompt for Parcel: Civic Platform prompts the user to select parcels for each set
member when cloning occurs.
Prompt for Address: Civic Platform prompts the user to select addresses for each
set member when cloning occurs. Parcels associated with a selected address attach
to the record as well.
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No. of Clones Enter the number of records that you want to clone for each set member.
Preserve Dates Select this option to clone the record related dates for each set member. If this is not
marked, Civic Platform assigns standard record related dates.
Record Conditions Select this option to clone the record conditions for each set member.
Related Records Select this option to attach related records for each set member to the cloned record.
Status Select the status that you want to apply to the cloned records.
Structure Select this option to clone the structure for each set member.
Use Current Parcel Owner Select this option to clone the owner of the primary parcel to the record owner. If you
do not select this option, Civic Platform clones existing record owners. Civic Platform
clones licensed professionals and contacts based on specifications in the associated
fields on the page.
Workflow Status Select this option to clone the workflow status for each cloned set member.
Workflow Task Specific Info Select this option to clone the workflow task-specific information for each set
member.
Record Creation Field Descriptions
The following fields are available by default when creating a new record for a set.
Table 57: Create Record Field Descriptions
Create new Record SET Generates a new record set from the records created from the parcel set.
New Record SET ID The Record SET ID for the new record set in this field. This field becomes enabled
when you select the Create new Record SET option.
Parcels, Addresses, or
Owners Locked
Use to define record creation parameters. Options are:
Include: Generates records for all parcels independent of parcel or parcel address
current conditions.
Exclude: Generates records for all parcel set members except for parcels/parcel
addresses with a lock condition applied).
Reject: Generates records for all parcels set members except for parcels or parcel
addresses with a ‘Locked’ condition applied.
Pending or Disabled
Parcels
Use to define record creation parameters. Options are:
Include: Generates records for all parcels independent of parcel or parcel address
current status.
Exclude: Generates records for all parcel set members except for parcels/parcel
addresses with a status of Pending or Disabled.
Reject: Generates records for all parcel set members except for parcels/parcel
addresses with a status of Pending or Disabled.
Permit Type Use to select the Permit Type required for the new Records.
Rejected Parcels SET ID The Rejected Parcel Set ID name if you select the Reject option in the Parcels or
Addresses with Locks field or the Pending or Disabled Parcels field. The rejected
parcel set contains all the rejected parcels that were not used to generate records
because of a condition or status.
Payment Details for a Set
The following fields are available by default when working with payment details for a set.
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Table 58: Payment Details for a Set
Amount The total payment amount.
Bank Name If you are receiving a credit card payment or check payment, this is the name of the
bank that issued the credit card or check.
CC Auth Code If you are receiving a credit card payment, this is the credit card number.
CC Exp Date If you are receiving a credit card payment, this is the credit card’s expiration date.
CC Holder Name If you are receiving a credit card payment, this is the name of the credit card holder as
it appears on the credit card.
Check Holder’s E-mail If you are receiving a check payment, this is the email address of the check holder.
Check Holder’s Name If you are receiving a check payment, this is the name of the check holder.
Check Number If you are receiving a check payment, this is the check number.
Check Type The check type. For example, company or personal.
City The city of the payor.
Comment Comments to help identify or explain the reason for this payment. If there are any
special circumstances for this payment, indicate them here.
Country/Region The country or region of the payor.
Driver’s License The drivers license number of the payor.
Method The payment method. For example, choose Cash, Check, or Credit Card.
Payor The name of the payor.
Phone Number The phone number of the payor.
Received The manner in which the payment was received. For example, In Person, Mail, or Fax.
Reference # If you are receiving a check payment, this is the check number.
State The state where the payor resides.
Trust Account The number or code that identifies the terminal where you are accepting payment.
Zip The zip code of the payor.
Set Analysis Field Descriptions
The following fields are available by default for set analysis.
Table 59: Set Analysis Field Descriptions
All Fees Paid The sum of all Record related fees with fully paid invoiced fee items.
Fees Overpaid The sum of all Record related fees with fully paid invoiced fee items and unapplied
credits.
Fees Required The sum of all Record related fees with at least one unpaid invoiced fee item.
Total Records The total number of Records in the selected set of sets.
Total Fee Applied The sum of all the applied fees for Record set members.
Total Fee Invoiced The sum of all invoiced fees for Record set members.
Total Invoice Balance The difference between the amount of money invoiced and the amount of money
applied: the balance due.
Total Job Value The total job value for all Records.
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Payment Processing Fields
The following fields are available by default when processing payments for a set.
Table 60: Payment Processing Fields
All Fees Paid The sum of all Record related fees with fully paid invoiced fee items.
Cashier ID The ID number for the cashier conducting the session.
Date The cashier session date.
Set Member Records The total number of Record set members in the set of sets.
Terminal # The terminal number for the current cashiering session.
Total Balance The total balance for all set of set Record members less the total credits.
Total Credits The total accumulated credits for all set of set Record members.
Total Fee Applied The sum of all the records for which fees have been applied, or paid.
Total Fee Assessed The sum of all assessed fees, including invoiced and non-invoiced fees, for each
record member in the selected set of sets.
Total Fee Invoiced The amount of all invoiced fees for each Record member in the set of sets
Total Invoice Balance This column displays the difference between the invoiced fees and the applied, or
paid, fees.
Transactions Use the check boxes under this heading to select Set payments to void.
Valuation The total job value for all Record set members.
Fee Items Pay Fields
The following fields are available by default when paying fee items for a set.
Table 61: Fee Items Pay Fields
Amount Per Record This is the amount you want to apply to each invoiced fee item for each Record
member. When you enter an amount in this field, Civic Platform automatically
calculates the Record count, Payment Amount, and Total.
Record Count The total number of Records that will receive payment.
Fee The total fee amount.
Fee Code The code that indicates the type of fee assessed.
Fee Item The description of the fee item.
Outstanding The total outstanding balance on invoiced fee items for all Record members.
Paid The total amount paid on invoiced fee items for all member Records.
Payment Amount This field is auto-populated based on the amount you enter in the Amount Per Record
field.
For example, if you have a Fire Code Inspection fee for two Records with an unpaid
amount of $100.00 and you enter $50.00 in the Amount Per Record field, then the
Record Count field indicates that the two Records will receive payment and the
Payment Amount field displays $100.00, which is the total amount to be applied:
$50.00 for each Record.
If you have multiple Records with the same fee item and you apply less than invoiced
amount, then Civic Platform applies the amount to the first Record in the list of Record
set members; the amount is not split between the two Records.
Quantity The total number of invoiced fee items for Records in the selected set of sets.
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Apply Partial Payment Fields
The following fields are available by default when working with partial payments on a set.
Table 62: Apply Partial Payment Fields
Apply Credit The is a credit amount to be applied to a specific invoice item. You can only enter
credits in this field that are equal to or less than available credits.
Apply Payment This field populates based on the Standard Choice
FULL_PAY_ALLOCATION_OPTIONS. When the Standard Choice Value is set to
Automatic, fees display and process based on priority. When the Standard Choice
Value is set to Standard, fees display and process starting with the first on the list. The
Full Paybutton reallocates amounts in the Apply Credits and Apply Payments fields
based on the Standard Choice settings.
Available Credit This field displays available credit for each set of sets Record member with
outstanding invoiced fee items.
Fee The amount to be paid.
Fee Code The code representing the type of fee assessed.
Fee Item The description of the fee item.
Invoiced Date The date the fee item was invoiced.
Invoice # The fee item invoice number.
Outstanding The unpaid amount on the invoiced fee item.
Paid The amount paid towards the invoiced fee item.
Payment Period The payment period for the invoiced fee item.
Priority The priority level of the invoiced fee item.
Quantity This field indicates the quantity of invoiced fee items for individual Records.
Record ID The ID number for the Record with outstanding invoiced fee items.
Fee Analysis Fields
The following fields are available by default when working with fee analysis on a set.
Table 63: Fee Analysis Field Descriptions
Record ID This field displays the Record ID or Alternative ID for all Record members in the
selected set of sets.
Total Fee Applied The sum of the applied amounts for each Record member in the selected set of sets.
Total Fee Assessed The sum of all assessed fees, including invoiced and non-invoiced fees, for each
Record member in the selected set of sets.
Total Fee Invoiced The amount of all invoiced fees for each Record member in the set of sets.
Total Invoice Balance This column displays the difference between the invoiced fees and the applied, or
paid, fees.
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Structures and Establishments
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with structures and establishments.
Related Information
Structures and Establishments Overview
Creating a Structure or Establishment
Viewing or Editing a Structure or Establishment
Deleting a Structure or Establishment
Activating an Inactive Structure or Establishment
Associating Reference Data to Structures and Establishments
Examining Structure and Establishment Details
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Structures and Establishments Overview
A structure is a physical building or building improvement, such as a mall, an apartment complex, or an
office building. You can set up structure records to track the relationships between structures and the
addresses, parcels, and owners they have an association with, as well as the records they have a link to.
An establishment is an entity within a structure; for example, an individual store that leases space in a
shopping mall. Establishments may have different APO data from the structures they occupy, so Civic
Platform allows users to link address, parcel, and owner information to individual structure records and
establishment records, enabling users to track the relationship between structures and establishments.
Users can also associate applications to structure records and establishment records.
Creating a Structure or Establishment
You can create a structure or establishment record as needed. This is particularly useful if your agency
wants to track the different shops within a shopping mall or the various apartment owners within a large
apartment building.
To create a structure or establishment
1. Navigate to the Structures and Establishments portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Structures and Establishments list portlet.
2. Click New.
Civic Platform displays a detail form.
3. Complete the following required fields:
Group Choose either Structure or Establishment.
Type Choose a structure type based on the group you selected.
Civic Platform displays a portlet containing the fields associated with the Group and Type you selected.
4. Complete the form with available data. See Structure and Establishment Fields for field definitions.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates the structure or establishment.
Viewing or Editing a Structure or Establishment
1. Navigate to the Structures and Establishments portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Structures and Establishments list portlet.
2. Click Search.
3. Enter search criteria as needed, then click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of structures and establishments meeting your search criteria.
4. Click the hyperlinked name of the structure or establishment record you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the appropriate structure or establishment record detail.
5. Modify fields as needed. See Structure and Establishment Fields for field definitions.
6. Click Save.
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Deleting a Structure or Establishment
When you delete a structure or establishment, Civic Platform preserves the record and its information but
sets its status to Inactive. You can still search for the record, edit it, and activate it, and the deleted records
are still accessible under the records that are using them.
If you want to delete a structure that has establishments associated to it, Civic Platform will ask if you want
to delete the structure only or the structure and its associated establishments.
To delete a structure or establishment
1. Navigate to the Structures and Establishments portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Structures and Establishments list portlet.
2. Click Search.
3. Enter search criteria as needed, then click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of structures and establishments meeting your search criteria.
4. Select the structure or establishment you want to delete.
5. Click Delete.
If you have chosen to delete a structure that has one or more establishments associated to it, a dialog
box displays, asking if you want to delete the structure and its associated establishments.
Click Yes to delete the structure and establishments. Click No to delete only the structure.
Civic Platform deletes the selected object(s).
Activating an Inactive Structure or Establishment
When you delete a structure or establishment record, both the record and its information are saved in the
database with status = Inactive. You can search for and re-activate a deleted structure or establishment
record.
To reactivate an inactive structure or establishment
1. Find the structure or establishment you want to reactivate. See Viewing or Editing a Structure or
Establishment for instructions.
Civic Platform returns a list of records that match your search criteria.
2. Click the hyperlinked name of the desired structure or establishment.
Civic Platform displays the Structure or Establishment detail portlet.
3. Set the Status field to Active.
Civic Platform reactivates the object and adds it to your Structures and Establishments list portlet.
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Associating Reference Data to Structures and Establishments
Once you have created structure and establishment records, you can associate reference data to them.
Address, Parcel, and Owner data are necessary for managing and maintaining properties, and you can
attach APO data to structure and establishment records.
You can also associate structure and establishment records to one another. If your agency is managing
a mall structure, for example, you can associate all the establishment records for the stores contained in
the mall to the mall structure record. You can perform this association task in either the structure or the
establishment record.
Your agency can configure Civic Platform so that when a structure is associated to an establishment, or an
establishment to a structure, the APO data associated to that structure or establishment are automatically
added to the associated structure or establishment. Once the two records are associated, however, APO
data are added and removed independently for the structure and establishment. Adding or removing data
from one will not affect the data contained in the other.
Topics
•Adding a Condition
•Removing a Condition
•Associating a Parcel
•Removing a Parcel
•Associating an Address
•Removing an Address
•Associating an Owner
•Removing an Owner
•Associating a Record
•Removing a Record
•Associating a Structure or Establishment
•Removing a Structure or Establishment
•Associating Structures and Establishments to Records
Adding a Condition
A condition is a requirement surrounding a structure or establishment. It displays in the record to show that
some requirement has not been met. You can configure a condition to lock or hold a record or to provide a
notice. For example, you may want to notify users when a scheduled inspection has not been completed.
For detailed information on conditions, see Conditions .
You can create a new condition for the structure or establishment or use a standard condition associated to
the structure and establishment group or type.
To add a new condition to a structure or establishment
1. Find and open the structure or establishment record for which you want to associate a condition. See
Viewing or Editing a Structure or Establishment.
2. Click the Conditions tab.
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3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the New Condition portlet.
4. Complete the fields with available data. See Conditions Form Fields for field definitions.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform applies the standard condition and displays the conditions for the selected application or
application component on the tab.
To add a standard condition to a structure or establishment
1. Find and open the structure or establishment record for which you want to associate a condition. See
Viewing or Editing a Structure or Establishment.
2. Click the Conditions tab.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the New Condition portlet. Depending on your administrator’s settings, some of
the available fields may display the Standard Condition hyperlink and data picker.
4. Click the Standard Condition hyperlink.
Civic Platform displays the Standard Condition search portlet.
5. Enter search criteria, then click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of standard conditions that match your search criteria.
6. Click the button next to the standard condition you want to attach to the structure or establishment.
Civic Platform auto‑populates the New Condition form with the values from the standard condition you
selected.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the condition to the record.
Removing a Condition
1. Find the structure or establishment from which you want to remove a condition. See Viewing or Editing
a Structure or Establishment.
2. Click the Conditions tab.
Civic Platform displays the Structures and Establishments portlet.
3. Select the condition you want to remove.
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4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the condition from the record.
Associating a Parcel
Associating a parcel to a structure is different than associating a parcel to an establishment. When an
establishment is associated to a structure, for example a clothing store located in a mall, that establishment
cannot occupy a parcel of land not occupied by the structure. So while you can associate any parcel to a
structure record, you are limited in the parcels you can associate to an establishment.
Topics
•Associating a Parcel to a Structure
•Associating a Parcel to an Establishment
Associating a Parcel to a Structure
You can associate any parcel record to a structure record. You are not limited by any associated
establishments.
Note:
Depending on your agency’s settings, any parcel record associated to a structure populates in or is removed
from a record when an associated structure is added to or deleted from the record. The information can
be added or removed either automatically or following a prompt. This is controlled by agency settings, so
contact your agency administrator if you have questions about synchronizing reference data.
To associate a parcel to a structure
1. Find the structure or establishment to which you want to associate a parcel. See Viewing or Editing a
Structure or Establishment.
2. Click the Parcels tab.
3. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the Parcel Look Up portlet.
4. Enter search criteria as needed then click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of parcels that match your search criteria.
5. Select the parcel(s) you want to associate to the structure or establishment.
6. Click Select.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the parcel(s) to the structure or establishment record.
Associating a Parcel to an Establishment
When an establishment is associated to a structure, you can only add the structure’s parcel information
to the establishment record. When an establishment is associated to more than one structure, you can
choose which structure to select parcel information from.
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Note:
Depending on your agency’s settings, any parcel record associated to a structure populates in or is removed
from a record when an associated structure is added to or deleted from the record. The information can
be added or removed either automatically or following a prompt. This is controlled by agency settings, so
contact your agency administrator if you have questions about synchronizing reference data.
To add a parcel to an establishment not associated to a structure, see Associating a Parcel to a Structure.
To associate a parcel to an establishment
1. Find the establishment to which you want to associate a parcel. See Viewing or Editing a Structure or
Establishment.
2. Click the Parcels tab.
3. Click Look Up.
• If the establishment is associated to multiple structures, Civic Platform displays the structure(s) to
which the establishment is associated.
1. Select the structure with the parcel information you want to import.
2. Click Select.
Civic Platform displays the parcels associated to that structure.
• If the establishment is associated to one structure, Civic Platform displays the list of parcels
associated to that structure.
• If the establishment is not associated to a structure, follow the procedure described in Associating a
Parcel to a Structure.
4. Select the parcel(s) you want to associate to the establishment record.
5. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the parcel information to the establishment record.
Removing a Parcel
1. Find the structure or establishment to which you want to associate a parcel. See Viewing or Editing a
Structure or Establishment.
2. Click the Parcels tab.
3. Select the parcel you want to remove.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the parcel from the structure or establishment record.
Associating an Address
When an establishment is associated to a structure, you can only add the addresses associated to the
structure to the establishment. Any address can be associated to a structure or to an establishment not
associated to a structure.
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Note:
Depending on your agency’s settings, any address record associated to a structure or establishment
populates in or is removed from a record when the associated structure or establishment is added to or
deleted from the record. The information can be added or removed either automatically or following a
prompt. This is controlled by agency settings, so contact your agency administrator if you have questions
about synchronizing reference data.
Topics
•Associating an Address to a Structure
•Associating an Address to an Establishment
Associating an Address to a Structure
1. Find the structure to which you want to associate an address. See Viewing or Editing a Structure or
Establishment.
2. Click the Address tab.
Civic Platform displays the Addresses portlet.
3. Click Look Up.
4. Enter search criteria as appropriate, then click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of addresses that match your search criteria.
5. Select the addresses you want to associate with the structure.
6. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the address to the structure.
Associating an Address to an Establishment
When an establishment is associated to a structure, you can only add the address information associated
to that structure to the address. If the establishment is associated to multiple structures, you can choose
which structure’s address information to add to the establishment.
To add a parcel to an establishment not associated to a structure, complete the tasks described in
Associating an Address to a Structure.
To associate an address to an establishment
1. Find the establishment to which you want to associate an address. See Viewing or Editing a Structure
or Establishment.
2. Click the Address tab.
Civic Platform displays the Addresses portlet.
3. Click Look Up.
• If the establishment is associated to multiple structures, Civic Platform displays the structure(s) to
which the establishment is associated.
1. Select the structure with address information you want to import.
2. Click Select.
Civic Platform displays the addresses associated to that structure.
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• If the establishment is associated to one structure, Civic Platform displays the list of addresses
associated to that structure.
• If the establishment is not associated to a structure, follow the procedure described in Associating an
Address to a Structure.
4. Select the addresses you want to associate with the establishment record.
5. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the address information to the establishment record.
Removing an Address
1. Find the structure or establishment from which you want to remove an address. See Viewing or Editing
a Structure or Establishment.
2. Click the Address tab.
Civic Platform displays the Addresses portlet.
3. Select the address you want to remove.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the address from the structure or establishment.
Associating an Owner
1. Find the structure or establishment to which you want to associate an owner. See Viewing or Editing a
Structure or Establishment.
2. Click the Owner tab.
Civic Platform displays the Owners portlet.
3. Click Look Up.
4. Enter search criteria as appropriate, then click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a list of owners that match your search criteria.
5. Select the owner(s) to be added to the structure or establishment record.
6. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the owner(s) to the structure or establishment record.
Removing an Owner
1. Find the structure or establishment from which you want to remove an owner. See Viewing or Editing a
Structure or Establishment.
2. Click the Owner tab.
Civic Platform displays the Owners portlet.
3. Select the owner you want to remove from the structure or establishment.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the owner from the structure or establishment.
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Associating a Record
You may want to associate records to your structure and establishment records to keep track of pending
applications or inspections.
To associate a record to a structure or establishment
1. Find the structure or establishment to which you want to associate a record. See Viewing or Editing a
Structure or Establishment.
2. Click the Records tab.
3. Click Look Up.
4. Enter search criteria as appropriate, then click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a list of owners that match your search criteria.
5. Select the record you want to add to the structure or establishment record.
6. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the record(s) to the structure or establishment record.
Removing a Record
1. Find the structure or establishment from which you want to remove a record. See Viewing or Editing a
Structure or Establishment.
2. Click the Record tab.
3. Select the record you want to remove from the structure or establishment.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the record(s) from the structure or establishment.
Associating a Structure or Establishment
In order to track complex properties that contain multiple establishments, you can create structures
and associate multiple establishment records to them or vice versa. You can only associate structures
and establishments, however; you cannot associate structures to structures or establishments to
establishments.
Depending on your agency’s settings, APO data associated to an establishment may populate a structure
when the establishment is associated to it. This may occur automatically or you may be prompted to allow
it.
To associate a structure or establishment
1. Find the structure or establishment to which you want to associate another structure or establishment.
See Viewing or Editing a Structure or Establishment.
2. Click the Structures & Establishments tab.
Civic Platform displays the Structures and Establishments portlet.
3. Click Look Up.
4. Enter search criteria as appropriate, then click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of structures or establishments that match your search criteria.
5. Select the structure or establishment you want to associate.
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6. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the structure(s) or establishment(s) to the structure or establishment record.
Removing a Structure or Establishment
Deleting an establishment associated to a structure or a structure associated to an establishment does not
delete the record or its information from the database. Rather, it deletes the relationship between the two
records. You can still search, edit, and associate the deleted structure or establishment record.
To remove a structure or establishment
1. Find the structure or establishment to which you want to associate another structure or establishment.
See Viewing or Editing a Structure or Establishment.
2. Click the Structures & Establishments tab.
Civic Platform displays the Structures and Establishments portlet.
3. Select the structure or establishment you want to remove.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the structure(s) or establishment(s).
Associating Structures and Establishments to Records
Users may want to associate structures or establishments directly to an existing record or to a new record.
You can do this either through the record or through the Application Intake Form.
For information on completing the Structures and Establishments sections of the application form, see
Working in the Structures or Establishments Section.
To add structures and establishments from a record
1. From the Record list portlet, select the record you want to work with.
The Record detail portlet displays.
2. Click the Structures and Establishments tab
3. Click Look Up.
4. Enter search criteria as appropriate, then click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of structures and/or establishments matching your search criteria.
5. Select the structures and/or establishments you want to associate to the record.
6. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the structure(s) and/or establishment(s) to the record.
If there are conditions applied to any of the selected structures or establishments, Civic Platform
displays them in a pop‑up window.
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Examining Structure and Establishment Details
The following table lists and define the default fields available in the different interfaces you will encounter
when working with structures and establishments.
Structure and Establishment Fields
This table lists and defines the default fields that may be available to you as you work with structure and
establishment records.
Table 64: Structure and Establishment Fields
Group This is the group of objects you want to work with.
Type This is the type of structure or establishment (depending on which group is selected).
Each type has attribute fields associated with it that display when you select that type.
ID This is the ID number of the structure or establishment.
Name This the name of the structure or establishment.
Status This is the status of the structure or establishment. Options vary by agency.
Status Date This a date range during which the structure or establishment you are searching for
had a specified status.
Land Use This defines how the land is used. Options vary by agency.
Description This is a narrative description of the structure or establishment.
X Coordinate The location of the structure or establishment on the horizontal axis of a land grid, if
your agency uses this type of mapping.
Y Coordinate The location of the structure or establishment on the vertical axis of a land grid, if your
agency uses this type of mapping.
Height The height of the structure or establishment.
Date Built A date range during which the structure or establishment you are searching for was
built.
Front Dimension The dimensions of the structure or establishment’s facade.
Rear Dimension The dimensions of the structure or establishment’s rear surface.
Side Dimension 1 The dimensions for one of the structure or establishment’s side surfaces.
Side Dimension 2 The dimensions for one of the structure or establishment’s side surfaces.
Total Floors The number of floors in the structure or establishment.
1st Floor Area The total area of the first floor of the structure or establishment.
Total Floor Area The total area of all the floors in the structure or establishment.
# of Rooms The total number of rooms in the structure or establishment.
Baths The total number of bathrooms in the structure or establishment.
Beds The total number of bedrooms in the structure or establishment.
Garage This indicates whether the structure or establishment has garage facilities.
Pool This indicates whether the structure or establishment has a swimming pool.
Floor The floor number on which the structure or establishment is located.
# of Employees The total number of employees of the structure or establishment.
# of Residential Units The total number of residential units in the structure or establishment.
% of Structure The percentage of the structure’s area taken up by the establishment.
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Parcel(s) Area The area of the parcel or parcels taken up by the structure or establishment.
% of Parcel(s) Area Used
by Structure
The percentage of the parcel or parcels occupied by the structure.
Record Status The status of the record. Options include Active or Inactive.
| Time Accounting Tracker | 707
Time Accounting Tracker
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with time accounting.
Related Information
Time Accounting Overview
Creating a Time Accounting Record
Examining the Time Accounting Details
| Time Accounting Tracker | 708
Time Accounting Overview
Use the Time Accounting module to track the amount of time spent in performing your daily tasks, the
descriptions and costs of materials used while performing those tasks, and the usage of vehicles related to
the tasks performed.
Time Accounting information is captured in two contexts.
• Time and materials that are required to process applications. As employees log their activity in the time
accounting tracker, the agency can calculate the fees and charges and apply them to the application in
“real time”. For example, an agency can track the time a user spends on a particular process or group
of processes.
• Agencies can record costs relating to time and materials that are not directly related to processing any
specific information. This information is entered for reporting purposes only.
Users access to functionality is set by the agency administrator. There are three user levels: administrator,
supervisor, and user. Users with administrator privileges can view and edit any records for which any
other user has access. Supervisors can view and edit any records within their user group. Users without
administrator or supervisor privileges can only view or edit their own records.
The Access Mode column allows the administrator to inform the current user what type of access the user
has to each time an entry type displayed in the list. Valid values are:
NUser cannot delete or make changes to the entry.
DUser may delete this entry.
EUser can make changes to any of the fields that are not displayed as read-only.
DE The user may delete this entry or make changes to any of the fields that are not displayed as read-only.
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Creating a Time Accounting Record
You can create a new time accounting record for each application. You can create records for multiple
applications at one time. For example, an inspector completes four electrical inspections, and enters the
documentation for all four at one time.
You can access the time accounting portlet from the home page, or from an entity (for example, a record,
or a condition assessment).
To create a Time Accounting record
1. Open the Time Accounting portlet using one of the following approaches:
• Navigate to the Time Accounting portlet.
Note:
If you want to add time accounting for inspections or workflow with the enhanced time tracker feature,
you must take this approach. The workflow or inspection portlet only allows you to record the time
spent.
• Navigate to the record portlet, open the record you want to add time accounting, and then click the
Time Accounting button in the Record tab.
• Navigate to the Record portlet, open the detail form for an activity in a record, and then click the
Time Accounting button.
• Navigate to the Condition Assessment portlet, open the condition assessment you want to add time
accounting, and then click the Time Accounting button in the Detail tab.
• Navigate to the Work Order portlet, go to the Work Order Task tab, and click the link in the Time
Accounting column at a work order task.
2. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the time accounting entry form.
3. Complete the fields with available data. See Time Accounting Fields for field definitions.
| Time Accounting Tracker | 710
4. As necessary and if available, you can directly add equipment costs and material costs that occurred
during the time accounting period.
a. Click Add in the Equipment/Materials section.
Civic Platform adds a new row to the list of equipment/materials cost.
b. Complete the fields with available data. See Equipment and Material Cost Fields for a list of fields
and definitions.
c. Click either Add to add more rows, or select a row and click Remove to remove it.
5. To add another record, click Add, and repeat steps 3 and 4.
Civic Platform adds another time accounting record in the detail portlet.
6. Select the records you want to save, and click Submit.
Civic Platform saves the time accounting records.
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Examining the Time Accounting Details
The table below lists and defines the fields that may be available on the Time Accounting portlet. Fields are
listed in alphabetical order (default names are used).
Topics
•Time Accounting Fields
•Equipments and Material Cost Fields
Time Accounting Fields
Table 65: Time Accounting Fields
Billable Defines whether the agency can bill for this type.
Cost If you set 0 or empty in Hourly Rate, you can enter a value for this Cost field. If there
is no time value in Detail Time Elapsed, Civic Platform calculates the cost with the
following formula:
Cost = Hourly Rate * Percent * Time Elapsed
If you specify time value in Detail Time Elapsed, Civic Platform calculates the cost with
this formula:
Cost = Hourly Rate * Percent * (Cost Factor #1 * Detail
Time Elapsed #1 + Cost Factor #2 * Detail Time Elapsed
#2 +...+ Cost Factor #n * Detail Time Elapsed #n)
Cost of Materials The total cost for the materials used.
Created By The agency user who added the record. Read-only field.
Created Date The date when you created the record. Read-only field.
Date Logged The date that the time accounting record is logged.
Detail Time Elapsed The time spent by cost factors for the time accounting.
Note:
Civic Platform validates that the total time given to each cost factor is equal to
the time in the Time Elapsed field.
End Miles The number listed on the odometer on the agency vehicle at the end of your use.
End Time The time in the End Time fields that you finished work on the application. The
application validates that the elapsed time equals to the difference between the start
and end time.
Entity The actual entity (activity, condition assessment, inspection, workflow, or work order
task) you are creating the time accounting record for.
Entity Type The entity type. If none of the options are applicable, select N/A.
Hourly Rate The hourly rate, according to the user’s profile. The user can enter a positive or
negative value. If the user has access to edit the field, the rate specified by the agency
for the Time Accounting type displays. If the field is read-only, the default value is 0.0.
Materials The materials used for this application.
Notation Comments about the application.
Percent The percentage point for calculating the cost. 50 stands for 50%, 80 stands for 80%,
and 150 stands for 150%. Specially, both 0 and 100 stand for 100%.
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Reference Record The reference record for which you create the time accounting. You can further select
the actual entity (activity, workflow, and so forth) in the Entity field. Leave the field as
N/A if no reference record is applicable.
Start Miles The number listed on the odometer on the agency vehicle at the beginning of your
use.
Start Time The Start Time fields that you began work on the application. The application validates
that the elapsed time equals to the difference between the start and end time.
Time Accounting Group The time accounting groups which the user(s) in the User ID field has permission to
view or edit.
Time Accounting Type The time accounting types within the selected time accounting group which the user(s)
in the User ID field has permission to view or edit.
Time Elapsed The time that you want to log for the time accounting. If you enter the Start Time and
End Time, the total time between the recorded Start and End times automatically
populates in this field.
Total Miles The number of miles logged on the agency vehicle you used during this application.
User ID The user identification for the individual you are creating the time accounting for. If you
select multiple users in the field, you can only select a time accounting type from the
Time Accounting Type field that applies to all the selected users. When you submit the
time accounting entry, Civic Platform saves the same entry for all users.
Vehicle ID Select the identification number from the drop-down list for agency vehicles used
during this activity. Users can only enter Vehicle IDs if the vehicle was not used for
activities related to a specific Time Accounting type.
Equipments and Material Cost Fields
Table 66: Equipment and Material Cost Fields
Cost The field is read-only. Civic Platform automatically calculates the cost according to the
formula below:
Total Cost = Fixed Rate + Unit Rate * (Cost Factor #1 *
Quantity #1 + Cost Factor #2 * Quantity #2 +...+ Cost
Factor #n * Quantity #n)
Cost Item The cost item.
Cost Date The date when the cost occurred.
Cost Type The appropriate cost type, such as: contract, employee, materials.
Fixed Rate The fixed cost amount to use for the cost item, identified with the unit of measure as
hours, dollars, and so forth. The field can display a default unit rate that your agency
administrator configured. You can change the value as needed.
Quantity The quantity of items, by cost factors, included in this cost item. The field displays only
one cost factor by default, which is the default cost factor of the cost item, or the first
cost factor configured in the Standard Choice COST_FACTOR where no default cost
factor exists. You can click the down arrow below the cost factor field to view more
cost factors, and enter values for one or more cost factors.
Unit of Measure The unit of measure for the cost item.
Unit Rate The unit cost amount to use for the cost item. The field can display a default unit rate
that your agency administrator configured. You can change the value as needed.
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Assets
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with assets.
Related Information
Asset Overview
Examining Asset Details
Creating a New Asset
Viewing Assets
Updating Asset Details
Setting an Asset Display Image
Printing an Asset
Cloning an Asset
Managing Associated Parts
Managing Linked Assets
Viewing the Asset Condition Assessment History
Viewing PM Schedules for an Asset
Managing Asset Usage
Managing Asset Depreciation Values
Managing Asset Cost Rates
Working with Asset Conditions
Working with Asset Ratings
Managing Asset Contacts
Working on the Asset Calendar
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Asset Overview
Assets can be any object that an agency owns or maintains, such as fire hydrants, valves, manholes,
street signs, trucks, desks, buildings, parking lots, and telephone lines.
When managing assets, you might need to schedule a truck with an aerial lift, identify the fire hydrants that
are due for maintenance, inventory the office equipment, or respond to a request for street signs in a new
subdivision.
There are three classifications of assets:
• Lines are assets connected to a node. Examples of lines are water lines, electrical wires, sidewalks,
roads, curbs, gutters, telephone wires, and utility tunnels beneath city streets. Lines stretch through
your agency connecting nodes.
• Nodes are assets that connect the lines in an agency. Nodes include hydrants, joints in water lines,
electrical substations, sewer drains, manholes, traffic lights at intersections, and other elements that
connect the lines in your agency.
• Components are assets that are free of lines and nodes. Rather than connecting other assets together,
they are often independent or mobile objects such as buildings, vehicles, tools, and equipment.
The first step to working with any asset is to create or locate its record in Civic Platform. Once you have the
asset you want to work with, you can calculate its depreciation values, schedule preventive maintenance,
submit a work order, or do any other tasks with the asset.
Note:
A work order is the basic record used in Civic Platform. A Work Order ID is the work order identification
number. The term record may be used in place of work order.
Your Civic Platform environment and the tasks you perform depend on your agency’s implementation
package and the way your agency administrator sets up Civic Platform, including access permissions
assigned to your Accela User Name.
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Creating a New Asset
You may need to create a new asset in Civic Platform when your agency acquires any new equipment or
asset. There are several components that may apply to an asset, including linked assets, addresses, work
orders, associated files, and details about the asset itself.
Your system administrator determines which fields are available for each asset that you create. These
fields vary as much as assets vary. You may have fields for length, width, diameter, and material for pipes
and water line material. Other fields may be more appropriate for a building or a vehicle.
When you create an asset, be certain that you put it in the right group with similar assets. There are three
classifications of assets:
•Lines include water lines, electrical wires, sidewalks, roads, curbs, gutters, telephone wires, and utility
tunnels beneath city streets. Lines stretch through your agency connecting nodes.
•Nodes include hydrants, joints in water lines, electrical substations, sewer drains, manhole covers,
traffic lights at intersections, and other elements that connect the lines in your agency.
•Components are assets that are free of lines and nodes. Rather than connecting other assets together,
they are often independent or mobile objects such as buildings, vehicles, tools, and equipment.
Depending on your setup, you may be able to search for information that you want to enter on a new asset.
For example, you may be able to search existing assets rather than manually entering asset information.
You can specify the value for an asset and then start to track its depreciations. For information on asset
depreciation calculation, see Managing Asset Depreciation Values.
To create an asset
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Asset list portlet.
2. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the new asset detail form below the list portlet.
3. Choose Asset Group, followed by Asset Type.
Civic Platform displays the fields that apply to the asset.
4. To calculate depreciation value, complete the fields: start value, date of service, useful life, and salvage
value.
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5. Complete the fields with available data.
6. Click Save.
Civic Platform updates the Asset list portlet.
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Viewing Assets
You can quickly access assets from the asset list portlet, and view the details of each asset from this list
by selecting the Asset ID. To view additional information on the asset such as addresses, work orders,
linked assets, attached documents, preventative maintenance schedules, usages, conditions, condition
assessments, ratings, and associated parts, use the record tabs available after selecting the asset.
Figure 21: Asset List and Detail Portlet
AAsset ID link. Click the link to the Asset ID of the asset you want to view.
BAsset ID. The Asset ID displays at the top of the asset details portlet.
CRecord tabs. Data is organized in tabs. You can click any tab to see that data.
To view assets
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to view. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. To update an asset, see Updating Asset Details.
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Searching for an Asset
An agency may have thousands of assets. You can quickly filter your assets list by selecting your asset
group and asset type from the drop‑down menus in the Asset List portlet and clicking the Filter button. Or,
use a search to enter any information that you know about the asset.
Civic Platform allows you to search assets by asset details, asset addresses, associated work order
details, as well as rating types and attribute fields associated to your selected asset type. If you want to
view the list of fire hydrants around a school, you may begin your search by identifying the asset type as
Hydrant. Since you know the location of the school, you could enter the city, zip code, street, and any other
fields narrowing the search.
If you lack the asset detail information, but want to get all the assets that have due work orders in the next
week, you just enter the work order scheduling details and perform the asset search.
To search for an asset
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Asset list portlet.
2. To quickly filter your list, use the Asset Group, Asset Type, Asset ID, Attribute Name, and Attribute
Value drop‑down menus at the top of the page to filter the list of assets.
Select a value from one or more of the drop‑down lists and click Filter.
Civic Platform returns a list of assets that match your filter criteria.
3. To perform a search, click Search.
Civic Platform displays the Asset Search portlet.
The available search fields are a combination of asset detail fields, address fields and work order fields.
After you select an asset type, the rating types and attribute fields associated to the asset type also
display as search fields at the end of the page.
You can choose what fields to display and group the fields as necessary with the Edit View feature. For
more information on Edit View, See Editing Your View.
4. Complete any of the fields that display.
For a description of the asset detail fields, see Asset Fields.
For a description of the address fields, see Table 85: Address Fields.
For a description of the work order fields, see Work Order Fields.
5. After you enter all the desired search parameters, click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of all assets that match your search criteria.
If you specify some work order fields as the search criteria, Civic Platform returns a list of all assets that
associate with the specified work orders.
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Updating Asset Details
You have the options to update asset details individually or as a group. If you select several assets and
request to update them as a group, you can only update the fields that are common to all the selected
asset types.
Topics
•Updating a Single Asset
•Updating Multiple Assets
Updating a Single Asset
You can update asset details as necessary. For example, update the last service date of a vehicle, or
modify the speed or capacity of a computer after its upgrade. You may also change the address of an
asset.
To update a single asset
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Asset Detail tab.
3. Complete the fields with available data. See Asset Fields for field definitions.
4. Click Save.
Civic Platform saves your information and refreshes the asset list so that it reflects the changes.
Updating Multiple Assets
Occasionally, you may find that you need to update several assets with the same information. For
example, several streetlights, or a variety of assets in different parts of town may all be put into service on
the same day. Civic Platform allows you to save time and improve data accuracy by updating a group of
assets at once.
To update group asset details
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the assets that need to be updated (see
Searching for an Asset).
Civic Platform displays a list of assets matching your search criteria.
2. Select the assets you want to update. You may select assets of the same type, or of different types.
3. Hover your mouse on Menu to display a command menu, then select Group Update.
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4. Complete the fields common to the selected asset types. Notice that when assets of the same type are
selected, such as a group of street lights, additional attributes or attribute tables display that are specific
to the asset type. For a description of the attributes and attribute tables, see Asset Fields.
5. Click Save.
Civic Platform saves your information and refreshes the asset list so that it reflects the changes.
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Setting an Asset Display Image
Customize the asset detail view by setting a display image for an asset record. When you upload an image
of the asset, you can select that image file to display in the asset record. Users can view the asset’s image
in the asset record detail tab as well as in the linked asset detail view. This allows users to visually identify
assets and linked assets without leaving the asset detail view.
For information on uploading image files, see Attaching Files. For information on linked assets, see
Managing Linked Assets.
To set an asset display image
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and locate the asset record you want to work with (see Searching for an
Asset).
Civic Platform displays a list of all of the assets currently assigned to you.
2. Click the asset ID link for the asset record for which you want to set a display image.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
3. Click the Documents tab.
Civic Platform displays the Asset Documents.
4. Select the image you want to use as the display image.
5. Click Display Image.
Civic Platform changes the value of the Display Image column of the image file to Y and displays the
image in the Asset detail portlet.
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The display image also appears in the linked assets detail portlet. The asset’s own display image is
visible by default in this portlet.
When a child or parent asset is selected from the linked asset navigation tree, the display image for the
linked asset appears in the linked asset detail portlet.
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Printing an Asset
Asset details or an asset list can be printed using Civic Platform. For example, if someone submits an
application for a new building, they might need a list of all the water lines and other underground utilities on
the parcel. You can search for the assets on the parcel and then print the list. Or you might print the asset
details for a truck that needs repair so that you can provide the history and specifications to the mechanic.
To print an asset
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and locate the asset record you work with. Click the asset ID link in the
Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. To print the list of assets, click the Print button above the list.
3. To print asset details, click the Print button above the record tabs.
Civic Platform generates a PDF version of either the asset list or the asset details in a new browser
window.
4. Use your browser’s print command to print the asset.
Depending on what browser you use to view PDF files, you may have the option to save the application
PDF to your hard drive or send it as an email attachment.
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Cloning an Asset
You can create one or more new assets by cloning an existing asset. Cloning is the act of creating a
duplicate application, asset, or service request using an existing application, asset, or service request as a
template. Civic Platform automatically generates asset IDs for an asset created by cloning.
When you clone an asset, all the attributes except the Asset ID are copied to the new asset. For example,
if you clone a water line, the line length, line width, flow, and pressure attributes are copied to each of the
new assets.
To clone an asset
1. Navigate to the Asset portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Asset list portlet.
2. Click the Asset ID link for the asset you want to clone.
Civic Platform displays the Asset detail portlet.
3. Click Clone.
4. Complete the following fields:
Asset ID Prefix Enter the prefix you want the group of assets to begin with. Leave this field
blank if you want Civic Platform to use the Asset ID Mask setup by your
administrator.
No. of Clones Enter the number of clones to be created.
5. Click Save.
Civic Platform displays an Asset Clone Summary Report. To print the report, click Print.
6. Click Complete.
Civic Platform clones the asset and returns to the Asset detail portlet.
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Managing Associated Parts
Managing an asset often involves managing the parts commonly used to repair and maintain the asset.
Maintenance personnel need to quickly access part information in order to complete work orders. You
can associate part records to asset records so that users can view part information such as type, number,
brand, description, and quantity in the asset record. When parts are associated to an asset, these standard
parts are loaded into work orders generated for that asset. Users can click a button in the work order form
to view the parts associated to the asset and then select parts from this list for issuance to complete the
work order.
For information on working with part records, see Part Inventory .
Topics
•Associating a Part to an Asset
•Viewing Associated Part Details
•Deleting Associated Parts
Associating a Part to an Asset
Associate parts to asset records so that part information is readily accessible.
Associating a part to an asset
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Associated Parts tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of parts associated to the selected asset.
3. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the Associated Parts search form.
4. Enter search criteria in the available fields. See Part Inventory Fields for field definitions.
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5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of parts that match your search criteria.
6. Select the part you want to associate to the asset.
7. Click Select.
Civic Platform selects the part.
8. Make changes to the Quantity or Comments fields, if desired. The default quantity is 1.
9. Click Save.
Civic Platform adds the part to the asset record and returns you to the list of associated parts.
Viewing Associated Part Details
You can view detailed information about an associated part and edit the Quantity and Comments fields.
To view associated part details
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Associated Parts tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of parts associated to the selected asset.
3. Click the part name hyperlink.
Civic Platform displays the part details.
4. Make changes to the Quantity or Comments fields, if desired. The default quantity is 1.
5. If you have made changes, click Save.
Civic Platform saves your changes.
Deleting Associated Parts
You may want to change the parts that are associated to an asset record. The manufacturer’s
recommendations for parts may have changed, or you may have discovered a more cost-effective part
to use. Deleting a part record from an asset record does not delete the part from the database; rather, it
deletes the relationship between the part and the asset.
To delete associated parts
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Associated Parts tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of parts associated to the selected asset.
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3. Select the part you want to delete from the asset record.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform deletes the relationship between the part and the asset.
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Managing Linked Assets
Topics
•About Linked Assets
•Linking an Asset
•Viewing or Editing Linked Assets
•Deleting an Asset Link
•Filtering Linked Assets in the Tree View
•Linking Assets to Work Orders Using Accela GIS
•Linking Assets Using Accela GIS
•Viewing Linked Assets Using Accela GIS
About Linked Assets
Assets may be associated with other assets. For example, a fire hydrant should be linked to the water lines
that feed it. Telephone poles should be linked to the telephone wires that run across them. Manhole covers
may be connected to the streets that they lie in as well as the pipes beneath them. A building might be
linked to the furniture and equipment that are housed in it. Trucks and other heavy equipment might be
linked to the shop or garage where they are stored when not in use.
Agencies establish practices regarding which types of assets link to one another. Once an asset is linked,
the relationships between them can be viewed to better track and manage changes and more easily find
assets that relate a project.
The relationship between assets indicate how an asset relates to another asset. A parent asset has
dependent assets or children that would not exist without the parent. For example, a building is a parent
asset to an HVAC unit.
When a parent to child relationship is made, the child to parent relationship is established at the same time.
The combined relationship of assets to a parent is called an asset hierarchy, and is displayed in a tree view
on the Linked Asset tab. Upon the first load of the page, the assets will display in a tree view to the left of
the page. This will enable you to see the current asset record as the parent, and the children assets. You
have the option of expanding any child asset to see the linked children. Since the number of relationships
can be unlimited from parent to child asset, the software will query the child assets when the branch is
expanded.
A parent asset may be a child to another asset. For example, a traffic signal is a parent to a luminar and
a child to a control box. The asset hierarchy tree view will allow the user to move up the tree to view the
parent asset record to the displayed asset.
When the asset hierarchy tree view initially loads, it will only be one level deep, showing the relationship
of the parent asset to one generation of child asset. The tree will display the first level of child assets
organized by Asset Type. A plus sign is displayed next to the child assets to allow further expansion of the
child relationships as needed. If you want to view the parent asset to the asset at the top of the tree view,
either load the parent to the current parent asset, or right click on the asset and select Move Up.
Linking an Asset
You can link one or more child assets to a parent asset. When a parent to child relationship is made, the
child to parent relationship will also be made. For example, multiple street signs can be linked as a child
asset to a segment of street.
To link an asset to a parent asset
| Assets | 729
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Linked Assets tab.
Civic Platform displays the Linked Assets tab.
3. Click the parent asset, and then click Associate Asset.
Civic Platform displays the form you use to link assets.
4. Search for the Asset IDs to link using these steps:
a. Select the Asset Group and then the Asset Type.
Civic Platform displays the fields that apply to the asset.
b. Complete the fields with available data. See Asset Fields for field definitions.
c. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of all assets that match your search parameters.
d. Select the assets you want to link.
Note:
An asset can only be linked to one parent asset. Assets already linked to a parent asset will not
display in the search results.
e. Click Save.
Civic Platform adds the new asset to the tree view.
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Viewing or Editing Linked Assets
You can view the details of any of the child assets linked to an asset. For example, you are viewing the
records for a control box, and want to see the records for the linked traffic lights.
To view or edit details about a linked asset
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Linked Assets tab.
Civic Platform displays the Linked Assets.
3. Click the Asset ID link for the asset you want to view or modify.
Civic Platform displays the Linked Asset details.
4. Review, update, or print the details as necessary. If you update the information in any of the fields, click
Submit to save your changes.
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Deleting an Asset Link
There may be reason to remove a link between two assets. A link may have been made by mistake or an
asset may be moved or used differently, resulting in the link being obsolete. For example, an agency may
sell off fleet vehicles after a few years. In such a case, any asset linked to a vehicle that is sold would need
to have the link deleted. When a linked asset is deleted, it does not delete any assets; only the association
between the assets is removed.
To delete an asset link
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Linked Assets tab.
Civic Platform displays the Linked Assets.
3. Select the linked assets that you want to dissociate in the Asset Hierarchy tree view.
4. Click Delete.
Filtering Linked Assets in the Tree View
You have the option to filter the data displayed in the asset hierarchy tree view.
To filter linked assets
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Linked Assets tab.
Civic Platform displays the Linked Assets.
3. Select one or more of the Filter options, and click Apply.
Linking Assets to Work Orders Using Accela GIS
There are multiple ways of linking an asset to a work order, one of which is via Civic Platform GIS.
If you have Accela GIS, you may select one or more GIS objects such as assets or addresses and link
them to a work order through the map viewer. Existing assets can also be viewed from Accela GIS map
viewer to help identify the assets that are already linked to the work order. This helps to define additional
assets that might need to be linked to the work order.
To link an asset to a work order using Accela GIS
1. Navigate to the Work Orders portlet and use Search to locate the work order to which you want to link.
Civic Platform displays a list of all of the work orders currently assigned to you.
2. Click the record ID link in the record ID column.
Civic Platform displays the work order summary.
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3. Click the Asset tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of assets associated with the work order.
4. Click GIS.
Accela GIS displays the map viewer.
5. Using the Selection Tool, select the desired object.
6. Select the desired object ID from the GIS Data tab within the Select List tab.
7. From the drop-down list select Link Objects to Work Order
8. Click Save.
Linking Assets Using Accela GIS
You can link assets via Accela GIS. If you have Accela GIS, and the GIS objects have been mapped to an
asset type, you can select one or more GIS objects from a record set and link them to the selected parent
asset. It also provides a visual of existing assets to help identify relationships for future assets. Once an
asset is associated to a parent, it cannot be linked to another parent asset.
To link assets using GIS
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Linked Assets tab.
Civic Platform displays the Linked Assets.
3. Click GIS.
Accela GIS displays the map viewer.
4. Using the Selection Tool, select the desired object.
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5. Select the desired object ID from the GIS Data tab within the Select List tab.
6. From the drop-down list select Link Objects to Asset
7. Click Save.
Viewing Linked Assets Using Accela GIS
If you have Accela GIS, you may be able to select one or more GIS objects such as assets or addresses
and view them in the map viewer. The map viewer provides a visual which can be very helpful when
identifying the specific areas where assets are located and assist in identifying the relationships between
assets, such as lines connecting to nodes.
To view an asset using GIS
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Linked Assets tab.
Civic Platform displays the Linked Assets.
3. Select the linked asset(s) you want to view.
4. Click GIS.
If you select one or multiple linked assets, Accela GIS displays the parent asset and its selected
children in the GIS Map Viewer with a map marker “P” identifying the parent asset.
If you do not select a linked asset, Accela GIS displays the parent asset in the GIS Map Viewer.
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Viewing the Asset Condition Assessment History
You can look at which condition assessments have been completed for a given asset. Follow the steps
below to review the condition assessment history.
To view an asset condition assessment history
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to view. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Condition Assessment tab.
Civic Platform displays the Linked Condition Assessment list.
3. Click the Condition Assessment ID link you want to review.
The Condition Assessment ID Details tab displays the condition assessment and inspection history.
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Viewing PM Schedules for an Asset
You can view the list of PM schedules that a given asset is linked to.
To view PM schedules for an asset
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the PM Schedules tab.
Civic Platform displays the PM Schedules list with all the PM schedules that the asset is linked to.
Most fields in the list are standard PM schedule fields. See Preventative Maintenance Schedule Fields.
A few additional fields, as described below, give more information on the PM schedules with the asset.
Last Date The Schedule Date of the last work order for this asset.
Last Usage The usage reading of the asset when the PM schedule generates the last work order for
the asset.
Next Date This field equals to the Next Schedule Date configured in the PM schedule.
Next Usage This field equals to the Last Usage value plus Usage Interval configured in the PM
schedule.
Previous Work Order
Number The number of the work order that is generated most recently by the PM schedule for
the asset.
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Managing Asset Usage
The usage of a specific asset can be tracked within Civic Platform. For example, a fleet vehicle is used on
a regular basis to perform maintenance on the cities water lines. The vehicle hours and mileage should be
tracked to identify the use of the vehicle. Each usage reading that is entered will be collected and generate
a history of how and when the asset was used.
The asset usage reading history can be viewed and managed from the asset usage reading list. The
history of the usage will help identify if and when new assets may be needed based on over usage. It will
also help identify when maintenance of the asset will need to be performed. In addition, the difference
between the current usage reading and the previous reading is available on the asset usage reading list.
You will be able to easily view and identify how much an asset was used since the last reading. The usage
also affects the asset depreciation value and will be updated as appropriate.
Topics
•Adding an Asset Usage Reading
•Editing Asset Usage Reading
•Deleting an Asset Usage Reading
Adding an Asset Usage Reading
Adding usage readings on asset such as fleet vehicles assists in identifying when preventative
maintenance tasks need to be performed on the vehicle as well as if additional assets need to be acquired.
When an asset usage reading is added it is logged and the vehicle usage counts are updated. The usage
also affects the asset depreciation value and will be updated as appropriate.
To add an asset usage reading
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Usage tab.
Civic Platform displays the Asset Usage tab.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the fields that apply to the asset usage reading.
4. Enter the current Reading first, then select the Unit Type from the drop-down list, and then specify the
Reading Date.
For a description of the fields, see Asset Usage Fields.
5. Click Save.
Civic Platform updates the asset usage history list.
Editing Asset Usage Reading
There may be need to edit an asset usage reading if there was mistake when it was originally created.
Each time a reading is updated the usage is re-calculated to display the current usage counts on the asset.
The usage also affects the asset depreciation value and will be updated as appropriate.
To edit an asset usage reading
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
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Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Usage tab.
Civic Platform displays the usage history for the asset.
3. Enter the Reading details for the usage reading you want to modify.
For a description of the fields, see Asset Usage Fields.
Civic Platform displays the Asset Usage reading details.
4. Review, update, or print the details as necessary. If you modify the information in any of the fields, click
Submit.
Deleting an Asset Usage Reading
There may be reason to remove an asset usage reading because of duplicate readings, a reading may
have been made by mistake or on the wrong vehicle. When a reading it deleted, assets are not removed,
only the usage history record of the asset is removed.
To delete an asset usage reading
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Usage tab.
Civic Platform displays the Asset Usage tab.
3. Select the asset usage readings that you want to dissociate.
4. Click Delete.
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Managing Asset Depreciation Values
Assets lose value over the course of their use. This accounting principle is known as depreciation.
Businesses usually record the amount of depreciation as expenses, thereby to gain tax relief. You can
calculate the depreciation of an asset or multiple assets any time in Civic Platform.
Civic Platform keeps a historical log for all depreciation calculations performed on each asset. You can
access to the log and view all the past depreciation calculations.
Topics
•Asset Depreciation Formulas
•Calculating Depreciation for an Asset
•Performing Asset Group Depreciation
•Viewing Depreciation History
Asset Depreciation Formulas
Civic Platform calculates asset depreciations based on the passage of time. The depreciation rate is the
depreciable cost of an asset divided by the number of years of its useful life. For example, a vehicle is
purchased at a cost of US$24,000 and has a salvage value of US$4,000. If the vehicle depreciates over 5
years, it depreciates at US$4,000 per year: ($24,000 − $4,000)/ 5 years = $4,000.
Note:
Depreciation Formulas:
Depreciation per Year = (Start Value - Salvage Value)/Useful Life
Depreciation Period = (Depreciation End Date - Depreciation Start Date)/365
Years Elapsed = (Current Date - Depreciation Start Date)/365
Depreciation Amount = Depreciation Period x Depreciation per Year
Depreciation Value = Start Value - Depreciation Amount
Current Value = Start Value - Years Elapsed x Depreciation per Year
Remaining Life = Useful Life - Depreciation Period
There are two values after depreciation: depreciation value and current value. The depreciation value
deducts the depreciation amount from the start value based on the depreciation end date you specify;
the current value deducts the depreciation amount from the start value with the current date as the
depreciation end date. If you specify the current date as the depreciation end date, the two values are
identical.
The formulas require the following criteria on the asset fields. Civic Platform would skip the depreciation
calculation on an asset if any of the criteria is not satisfied, and select “Depreciation Failed” for the asset.
• Start value: the start value must be greater than 0.
• Depreciation start date and depreciation end date: the depreciation start date cannot be null, and the
depreciation end date must be later than the depreciation start date.
• Useful life: the useful life must be greater than 0.
• Salvage value: the salvage value must be no greater than the start value.
For a description of these fields, see Asset Usage Fields.
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Calculating Depreciation for an Asset
After the creation of an asset, you may calculate its depreciation any time during its useful life.
To calculate the depreciation for an asset
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and click Search.
2. Complete any fields that display. For a description of the fields, see Asset Fields.
3. Locate the asset record you want to calculate the depreciation. Click the asset ID link in the Asset ID
column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
4. Complete the asset fields that act as the criteria in the asset depreciation formulas. See Asset
Depreciation Formulas.
5. Click Recalculate Value above the record tabs.
Civic Platform calculates the asset depreciation and updates the following three fields of the asset:
Depreciation Amount, Depreciation Value and Current Value.
Performing Asset Group Depreciation
You may need to calculate the depreciations for a group of assets or all assets in your agency. Civic
Platform gives you the option to perform group depreciations.
To perform asset group depreciation
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset records you want to work with.
2. Select the assets you wish to perform group depreciation on. You may select assets of the same type,
or of different types; you may skip this step if you plan to perform group depreciation for all the assets in
the current list.
3. Choose Menu > Group Depreciation.
Civic Platform displays the Depreciation Options page.
4. Set the depreciation options.
Through Date The depreciation end date. It is the current date by default.
Depreciation For Select whether to calculate depreciations for the selected assets or all the
assets in the current assets list. The Selected Assets Only option does not
display if you skipped step 2.
5. Click Recalculate.
Civic Platform displays the Group Depreciation Report.
The report shows the depreciation results by asset types.
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• The values for each asset type (including Start Value, Depreciation Amount, Depreciation Value,
Salvage Value and Current Value) are the sum values of the assets that belong to the asset type
and succeeded in the group depreciation calculation.
•Depreciation Succeeded of each asset type gives the number of assets that belong to the asset
type and succeeded in the group depreciation calculation. The depreciation amount, depreciation
value, and current value of these assets are all updated after the group depreciation.
•Depreciation Failed of each asset type gives the number of assets that belong to the asset type
but failed in the group depreciation calculation. For information on why an asset fails in depreciation
calculation, see Asset Depreciation Formulas.
6. Click Menu > CSV Report above the group depreciation report if you want to export the report to a
CSV, comma-separated value, file.
7. Click Close to exit the group depreciation report.
Viewing Depreciation History
Civic Platform provides the ability to track the depreciation history for each asset. The history information
may assist you in evaluating the asset depreciation status.
To view an asset depreciation history
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Choose Menu > Depreciation History.
Civic Platform displays the depreciation history for the current asset.
3. Do one of the following:
• To export the log to a CSV (comma-separated value) file, click Menu > CSV Report above the
depreciation history.
• To remove a history record, select a record and click Delete.
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Managing Asset Cost Rates
Cost rates are very important for work orders management. For example, material and equipment cost
rates are types of cost rates that must be identified and tracked for calculating the costs of work orders
generated by an agency. If your agency administrator sets an asset type as resource in the administrator
portlet, you can define the cost rates for the assets of the asset type. The cost rates are the default rates
when you add assets into work orders.
If you want to define cost rates for some types of assets but the Cost Rates tab does not display in the
Assets portlet, contact your agency administrator.
Topics
•Adding an Asset Cost Rate
•Editing an Asset Cost Rate
•Deleting an Asset Cost Rate
Adding an Asset Cost Rate
For each asset that your agency administrator enables the “Asset as Resource” option, you may define
multiple cost rates, although only one cost rate can be effective at any given time.
To add an asset cost rate
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Cost Rates tab.
Civic Platform displays the Cost Rates tab for the asset.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the Cost Rates details portlet for creating new cost rates for the assets.
4. Complete the fields that display. Note that the active period of a new cost rate shall not conflict with that
of existing ones, because only one cost rate can be effective for an asset at any given time.
For a list of field descriptions, see Asset Cost Rates Definitions.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a list of all existing cost rates including the item just recorded.
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Editing an Asset Cost Rate
There may be need to edit a cost rate if there was mistake when it was originally created.
To edit an asset cost rate
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Cost Rates tab.
Civic Platform displays the Cost Rates tab for the asset.
3. Click the ID link of the cost rate you want to modify.
Civic Platform displays the cost rate details.
4. Modify the details as necessary. For a list of field descriptions, see Asset Cost Rates Definitions.
5. Click Submit.
Deleting an Asset Cost Rate
There may be reason for you to delete an asset cost rate. When a cost rate is deleted, you cannot use it
anymore in Civic Platform.
To delete an asset cost rate
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Cost Rates tab.
Civic Platform displays the Cost Rates tab.
3. Select the asset cost rates that you want to delete.
4. Click Delete.
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Working with Asset Conditions
Asset conditions, also known as Critical Notices, can be identified within Civic Platform. They specify
requirements surrounding an application that an applicant must fulfill in order to qualify for approval.
Although asset conditions do not necessarily impose holds, they may prolong the application process until
they are met. For example, there may be manholes that have excessive toxic gas. When a work order is
issued to inspect or repair the manhole or linked pipe line, a notice will be issued with the work order so
that the worker will know how to handle the situation correctly. The critical notice or condition may look like
“Excessive toxic gas in manhole. Manhole must be forced to air vent for one hour before entering.”
When an asset is linked to a work order, the work order checks the active conditions in the asset, and get
the highest severity of the conditions. If the asset has any active condition, a Condition Notice View window
displays. If the asset has an active lock condition, the work order fails to save.
Topics
•Adding a Condition
•Searching for and Editing a Condition
•Applying Asset Conditions on Work Orders
Adding a Condition
Conditions, also known as Critical Notices, are used to notify the worker performing a work order of any
special instructions or information on a specific asset. These conditions are associated with an asset but
will notify the worker when a work order is generated. Based on the severity and the status, a prompt
message will appear when working with asset details or associating the asset with a work order. If an asset
has a lock, hold, or notice condition, a notice pop-up will display. When the required condition is used,
there will be no pop-up but the information will be viewable in the asset condition list page or the work
order summary page.
To add a condition
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Condition tab.
Civic Platform displays the list of Asset Conditions.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the fields that apply to the asset condition.
4. Enter the Condition Type, Name,Comments and any other additional fields that apply to the critical
notice or condition.
For a description of the fields, see Asset Condition Fields.
5. Click Save.
Civic Platform updates the asset condition list
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Searching for and Editing a Condition
Asset conditions, also known as critical notices, may be updated as necessary. In most cases, there
may not be more then one or two conditions for a specific asset, but in the case that there are more, the
conditions can be found by using the search. The condition can be selected and edited from the search
results and changes saved will execute in the immediate pop-up screen that appears when working with
the asset or creating a work order using the asset.
To search or edit a condition
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Condition tab. If the condition you are looking for displays in the asset condition list portlet,
select the condition name you want to edit and skip to step 8.
Civic Platform displays the conditions for the asset.
3. Click Search.
Civic Platform displays a search form.
4. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the asset condition you want. See Asset Condition Fields for
field definitions.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the conditions that match the selection criteria.
6. Click the condition you want to view or edit.
Civic Platform displays the details of the asset condition.
7. Update the fields that apply to the selected asset condition or critical notice. See Asset Condition Fields
for field definitions.
8. Click Save.
Civic Platform displays the updated asset condition list.
Applying Asset Conditions on Work Orders
When you create or edit a work order against an asset, Civic Platform checks the schedule dates and
effective dates of the conditions in the asset. If a condition meets one of the following criteria, Civic
Platform considers the condition as active and applies it on the work order:
• The work order schedule date is after the current date, and falls between the effective date and
expiration date of the condition;
• The work order schedule date is before the current date, and the current date falls between the effective
date and expiration date of the condition.
When you save the work order, a Condition Notice View window pops up with all the active conditions of
the assets that link to the work order. If the severity level of an active condition is Lock, you cannot create
or save the work order successfully. An error message “Record cannot be created because there are lock
conditions” displays.
When you generate work orders with PM Schedules, the generation process skips the assets with active
Lock condition, and counts the assets in the Skipped Assets (not due to Generate Work Orders) column.
For more information on generating work orders using PM schedules, see Generating Work Orders Using
PM Schedules.
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Working with Asset Ratings
Asset ratings are generally calculated using a rating formula created by your agency� administrator. This
formula can take into account asset details, asset attributes, condition� assessment details, and condition
assessment attributes.
Topics
•Creating an Asset Rating
•Viewing or Deleting Rating Values
Creating an Asset Rating
An inspector can inspect and rate an asset. After inspection, the inspector record the Rating Type, Rating
Value, inspector’s department, inspector name, Rating Date and Rating Time for the asset.
To create an asset rating
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update.
2. Click the asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
3. Click the Ratings tab.
4. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the rating details.
5. Complete the fields with available data.
For a list of field descriptions, see Asset Rating Field Descriptions.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform saves your information.
Table 67: Asset Rating Fields Descriptions
Rating Type The rating type your administrator associates with the asset.
Rating Value The value for the selected rating type.
Department The department responsible for rating the selected asset.
Inspector The inspector responsible for rating the selected asset.
Rating Date The date that the asset rating is scheduled to occur.
Rating Time The time that the asset rating is scheduled to occur.
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Viewing or Deleting Rating Values
You can generate a chart to represent the rating and rating values instead of a list view. This is useful if
you need to track the pattern of change in the rating values over a period of time. Use the Chart button to
create a chart for the rating values using the data in from the same rating type you selected. After viewing,
you can close the chart by clicking the Close button.
To view or delete rating values
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update.
Civic Platform displays a list of assets.
2. Click the asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
3. Click the Ratings tab.
Civic Platform displays the ratings portlet.
4. Click a rating type link.
Civic Platform displays the rating values of the same rating type.
5. Select a rating value and do any of the following:
• To chart the rating value, click Chart.
The rating values chart pops up.
• To delete the rating value, click Delete.
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Managing Asset Contacts
You can manage contacts associated with an asset using the Contact tab. This allows you to easily track
the individuals related to specific assets.
Contacts can be associated with one or multiple assets. Similarly, an asset can be associated with one or
multiple contacts.
In order to use this feature, your agency administrator must complete the necessary configuration.
Topics
•Creating an Asset Contact
•Associating a Contact with an Asset
•Removing the Association between a Contact and an Asset
Creating an Asset Contact
You can create a contact and associate it with an asset.
To create an asset contact
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Contact tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of contacts associated with the asset.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the Add Contact form.
4. Complete any fields that display.
For a description of the fields, see Contact Detail Fields.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates the contact and associates it with the selected asset and displays the contact in
the Contact list portlet.
Associating a Contact with an Asset
You can look up a contact in the Civic Platform reference database and create an association between a
contact and an asset.
To associate a contact with an asset
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Contact tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of contacts associated with the asset.
3. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the Contact search page.
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4. Complete any fields that display.
For a description of the fields, see Contact Detail Fields.
5. Select the contact you want to associate with the asset.
6. Click Select.
Civic Platform associates the contact with the selected asset and displays a confirmation message.
Removing the Association between a Contact and an Asset
You can remove the association between a contact and an asset.
To remove the association between a contact and an asset
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate the asset record you want to update. Click the
asset ID link in the Asset ID column.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
2. Click the Contact tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of contacts associated with the asset.
3. Select the contact you want to remove from the asset.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the association between the contact and the asset and displays a deletion
confirmation message.
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Working on the Asset Calendar
The Calendar tab of the Assets portlet provides the asset calendar. The asset calendar provides a quick
view to the following types of events that users performed on an asset.
• Records
• Condition Assessments
• PM Schedules
• Ratings
• Resource Scheduling
Asset event entries display in the calendar by their event times, such as the schedule time, or the time
when users conducted the event. For more information, see Asset Events on Display in the Asset
Calendar.
You can view the calendar in daily, weekly and monthly mode. The image below shows a sample monthly
view of the asset calendar. The calendar legend shows that each asset event type has a designated color
for easy identification. You can enable the display of one or more (or all) asset event types in the calendar.
Figure 22: Sample Asset Calendar
To work on an asset calendar
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet and use Search to locate and select the asset you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the asset details on the secondary tabs.
2. Click the Calendar tab.
Civic Platform displays the asset calendar in daily mode. The records that you associated with the asset
display in the calendar by default.
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3. To change the view of the calendar, do one of the following:
• Click the Day, Week, or Month button on the upper right of the calendar, depending on in what
mode you want to view.
• Click the left or right arrow on the upper left of the calendar to move one day, or one week, or one
month back or forward.
• Click the Today, This Week, or This Month button on the upper left of the calendar to change the
view to today, this week, or this month.
• Click the calendar icon to quickly locate a date.
• In the weekly mode, click a date link to view the calendar of the date.
• In the monthly mode, click a week link to view the calendar of the week, or click a date link to view
the calendar of the date.
4. To configure what asset event types display in the calendar, do the following:
a. If the square box next to a type has no color in it, the type is currently not on display in the calendar.
Click the type or click the square box to select the type.
Civic Platform displays colored square boxes next to the asset event types that you select.
b. If the square box next to a type displays in a color, the type is already on display in the calendar.
Click the square box to remove the type.
Civic Platform removes color from the square box of the asset event type that you remove.
c. Click Show to enable the display of the selected asset event types in the calendar.
Civic Platform refreshes the calendar, with the events of the selected types added as entries in the
calendar.
5. Hover the mouse over an asset event in the calendar to view the identification information and time
information about the event. For more information, see Asset Events on Display in the Asset Calendar.
• With record entries and condition assessment entries in the calendar, you can click the link at the
entry to open the record details or condition assessment details, and perform further actions on the
record or the condition assessment.
Table 68: Asset Events on Display in the Asset Calendar
Type Events Shown in Calendar Event Time Remark
Record Schedule arrangement of the
record/work order Schedule Date
Completed Date
Closed Date
Meeting Date
Condition
Assessment Schedule and inspection
arrangement of the condition
assessments
Schedule Date
Inspection Date
PM Schedule Schedule arrangement in the PM
Schedule, preconditioned that
the Trigger By option of the PM
schedule is Scheduled Date
Next Schedule Date
Rating Entry of rating scores for the asset Rating Date
If there is an event date but
the time is null or 12:00 AM,
the event displays as an all
day event. If both the event
date and event time are not
null, unless there is a time
duration (for example, in
the schedule of a record
meeting, the time duration
displays as half-an hour in
the calendar.
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Type Events Shown in Calendar Event Time Remark
Resource
Scheduling Assignment of the asset to work
orders or condition assessments as
a resource, preconditioned that the
asset is flagged as a resource
Assignment Date
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Examining Asset Details
There may be many detail forms and fields you will work with assets. The following tables list and define
the default fields available in the different interfaces you will encounter.
•Asset Fields
•Part Inventory Fields
•Tree View Filtering Fields
•Asset Usage Fields
•Asset Condition Fields
•Asset Cost Rates Definitions
Asset Fields
The table below lists and defines the default fields available on the Assets portlet.
Table 69: Asset Fields
Asset Group The asset group. Example: component, line or node.
Asset ID The number used to identify the asset.
Asset Size A positive numeric value for the size of the asset. This field may be required for asset
types that belong to the Linear, Node-Link Linear, or Polygon class types, depending
on your agency’s settings. Enter the unit of measure in the Size Unit field.
Asset Type The type of asset.
Note:
After you select an asset type, some asset attributes or attribute tables may
display below the standard asset fields. The attributes and attribute tables are
defined by your agency administrator in the asset template that associates
with the asset type. You can enter more information about the asset in the
attributes or attribute tables.
Comments Enter any comments associated with the asset.
Current Value This read-only field shows the current value of the asset. The value is the result of
the asset depreciation calculation that takes the current date as the depreciation end
date. For the formula on how to calculate the current value, refer to Asset Depreciation
Formulas.
Date of Service The date the asset was initially placed into service.
Dependent Parent Indicates whether the parent asset is dependent on this asset. This action will update
the parent asset status whenever this asset status changes.
Description The description of the asset.
Depreciation Amount This read-only field shows the decline in the asset value by the asset depreciation
calculation. For the formula on how to calculate the depreciation amount, refer to
Asset Depreciation Formulas.
Depreciation End Date The end date for the asset depreciation calculation. This field is used in the asset
depreciation calculation. Refer to Asset Depreciation Formulas.
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Depreciation Value This read-only field shows the asset value after the asset depreciation calculation. For
the formula on how to calculate the depreciation value, refer to Asset Depreciation
Formulas.
Depreciation Start Date The start date for the asset depreciation calculation. This field is used in the asset
depreciation calculation. Refer to Asset Depreciation Formulas.
Parent Asset The asset is linked to a parent asset, the parent asset ID appears in this field. For
more information on asset relationships, see Managing Linked Assets.
Salvage Value The residual value of the asset at the end of it’s useful life. This field is used in the
asset depreciation calculation. Refer to Asset Depreciation Formulas.
Size Unit The unit of measure from this drop-down menu that corresponds to the value entered
in the Asset Size field. Your system administrator determines which units are available
in this menu.
Start Value The beginning value or purchase price of the asset. This field is used in the asset
depreciation calculation. Refer to Asset Depreciation Formulas.
Status The status of the asset. The status will default to active when a new asset is created.
Changing the status of the asset will effect the maintenance, availability, and
deprecation calculation of the asset.
Status Date The date the asset status changed.
Sub Total for Condition
Assessments
This read-only field displays the sub-total costs from all the condition assessments on
the asset.
Sub Total for Work Orders This read-only field displays the sub-total costs that you distributed to the asset from
work orders.
Total Cost LTD This read-only field displays the total amount of the Sub Total for Condition
Assessments, and Sub Total for Work Orders.
Useful Life The number of years the asset is expected to be used. This field is used in the asset
depreciation calculation. Refer to Asset Depreciation Formulas.
Part Inventory Fields
The following table lists and defines the fields that may be available on the Parts Inventory portlet.
Table 70: Part Inventory Fields
Calculate Type The calculation type. This type is used to calculate the average cost of the part
Choices include
Simple Average: The average cost is equal to the sum of the unit cost of a current
shipment and existing average cost, divided by two. This provides the average value
of the existing average cost and the cost per unit of the current shipment.
Weighted Average: This is the same as the Simple Average, but weighted by quantity.
This means that the existing part quantity is multiplied by the existing average cost
and then the quantity of the current shipment is multiplied by the unit cost of the
shipment. Then the sum of these values is divided by the total part quantity.
Comments Comments associated with the part.
Maximum Quantity The maximum quantity of the part.
Minimum Quantity The minimum quantity on hand for the part for all locations.
Part Brand The brand of the part. For example, Valvoline is a brand of motor oil.
Part Description The description of the part.
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Part Number The number of the part that will be used to identify the part in the parts inventory list.
This number may be the manufacturer part number or the number that your agency
uses for the part.
Part Status The status of the part.
Part Type The type of part. Example: Fittings, Fleet, Materials.
Reorder Due The status of reorder will display “Yes” if the total supply is greater than the minimum
quantity. The reorder due will display “No” if the total supply is less than the minimum
quantity.
Reorder Quantity The quantity needed when the part is reordered.
Taxable The status of whether or not the part is taxable.
Total Supply The total quantity on hand for the part displays in this field. It is a read-only field and
will updated based on part inventory.
Unit of Measure The unit of measure for the part. Example: Hours, Miles.
Tree View Filtering Fields
The following table lists and defines the fields available for filtering on the Tree View.
Table 71: Tree View Filtering Fields
Dependency Select to display only the child assets that the parent asset is dependent on for
operation. To mark an asset as dependent to the parent, see Viewing or Editing
Linked Assets.
Quick Query Choose a field to determine which child assets to display. Only the child assets that
match the selected field will display. For a list of options, see
Class Type The Class Type is how Civic Platform groups objects that an agency owns or
maintains.
The five class types are component, linear, node-link linear, point, and polygon.
Asset class types provide the ability to assign or group multiple asset types together.
Choose a field to determine the asset type you want to display. Only child assets that
match that type will display.
Asset Group The Asset Group is an agency-defined collection of objects the agency owns or
maintains.
Choose a field to determine the asset group you want to display. Only child assets that
match that group will display.
Asset ID The Asset ID is the unique identification for an asset.
Type an asset ID into the test field to search for child assets. This field supports the
use of the “ % ” wildcard. If a value is entered in this field, then only assets matching
the value will display.
Attribute This displays all available asset attributes.
Choose an asset type to filter the asset list to those available within that asset type.
If a value is selected but there is no entry in the Attribute Value field and no asset
type selected, then only assets with this attribute are displayed in the tree view. If an
attribute is selected and an asset type is selected, but no attribute value, then the
result will be the same as only having the asset type selected, as all assets of that
type should have the attribute.
Attribute Value This field is read only until an attribute is selected. The field then refreshes based on
the attribute.
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Asset Usage Fields
The following table lists and defines the fields available on the Asset Usage portlet.
Table 72: Asset Usage Fields
Comments Any comments related to the asset usage or reading.
Reading The current usage reading number.
Reading by Department The department responsible for completing the reading for the asset. Click the
Selection icon to choose a department.
Reading by Staff The individual within a department that enters the asset usage reading.
Use the drop-down list to choose an individual within the selected department. If you
are responsible, click the Current User link to enter your user name into the field.
When you click the Current User link, the associated department field is updated to
reflect the correct department for the current user.
Reading Date The date of the usage reading.
Reading Unit The unit of measure related to the current usage reading. Use the drop-down list to
select a reading unit.
Unit Type The unit type applicable to the specific Asset ID.
As a reference, the corresponding Last Reading and Last Reading Date fields will
populate with the last usage reading and reading date as read-only fields.
The Unit Type field only displays if your agency administrators enabled this specific
functionality.
Work Order The work order associated with the asset usage reading.
Asset Condition Fields
The following table lists and defines the fields available when working with asset conditions.
Table 73: Asset Condition Fields
Action by Dept The department that identified the critical notice.
Action by User The user that identified the critical notice.
Applied by Department The department of the user creating the condition.
Applied by User The user creating the condition.
The current user link can be selected to automatically populate the field with the
current user.
Applied Date The date the condition or critical notice should be applied.
Comment Comments associated with the notice or condition.
You can also click the Standard Comment button or link to display the general
standard comment selection window.
Condition Name The name used to identify the condition or notice. This field will display as read only
when in edit mode.
Effective Date The date the condition or critical notice takes effect.
Expiration Date The date the condition or critical notice is to be expired.
The prompt message will display will display until the expiration date or if the
expiration date is blank the prompt message will display until removed or date is
entered. The date must be after the current and effective date.
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Severity The severity of the condition or notice.
The Lock, Hold, and Notice severities will execute a prompt message to appear
when working with the asset or creating a work order using the asset. The severity
Required does not prompt a message. If the status field is not set to “Applied” the
prompt message will not display for any of the severities.
Status The status of the condition.
If the status is changed set to “Applied”, the field severity will be set to Lock, Hold,
Noticed, Required and a prompt message will be executed for the asset. If the status
is not “Applied”, the severity field will be blank and a prompt message will no be
executed.
Type The type of condition or critical notice.
Asset Cost Rates Definitions
The following table lists and defines available asset cost rates.
Table 74: Asset Cost Rates Definition
Active Date The date when the cost rate becomes effective.
Default Cost Factor The cost factor. Example: 1.0 Regular Pay, 1.5 Overtime Pay, 2.0 Holiday Pay.
This field is associated primarily with labor cost types. The Standard Choice
COST_FACTOR defines the options for this field.
Expiration Date The date when the cost rate expires.
Fixed Rate The fixed cost amount to be used for the cost item. It will be identified as hours,
dollars, etc. using the units of measure.
ID Auto-generated cost rate ID.
Record Status Read-only field in the cost rates list. It is “Active” for all cost rates, however, only one
cost rate can be effective at a given time.
Unit Rate The unit cost amount to be used for the cost item. It will be identified as hours, dollars,
and so forth, using the units of measure.
Updated Date Read-only field in the cost rates list. It shows the date when the cost rate is last
updated.
Updated By Read-only field in the cost rates list. It shows the user who last updated the cost rate.
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Work Order Cost Distribution
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about work order cost distribution.
Related Information
Work Order Cost Distribution Overview
Navigating to the Distribute Costs Portlet
Distributing Costs
Managing Work Order Cost Distribution History
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Work Order Cost Distribution Overview
Work Order Cost Distribution enables you to distribute the costs of a work order to its associated assets
and track how much cost is spent on the assets. Work order costs can include the materials, equipment,
and labor required to maintain an asset.
If a work order has only one associated asset, then the cost distribution process is basic, and the selected
costs are associated to the asset record. For example, you have a work order for a hydrant flush. Because
only one hydrant is associated to the work order, all the work order costs related to the hydrant flush are
associated with the hydrant asset.
If a work order has multiple assets, you have many distribution options.
•Asset Count: If each associated asset on a work order is of the same asset type, then you can use
Asset Count to distribute the costs. This method (Costs/Number of assets) is the simplest distribution
method, and can be used with all asset types and classes. For example, you have a work order to stripe
multiple street segments. You can use Asset Count to distribute the work order costs evenly to each
street segment.
•Asset Size: When you distribute costs by Asset Size, (Sum of the costs/Weighted size of each asset
selected), you give each asset a proportional share of the costs. For example, you have a work order to
repair the connection point of two sewer lines, one smaller and one larger. You can use Asset Size to
account for the size difference in each sewer line when you distribute work order costs.
•Asset Type: If the associated assets on a work order are of varying types, you can distribute costs by
Asset Type. This allows you to break out costs based on the type of asset rather than the quantity or
size.
•Manual Allocation: You may have the option to manually define the amount to be allocated to each
associated asset on a work order.
You can view distributed cost data on the Summary and Distribution History tabs on a Work Order record,
or on the Work Order or Asset Detail tabs of an Asset record. The Distribution History tab provides the
option of rolling back distributed costs.
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Navigating to the Distribute Costs Portlet
You can distribute costs from multiple access points within the Work Order portlet, including the Summary,
Assignments and Costs, Part, and Record portlets. The steps below describe how to navigate to the
Distribute Cost portlet from each of these four portlets.
1. Navigate to the Work Order portlet and use search to locate the work order for which you want to
distribute costs.
2. Click the work order link in the Record ID column for the record you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the work order details on the Summary tab.
3. Complete one of the following:
• From the Summary or Record portlet.
1. Stay on the Summary page or click the Record tab.
2. Hover on Menu to reveal a command menu, then select Distribute Costs.
• From the Assignments and Costs or the Part tab.
1. Click the Assignments and Costs or Part tab.
2. Click Distribute Costs.
Civic Platform displays the first page of the Distribute Costs portlet.
4. Distribute costs as needed. See Distributing Costs for more information.
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Distributing Costs
If there are multiple assets associated with a work order, you have multiple options for cost distribution.
To distribute costs
1. Navigate to the Distribute Costs portlet. See Navigating to the Distribute Costs Portlet for more
information.
Civic Platform displays the Distribute Costs portlet.
2. Select Costing and/or Parts, depending on how you want to select items for costing.
Civic Platform displays a list of available costs and/or parts.
3. Select one or more items for distribution. To select all the items in the list, mark the check box in the
header row as shown below.
As you select items, the Total Amount to be Distributed at the top of the page is updated to reflect your
selections.
4. Click Next.
Civic Platform displays the ‘Select Assets to Distribute to’ page.
5. Select the assets to which you want to distribute costs, then click Next.
Civic Platform prompts you to choose a method of distribution.
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6. Choose the distribution method you want to use:
• To distribute costs by Asset Count
1. Choose By Number of Assets and click Next.
• To distribute costs by Asset Size
1. Choose By Asset Size and click Next.
Note:
If the assets in a work order are all of the linear class type, when you distribute costs among them
by Asset Size, the costs are in fact distributed by the Work Lengths of the assets. Work Length is
the distance between the start location and end location of the linear assets in the work order.
• To distribute costs by Asset Type
1. Select By Asset Type on the Distribution Method page.
Civic Platform displays a list of Asset Types.
2. Complete these fields:
Distribute by size Enable to distribute costs to an asset based on the asset size. This option
displays when distributing work order costs to a polygon, linear, or node-
link linear asset class.
Percentage The percentage of the total cost you want to distribute to each asset type.
The sum of all the Percentage field values must equal 100%.
3. Click Next.
•To distribute costs by manual allocation
1. Select By Manual Allocation.
Civic Platform displays the Manual Allocation Cost Distribution section.
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2. Enter the amount you want to distribute to each associated asset in the Cost field (you may need
to scroll to the right to find the Cost fields). The total cost you allocate to all assets must equal
the cost allocation for distribution
3. Click Next.
Civic Platform displays the Distribution Summary page. This page summarizes the cost
distribution based on your selections.
7. If necessary, you can modify the distribution details by clicking the Edit link next to the item you want to
modify. If you are happy with your distribution settings, proceed to the next step.
8. Click Distribute.
Civic Platform distributes the work order costs to the selected assets.
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Managing Work Order Cost Distribution History
You can use the Distribution History tab to confirm the work order costs assigned to individual assets, and
to roll back work order costs as needed.
Topics
•Reviewing Work Order Cost Distribution History
•Rolling Back Work Order Cost Distribution
Reviewing Work Order Cost Distribution History
Review a list of distributed work order costs in the Distribution History portlet if you want to confirm the
work order cost assigned to individual assets.
To review work order cost distribution history
1. Navigate to the Work Order portlet and use Search to locate the work order for which you want to
review costs.
2. Click the work order link in the Record ID column.
Civic Platform displays the work order details on the Summary tab.
3. Click the Distribution History tab.
Civic Platform displays the cost transactions completed for the selected work order.
Rolling Back Work Order Cost Distribution
When you roll back costs, you remove all the costs assigned to assets in a transaction. For example, you
have a work order cost transaction that distributes costs to three assets. You want to roll back the costs for
one of the assets. In order to do this, you must roll back the costs for all three assets included in the work
order transaction.
To roll back work order cost distribution
1. Navigate to the Work Order portlet and use Search to locate the work order for which you want to
review costs.
2. Click the work order link in the Record ID column.
Civic Platform displays the work order details on the Summary tab.
3. Click the Distribution History tab.
Civic Platform displays the cost transactions completed for the selected work order.
4. Select the transaction numbers you want to work with.
Civic Platform automatically selects all transactions with the same transaction number.
5. Click Undo.
You are prompted to confirm whether you want to roll back all the costs.
6. Click OK to proceed.
Civic Platform rolls back all the costs for the selected transaction.
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Asset Condition Assessments
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with asset condition assessments.
Related Information
Asset Condition Assessments Overview
Creating an Asset Condition Assessment
Viewing and Editing an Asset Condition Assessment
Rescheduling an Asset Condition Assessment
Working with Asset Condition Assessment Observations
Managing Asset Condition Assessment Attachments
Working with Asset Condition Assessment Ratings
Working with Asset Condition Assessment Work Orders
Managing Condition Assessment Assignments and Costs
Examining Asset Condition Assessment Details
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Asset Condition Assessments Overview
An asset condition assessment is a scheduled maintenance review and/or a quality review of a group
of assets. Agencies may require such assessments for many different asset types such as vehicles,
buildings, and water lines. Agencies may set different intervals for different asset types as well. For
example, agency vehicles might require safety and emissions inspections yearly, while water lines might
require an assessment every three months.
You can configure Civic Platform to assign an inspector when a user schedules an assessment date
and time. If the inspector cannot perform the assessment on the scheduled date, you can reschedule as
needed.
During an assessment, an inspector may make observations about the condition of the asset. For example,
he may go to a certain area to look at the condition of the sidewalk and determine if there any cracks
or whether the sidewalk is level. The inspector also looks at the area around the section sidewalk to
determine whether trees or brushes block the walking path.
After the inspector completes the assessment, the inspector can log his findings into Civic Platform as
an asset condition assessment observation, which he can modify later as more information becomes
available. He can attach documents and photos as needed to the asset condition assessment record, and
record the assignments and costs that occur on the assessment.
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Creating an Asset Condition Assessment
You can create one or more asset condition assessment records as needed to meet the requirements of
your agency.
To create an asset condition assessment
1. Navigate to the Asset Condition Assessment portlet.
The Asset Condition Assessments list portlet displays.
2. Click New.
3. Select the Condition Assessment from the drop-down list.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the Asset ID search form.
5. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the asset you are seeking.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of assets meeting the search parameters.
7. Select each asset you want to add to the condition assessment.
8. Click Select.
The Condition Assessment ID detail portlet displays.
9. Enter available data in the Asset Condition Assessment fields as needed. See Asset Condition
Assessment Detail Fields for field definitions.
10.Click Save.
Civic Platform updates the Asset Condition Assessment detail portlet.
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Viewing and Editing an Asset Condition Assessment
You can modify assessment records as needed. For example, you can attach documents and images
(see Managing Asset Condition Assessment Attachments), you link work orders to the assessment (see
Associating a Work Order to an Asset Condition Assessment), and you can reschedule the assessment
(see Rescheduling an Asset Condition Assessment).
1. Navigate to the Asset Condition Assessment portlet and use search to locate the assessment record
you want to work with. See for information about using Search.
Civic Platform displays the Asset Condition Assessment list portlet.
2. Click the Condition Assessment ID link for the assessment you want to view.
The Asset Condition Assessment ID detail portlet displays.
3. Modify the Assessment Detail fields as needed. See Asset Condition Assessment Detail Fields for field
definitions.
Note:
The following fields are not editable: Asset ID, Asset Group, Asset Type, Class Type, and Condition
Assessment.
4. Click Submit.
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Group Updates for Condition Assessments
You can edit or update multiple Asset Condition Assessments at the same time if they all require the same
change with the Group Update feature. For example, you can add the same Schedule Status to all the
records using the Group Update function.
To use this feature, FID 8601-Asset Condition Assessment Group Update must be enabled.
To perform a Group Update on Condition Assessments
1. Navigate to Asset Condition Assessments.
2. Select the Condition Assessment that contains the details you want to apply to other Conditions
Assessments.
3. In the Asset Condition Assessment details area, update those details as appropriate and click Save.
4. Select the other Condition Assessments that you want to update with the same details.
5. Go to Menu > Group Update.
6. Edit the Condition Assessments with the new values.
7. Click Save.
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Rescheduling an Asset Condition Assessment
When an inspector cannot perform an assessment because of a scheduling conflict, an inability to
access the assessment site, or because an asset is not ready for assessment, you can reschedule the
assessment.
To reschedule an asset condition assessment
1. Navigate to the Asset Condition Assessment portlet and use Search to locate the assessment you want
to reschedule. See Using the Search Features for information about using Search.
2. Click the link for the Assessment ID you want to reschedule.
Civic Platform displays the Asset Condition Assessment detail portlet.
3. Modify the date and time fields as needed.
4. Update any other fields as necessary in the Asset Condition Assessment detail portlet.
5. Click Save.
Civic Platform saves and updates the Asset Condition Assessment with your changes.
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Working with Asset Condition Assessment Observations
An inspector can record his observations about the condition of an assessment, and update his
observations later if needed.
Topics
•Creating an Asset Condition Assessment Observation
•Viewing and Editing an Asset Condition Assessment Observation
Creating an Asset Condition Assessment Observation
Most agencies pre-define assessment observation formats to accommodate specific assessment types
and specific attributes. The inspector can then use these formats as a guideline when performing an
assessment. For example, when an inspector assesses a vehicle, he inspects everything with great
detail. Do the headlights and taillights function properly? Are seat belt latches in good condition? Are the
windshields free of cracks and chips? Are the rear view mirrors intact? A pre-defined observation format
serves as a checklist for the inspector, and his observation results help determine what needs repair. Civic
Platform can then generate work orders for needed repairs.
To support the assessment process, inspectors can use the Observation Documents tab to upload
supporting documents and files such as diagrams, drawings, or photos. See Managing Asset Condition
Assessment Attachments for more information about attaching documents and photos to an assessment
observation record.
If you agency associates assessment observations with weighting factors, Civic Platform updates the
assessment condition rating. The condition rating determines the value of the asset attribute as observed
during the assessment. For more information about the formula used to determine these values, contact
your agency administrator.
To create an asset condition assessment observation
1. Navigate to the Asset Condition Assessment portlet and use search to locate the assessment record
you want to work with. See Using the Search Features for information about using Search.
Civic Platform displays the Asset Condition Assessment list portlet.
2. Click the Condition Assessment ID link for the assessment you want to report on.
The Asset Condition Assessment ID detail portlet displays.
3. Click the Observation tab.
The Asset Condition Assessment Observation list portlet displays.
4. Click Add.
Civic Platform adds a new observation row to the detail portlet.
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5. Complete the fields in the row with available data.
6. Click Save.
Civic Platform saves the new observation record.
Viewing and Editing an Asset Condition Assessment Observation
You view and modify observation data as needed.
To edit an asset condition assessment observation
1. Navigate to the Asset Condition Assessment portlet and use search to locate the assessment record
you want to work with. See Using the Search Features for information about using Search.
Civic Platform displays the Asset Condition Assessment list portlet.
2. Click the Condition Assessment ID link for the assessment you want to report on.
The Asset Condition Assessment detail portlet displays.
3. Click the Observation tab.
The Asset Condition Assessment Observation list portlet displays.
4. Modify the observation fields as needed.
5. Click Save.
Civic Platform saves your observation data.
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Managing Asset Condition Assessment Attachments
You can upload images and documents as needed in support of your assessment findings and remove any
that are no longer relevant.
Topics
•Uploading an Asset Condition Assessment Attachment
•Downloading and Viewing Asset Condition Assessment Attachment
•Deleting an Asset Condition Assessment Attachment
Uploading an Asset Condition Assessment Attachment
During an asset condition assessment, the inspector may take photos or create a diagram with detailed
condition information. He can upload and attach his photo files and diagram files to the Civic Platform
assessment record.
To upload an attachment
1. Navigate to the Asset Condition Assessment portlet and use search to locate the assessment record
you want to work with. See Using the Search Features for information about using Search.
Civic Platform displays the Asset Condition Assessment list portlet.
2. Click the Condition Assessment ID link for the assessment you want to report on.
The Asset Condition Assessment detail portlet displays.
3. Click the Documents tab.
4. Click New.
Civic Platform displays Document detail portlet.
5. Complete the fields with available data. See Asset Condition Assessment Document Attachment Fields
for field definitions.
6. Click Add to add another attachment, then complete the document attachment fields with available
data.
7. Click Save.
Civic Platform displays a confirmation message.
8. Click Cancel to review attached documents.
Civic Platform updates the documents list portlet.
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Downloading and Viewing Asset Condition Assessment Attachment
After you attach a file to an assessment record, the file is available to download and use as part of the
assessment process.
To download and view an asset condition assessment attachment
1. Navigate to the Asset Condition Assessment portlet and use search to locate the assessment record
you want to work with. See Using the Search Features for information about using Search..
Civic Platform displays the Asset Condition Assessment list portlet.
2. Click the Condition Assessment ID link for the assessment you want to report on.
The Asset Condition Assessment detail portlet displays.
3. Click the Documents tab.
Civic Platform displays the Asset Condition Assessment Documents list portlet.
4. Select the files you want to download, and click Download.
You are prompted to confirm the download.
5. To view the document, click Open.
Deleting an Asset Condition Assessment Attachment
You can remove attachments as needed that are incorrect or no longer relevant.
Note:
When deleting an attached file, Civic Platform does not ask you to confirm the deletion. Once you click
Delete, Civic Platform removes the attachment.
To delete an attachment
1. Navigate to the Asset Condition Assessment portlet and use search to locate the assessment record
you want to work with. See Using the Search Features for information about using Search.
Civic Platform displays the Asset Condition Assessment list portlet.
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2. Click the Condition Assessment ID link for the assessment you want to report on.
The Asset Condition Assessment detail portlet displays.
3. Click the Documents tab.
Civic Platform displays the Asset Condition Assessment Documents list portlet.
4. Select each attachment you want to delete.
5. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the file from the selected Condition Assessment ID.
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Working with Asset Condition Assessment Ratings
Civic Platform generally calculates asset ratings using a rating formula that your agency administrator
created. This formula can take into account asset details, asset attributes, condition assessment details,
and condition assessment attributes.
Your administrator can set a rating to run when a an inspector completes a condition assessment.
Inspectors can also enter a rating manually. In both cases, the rating displays in the Ratings portlet for the
condition assessment record.
You can enter ratings manually, independent of any system event. For example, if you are conducting a
scheduled assessment of one asset but happen to notice an unexpected deterioration of another asset,
you may want to enter a brief rating of the damaged asset in Civic Platform.
Civic Platform time‑stamps and saves each rating value for an asset, which provides users with a historical
log of past ratings.
Topics
•Viewing Condition Assessment Ratings
•Pre‑Calculating a Condition Assessment Rating
Viewing Condition Assessment Ratings
You can view an asset’s current rating and other rating details in the Ratings tab on the Asset Condition
Assessment portlet. You can also see whether the current value is a pre‑calculated value or if the current
value is a rating triggered by completion of a condition assessment. See Pre‑Calculating a Condition
Assessment Rating for information about pre‑calculated ratings.
You can also view an asset’s condition assessment rating from the Ratings tab on the Asset record. For
information about viewing an asset record, see Viewing Assets.
To view condition assessment ratings
1. Navigate to the Asset Condition Assessment portlet and use search to locate the assessment record
you want to work with. See Using the Search Features for information about using Search.
Civic Platform displays the Asset Condition Assessment list portlet.
2. Click the Condition Assessment ID link for the assessment you want to report on.
The Asset Condition Assessment detail portlet displays.
3. Click the Ratings tab.
Civic Platform displays the current rating(s) for this condition assessment.
Pre‑Calculating a Condition Assessment Rating
You can pre‑calculate a rating value for a condition assessment without completing the condition
assessment, which enables you the ability to get a current view of an asset’s condition.
To pre‑calculate a condition assessment rating
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1. Navigate to the Asset Condition Assessment portlet and create a new assessment record, or use
search to locate the assessment record you want to work with. See Using the Search Features for
information about using Search.
The Asset Condition Assessment detail portlet displays.
2. Click the Ratings tab of the new condition assessment.
The Ratings portlet for the condition assessment displays.
3. Click Pre‑calc.
Civic Platform calculates any rating formulas attached to this condition assessment.
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Working with Asset Condition Assessment Work Orders
Asset assessments often alert agencies to problems that need attention. A work order is the starting point
in the repair process. Associating a work order with an assessment helps track the work order’s progress.
Topics
•Creating a Work Order for an Asset Condition Assessment
•Associating a Work Order to an Asset Condition Assessment
Creating a Work Order for an Asset Condition Assessment
The first step towards resolving problems or issues that an asset condition assessment exposes, is to
create a work order.
To create a new work order for an asset condition assessment
1. Navigate to the Asset Condition Assessment portlet and use search to locate the assessment record
you want to work with. See Using the Search Features for information about using Search.
Civic Platform displays the Asset Condition Assessment list portlet.
2. Click the Condition Assessment ID link for the assessment that needs a work order.
Civic Platform displays the Asset Condition Assessment detail portlet.
3. Click the Work Order tab.
The Asset Condition Assessment Work Order list portlet displays.
4. Click New.
A Record Type Select pop-up displays.
5. Select a Work Order Template or Work Order Type.
Civic Platform displays the fields relevant to the selected template or type in the New Record By Single
portlet.
6. Complete the fields with available data.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates the work order and then returns to the Asset Condition Assessment Work Order
list portlet.
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Associating a Work Order to an Asset Condition Assessment
Associate a work order to an assessment to help your agency track the repairs related to the assessment.
For example, if a vehicle assessment keeps revealing the same problems, previous work orders show this
pattern, and an inspector knows what problem to look for in future assessments.
To link a work order to an asset condition assessment
1. Navigate to the Asset Condition Assessment portlet and use search to locate the assessment record
you want to work with. See Using the Search Features for information about using Search.
The Asset Condition Assessment list portlet displays.
2. Click the Condition Assessment ID link for the assessment to which you want to link a work order.
The Asset Condition Assessment detail portlet displays.
3. Click the Work Order tab.
Civic Platform displays the Asset Condition Assessment Work Order list portlet.
4. Click Look Up and enter the search criteria needed to locate the work orders you are looking for.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of work orders matching the lookup criteria.
6. Select each work order you want to link to the asset condition assessment.
7. Click Select.
Civic Platform links the asset condition assessment to the work order.
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Managing Condition Assessment Assignments and Costs
You can add assignments and costs to an asset during condition assessments for time, labor and
materials. Because Civic Platform creates every condition assessment against an asset, if you add an
assignment or cost to a condition assessment, you are adding the assignment or cost to the asset under
the condition assessment. The cost, together the costs that you recorded on work orders for the asset,
result in the total cost that occurred on the asset.
Topics
•Adding a Condition Assessment Assignment or Cost
•Editing Condition Assessment Assignments and Costs
•Searching for an Assignment or Cost Item
•Deleting an Assignment or Cost Item from a Condition Assessment
•Converting Assignments to Costs
Adding a Condition Assessment Assignment or Cost
You can add cost items to a condition assessment either as assignments or costs.
• Assignments are the cost item arrangement for the condition assessment. They do not comprise the
total condition assessment cost but can be converted into costs.
• Costs are the actual spending on a condition assessment and comprise the total condition assessment
cost.
Topics
•Looking Up Cost Items to Add Assignments or Costs
•Looking Up Cost Groups to Add Assignments or Costs
•Adding a New Assignment or Cost
Looking Up Cost Items to Add Assignments or Costs
You can search the cost items defined by your agency administrator and add them as assignments or
costs into a condition assessment.
To look up cost items and add assignments or costs
1. Navigate to the Condition Assessments portlet and use Search to locate and select the condition
assessment you want to add assignments or costs to.
Civic Platform displays the condition assessment detail portlet.
2. Click the Assignments and Costs tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of existing assignment and cost items associated with the condition
assessment. Notice the line directly below the row of tabs where the Estimated Cost and Total Cost are
listed. The Estimated Cost is the sum of the total costs of all assignment items in the list. The Total Cost
is the sum of the total costs of all the cost items in the list.
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3. Click Look Up.
4. Select Look up by Cost Item from the drop-down menu.
Civic Platform displays detail fields associated with the cost item.
5. Choose an option from the Cost Type drop-down list and/or complete the fields associated with the
cost item you are searching for.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of condition assessment cost items matching your search parameters.
7. If you are adding a single cost item, select the cost item you want to associate with the condition
assessment, and then complete the fields with available data (see Asset Condition Assessment Costing
Fields for field definitions). If you are adding multiple cost items, go to the next step.
If you are assigning an asset or human resource to the condition assessment, you can select the asset
or human resource, and then click Resource Calendar to view the availability of the asset or human
resource.
8. If you are adding multiple cost items,
a. Select the first cost item you want to associate with the condition assessment and complete the
fields with available data. See Asset Condition Assessment Costing Fields for field definitions. Use
the Resource Calendar to view the availability of the assets or human resources as needed (see
previous step).
b. Select the next cost item that you want to associate with the condition assessment.
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The following fields auto-populate, provided you entered data into the same fields for the previous
cost item, and provided you have not entered data into the current cost item fields: Type, Quantity,
Date, Start Time, End Time, and All Day Event checkbox.
Note:
When you select the next cost item, the values of the cost item preceding the new item are auto-
populated to the newly marked item unless the newly marked item had previously entered data.
Previously entered data is not overwritten.
EXAMPLE: Cost item one is added as Type = Assignment, Quantity = 1, and Start/End times =
3:00pm-4:00pm. Cost item two has the same values for all of the fields, so when you select the
second item, all of the item one data values copy to the item two fields. Cost item three has the same
values for all the fields except for Quantity. For Cost item three, Quantity = 5. Enter 5 in the Quantity
field, then check the box to select the third item. All of the item two data values except for Quantity
copy to the item three fields.
c. You can accept the auto-populated data, and repeat the previous step for subsequent cost items
that you want to add, or you can modify the one or more of the values in the fields for the new cost
item.
9. Click Select.
Civic Platform creates an association between the selected assignment and cost items and the
condition assessment, and it displays them in a list.
Looking Up Cost Groups to Add Assignments or Costs
If you work frequently with certain cost items, you can apply the cost group management functionality to
group the cost items as needed. This enables you to look up and add costs by group, adding each cost
item in the group to condition assessments in a single step.
Note:
The Assignments and Costs tab in the Condition Assessment portlet applies the same cost group
management functionality as the Assignments and Costs tab in the Work Orders portlet. For information on
cost group management, see Looking Up Cost Groups to Add Assignments or Costs in the Work Orders
section of this document.
To look up cost groups and add assignments or costs
1. Navigate to the Condition Assessments portlet and use Search to locate and select the condition
assessment you want to add assignments or costs to.
Civic Platform displays the condition assessment detail portlet.
2. Click the Assignments and Costs tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of existing assignment and cost items associated with the condition
assessment.
3. Click Look up.
4. Select Look up by Cost Group from the drop-down menu.
Civic Platform displays the cost group selection drop-down list.
5. Choose the cost group name you want to use, and click Submit.
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Civic Platform returns a list of all condition assessment cost items in the cost group. You can use the
auto-populate feature to add multiple cost items quickly and efficiently.
6. If the cost items you are adding have similar data (such as Type, Quantity, Date, Start Time, End Time,
and/or All Day Event), do the following:
a. Select the first cost item you want to associate with the condition assessment and complete the
fields with available data. See Asset Condition Assessment Costing Fields for field definitions.
If you are assigning assets or human resources to the condition assessment, you can select the
assets or human resources, and then click Resource Calendar to view the availability of the assets
or human resources in a calendar. The calendar displays in date range view.
b. Select the next cost item in the group that you want to associate with the condition assessment.
The following fields auto-populate, provided you entered data into the same fields for the previous
cost item, and provided you have not entered data into the current cost item fields: Type, Quantity,
Date, Start Time, End Time, and All Day Event checkbox.
Note:
When you select the next cost item, the values of the cost item preceding the new item are auto-
populated to the newly marked item unless the newly marked item had previously entered data.
Previously entered data is not overwritten.
EXAMPLE: Cost item one is added as Type = Assignment, Quantity = 1, and Start/End times =
3:00pm-4:00pm. Cost item two has the same values for all of the fields, so when you select the
second item, all of the item one data values copy to the item two fields. Cost item three has the same
values for all the fields except for Quantity. For Cost item three, Quantity = 5. Enter 5 in the Quantity
field, then check the box to select the third item. All of the item two data values except for Quantity
copy to the item three fields.
c. You can accept the auto-populated data, and repeat the previous step for subsequent cost items
that you want to add, or you can modify the one or more of the values in the fields for the new cost
item.
7. Double check the auto-populated values and make any needed adjustments.
8. Click Select.
Civic Platform creates an association between the selected assignment and cost items and the
condition assessment, and it displays them in a list.
Adding a New Assignment or Cost
In some circumstances you may want to add a new assignment or cost to a condition assessment directly.
To add a new assignment or cost
1. Navigate to the Condition Assessments portlet and use Search to locate and select the condition
assessment you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the condition assessment detail portlet.
2. Click the Assignments and Costs tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of existing assignment and cost items associated with the condition
assessment.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the fields related to cost items.
4. Select the Cost Type and Cost Item, then set the Type to Assignment or Cost.
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5. Complete the fields with available data. See Asset Condition Assessment Costing Fields for field
definitions.
If you are assigning an asset or human resource to the condition assessment, you can click the
Show Calendar link besides the Date field to view the availability of the asset or human resource in a
calendar. The calendar that displays is the same one shown on the Calendar tab of the Assets portlet.
For more information about the calendar, see Working on the Asset Calendar .
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates an association for the selected assignment or cost item with the condition
assessment and displays the condition assessment assignments and costs list.
Editing Condition Assessment Assignments and Costs
You can edit the assignments and costs for a condition assessment as needed, and as permitted.
Note:
If all of the fields are read-only, and a cost item needs to be updated, please contact your system
administrator.
To edit condition assessment assignments and costs
1. Navigate to the Condition Assessments portlet and use search to locate and select the condition
assessment you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the detail of the condition assessment selected.
2. Click the Assignments and Costs tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of existing assignment and cost items associated with the condition
assessment.
3. Open the assignment or cost item you want to view or edit.
Civic Platform displays detail fields associated with the cost item.
4. Make changes as needed. See Asset Condition Assessment Costing Fields for field definitions
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of all cost items associated with the condition assessment.
Searching for an Assignment or Cost Item
You can use the Look Up button on the Assignments and Cost tab to locate assignment and cost items.
For more information about searching in Civic Platform, see Using the Search Features .
Deleting an Assignment or Cost Item from a Condition Assessment
When a cost item is deleted, the association between the cost item and the condition assessment is
removed. However, the cost item is still available in the cost item definition list and you can use it to
associate with other condition assessments.
To delete a condition assessment assignment or cost item
1. Navigate to the Condition Assessments portlet and use Search to locate and select the condition
assessment you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the detail of the condition assessment selected.
2. Click the Assignments and Costs tab.
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Civic Platform displays a list of existing assignment and cost items associated with the condition
assessment.
3. Select the cost item(s) you want to remove.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform displays a message indicating record(s) deleted successfully.
Converting Assignments to Costs
When managing a condition assessment, you may find that an assignment that is associated with the
condition assessment needs be converted to a cost.
To convert an assignment to cost
1. Navigate to the Condition Assessments portlet and use Search to locate and select the condition
assessment you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the detail of the condition assessment selected.
2. Click the Assignments and Costs tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of existing assignment and cost items associated with the condition
assessment.
3. Select each assignment item that you want to convert to costs. You can select multiple assignments.
However, if an assignment is converted to cost before, you cannot do it again.
4. Click Convert to Cost.
If the cost type is human resource, Civic Platform displays a Usage/Time Tracking window.
5. Enter the usage/time tracking information for the cost item, and click Submit.
Civic Platform generates a cost item for each selected assignment while still keeping the assignment
entry.
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Examining Asset Condition Assessment Details
The following tables list and define the default fields available in the asset condition assessment user
interfaces.
Tables
•Asset Condition Assessment Detail Fields
•Asset Condition Assessment Document Attachment Fields
•Asset Condition Assessment Costing Fields
Asset Condition Assessment Detail Fields
The following table lists and defines fields that may be available as you work with Asset Condition
Assessments.
Table 75: Asset Condition Assessment Detail Fields
Read-only fields for reviewing only:
Asset Group The asset group. For example: Water or Street. An Asset Group is an agency-defined
collection of objects the agency owns or maintains.
Asset ID The numbering sequence used to identify the asset. An Asset ID is the unique
identification for an asset.
Asset Type The type of asset. For example: Hydrant or Manhole. An Asset Type is an agency-
defined classification of similar objects that share the same standard asset attributes.
Multiple asset types can share the same Class Type.
Class Type The class type. A class type is how Civic Platform groups objects that an agency owns
or maintains. Asset class types provide the ability to assign or group multiple asset
types together.
Condition Assessment The type of condition assessment.
Activated fields available for editing:
Comments General comments.
Department The department responsible for the assessment. The selection may change the
names listed in the Inspector drop‑down menu.
Inspection Date
Inspection Time
The inspection start (from) and end (to) dates from the calendar icon. The time of the
inspection.
Inspector The name of the inspector responsible for the assessment.
Schedule Date
Schedule Time
The start (from) and end (to) dates from the calendar icon:The Schedule Time from
the drop-down list.
Status The status of the condition assessment: Completed or Scheduled.
Time Spent (Hours) The amount of time spent on the assessment. If enabled, you may enter a range when
searching where the desired amount of time spent is between the upper (From) and
lower (To) values.
Asset Condition Assessment Document Attachment Fields
The following table lists and defines fields that may be available as you work with attachments to asset
condition assessment records.
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Table 76: Asset Condition Assessment Document Attachment Fields
Document Group/Category A document group that relates to the asset condition assessment ID. The selection
that you make affects the options in the adjacent category drop-down menu. For
example, the types of document categories might be Photos or Engineering drawings.
Document Name A name for the document attachment. For example, Image of 1 of 3 Pavement
Section.
Description A description about the attachment. For example, This is the inside circle of the
circular pavement. Depending on the option selected, either Description or Document
Description field displays.
Source (or EDMS Name) The name of the electronic document management system (EDMS) where you want
to store the attachment. Consult your agency administrator if you need assistance with
this field.
File Name [Browse] The file name of an attached document. Use the Browse link to locate the file.
Asset Condition Assessment Costing Fields
The table below lists and defines the fields that may be available when costing a condition assessment.
Table 77: Costing Field Descriptions
Cost Account The cost account where the units should be added or subtracted from when
associating with a condition assessment.
Cost ID The identification number populates automatically when you click Submit.
Cost Item The name for the cost item.
Cost Type This is the type of cost. For example, contract, employee, materials.
Current Asset Usage The current usage of the asset. This field displays only when you are assigning an
asset as a cost to the condition assessment, and the asset type is associated with
usage types in the administrator portlet.
Date The date when the costing is done.
Description The description for the cost item.
End Time The end time of the assignment or cost item usage. Mark “All Day Event” if applicable.
Fixed Rate The fixed cost rate to be used for the cost item.
Quantity The quantity of items included in this type. If your agency administrator did not
configure the Standard Choice COST_FACTOR, when you add a new cost item to a
condition assessment, you can specify only one quantity for the cost item.
If your agency administrator configured the Standard Choice COST_FACTOR, when
you add a new cost item to a condition assessment, the Quantity section of the Cost
Item New form provides several cost factors, for example, Regular, Overtime, and
Holiday. You can enter quantities by cost factors.
Record Status Read-only field. It indicates whether the cost item record is active or inactive in the
administrator portlet.
Start Time The start time of the assignment or cost item usage. Mark “All Day Event” if
applicable.
Time Accounting Group The Time Accounting group. This field displays only when you are assigning human
resources as a cost to the condition assessment, and the selected user profile is
associated with a Time Accounting group.
Time Accounting Type The Time Accounting type. This field displays only when you are assigning human
resources as a cost to the condition assessment, and the selected user profile is
associated with a Time Accounting type.
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Time Elapsed The actual work time of the cost item (human resource). This field displays only when
you are assigning human resources as a cost to the condition assessment, and the
selected user profile is associated with a Time Accounting type.
Total Cost Automatically calculated according to the formula below. If there are no cost factors for
the cost items:
Total Cost = Fixed Rate + Quantity * Unit Rate *
Default Cost Factor
If there are multiple cost factors for the cost items: Total Cost = Fixed Rate + Unit Rate
* (Cost Factor #1 * Quantity #1 + Cost Factor #2 * Quantity #2 +...+ Cost Factor #n *
Quantity #n)
Type Select the type from assignment or cost.
Unit Rate Enter the unit cost rate to be used for the cost item.
Unit of Measure Use the drop-down list to select the unit of measure for the cost item.
Updated Date Read-only field. It indicates when the cost item is last updated in the administrator
portlet.
Updated By Read-only field. It indicates the user account that last updated the cost item in the
administrator portlet.
Usage/Time Tracking This field contains three parts: Time Accounting Group, Time Accounting Type, and
Time Elapsed.
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Part Inventory
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with part inventories and transactions.
Related Information
Part Inventory Overview
Working with Part Inventory
Managing Part Contacts
Managing Part Transactions
Tracking Work Order Parts
Examining Parts (and Related) Details
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Part Inventory Overview
Civic Platform allows an agency to track usage and supply of consumable parts using the part inventory.
Your agency may be responsible for maintaining assets such as a fleet of trucks. Maintaining a truck
requires several different parts, one of these is an oil filter.
The part inventory tracks part availability, identifies where parts in the inventory are located, and identifies
approved vendors. As oil filters are used, the available supply is automatically updated. If an agency has
three trucks that are in need of an oil change, an oil change work order is generated. By using the part
inventory you can find the total number of oil filters in stock and their location. If more oil filters are needed,
you can find an approved vendor to reorder more filters.
All parts are listed in the part inventory list portlet. This portlet displays the part status, type, cost, current
total supply, and many other useful details regarding the part. The agency administrator defines the items
in the inventory list portlet. For information on setting up part contacts or part locations, please contact your
agency administrator.
Your Civic Platform environment and the tasks you perform depend on your agency’s implementation
package and the way your agency administrator set up Civic Platform, including access permissions
assigned to your Accela User Name.
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Working with Part Inventory
Topics
•Adding a New Part Inventory
•Editing Part Inventory
•Deleting Parts from the Part Inventory
•Attaching a Document to a Part
Adding a New Part Inventory
Use the part inventory to add one or more new parts. Each time you approve a new part and add it
to the inventory, Civic Platform calculates and updates the total supply on hand. These parts are also
available for use when you create part transactions and work orders. When an agency has more than
one location for a part, the location and quantity on hand for the part updates when you create a part
transaction. Civic Platform generates a part transaction each time that a user assigns a part to a work
order, a location receives a part order, a part transfers between locations, or manual stock adjustments
occur. For information about creating a part transaction, see Managing Part Transactions.
To add a new part to the part inventory
1. Navigate to the Part Inventory portlet.
Civic Platform displays the list of all parts in the parts inventory.
2. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the part detail form.
3. Enter the part number first, then enter the Units of Measure and Calculate Type.
4. Complete the remaining fields in the part details.
For a description of the fields, see Part Inventory Fields.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the part to your inventory.
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Editing Part Inventory
You can modify part inventory details as needed. For example, a vendor might no longer carry a brand of
oil filters that your agency uses, but they carry a different brand for the same type of oil filter. You can go to
the part inventory, find the oil filter, and then change the brand in the part details.
Note:
To track the cost of a part based on its stock location, select the Track Cost by Location option.
Some part supply details such as the minimum quantity, maximum quantity, reorder quantity, and unit cost,
auto-calculate based on the quantities of a part at a stock location.
To edit a part
1. Navigate to the Part Inventory portlet and use Search to find the part that you want to work with. See
Using the Search Features for information about performing a search in Civic Platform.
Civic Platform returns a list of all parts that match your search parameters.
2. Click the Part Number link for the part that you want to review.
Civic Platform displays the part details.
3. Update any of the fields that display.
For a description of the fields, see Part Inventory Fields.
4. Click Submit.
Deleting Parts from the Part Inventory
You can remove a part from the part inventory. For example, you may have entered a part by mistake or
your agency no longer has a use for a part.
Note:
When you click Delete, Civic Platform does not prompt you to confirm the deletion before it removes the
selected records. Double check that the parts you have marked for deletion are the ones you want to
remove BEFORE you click Delete.
To delete a part from the part inventory
1. Navigate to the Part Inventory portlet and use Search to find the part that you want to remove. See
Using the Search Features for information about performing a search in Civic Platform.
Civic Platform returns a list of all parts that match your search parameters.
2. Select the parts that you want to remove from the inventory.
3. Click Delete.
Civic Platform deletes the selected parts.
Attaching a Document to a Part
You can attach document files and image files (such as PDF or JPG files) to a part record. For more
information on how to attach a document to a part record, see Attachments .
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Managing Part Contacts
Part contacts are approved vendors and approved manufacturers that supply the agency with specific
parts. You can link one or more contacts to a part and then use this information to interact with vendors
and manufacturers for pricing, re-orders, and questions about the parts they supply. For information on
how to set up a new part contact, please contact your system administrator.
Topics
•Linking a Part Contact to a Part
•Viewing Part Contact Details
•Deleting a Part Contact
Linking a Part Contact to a Part
1. Navigate to the Part Inventory portlet and use Search to find the part that you want to work with. See
Using the Search Features for information about performing a search in Civic Platform.
Civic Platform returns a list of all parts that match your search parameters.
2. Click the Part Number link for the part that you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the part details.
3. Click the Part Contact tab.
Civic Platform displays the part contact list of contacts associated with part.
4. Click Look Up to display a list of search criteria you can use.
5. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the contacts that you want to link. For a description of the
fields, see Part Contact Fields.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the search results.
7. Select the contacts that you want to link to the selected part.
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform associates the selected contacts with the part and displays the associated part contact
list.
Viewing Part Contact Details
It may be necessary to speak with the vendor or manufacturer about a re-order. You can easily view the
contact’s name and phone number from the part contact list portlet. For information about updating the
details of a part contact, see your system administrator.
To view the details of a part contact
1. Navigate to the Part Inventory portlet and use Search to find the part that you want to work with. See
Using the Search Features for information about performing a search in Civic Platform.
Civic Platform returns a list of all parts that match your search parameters.
2. Click the Part Number link for the part that you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the part inventory details.
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3. Click the Part Contact tab.
Civic Platform displays the part contact list of contacts associated with the part.
4. Open the part contact that you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the part contact details.
Deleting a Part Contact
When you delete a part contact as described in this section, you are not actually deleting the contact
record. You are deleting the association between the part and contact. For information about deleting
contact records from the master list, see your system administrator.
To delete a reference to a part contact
1. Navigate to the Part Inventory portlet and use Search to find the part that you want to remove. See
Using the Search Features for information about performing a search in Civic Platform.
Civic Platform returns a list of all parts that match your search parameters.
2. Click the Part Number link for the part that you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the part inventory details.
3. Click the Part Contact tab.
Civic Platform displays the part contact list of contacts associated with the part.
4. Select the part contacts that you want to dissociate.
5. Click Delete.
Civic Platform displays a message indicating that the part(s) deleted successfully.
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Managing Part Transactions
Topics
•Creating a Part Transaction
•Voiding a Part Transaction
•Viewing the Part Supply
•Issuing a Reservation Transaction
•Updating a Reservation Transaction
Creating a Part Transaction
Whenever a user issues, transfers, reserves, removes, or adjusts a part record, Civic Platform creates a
part transaction. These transactions identify the movement and use of specific parts and allow agencies to
track usage and calculate the current supply. When a transaction takes place, Civic Platform updates the
quantity on hand at the proper location based on the transaction type.
There are five part transaction types. Different fields display, depending on which part transaction type you
choose to create.
•The issue transaction occurs either when someone requests and receives a part on the spot, or when
someone receives a reserved part.
•The receive transaction occurs when someone purchases a part or returns a part to a location.
•The transfer transaction occurs when someone moves a part from one location to another.
•The adjust transaction occurs when someone makes quantity adjustments for cycle counts.
•The reserve transaction occurs when someone sets aside parts so they can issue them at a later
date.
A hard reservation decreases the quantity on hand of the part by the quantity of the reservation so that the
reserved quantity cannot be issued to another work order. A soft reservation is an alert to the warehouse
that houses the part that someone may request the part. The quantity on hand of the part does not change
with a soft reservation and someone can issue the part to another work order.
To create a part transaction
1. Navigate to the Part Inventory portlet and use Search to find the part that you want to work with. See
Using the Search Features for information about performing a search in Civic Platform.
Civic Platform returns a list of all parts that match your search parameters.
2. Click the Part Number link for the part that you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the part inventory details.
3. Click the Part Transaction tab.
Civic Platform displays the part transaction list associated with the part.
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4. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the part transaction form.
5. Complete the fields that display. Some fields auto‑populate with part detail information.
For a description of the fields, see Part Transaction Fields.
6. Click Submit.
Voiding a Part Transaction
There may be various reasons to remove a part transaction. For example, you have a transaction
associated with the wrong part or a transfer that never took place. You cannot remove part transactions
because Civic Platform preserves the audit trail for the part, but you can void transactions. When you
void a part transaction, it is no longer executable, meaning that the quantity on hand updates as if the
transaction did not exist. The transaction record remains in the part transaction list for reference.
To void a part transaction
1. Navigate to the Part Inventory portlet and use Search to find the part that you want to work with. See
Using the Search Features for information about performing a search in Civic Platform.
Civic Platform returns a list of all parts that match your search parameters.
2. Click the Part Number link for the part that you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the part inventory details.
3. Click the Part Transaction tab.
Civic Platform displays the part transaction list associated with the part.
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4. Select the part transaction that you want to void.
5. Click Void.
Civic Platform displays a message indicating transactions(s) voided successfully.
Viewing the Part Supply
Civic Platform tracks parts at multiple locations. Each location maintains a current total supply for each
part. When a part transaction takes place, the quantity on hand updates at the proper location based on
the transaction type. Civic Platform always calculates part supply as a result of part transactions. Users
cannot manually enter or update these counts.
To view the part supply
1. Navigate to the Part Inventory portlet and use Search to find the part that you want to work with. See
Using the Search Features for information about performing a search in Civic Platform.
Civic Platform returns a list of all parts that match your search parameters.
2. Click the Part Number link for the part that you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the part inventory details.
3. Click the Part Supply tab.
Civic Platform displays the part supply list for all part locations.
4. To view the part supply details, click the location you want to review.
Issuing a Reservation Transaction
To close out a reservation, create a new issue transaction and select the reservation you want to issue.
To issue reserved parts
1. Navigate to the Part Inventory portlet and use Search to find the part that you want to work with. See
Using the Search Features for information about performing a search in Civic Platform.
Civic Platform returns a list of all parts that match your search parameters.
2. Click the Part Number link for the part that you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the part details.
3. Click the Part Transaction tab.
Civic Platform displays the part transaction list associated with the part.
4. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the fields related to the part transaction.
5. Select an issue transaction type from the drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays the fields related to the Issue part transaction.
6. Complete the Location Name and Quantity fields.
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7. Select the reservation you want to issue from the drop-down list of open reservations. The list includes
all hard and soft reservations that are open.
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform completes the issue transaction.
Updating a Reservation Transaction
You can change a reserve transaction from a soft reservation to a hard reservation, and vice versa.
Perhaps you made a soft reservation of a part because a work order was in a tentative stage, and now the
work order is active.
To update a reservation
1. Navigate to the Part Inventory portlet and use Search to find the part that you want to work with. See
Using the Search Features for information about performing a search in Civic Platform.
Civic Platform returns a list of all parts that match your search parameters.
2. Click the Part Number link for the part that you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the part inventory details.
3. Click the Part Transaction tab.
Civic Platform displays the part transaction list associated with the part.
4. Click the link for the reserve transaction you want to update. It must be an open reserve transaction.
Civic Platform displays the transaction detail view.
5. Use the Hard Reservation drop-down menu to change the reservation type.
6. Click Save.
Civic Platform updates the reserve transaction.
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Tracking Work Order Parts
The parts inventory allows an agency to track the usage and the supply of consumable parts. As your
agency uses parts, the available supply automatically updates, and Civic Platform maintains an accurate
count of quantity on hand for the part and location.
Part transactions include issuing specific parts to a work order. When you take out parts from the stock
on hand and issue them to a work order, Civic Platform generates an issue part transaction. When you
save the transaction, Civic Platform decreases the quantity on hand by the transaction quantity and then
increases the total cost of the work order by the cost of the transaction. For example, a new development
in the city requires the installation of five new lamp posts. The lamp posts cost $300 per unit. You generate
a work order for the installation and Civic Platform issues the five lamp posts to the work order. Civic
Platform generates an issue part transaction and then decreases the quantity on hand of lamp posts for
the location by five. The total cost of the work order increases by $1500, which is the total cost of the
transaction.
If an asset you have linked to a work order has parts associated to it, you can add these standard parts to
the work order. For information about adding standard parts to a work order, see Adding Standard Parts.
For information about associating parts to an asset, see Managing Associated Parts .
Topics
•Creating Work Order Part Transactions
•Voiding Work Order Parts
Creating Work Order Part Transactions
You can create single or multiple work order part transactions as needed.
To create a work order part transaction
1. Navigate to the Work Orders portlet.
Civic Platform displays the list of all work orders.
2. Click the Part ID link of the part you want to review.
Civic Platform displays the work order details.
3. Click the Part tab.
Civic Platform displays the part list associated with work order.
4. Click Search.
Civic Platform displays the fields related to the part inventory.
5. Complete any of the fields that display.
For a description of the fields, see Work Order Parts Fields.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the results of the parts for the search criteria.
7. Select the part(s) that you want to issue to the selected work order.
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform generates an Issue part transaction and associates it with the work order.
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Voiding Work Order Parts
If you need to remove a work order part transaction from a work order, you can use the Void functionality.
When you void a part transaction, all units identified within the transaction update the quantity on hand
as if the transaction did not exist. The transaction record remains in the work order part transaction list for
reference, but as a voided record. For information about deleting parts, see Deleting Parts from the Part
Inventory.
To void a work order part
1. Navigate to the Work Orders portlet.
2. Click the Part ID link of the part you want to review.
Civic Platform displays the work order details.
3. Click the Part tab.
Civic Platform displays the part list associated with work order.
4. Select each part that you want to void.
5. Click Void.
Civic Platform displays a message indicating record(s) voided successfully.
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Examining Parts (and Related) Details
The following tables list and define the default fields available in the different interfaces you may encounter.
•Part Contact Fields
•Part Inventory Fields
•Part Transaction Fields
•Part Supply Fields
•Work Order Parts Fields
Part Contact Fields
The following table lists and defines the default fields on the Part Contact form.
Table 78: Part Contact Fields
Address 1 The first line of the contact’s address.
Address 2 The second line of the contact’s address, if needed.
Business Name The business name for the contact.
City The name of the city for the contact.
Comments Comments about the contact.
Contact Flag This contact flag identifies the type of contact: Manufacturer or Vendor.
Contact Last Name The last name of the contact.
Contact Middle Name The middle name of the contact.
Contact Title The title of the contact.
Contact Type The contact type.
Email The email address for the contact.
Fax The fax number for the contact.
Phone The phone number for the contact.
State The name of the state for the contact.
Terms Terms associated with any contact arrangement.
Zip Code The zip code for the contact.
Part Inventory Fields
The following table defines the default fields on the Part Inventory.
Table 79: Part Inventory Fields
Budget Account The budget account for tracking the transactions of the part. The Standard Choice
BUDGET_ACCOUNT defines the account options in the list.
Budget Number The budget number of the budget account that you select for the part.
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Calculate Type The formula for calculating the average cost of a part. There are four available
calculation formulas:
Simple Average: The average cost is equal to the sum of the unit cost of a current
shipment and existing average cost, divided by two. This formula provides the average
value of the existing average cost and the cost per unit of the current shipment.
Weighted Average: This is the same as the Simple Average, but weighted by
quantity. “Weighted by quantity” means that the existing part quantity is multiplied by
the existing average cost and then the quantity of the current shipment is multiplied by
the unit cost of the shipment. The sum of these values is then divided by the total part
quantity.
FIFO: This stands for first-in, first-out. If you select FIFO for a part, when you perform
transactions (issue, transfer, adjust, or reserve) for the part, Civic Platform processes
the parts in the inventory from the oldest supply in stock.
LIFO: This stands for last-in, first-out. If you select LIFO for a part, when you perform
transactions (issue, transfer, adjust, or reserve) for the part, Civic Platform processes
the parts in the inventory from the most recent supply in stock.
Note:
Both LIFO and FIFO track part costs across inventory locations. If you
select FIFO or LIFO for a part, the Track Cost by Location option gets auto-
selected, and you cannot freely change the unit cost of the parts that are
already in stock.
Comments Any comments associated with the part.
Hard Reserve The quantity set aside as hard reserved. If enabled, you may enter a range when
searching, where the desired hard reserve quantity is between the upper (From) and
lower (To) values.
Maximum Quantity The maximum quantity of a part at its corresponding stock location.
Minimum Quantity The minimum quantity of a part at its corresponding stock location.
Original Part ID The vendor or manufacturer’s original part number (optional).
Part Brand The brand of the part. For example, Vavoline is the brand for motor oil.
Part Description The description of the part.
Part Number The number used to identify the part in the parts inventory list. This number may be
the manufacturer part number or a number that your agency uses for the part.
Part Status The status of the part.
Part Type The type of part. Examples: Fittings, Fleet, Materials.
Reorder Due Indicates whether the total supply is greater or lesser than the minimum quantity.
Reorder Quantity The reorder amount for the part.
The amount you enter reflects the number of parts that you need to reorder for the
stock location. This amount becomes the default value for new stock locations.
Reserved Quantity The reserved quantity.
When searching, enter the reserved quantity you are looking for. If enabled, you may
enter a range, where the desired reserved quantity is between the upper (From) and
lower (To) values.
Taxable Indicates whether or not the part is taxable.
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Track Cost by Location Indicates whether you want to track the cost of a part based on its stock location. If
you select this option, Civic Platform tracks the unit cost at the location level, and the
Unit Cost field becomes disabled.
If you do not select this option, the part detail price sets to zero, and you must update
the unit cost for future transactions.
Total Supply The total quantity on hand for the part displays in this field. When displayed in the
Part Inventory portlet, this is a read-only field that updates automatically based on part
inventory. When searching, enter the total supply figure you are looking for. If enabled,
you may enter a range, where the desired total supply is between the upper (From)
and lower (To) values.
Unit Cost The unit cost of the part. If enabled, you may enter a range when searching.
Unit of Measure The unit of measure for the part. Examples: each, gallon, foot.
Part Transaction Fields
The following table defines the default fields on Part Transactions.
Table 80: Part Transaction Fields
Alt ID An alternate ID for the part.
Budget Account Read-only field. Displays the budget account of the part.
Budget Number Read-only field. Displays the budget number of the part.
Comments Any comments associated with the transaction.
Hard Reservation Indicates if you want to guarantee your reservation, and subtract your order from the
quantity on hand.
Location Name The location for the transaction. When you select a location, the Unit Cost field
displays the cost based on the location or the individual parts.
Part Bin The part bin in the transaction.
Part Brand The brand name for the part.
Part Description The description for the part in the transaction.
Part Number The number of the part in the transaction.
Part Type The type of the part.
Quantity The quantity of parts for the transaction.
Record ID The Record ID in the transaction.
Reservation This field is available only for the Issue transaction. Select the reservation that you
want to apply from the drop-down list.
Reservation Comments Comments on the reserve transaction to help verify that you selected the correct
reserve transaction.
Taxable Indicates whether or not the transaction is taxable.
Transaction Cost The cost of the transaction.
Transaction Date The date of the transaction.
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Transaction Type The transaction type:
Issue: Parts taken out of stock and issued to a work order.
Receive: Parts received from a shipment or a purchase order.
Transfer: Parts transferred from one location to another.
Adjust: Manually created transaction to update part information or adjust the quantity
on hand.
Reserve: Parts reserved for issue at a later date.
Transfer to Location The location that the parts are to be transferred to for the transaction.
Unit Cost The unit cost for the part in the transaction.
Unit of Measurement The unit of measurement.
Work Order ID The Work Order ID of the work order that requires the part.
Part Supply Fields
The following table lists and defines the default fields on the Part Supply form.
Table 81: Part Supply Fields
Comments Any comments associated with the location
Location Name The name of the location of the supply.
Part Bin 2 The part bin number for the supply.
Quantity on Hand The total quantity on hand for the location.
Quantity on Hold The total quantity on hold for the location.
Quantity on Order The total quantity that is on order for the location.
Record Status The current status of the supply record.
Work Order Parts Fields
The following table defines the default fields you may encounter when working with Work Order Parts.
Table 82: Work Order Parts Fields
Calculate Type The type of calculation that you want Civic Platform to use when it calculates the
average cost of the part. Options include
Simple Average ((current shipment cost + existing avg cost)/2)
Weighted Average ((current shipment cost*shipment quantity)+(existing avg
cost*existing quantity))/total part quantity
FIFO (first in, first out) When you perform transactions, the oldest inventory is
processed first.
LIFO (last in, first out) When you perform transactions, the newest inventory is
processed first.
Note:
Both LIFO and FIFO track part costs across inventory locations. If you
select FIFO or LIFO for a part, the Track Cost by Location option gets auto-
selected, and you cannot freely change the unit cost of the parts that are
already in stock.
Comments Comments about the part.
Maximum Quantity The maximum quantity of the part.
Minimum Quantity The minimum quantity of the part (used to determine when to order parts).
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Original Part ID The vendor or manufacturer’s original part number (optional).
Part Brand The brand of the part.
Part Description A description of the part.
Part Number The number used to identify the part in the parts inventory list.
Part Status The status of the part.
Part Type The type of part. Example: Fittings, Fleet, Materials.
Reorder Due If Yes, the total supply is greater than the minimum quantity. If No, the total supply is
less than the minimum quantity.
Reorder Quantity The quantity needed for the reorder.
Taxable Indicates whether or not the part is taxable.
Total Supply The total quantity on hand for a selected part displays in this field. This read-only field
updates automatically based on part inventory
Unit of Measure The unit of measure for the part. Example: Hours, Miles.
Work Order Task The work order task associated with the work order when recording part usage. Civic
Platform records part costs against work order tasks after they are complete, or after
you associate them with a workflow task that is complete or currently active.
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Preventative Maintenance Schedules
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with preventative maintenance schedules.
Related Information
Preventative Maintenance Schedule Overview
Creating a PM Schedule
Searching for a PM Schedule
Updating PM Schedule Details
Deleting a PM Schedule
Holding PM Schedules
Linking Assets to PM Schedules
Skipping Assets on PM Schedules
Linking Addresses to PM Schedules
Generating Work Orders Using PM Schedules
Updating Work Order PM Schedules
Managing the PM Schedule Execution History
Tracking Last Maintenance Task
Examining PM Schedule Details
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Preventative Maintenance Schedule Overview
Civic Platform makes it easy to stay on top of preventative maintenance for any piece of equipment, asset,
or vehicle. Preventative maintenance (PM) schedules are scheduled tasks that an agency requires for
some assets to keep them in good working condition. Agencies can schedule preventative maintenance
using both time and usage intervals.
USE CASE: An agency’s fleet of trucks requires the performance of several different maintenance services
at certain times so that the trucks remain in good working condition. For example, the agency requires
an oil change every 3,000 miles or every 12 months, whichever comes first. The agency generates a
PM schedule for the oil change and then generates a work order for each fleet vehicle every 3,000 miles
or 12 months, whichever comes first. When the work is complete, the date for the next oil change sets
automatically.
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Creating a PM Schedule
Preventative maintenance (PM) schedules are scheduled tasks that an agency requires for some assets
to keep them in good working condition. Agencies can schedule preventative maintenance using both time
and usage intervals.
To create a PM schedule
1. Navigate to the PM Schedule portlet.
Civic Platform displays the PM schedule list portlet.
2. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the PM schedule form.
3. Complete the fields with available data, taking care to populate required fields (marked with a red
asterisk). See Preventative Maintenance Schedule Fields for a list of fields and field definitions.
4. Click Save.
Civic Platform creates the PM schedule and updates the PM schedule list.
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Searching for a PM Schedule
To search for a PM schedule
1. Navigate to the PM Schedule portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of all of the PM schedules.
2. Click Search.
Civic Platform displays a search form.
3. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the PM schedule you are searching for.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of schedules matching your search parameters.
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Updating PM Schedule Details
You can modify PM Schedule details as needed.
To update a PM schedule
1. Navigate to the PM Schedule portlet and use Search to locate the schedule you want to update. See
Searching for a PM Schedule for more information.
Civic Platform displays a list of all of the PM schedules.
2. Click the Schedule Name link for the PM schedule you want to update.
Civic Platform displays the PM schedule details.
3. Update data as needed. See Preventative Maintenance Schedule Fields for a list of fields and field
definitions.
4. Click Save.
Civic Platform saves your information and updates the PM schedule list with the new changes.
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Group Updates for Preventative Maintenance Schedules
You can edit or update multiple Preventative Maintenance Schedules at the same time if they all require
the same change with the Group Update feature. For example, you can add the same Schedule Status to
all the records using the Group Update function.
To use this feature FID 8600-PM Schedule Group Update must be enabled.
To perform a group update on Preventative Maintenance Schedules
1. Navigate to PM Schedules.
2. Select a PM Schedule that contains the details you want to apply to other PM Schedules.
3. In the PM Schedule details area, update any details as appropriate and click Save.
4. Select multiple other PM Schedules that you want to update with the same details.
5. Go to Menu > Group Update.
6. Edit the PM Schedule with the new values.
7. Click Save.
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Deleting a PM Schedule
When you delete a PM schedule, Civic Platform removes it from the schedule log. Work orders no longer
generate.
To delete a PM schedule
1. Navigate to the PM Schedule portlet and use Search to locate the schedules you want to delete. See
Searching for a PM Schedule for more information.
Civic Platform returns a list of schedules matching your search parameters.
2. Click the Schedule Name link for the PM schedule you want to remove.
3. Click Delete.
Civic Platform displays a message indicating number of record(s) deleted.
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Holding PM Schedules
Civic Platform enables agencies to put a PM schedule task on hold as needed. For example, if a
preventative maintenance task occurs seasonally, an agency can put a hold on that task for the time period
when the maintenance task does not occur.
To put a hold on a PM schedule
1. Navigate to the PM Schedule portlet and use Search to locate and open the schedule you want to work
with. See Searching for a PM Schedule for more information.
Civic Platform displays the PM schedule details.
2. Click the Hold Event tab.
Civic Platform displays the hold events for the selected PM schedule.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the details for the hold event.
4. Enter the Hold From and Hold To dates to indicate when the PM schedule should not execute.
5. Select an option from the Recurring drop-down list to indicate if this event is a one time event or an
annual event.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates the hold event and then updates the list of hold events for the PM schedule.
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Linking Assets to PM Schedules
You must link an asset to a PM schedule if you want to apply the preventative maintenance requirements
to that asset. Civic Platform then generates a work order to perform the maintenance task for the asset.
The following topics describe different approaches you can take to link assets to PM schedules.
•Executing a Linked Asset Query
•Adding Linked Assets to PM Schedules
Executing a Linked Asset Query
Linked asset query provides two query types, quick query and spatial query, for you to quickly link existing
assets to a PM schedule.
To execute a linked asset query
1. Navigate to the PM Schedules portlet and use Search to locate the schedule you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the PM schedule details.
2. Click the Linked Asset Query tab.
Civic Platform displays the Linked Asset Query tab.
3. Select a query type from the Query Type drop-down list.
Civic Platform refreshes the linked asset query tab to display the details of the selected query.
• If you select Quick Query as the query type, you can execute a predefined quick query for assets.
• If you select Spatial Query as the query type, you can specify a GIS object on the Accela GIS map,
and perform a spatial search around the GIS object for assets.
4. To select a quick query after you choose the Quick Query type:
a. Select a quick query from the Quick Query drop-down list. The options are the global quick queries
that your agency administrator configured for Asset Data List, that is, the assets list portlet.
b. Update these fields as needed:
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Query Results Select a method to add the query results to the linked assets list:
Appended to Existing Linked Assets - Select this option if you want to
append the query results to the existing linked assets list.
Replace Existing Linked Assets - Select this option if you want to replace the
existing linked assets with the query results.
Note:
If you configure both quick query and spacial query, only one query
type can select the option “Replace Existing Linked Assets.”
Comments Enter some comments relating to the selected quick query.
5. To configure a spatial query after you choose the Spatial Query type:
a. Click the GIS button.
Civic Platform displays the Accela GIS map viewer.
b. Use the selection tool to select objects on the map, and then select only one object on the Contents
panel to be the object around which you want to perform a spatial search for assets.
Accela GIS highlights the object in blue on the Contents panel.
c. Click the Actions button on the Contents panel, and select the Link Object to PM
Schedulecommand.
The Accela GIS map viewer closes. The information about the selected GIS object populates in the
GIS Layer, GIS Service, and GIS ID fields.
d. Specify the criteria that the spatial query uses to look for assets.
Asset Group Specify the asset group. The spatial query only looks for the assets that belong to
the asset group.
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Asset Type Specify the asset type. The spatial query only looks for the assets that belong to
the asset type.
Note:
If this field is null, the spatial query looks for assets by the asset types
that support the record type associated with the work order template
used for the PM schedule.
Buffer Distance Specify the buffer distance for determining the buffer area around the specified
GIS object. The spatial query only looks for the assets that fall within the buffer
area.
Buffer Unit Specify the unit used for the buffer distance.
GIS Layer Read-only field. Shows the GIS layer of the specified GIS object.
GIS Service Read-only field. Shows the GIS service that provides the specified GIS object.
GIS ID Read-only field. Shows the GIS ID of the specified GIS object.
Query Results Select a method to add the query results to the linked assets list:
Appended to Existing Linked Assets Select this option if you want to append
the query results to the existing linked assets list.
Replace Existing Linked Assets Select this option if you want to replace the
existing linked assets with the query results.
Note:
If you configure both quick query and spacial query, only one query type
can select the option “Replace Existing Linked Assets.”
Status The status of the spatial query criteria. You can set it to active or inactive.
6. Click Save to save the quick query or spatial to the PM schedule.
You can also click Reset to clean up the changes you made in the previous step.
7. Click the Execute button to add the query results to linked assets.
Civic Platform adds the queried assets to linked assets according to the selected Query Results option.
Note:
If you generate work orders for the PM schedule without first executing the query, Civic Platform still
generates work orders against the assets meeting the selected quick query criteria, and the assets
meeting the configured spatial query criteria.
• If the query result option of the quick query or spatial query is “Appended to Existing Linked Assets,”
Civic Platform does not append the query results to the list of linked assets.
• If the query result option of the quick query or spatial query is “Replace Existing Linked Assets,” Civic
Platform replaces the existing linked assets with the query result.
Adding Linked Assets to PM Schedules
You can directly look up and add one or more assets to a PM schedule.
To add a linked asset to a PM schedule
1. Navigate to the PM Schedule portlet and use Search to locate and open the schedule you want to work
with. See Searching for a PM Schedule for more information.
Civic Platform displays the PM schedule details on the record tabs.
2. Click the Linked Assets tab.
Civic Platform displays the assets associated with the selected PM schedule.
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3. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the detail fields that apply to the asset.
4. Complete the fields that apply to the asset that you are searching for.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the assets that match your search parameters.
6. Select the asset(s) you want to link to the PM schedule.
7. Click Select.
Civic Platform links the selected assets to the PM schedule and displays the updated s list portlet.
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Skipping Assets on PM Schedules
Agencies can identify asset exceptions (skipped assets) when they link assets to a PM schedule. For
example, when an agency creates an oil change PM schedule, the agency can configure the schedule to
include all fleet trucks except for those trucks that are out of commission. When the maintenance schedule
triggers, an oil change work order generates for all trucks in the fleet except for those trucks identified as
skipped assets.
To skip an asset when a PM schedule executes
1. Navigate to the PM Schedule portlet and use Search to locate and open the schedule you want to work
with. See Searching for a PM Schedule for more information.
Civic Platform displays the PM schedule details.
2. Click the Skipped Asset tab.
Civic Platform displays the assets that are skipped with the executing a PM schedule.
3. Click Lookup.
Civic Platform displays a search form.
4. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the asset you are searching for.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the assets that match your search parameters.
6. Select the assets you want to skip.
7. Click Select.
Civic Platform displays the updated skipped asset list portlet.
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Linking Addresses to PM Schedules
You can link a PM schedule to one or more street addresses as needed. For example, you can create a
PM schedule for a series of property inspections, linking the schedule to a group of property addresses
rather than to a group of assets.
To link an address to a PM schedule
1. Navigate to the PM Schedule portlet and use Search to locate and open the schedule you want to work
with. See Searching for a PM Schedule for more information.
Civic Platform displays the PM schedule details on the record tabs.
2. Click the Linked Address tab.
Civic Platform displays the addresses associated with the selected PM schedule.
3. Click Lookup.
Civic Platform displays a search form.
4. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the address you are searching for.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the addresses matching your search parameters.
6. Select the addresses that you want to link to the PM schedule.
7. Click Select.
Civic Platform links the selected addresses to the PM schedule and displays the updated linked
address list portlet.
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Generating Work Orders Using PM Schedules
Civic Platform generates work orders for each linked asset each time a preventative maintenance task
queues. For example, an agency requires an oil change every 3,000 miles for its fleet of vehicles. The
agency generates a PM schedule for the oil change and they link the applicable vehicles to the PM
schedule. When one or more of the vehicles hits or exceeds the 3,000 mile milestone, an agency user can
generate a batch of work orders for each vehicle that achieved the milestone. When the work orders are
complete, the next PM schedule date schedules automatically.
To generate work orders from a PM schedule
1. Navigate to the PM Schedule portlet and use Search to locate and open the schedule you want to work
with. See Searching for a PM Schedule for more information.
Civic Platform returns a list of all schedules that match your search parameters.
2. Select the PM schedule that you want to generate work orders from.
3. Click Generate.
Civic Platform displays the generate PM schedule date portlet.
4. Enter the Through Date.
5. Select the Schedules to Generate option to generate work orders either for all PM schedules in the
list or for selected PM Schedules only. If you do not select any PM Schedules, only the first option is
available.
6. Click Preview.
Civic Platform displays the generate PM schedule preview report.
See Summary Fields in the Preview Summary Report for descriptions of the fields that appear on this
report.
7. Review the report to verify that the PM schedules listed are correct.
8. Click Generate.
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Civic Platform displays a message asking if you are sure you want to generate the work orders from the
selected PM schedule.
9. Click OK
Civic Platform displays the generate PM schedule summary report.
10.Click Complete.
Civic Platform generates the work orders from the selected PM schedule(s) and returns to the PM
schedules list portlet.
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Updating Work Order PM Schedules
Some users can modify maintenance schedule details from the Work Order portlet, depending on
individual user privileges (see your agency administrator for information about your user privileges).
To update a work order PM schedule
1. Navigate to the Work Order portlet and use search to locate the work order you want to work with. See
Using the Search Features for information about performing searches.
Civic Platform returns a list of all work orders that match your search parameters.
2. Click the Work Order ID to open the work order record that you want to update.
Civic Platform displays the work order details on the record tabs.
3. Click the PM Schedule tab.
Civic Platform displays the details of the PM schedule for the selected work order.
4. Based on your user privileges, you may or may not be able to edit the maintenance schedule details. If
the fields are editable, update any of the fields that apply.
For a description of the fields, see Preventative Maintenance Schedule Fields.
If the work order does not reference a PM schedule, Civic Platform displays the following message:
“The Work Order hasn’t been referred by PM Schedules.”
5. If you modified any fields, click Submit.
Civic Platform updates the work order with the PM Schedule information.
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Managing the PM Schedule Execution History
An “execution event” occurs when you use a PM schedule to generate work orders. When an event
executes, Civic Platform tracks the data associated with the event, including attached work orders and
assets, for historical purposes. You can view a log of execution events the PM Schedule Log portlet. You
can also generate a report of execution events from the PM Schedule Log portlet using My Quick Queries.
For more information on how to use QuickQueries see Understanding QuickQueries .
To view the PM Schedule History Log
1. Navigate to the PM Schedule portlet and use Search to locate and open the schedule you want to work
with. See Searching for a PM Schedule for more information.
Civic Platform returns a list of all schedules that match your search parameters.
2. Select the PM schedule that you want to review the history for.
Civic Platform displays the PM Schedule details.
3. Click the PM Schedule Log tab.
Civic Platform displays the history of all of the schedules executed for the selected PM Schedule.
4. Click Search.
Civic Platform displays the detail fields for the PM Schedule history log.
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5. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the PM schedule history you are searching for.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the history of all of the schedules executed for the selected PM schedule that
match the search parameters entered.
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Tracking Last Maintenance Task
You can view the maintenance tasks scheduled for a specific asset as needed. For example, you might
need to find out when the last maintenance task occurred for an asset,
To view PM schedules for an asset
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet. Use Search to locate the asset you want to work with. See Using the
Search Features for information about conducting a search.
Civic Platform displays a list of all of the assets.
2. Click the Asset ID for the asset you want to update.
Civic Platform displays the asset details on the record tabs.
3. Click the PM Schedule tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of PM Schedules for the selected asset including the last maintenance
task.
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Examining PM Schedule Details
The following tables list and define the default fields you may encounter when working with Preventative
Maintenance Schedules.
Topics
•Preventative Maintenance Schedule Fields
•Summary Fields in the Preview Summary Report
Preventative Maintenance Schedule Fields
The table below lists and defines the default fields available when working with PM schedules.
Table 83: Preventative Maintenance Schedule Fields
Comments Enter any comments associated with the maintenance schedule.
Generate Single Work Order
for All Addresses
Select this option to create a work order for each asset address linked to this
PM schedule. Otherwise, the PM schedule creates a single work order for all
addresses. This box is not active if the Include Addresses in Asset’s Work Order
option is enabled.
Generate Single Work Order
for All Assets
Select this option to create a work order for each asset linked to this PM schedule.
Otherwise, the PM schedule creates a single work order for all assets.
Generate Work Orders for
Child Assets up to n level(s)
Select this option to create work orders for s and their child assets up to three
levels.
Generate Work Order if
Previous One Opened
Select this option to allow the PM schedule to create a work order for an asset that
has a previous work order still open.
Include Addresses in Asset’s
Work Order
Select this option to include the addresses linked to the preventative maintenance
schedule in asset work orders created by the schedule.
Include Child Assets in Parent
item’s Work Order
This option activates when the Generate Work Orders for Child Assets up to n
level(s) box is checked. Select this option to create one work order for a parent
asset and its child assets. Otherwise, each child asset receives its own work order.
Link Asset Addresses to Work
Orders
Select this option to show an asset’s addresses in work orders created for that
asset.
Log ID Enter the Log ID number associated with the maintenance schedule. If enabled,
you may enter a range when searching where the desired Log ID number is
between the upper (From) and lower (To) values.
Next Schedule Date The next date when the PM Schedule generates a new work order. The field value
relies on the option that you select in the Trigger By drop-down list. If the Trigger
By option is Scheduled Date, you enter the date manually in the field.
If the Trigger By option is WO Completed Date, this field is read-only. The Next
Schedule Date is the completion date of the previous work order plus the Time
Interval configured in the PM schedule.
If the Trigger By option is WO Closed Date, this field is read-only. The Next
Schedule Date is the closed date of the previous work order plus the Time Interval
configured in the PM schedule.
Primary Only This option activates when the Link Asset Addresses to Work Orders box is
checked. Select this option to show only an asset’s primary address in work orders
created by this PM schedule.
Record Status Indicates the status of the record.
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Schedule ID This read-only field displays the auto-generated sequence number of the PM
schedule.
Schedule Name Enter a unique name for the schedule.
Schedule Status Indicates the status of the scheduled maintenance. Example: Active or Expired.
The status controls whether or not the maintenance schedule executes a work
order or not. If the status is active, the work order generates. Civic Platform does
not execute a work order after the expiration date.
Start Date The start date for the PM schedule. When you create a new PM schedule, the start
date indicates the date when the PM schedule becomes available to run.
Template The name of work order template used for the schedule.
Time Interval The number of days/weeks/months/years between work orders generated for
scheduled maintenance tasks. If enabled, you may enter a range when searching
where the desired time interval is between the upper (From) and lower (To) values.
Trigger By Indicates when the next PM schedule should begin.
There are three available values in this drop-down list:
Scheduled Date: If you want Civic Platform to generate work orders on a fixed
schedule, select this value. When you select this value, Civic Platform generates
work orders regardless of the previous work order status.
WO Completed Date: Select this value if you want the next PM schedule to begin
based on the completion of the prior work order.
WO Closed Date: Select this value if you want the next PM schedule to begin
based on the closing date of the prior work order.
Usage Interval The usage interval value and then select the unit type in the drop‑down list.
Summary Fields in the Preview Summary Report
The table shown below lists and defines the summary fields that display on the “PM Schedule Preview
Summary” report.
Table 84: Summary Fields in PM Schedule Preview/Summary Report
Schedule Name The PM schedule name.
Work Orders The number of work orders generated successfully from the PM schedule.
Linked Assets The number of assets in the s tab of the PM schedule.
Skipped Assets (User
Setting)
The number of assets in the Skipped Assets tab of the PM schedule. Civic Platform
does not generate work orders for these assets.
Skipped Assets (Open
Previous Work Order)
If you clear the Generate Work Order if Previous One Opened option for the PM
schedule, this field counts the assets for which generated work orders exist for the PM
schedule. Civic Platform does not generate work orders for these assets.
Skipped Assets (Hold
Event)
The number of linked assets that the PM schedule should not execute based on
existing hold events in the Hold Event tab.
Skipped Assets (Not due to
Generate Work Order)
If the Through Date of the PM schedule that you specify in Enter the Through Date.
is earlier than the Next Schedule Date, Asset Management does not generate work
orders from the PM schedule. This field counts the number of all the linked assets.
Otherwise, this field counts the number of assets with active lock condition, and the
assets with details conflicting with the PM schedule details (such as Usage Interval).
Total Skipped Assets This field is the sum of all the skipped assets.
Linked Addresses This field counts the number of addresses in the Linked Addresses tab of the PM
schedule.
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Skipped Addresses (Open
Previous Work Order)
If you clear the Generate Work Order if Previous One Opened option for the PM
schedule, this field displays the number of linked addresses for which work order
currently exist. Civic Platform does not generate work orders for these addresses.
Skipped Addresses (Not
due to Generate Work
Order)
This field displays the number of linked addresses. If the Through Date of the PM
schedule that you specify in Enter the Through Date. is earlier than the Next Schedule
Date, Asset Management does not generate work orders from the PM schedule.
Total Skipped Addresses This field is the sum of all the skipped addresses.
| Addresses | 830
Addresses
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with addresses.
Related Information
Addresses Overview
Managing Reference Addresses
Locating an Address Using Accela GIS
Managing Associated Work Orders and Assets
Managing Address Contacts
Associating an Address with a Public User
Viewing PM Schedules for an Address
Working with External Addresses
Examining Address Details
| Addresses | 831
Addresses Overview
Use the address functions in Civic Platform to keep track of the addresses and owners related to an
asset or work order. Addresses added to Civic Platform are stored in a central database referred to as a
reference database.
A reference database acts as a library that allows users to search for certain types of stored information.
For example, you may need to search for an existing address when creating a new work order or asset.
Reference data saves you time by storing standardized records that you can search for and easily
associate with a work order or asset.
Depending on your privileges, you may be able to create a new reference addresses as well as modify
existing address records from the reference database. Once you add a reference address, you cannot
delete it. You can, however, disable it and prevent users from associating the address with new work
orders or assets.
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Managing Reference Addresses
A reference database acts like a library that allows users to search for certain types of stored information.
For example, you may need to search for an existing address when creating a new work order or asset.
Reference data saves you time by storing standardized records that you can search for and easily
associate with a work order or asset. This section explains how to work with reference address records.
Depending on your privileges, you may be able to create new reference addresses as well as modify or
copy existing address records from your reference database. Once you add a reference address, you
cannot delete it. You can, however, disable it and prevent users from associating the address with new
a work order or asset. This change will not affect any work order or asset currently associated with the
reference address.
Topics
•Adding a Reference Address
•Searching for a Reference Address
•Copying a Reference Address
•Editing a Reference Address
Adding a Reference Address
Reference addresses can be added to your database and associated with a work order or asset. Once a
reference address is added, it will be available for lookup when associating with a specific work order or
asset.
To add a reference address
1. Go to the Addresses portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of reference addresses.
2. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the address details.
3. Complete any of the fields that display. See Address Fields.
4. As needed, import address details from an external permitting system.
5. Click Submit.
Searching for a Reference Address
After an address is added to the reference database, a search can be used to find the address and view
the address details as well as any work order or asset with which it is currently associated.
To search for a reference address
1. Go to the Addresses portlet.
Civic Platform displays the address search intake form.
2. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the desired address.
Note:
According to your agency’s settings and the form layout, there may be template fields in addition to
the standard fields in Address Fields. The additional fields are active attributes defined in the address
template in Civic Platform.
| Addresses | 833
3. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the search results.
4. To view a list of work orders or assets associated with the address, click the Record Detail tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of work orders and assets associated with the address.
Copying a Reference Address
You can create a new address record by copying the address information from an existing address and
modifying it. This is particularly useful if you need to enter numerous addresses in a development area
where there is minimal changes, such as the house numbers to town homes all on the same street.
To edit a reference address
1. Go to the Addresses portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of reference addresses.
2. Select the address you want to copy. If you do not see the address you are looking for, search for
following the steps described in Searching for a Reference Address.
3. Click Copy.
Civic Platform automatically populates address fields in the address detail area with the address
information from the original address.
4. Modify field data if needed. See Address Fields for field definitions.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform updates the address.
Editing a Reference Address
Reference address details can be edited as necessary. The changes will not affect any work order or asset
currently associated with the address. They will, however, affect all new work orders or assets that are
created and associated with the address.
To edit a reference address
1. Navigate to the Addresses portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of reference addresses.
2. Use Search to locate the reference address you want to update, then click the link for the address you
want to edit. See Searching for a Reference Address for more information.
Civic Platform displays the address details.
3. Update field data as needed. See Address Fields for field definitions.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform updates the address.
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Locating an Address Using Accela GIS
Addresses can be located using Accela GIS. Accela GIS is an interface that works in conjunction with
Civic Platform to provide automated maps from a central database and give staff direct access to view
geographic representations of all land-use, zoning, and infrastructure information associated with a parcel,
permit, inspection, or plan.
If your agency uses Accela GIS, you can use the map viewer to locate an address and any related
applications. See the Accela GIS User Guide for more information about using Accela GIS.
To locate work orders or assets with Accela GIS
1. Navigate to the Work Orders or Assets portlet and click the link to the work order or asset ID you want.
If you do not see the work order or asset you are looking for, use Search to locate the record. See
Using the Search Features for information about using Search.
Civic Platform displays the work order or asset details.
2. Click the Addresses tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of addresses associated with the work order or asset.
3. Select the addresses you want to view on the map.
4. From the drop-down next to the GIS button, select the map service you want to use.
5. Click the GIS toolbar buttons to locate an address, locate the latitude and longitude, save a Location,
center the map, and zoom in or out.
Civic Platform displays the selected addresses as red dots on the Accela GIS map.
| Addresses | 835
Managing Associated Work Orders and Assets
Addresses can be added to a work order or asset. Each work order or asset may have one or more
addresses associated with it and will be used to identify locations such as, work order jobs, fire hydrant,
and building locations.
Topics
•Adding an Address from Your Reference Database
•Adding a New Address to a Work Order or Asset
•Viewing Associated Work Orders and Assets
•Editing an Address in a Work Order or Asset
•Removing an Address from a Work Order or Asset
Adding an Address from Your Reference Database
Addresses can be added to work orders or assets using the address reference database. Addresses that
have been added to the reference database can be found and then associated with work orders or assets
from the address lookup portlet. One or more addresses can be selected from this portlet and automatically
associated with the work order or asset.
To add an address from your reference database
1. Navigate to the Work Orders or Assets portlet and click the link to the work order or asset ID you want.
If you do not see the work order or asset you are looking for, use Search to locate the record. See
Using the Search Features for information about using Search.
Civic Platform displays the work order or asset details.
2. Click the Addresses tab.
3. Click Look Up to locate a reference address.
4. Enter search criteria as needed to locate the address you want.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays your search results.
6. Select the addresses you want to add.
7. Click Select.
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the address to the work order or asset.
Adding a New Address to a Work Order or Asset
Addresses can be added to a work order or asset that are not located in the in reference database. There
may be one or more addresses associated with each work order or asset that can be entered manually
through the work order or asset.
Civic Platform does not store new addresses that you add from these areas in the reference database.
To add an address to a work order or asset
1. Navigate to the Work Orders or Assets portlet and click the link to the work order or asset ID you want.
| Addresses | 836
If you do not see the work order or asset you are looking for, use Search to locate the record. See
Using the Search Features for information about using Search.
Civic Platform displays the work order or asset details.
2. Click the Addresses tab.
3. Click New.
4. Complete any of the fields that display.
For descriptions of common fields, see Address Fields.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the address to the work order or asset.
Viewing Associated Work Orders and Assets
Reference addresses associated with a work order or asset can be viewed from the addresses portlet. The
same address may be used for various work orders or assets and will be displayed under the appropriate
tabs. The details of the work order or asset can be viewed by selecting the ID to the work order or asset
from the applicable list.
To view work orders or assets associated with a reference address
1. Go to the Addresses portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of reference addresses.
2. Click the link to the address you want.
If you do not see the address you are looking for, you may need to search for it.
Civic Platform displays the address details.
3. Click the Work Orders or Assets tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of work orders or assets associated with the address.
4. To view or update work order or asset details, click the link to the work order or asset that you want to
view.
Civic Platform displays the details of the selected work orders or assets associated with the address.
Editing an Address in a Work Order or Asset
After an address is added to a work order or asset, it can edited as needed to correct mistakes or complete
partial information. Editing an address for a work order or asset does not change the details about the
address in your reference database nor does it affect any other work order or asset with the same address.
The changes affect only the work order or asset that you are currently working on.
To edit an address for a work order or asset
1. Navigate to the Work Orders or Assets portlet and click the link to the work order or asset ID you want.
If you do not see the work order or asset you are looking for, use Search to locate the record. See
Using the Search Features for information about using Search.
Civic Platform displays the work order or asset details.
2. In the Number column, click the link to the address that you want to edit.
Civic Platform displays the details.
3. Edit any of the fields that display. For a description of the fields, see Address Fields.
4. Click Submit to save your changes.
| Addresses | 837
Civic Platform saves the changes to the address.
Removing an Address from a Work Order or Asset
If an address is no longer relevant to the item or is no longer is associated, it can be removed. Deleting
an address from a work order or asset does not delete the address from the reference database or affect
other work order or asset associated with the same address, it only removes the association between the
address and work order or asset.
To delete an address from a work order or asset
1. Navigate to the Work Orders or Assets portlet and click the link to the work order or asset ID you want.
If you do not see the work order or asset you are looking for, use Search to locate the record. See
Using the Search Features for information about using Search.
Civic Platform displays the work order or asset details.
2. Click the Addresses tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of addresses associated with the work order or asset.
3. Select the addresses you want to delete.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform removes the address from the list.
| Addresses | 838
Managing Address Contacts
Civic Platform provides the ability to build associations between contacts and addresses. This allows for
a contact to have address information independent of the owner and parcel relationship. If necessary, a
contact can also have an address that is associated with a parcel.
Topics
•Adding a Contact to an Address
•Searching for a Contact to Apply to an Address
•Deleting a Contact from an Address
Adding a Contact to an Address
Associate a new contact with an address.
To associate an address to a contact
1. Navigate to the Address portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Address detail page.
2. Click on the Contact tab.
Civic Platform displays the address contact list page.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the contact fields.
4. Complete the fields as described in Contact Detail Fields.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the contact in the contact list portlet.
Searching for a Contact to Apply to an Address
If a contact already exists in Civic Platform, you can search for it and apply it to an address.
To search for a contact
1. Navigate to the Address portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Contact list page.
2. Click the Contact tab.
Civic Platform displays the contact address list page.
3. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the contact search page.
4. Enter the search criteria in the contact field(s.)
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the results from the search.
6. Select the contact you want to associate with the address.
7. Click Select.
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Deleting a Contact from an Address
You can delete a contact from an address if the person is no longer associated with it.
To delete a contact from an address
1. Navigate to the Address portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Address list page.
2. Click the Contact tab.
Civic Platform displays the Contact list page.
3. Select the contact you want to delete.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform deletes the contact from the address.
| Addresses | 840
Associating an Address with a Public User
Once you have created addresses, you can use the Associated Public User tab to associate one or more
public users to an address, or to disassociate one or more public users from an address.
To associate an address with a public user
1. Navigate to the Addresses portlet and use Search to locate the address you want to work with.
2. Click the link in the Street # column for the target address.
Civic Platform displays the address details.
3. Click the Associated Public User tab.
Civic Platform displays the Associated Public User list portlet.
4. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the Associated Public User search portlet.
5. Enter search criteria as needed and click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of public users that meet the search criteria.
6. Choose the public user whom you want to associate with the address.
7. Click Connect.
Civic Platform creates a link between the address and the public user.
8. If necessary, complete any of these options:
• To view public user details, click the link for the public user that you want to view.
• To remove the link between an address and a public user, select the public user you want to remove
and then click Delete.
| Addresses | 841
Viewing PM Schedules for an Address
You can view the list of PM schedules that a given address is linked to.
To view PM schedules for an address
1. Navigate to the Address portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Address list page.
2. Select the address which you want to view the linked PM schedules.
Civic Platform displays the detail portlet for the address.
3. Click the PM Schedules tab.
Civic Platform displays the PM Schedules list with all the PM schedules to which the address is linked.
Most fields in the list are standard PM schedule fields (see Preventative Maintenance Schedule Fields).
A few additional fields, as described below, give more information on the PM schedules with the
address.
Last Date The Schedule Date of the last work order for this address.
Next Date This field equals to the Next Schedule Date configured in the PM schedule.
Previous Work Order
Number The number of the work order that is generated most recently by the PM schedule for
the address.
| Addresses | 842
Working with External Addresses
External addresses are from external data source. Your system administrator can configure Civic Platform
in a way that allows you to associate external addresses with records, assets or PM Schedules. When
you search records, assets, or asset condition assessments, you may search by their associated external
addresses.
In the Address portlet, you can search and open the details of an external address, and view the records,
assets and PM schedules that are associated with it in the Record List tab, the Assets tab, and the PM
Schedules tab.
To add external address to a record, asset or a PM schedule
1. Navigate to the Address tab in the Record, Assets or PM Schedules portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Address list page.
2. Click Look Up. and enter search criteria to locate an external address.
3. Select the external address you plan to add to the record, asset, or PM schedule.
4. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the external address to the record, asset or PM schedule.
| Addresses | 843
Examining Address Details
The following table lists and defines the default fields that may be available as you work with addresses.
Table 85: Address Fields
Address Description A description of the address.
Address Line 1 The first line of the address.
Address Line 2 The second line of the address.
Address Type Flag The current status of this address record. You cannot associate disabled addresses
with a work order or asset. Use the drop-down list when searching to find either
Disabled or Enabled addresses or both.
Address Type The address type code for this address record.
Audit Date The date when the address was created or modified.
Audit ID The identification code of the person who created or modified the address.
Audit Status The status of this address record.
City The city in which the address is located.
Country/Region The country or region in which the address is located.
County The county in which the address is located.
Description A description of the address.
Direction The street direction. For example, choose N to indicate a north direction. This usually
indicates the directional area of a city or street, for example North Broadway.
Distance Enter a distance from another landmark used to locate the address.
End Fraction In combination with the Street # fields, it indicates a fractional street number. You can
specify a range of factional street numbers in the corresponding Start and End fields.
Event ID Any event scheduled for this address.
House # Alpha (end) The ending street number that makes up the address. You can enter alphanumeric
characters in this field. For example, if the street name and number is “10-23A
WHITESTONE”, “23A” is the ending street number.
House # Alpha (start) The beginning street number that makes up the address. You can enter alphanumeric
characters in this field. For example, if the street name and number is “10-23A
WHITESTONE”, “10” is the beginning street number.
Inspection District The inspection district in which the address is located.
Inspection District Prefix The prefix for the inspection district in which the address is located.
Level # (end) The ending level number (floor number) that makes up the address within a complex,
used to identify a floor or level of a multi-story building/sub-complex.
Level # (start) The beginning level number (floor number) that makes up the address within a
complex, used to identify a floor or level of a multi-story building/sub-complex.
Level Prefix The prefix for the level numbers (floor numbers) that make up the address.
Neighborhood The neighborhood in which the address is located.
Neighborhood Prefix The prefix for the neighborhood in which the address is located.
Prefix Any part of the address that should come before the street name or number, such as a
direction. For example “north” in North Willow Drive.
Primary Indicates whether the address is the primary residence or business location
associated with a work order or asset. Although many addresses can be associated
with an item, only one address can be marked as the primary address. If the primary
address needs to be deleted, change this field to No and delete.
Reference Address ID The identification of the reference address.
| Addresses | 844
Secondary Road Use this field and the Secondary Road Number field as an extra description for the
location when two roads that cross or a street with two names makes up the address
of the location. Enter the name of the secondary road or enter the alternative name of
the street in this field.
Secondary Road Number The number of the address’s secondary road.
Source Flag The Accela permitting system that stores this address information, such as Civic
Platform, Kiva, or Tidemark.
Source Number A number that identifies the Accela permitting system that stores this address
information.
Start Fraction In combination with the Street # fields, it indicates a fractional street number. You can
specify a range of factional street numbers in the corresponding Start and End fields.
State The state in which the address is located.
Street # (Start/End) The street number(s) of the address. If the address includes multiple street numbers
(for example, a fourplex), you can use the Street # Start and Street # End fields to
define the range of numbers. Otherwise, you can specify a singular street number in
either field. Agencies can configure the Street # Start and End fields to support range
search (adding To-From fields), allowing users to search for one or multiple street
numbers within a user-defined range.
Street Address Use this field as an extra description for the location. When two street addresses refer
to the same location, enter the second address in this field. Or when your agency
supports multiple languages, enter the address in the secondary language.
Street Name The street name for this address.
Street Suffix (Direction) Use the drop-down list to choose the ending street direction. For example, if the street
number and address is 8102 South 800 East, then enter East as the street suffix.
Street Type Use the drop-down list to choose a type of street, such as “Lane” or “Boulevard.”
Unit # (Start/End) The unit number, for example, apartment number. If you are searching for an address,
you may be able to specify a range of unit numbers in the corresponding Start and
End fields.
Unit Type The type of structure for this address, for example, apartment or condo.
X Coordinate If you use a GPS device, this indicates the longitudinal coordinate for this address.
Y Coordinate If you use a GPS device, this indicates the latitudinal coordinate for this address.
ZIP Code The zip code in which the address is located.
| Conditions | 845
Conditions
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with conditions.
Related Information
Conditions Overview
Applying Conditions
Editing or Deleting an Existing Condition
Viewing an Inactive Condition
Viewing a Condition History
Working with Condition Notices
Working with Conditions of Approval
Examining Condition Details
| Conditions | 846
Conditions Overview
A condition is a requirement that you can apply to an application (or component of an application), that the
application must fulfill to qualify for approval. Although conditions do not necessarily impose holds, they
can prolong the permitting process until they met.
For example, an applicant is applying for a permit for a structure in a historical district. The applicant
may need to provide additional documentation to demonstrate compliance with special requirements for
buildings in historical districts before the applicant receives the permit.
You can also use conditions to halt work. For example, if an application fails to meet certain established
agency standards, you can place a hold on the application. A hold is a condition type that restricts the
addition of an activity to a case. Conditions let you limit the activities, or tasks, that users can perform on
an application.
Civic Platform enforces and applies conditions on all Civic Platform data, whether your agency stores
address/parcel/owner (APO), contact, or licensed professional data within the Civic Platform database or in
an external database. Conditions also apply to individual components of an application such as addresses,
parcels, owner, licensed professionals, contacts, structures, or establishment. Conditions behave the same
whether you apply them to an application or to an application component.
When you clone a record, you can choose to clone record conditions and inspection conditions along with
other data you clone. For information about cloning, see Cloning a Record .
If a record contains one or more active conditions, the Condition column in the record list portlet displays
the condition with the highest severity. You can click the condition link to view the details of the record
conditions.
Figure 23: Condition Column in List Portlet
When you select or open a record with a condition, Civic Platform may display a condition status bar in
the record detail portlet and allow you to change the condition details in a pop up Condition Notice (see
Working with Condition Notices).
Conditions have severity levels assigned. These levels define what restrictions apply when a condition with
a given security level is in place. The following table lists each severity level enforced and the restrictions
applied.
Table 86: Condition Severity Levels
Condition Record Results Reference Object Results
Lock A lock condition prevents you from performing certain
operations on locked records. These operations include:
You cannot schedule or update inspections. You cannot
add or edit reference objects. You cannot process fees
or do cashiering functions. You cannot process workflow
tasks. You cannot edit the record status, additional
information, record-specific information, or renewal
information.
You cannot edit or associate locked
objects with any other records. You
cannot edit objects associated with a
locked object.
Hold A hold condition prevents you from performing certain
operations. These operations include: You cannot
schedule or update inspections. You cannot process
fees or do cashiering functions. You cannot process
workflow tasks.
You cannot edit an object that has a Hold
attached.
| Conditions | 847
Condition Record Results Reference Object Results
Notice The notice condition indicates special instructions to the
person who completes the record. You can associate a
message, or notice with a record. Notices do not inhibit
the record process in any way.
The notice condition lets you associate a
message, or notice with an object, such
as an address, parcel, or professional.
Civic Platform displays a pop-up window
when you open the record or associated
object.
Required This condition is unique to workflow tasks. The user must complete an activity or field before he can
proceed to the next activity. You can update the workflow only when the process validation is met.
| Conditions | 848
Applying Conditions
You can apply standard conditions which are pre-defined by your agency, or you can apply your own
conditions. For example, if an applicant fails to pay fees, you can manually lock the application.
Topics
•Applying a Standard Condition
•Applying a Custom Condition
Applying a Standard Condition
Standard conditions are pre-defined conditions available for you to apply when an application or application
component fails to meet certain established standards.
To create and apply a standard condition
1. Locate and select the application or record.
2. Click the Conditions tab.
Civic Platform displays conditions on the record tab.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the custom conditions form.
4. Click the Standard Condition link next to the Type drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays the standard conditions form.
5. Complete the form with available data. See Conditions Form Fields for field definitions.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the Standard Conditions that match your search criteria.
7. Select the standard conditions you want to apply.
Note:
Your agency must configure Civic Platform to allow the application of multiple Standard Conditions
simultaneously.
8. Click Select.
Civic Platform applies the standard condition(s) you selected, and displays the conditions on the
Conditions tab for the selected application.
| Conditions | 849
Applying a Custom Condition
If an application or application component fails to meet certain established standards, you can apply
conditions to limit the activities, or tasks, that users can perform with an application or application
component. If none of the predefined standard conditions apply to a particular situation, you can create a
custom condition.
To apply a custom condition
1. Click the Conditions tab.
Civic Platform displays conditions on the record tab.
2. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the custom conditions form.
3. Complete the form with available data. See Conditions Form Fields for field definitions.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform applies the custom condition and then displays the conditions for the selected application
or application component on the record tab.
| Conditions | 850
Editing or Deleting an Existing Condition
After you apply a condition to an application or application component, it may be necessary to edit the
condition details or removed unwanted conditions.
To edit or delete an existing condition
1. Use search to locate and select the record you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the record details.
2. Click the Conditions tab.
3. Select the condition you want to edit/delete.
4. If you are making modifications, update the data as necessary and click Submit.
5. If you are deleting a condition, click Delete.
| Conditions | 851
Viewing an Inactive Condition
When you delete a condition from a record, the condition becomes inactive, but remains in the condition
list. You can view this inactive condition by clicking the Condition Name link, but you cannot edit the detail
page of it. For information about deleting a condition, see Editing or Deleting an Existing Condition.
Figure 24: Inactive Condition
| Conditions | 852
Viewing a Condition History
You can check the history to view the following information about a condition: current status, when updates
occurred, or what changes occurred. You can also view condition history via the audit log. See Audit Logs
for more information.
To view a condition history
1. Navigate to the record portlet you are working in and use Search to locate the record you want to work
with. See Using the Search Features for more information about conducting a search.
Civic Platform displays a record list.
2. Open the record containing the condition history you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the record detail portlet.
3. Click the Conditions tab.
Civic Platform displays conditions for the selected permit on the record tab.
4. Click the condition name link.
Civic Platform displays condition details for the selected permit.
5. Click the Condition History tab.
Civic Platform displays the condition history for the selected permit.
| Conditions | 853
Working with Condition Notices
If a record has one or more conditions including general conditions and conditions of approval with the
Display Condition Notice field set to Yes (see Conditions Form Fields), Civic Platform displays the
condition status bar in the record detail portlet. The image shown below is an example of the condition
status bar with a hold notice.
Figure 25: Condition Notice on a Record
The condition status bar displays the condition with the highest severity using a “Yes” Display Notice
setting, along with the date of the last update. The condition status bar also displays the total number of
conditions by severity applied to the record. The total number, however, does not count the conditions
without the severity specified.
To address the applied conditions on a record
1. Navigate to the record with conditions, and open the record detail portlet.
If one or more conditions have the Display Notice field set to Yes, Civic Platform displays the condition
status bar in the record detail portlet.
2. Click the Learn more... or View notice link in the condition status bar.
Civic Platform displays the Condition Notice of the record in a pop-up window. The Conditions tab
displays the general conditions applied to the record and its component such as the address, parcel,
and owner. The Conditions of Approval tab displays the conditions of approval applied to the record and
its related inspection.
| Conditions | 854
3. Do any of the following:
• Click the Conditions tab and do all of the following:
1. Click a condition in the Condition Name column.
Civic Platform displays the details of the selected condition below the condition list.
2. Complete one of these steps:
a. Make changes to any of the fields, and click Submit to save the changes. For a description of
condition fields, see Examining Condition Details.
b. If the condition severity is Hold, you can click Override to change the severity to none.
c. If the condition severity is Lock, you can click Unlock to change the severity to none.
d. Click Reset to undo the change that is not submitted.
Note:
When you click Unlock or Override, the Condition Notice window validates and saves the
existing field values (including changes) of the condition, before unlocking or overriding the
condition.
• Click the Conditions of Approval tab and complete any of these steps:
Note:
If you want to delete a condition of approval, go to the Conditions of Approval tab for a record, an
inspection, or a record set. The Condition Notice window does not provide you a way to delete any
conditions of approval.
| Conditions | 855
• View the details and status history of a condition of approval. See Viewing a Condition of
Approval for more information.
• Update the status, priority, and details for a condition of approval. See Updating or Deleting
Conditions of Approval for more information.
• Restore an updated condition of approval to its original state. See Restoring Conditions of
Approval.
| Conditions | 856
Working with Conditions of Approval
Use conditions of approval to define a list of requirements to be met before an applicant receives
approval for a permit or an inspection. Generally, Civic Platform applies conditions of approval to records,
inspections, or set members in a record set. The process of working with conditions of approval is very
similar for records, inspections, and record set members. The only difference is the starting portlet.
Besides, the Conditions of Approval tab for a record or a record set displays the conditions of approval
applied to the record or the set members and those applied to the inspections associated with the record or
the set members. The Conditions of Approval tab for an inspection only displays the conditions of approval
applied to the inspection itself. The following topics use records as an example. You can, however, also
follow the topics to manage the conditions of approval for inspections and record set members.
Topics
•Applying a Condition of Approval
•Updating or Deleting Conditions of Approval
•Restoring Conditions of Approval
•Viewing a Condition of Approval
Applying a Condition of Approval
You can apply standard conditions of approval that are pre-defined by your agency administrator to
records, inspections, or set members in a record set.
Note:
You cannot manually create a custom condition of approval and apply it to a record, an inspection, or a
record set member.
To look up a standard condition of approval and apply it
1. Navigate to the desired portlet and use Search to locate and select the record you want to work with.
For inspections, locate and select the desired inspection to display the Inspection detail portlet. For
record set members, locate and select the desired record set to display the Set detail portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Record detail portlet.
2. Click the Conditions of Approval tab.
Civic Platform displays the Conditions of Approval list portlet.
| Conditions | 857
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the Standard Condition of Approval search portlet.
4. Complete any fields that display. For a description of the fields, see Conditions Form Fields.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of standard conditions of approval that match your search criteria.
| Conditions | 858
6. Select the desired standard condition of approval and click Select.
Civic Platform applies the standard condition of approval that you selected to the record, and displays it
on the Conditions of Approval tab for the record.
Updating or Deleting Conditions of Approval
On the Conditions of Approval tab, you can change the status or the priority of one or more conditions of
approval, edit the details of a condition of approval, and delete the condition of approval that you no longer
want.
To manage conditions of approval
1. Navigate to the desired portlet and use Search to locate and select the record you want to work with.
For inspections, locate and select the desired inspection to display the Inspection detail portlet. For
record set members, locate and select the desired record set to display the Set detail portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Record detail portlet.
2. Click the Conditions of Approval tab.
To access the Conditions of Approval tab from the Condition Notice window, see Working with
Condition Notices.
Civic Platform displays the Conditions of Approval list portlet.
3. Complete any of these options:
• To change the status of conditions of approval, do any of the following:
| Conditions | 859
• Select one or more Pending conditions of approval and click Mark Selected as Met.
Civic Platform sets the status of the selected conditions of approval to Met.
• Click the Actions link next to the desired Met condition of approval and click Mark Condition as
Pending.
Civic Platform sets the status of the selected condition of approval to Pending.
• Click the Actions link next to the Met condition of approval and click Override Met Status.
Civic Platform reverts the status of the selected condition of approval to Pending, which resets
the status history of the condition of approval.
• To change the priority of conditions of approval, do any of the following:
• Select one or more conditions of approval, hover your mouse over Change Priority, and then
click the desired priority level.
Civic Platform sets the priority of the selected conditions of approval to the corresponding level.
• Click the Actions link next to the desired condition of approval, hover your mouse over Change
Priority, and then click the desired priority level.
Civic Platform sets the priority of the selected condition of approval to the corresponding level.
• To edit the details of a condition of approval, open it as Viewing a Condition of Approval instructed
and edit the fields that appear.
For a description of the fields, see Conditions Form Fields.
• To delete conditions of approval, do any of the following:
• Select one or more conditions of approval and click Delete.
Civic Platform deletes the selected conditions of approval.
• Click the Actions link next to the desired condition of approval and then click Remove.
Civic Platform deletes the selected condition of approval.
Restoring Conditions of Approval
When you update the status or the priority for a condition of approval by mistake, you can restore the
condition of approval to its original state. All the details about the condition of approval are just the same
as they were when you first added the condition of approval; however the creation of the condition of
approval, and other actions clear from the status history.
To restore conditions of approval
1. Navigate to the desired portlet and use Search to locate and select the record you want to work with.
For inspections, locate and select the desired inspection to display the Inspection detail portlet. For
record set members, locate and select the desired record set to display the Set detail portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Record detail portlet.
2. Click the Conditions of Approval tab.
To access the Conditions of Approval list from the Condition Notice window, see Working with Condition
Notices.
Civic Platform displays the Conditions of Approval list portlet.
| Conditions | 860
3. Select one or more conditions of approval that you want to restore and click Reset.
Viewing a Condition of Approval
You can view the details and status history of a condition of approval from the Conditions of Approval tab.
To view a condition of approval
1. Navigate to the desired portlet and use Search to locate and select the record you want to work with.
For inspections, locate and select the desired inspection to display the Inspection detail portlet. For
record set members, locate and select the desired record set to display the Set detail portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Record detail portlet.
2. Click the Conditions of Approval tab.
To access the Conditions of Approval list from the Condition Notice window, see Working with Condition
Notices.
Civic Platform displays the Conditions of Approval list portlet.
| Conditions | 861
3. As needed, locate the condition of approval that you want to view by any of these methods:
• Select a user-defined QuickQuery from the My QuickQuery drop-down list.
Civic Platform only displays the conditions of approval that match the QuickQuery.
• Click the link in the Sort By field.
Civic Platform sorts the conditions of approval by the specified field.
• Enter the keyword of the condition of approval in the Type to find field.
Civic Platform highlights the conditions of approval that have the keyword in red.
4. Do any of the following:
• To view the details of a condition of approval, click the Actions link next to the desired condition of
approval and then click Open.
For a description of the fields, see Conditions Form Fields.
Civic Platform displays the Conditions of Approval Detail portlet.
• To view the status history of the condition of approval, click the status date link.
Civic Platform displays the Status History pop-up window.
| Conditions | 862
| Conditions | 863
Examining Condition Details
The following tables list and define the fields that may be available in the forms and portlets you encounter
when working with Conditions.
Conditions Form Fields
The following table defines the default fields on the condition form.
Table 87: Conditions Form Fields
Action by Dept The department responsible for following up with the condition status.
Action by User The staff member responsible for following up with the condition status.
Additional Information Used for condition text if the body of your comment text exceeds the character
limitations of the Short Comments and Long Comments fields. This unlimited text field
supports the insertion of standard comments via the Standard Comments picker. It
also supports HTML formatting so that text pasted into the field from another source
retains its formatting.
Note:
This field is not searchable. However, the ability to perform tag-based
searches based on key words entered into ASI fields is available. Your
agency can configure the Conditions portlet to include ASI fields for users to
enter important ‘searchable’ words from the Additional Info field.
Applied by Dept The department responsible for applying the condition.
Applied by User The staff member responsible for applying the condition.
Applied Date The date when you want to apply this condition. The Applied Date defaults to the
current date in any of the following scenarios: 1) you are adding a standard condition,
2) you are creating a new condition, or 3) The condition is auto-assigned to a record.
Condition Name A description of the condition. For example, “Outstanding Balance.”
Display Notice This indicates whether or not to activate the “Include in Condition Notice” options.
When a user accesses a record, he can see the Condition Notice in the condition
status bar.
Effective Date The date when you want this condition to become effective.
Expiration Date The date when you want this condition to expire.
Group The condition group, which is an attribute of a condition that organizes condition types.
Include In Condition Notice The two items here display when a user sees Mark the Condition Name check box
to expose the name of the condition to the users. The Short Description is the Short
Comments.
Inheritable This defines whether or not Civic Platform checks for inheritable conditions when a
user associates a child record with a parent record. If found, the inheritable conditions
copy to the child record with the Status of “Applied.”
Long Comments (4000
char max)
Used for condition text when the body of condition comments exceeds the character
limitations of the Short Comments field, but does not exceed the 4000 character
limitation for this field. The contents of this field are searchable. This field supports the
insertion of standard comments via the Standard Comments picker.
Object Name The type of object you are applying the condition to, such as Record, Inspection,
Asset, Address, Parcel, Owner, Contact, Licensed Professional, Structure, or
Establishment.
| Conditions | 864
Object Value The ID number or name of the object that the condition is applied to. If the applied
object is an address, this field shows address-specific data.
Priority The priority level of the condition.
Public Display Message Text in this field displays in Accela IVR and Citizen Access in the condition notice or
condition status bar for the Condition Name for the public user. This text displays in
place of Condition Name and Short Description values.
Resolution Action The actions or set of tasks the user should follow to resolve a condition severity level
so the user can move the application forward.
Severity The severity of the condition. You can choose Required, Lock, Hold, or Notice.
Short Comments (2000
char max)
Used for condition text when the body of your condition comment does not exceed
the 2000 character limitation for this field. The contents of this field are searchable.
This field supports the insertion of standard comments via the Standard Comments
picker. To expose the contents of this field to agency and public users, select Short
Comments for the Include in Condition Notice field.
Status The condition status. With each status, a status type of “Applied” or “Not Applied”
displays in parentheses.
Status Date The date when the condition status gets changed. The field defaults to the current
date when the Status value changes.
Type This is an agency-defined condition type.
Standard Condition Field Descriptions and Actions
This table lists and defines the default fields that may be available to you as you work with standard
conditions.
Table 88: Standard Condition Field Descriptions and Actions
Condition Name This is the name or number for the standard condition name. When a user accesses
an application and applies a condition, this is the Condition Name they will select.
Condition Type Select the Condition By Type name for the condition name or number you are
creating.
The condition type is an indicator in Civic Platform that ensures that requirements are
met before a record can proceed. For example, there may be a “Planning” condition
type for all conditions that apply only to objects in the planning review stage.
Display Notice Choose either Yes or No.
When you select Yes, the “Include in Condition Notice” options are activated. When
a user accesses a record and this is set to Yes then the user can see the Condition
Notice in the condition status bar.
If you set this to No then the user does not see the Condition Notice in the condition
status bar. The condition still applies to the record, however.
Include In Condition Notice The two items here will display when a user sees Mark the Condition Name check box
to expose the name of the condition to the users. The Short Description is the Short
Comments.
| Conditions | 865
Inheritable This is a required field with No as the default.
If this is set to Yes then when a child record is associated with a parent record, Civic
Platform checks for inheritable conditions. If found, the inheritable conditions are
copied to the child record with the Status of “Applied.”
If the parent record condition status is updated (Status of “Not Applied”) then the child
record condition status is not updated. If this is set to No then no conditions are copied
or inherited by the child record when it is created from a parent record. To display
this field so you can set its options, you must set FID 8365 Inheritable Editable to Full
Access. For details on setting this Function Identification number, see the section
“Maintaining Functions and FIDs” in the Civic Platform On-premise Administrator
Supplement.
Long Comments (4000
char max)
Enter a paragraph long description of the condition name. Enter any comments to help
identify the purpose of the standard condition.
Public Display Message This field relates only to Accela IVR and Citizen Access.
If text is entered into this field then in IVR and Citizen Access:
a) The text displays in the condition notice or condition status bar for the Condition
Name for the citizen user.
b) The Condition Name and Short Description will not display for the citizen user.
If text is not entered into this field then in IVR and Citizen Access:
a) The Condition Name and/or Short Description displays in the citizen user Condition
Notice.
b) If Condition Name and Short Description are not selected, the Condition detail does
not display in the Condition Notice for a citizen user.
Resolution Action Enter the actions or set of tasks the user should follow in order to resolve the condition
severity level so the user can move the application forward.
Short Comments (2000
char max)
Enter a brief description of the condition name.
The text may describe the situation that requires the condition to be applied. You can
set these short comments to display when a user accesses a permit with this condition
applied to it. The comment displays in the condition status bar.
Severity Choose one of the levels of severity among conditions and apply it to the Condition
Name.
The levels are Lock, Hold, Notice, or Required. For a full explanation of each severity
level and the restrictions is places on an application, see Condition Severity Levels.
Status Choose either Enabled or Disabled mode for the condition type.
Enabled means that the Condition Name can be applied to the assigned Application
Types when a user creates a new application. Disabling a condition type will not
disable existing conditions of that type. It only prevents users from choosing that type
when applying new conditions. The Condition Name is still available in the conditions
list for the administrator to Enable at a later date.
| Reports | 866
Reports
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with reports.
Related Information
Reporting Overview
Accessing and Running Reports
Creating Your Own Reports Category
Sending a Report by Email
Specifying Report Parameters
| Reports | 867
Reporting Overview
Your agency can set up reports that you can run to extract current data from Civic Platform. Agencies
typically set up their reports by module and user group, enabling them to control the which reports are
available both by module and by user group. For example, reports can be configured so that building
inspectors see only those reports that apply to inspections, and Public Works users see only those reports
relating to licensing, planning or service requests.
For additional information about which reports are available to you, please contact the agency
administrator.
For a list of standard reports available in Civic Platform, see Appendix A, Standard Reports, in the Accela
Civic Platform Administrator Guide.
| Reports | 868
Accessing and Running Reports
You can access Civic Platform reports in two ways:
•Accessing and Running a Report via the Reports Portlet
•Accessing and Running a Report via a List Portlet
Both access processes are described below.
Note:
Reports can also be tied to workflow tasks so that they run automatically when the status of the task is
updated. The report appears in a new window and can be configured to be sent to a printer automatically
based on your browser settings.
For information about how to add a report to a workflow task or how to modify existing settings, please
contact your agency administrator.
Accessing and Running a Report via the Reports Portlet
You can access the Reports portlet directly from the home console. The reports listed in this portlet are
typically grouped by category, and can include management, revenue, and other types of reports. It may
also contain a My Reports category that allows you to create your own list of reports that you use on a
regular basis by copying reports from other categories into your My Reports category.
To access the Reports portlet
1. If your Civic Platform Home page is configured to display a Reports portlet, restore it if collapsed, then
maximize it if desired (Maximize button replaces the Restore button).
Otherwise, click the Reports link in the Main Links section of your console.
Civic Platform displays the Reports portlet with the available categories listed.
2. Click the right arrow bullet for the report category containing the report you want to run to expand it.
Civic Platform displays the reports available in the selected category.
| Reports | 869
3. If the report you want to run is a report you use regularly, consider adding it to your My Reports
category by right clicking the report and choosing Add to My Reports. See Creating Your Own Reports
Category for more information.
4. Click the report you want to run.
If the report requires additional parameters, Civic Platform prompts you to enter the needed
parameters.
5. Enter the parameters for the report and click Submit. For information on using parameters, see
Specifying Report Parameters.
Civic Platform runs the report and displays it in a new window.
Accessing and Running a Report via a List Portlet
Your agency may elect to enable a Reports menu button on portlet toolbars to provide users with ready
access to reports pertinent to that portlet.
Note:
Contact your agency administrator to learn which portlets have enabled Reports buttons for your agency,
and which reports are available for you to use.
You may be able to run some of the reports against a selected record in the portlet. For example, choose
a record, then choose the “Record Detail” from the Report menu on the record detail form portlet. Civic
Platform automatically passes the Record ID for the selected record to the report and the report runs,
displaying the detail for the record.
| Reports | 870
Note:
Current functionality does not support the selection of multiple records to use when running reports from
a record portlet. However, your report may prompt you for parameters that enable you to narrow down the
data you want displayed in the report.
If you are using the CSV Export functionality, you can select multiple records. See Exporting Data to CSV for
more information.
To access reports via a list portlet
1. Navigate to the portlet you want to work in.
Civic Platform displays the selected portlet with a Reports menu button displayed.
2. Hover your mouse cursor over the Reports menu button to expand the menu.
Civic Platform displays the reports available for the portlet.
3. Click the report you want to run.
If the report requires additional parameters, Civic Platform prompts you to enter the needed
parameters.
4. Enter the parameters for the report and click Submit. For information on using parameters, see
Specifying Report Parameters.
Civic Platform runs the report and displays it in a new window.
Note:
When running a report, Civic Platform may prompt you to save the report to an Electronic Document
Management System (EDMS). If you do so, the report saves to the EDMS object specified by
your agency administrator. Available EDMS objects include Record, Parcel, Asset Inspection, and
Workflow. For more information refer to the Civic Platform Administrator Guide or contact your agency
administrator.
| Reports | 871
Creating Your Own Reports Category
A category called My Reports is available on the Reports Portlet. You can copy any of the reports listed
in the Reports Portlet categories to your personal My Reports category, which enables you to create a
convenient list of the reports that you use most.
To add a report to the My Reports category
1. Navigate to the Reports Portlet as described in Accessing and Running a Report via the Reports
Portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of report categories.
2. Expand the reports category that contains the report that you want to add.
Civic Platform displays a list of reports for the category selected.
3. Right-click the report you want to move to the My Reports category.
4. Select Add to My Reports by left-clicking.
Civic Platform copies the report to the My Reports category.
To remove a report from the My Reports category
1. Navigate to the Reports Portlet as described inAccessing and Running a Report via the Reports Portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of report categories.
2. Expand the My Reports category.
Civic Platform displays the reports available in the My Reports Category.
3. Right-click the report you want to remove, and select Remove from My Reports.
Civic Platform removes the selected report from the My Reports Category.
Note:
When you remove a report from the My Reports category, you do not remove the report from the
category where it originated; it continue to be available there.
| Reports | 872
Specifying Report Parameters
When an agency administrator sets up a report, she can elect to include Accela-provided parameters
which do not require user input. She can also elect to include parameter prompts, which allow you to define
certain parameters for a report when you run it.
When Civic Platform prompts you to specify parameters, you have the opportunity to filter the data used
in the report. For example, when running a report for a list of inspections, Civic Platform may prompt you
to specify a start date and an end date. When you provide dates, you are telling Civic Platform to filter the
inspections used in the report to include only those that fall within the start and end date range that you
entered.
Civic Platform parameter prompts may prompt you to select from drop-down lists, check one or more
boxes, or enter dates using a date picker. Follow the directions in the parameter prompt window to
proceed.
If your agency uses a reporting service such as Crystal Reports, your agency administrator may set up
a parameter prompt window provided by the reporting service. Not all reporting services support drop-
down lists, check boxes, or date pickers. Instead, the reporting service may require you to enter parameter
values exactly as stored in the database. For information on the values to use for reporting service
parameter prompts, contact your agency administrator.
| Reports | 873
Sending a Report by Email
Your agency administrator can configure reports for email distribution to contacts available via a record
detail portlet. For example, you can email a building violation notice to a building owner. Your agency
administrator can configure Civic Platform to send a report by email either automatically or manually. If he
configures Civic Platform to send a report automatically by email, Civic Platform automatically sends the
report to the contacts and licensed professionals associated with the session application. Otherwise, you
must send reports manually as described below.
Note:
You may not send reports exceeding 5 MB by email.
To send a report by email
1. Run a report as described in either of the following:
•Sending a Report by Email
•Accessing and Running a Report via a List Portlet.
Civic Platform displays a Report Preview page with a Send Email button at the top.
2. Click Send E-mail.
Civic Platform displays the Send Email Report dialog which lists existing contacts from the record along
with the email address on record for each contact, if available.
3. Select each contact you want to send the report to. If a desired recipient is not on the list, select the
“Other” option.
4. If the email box for a selected contact is empty or if you want to use an alternate email address, enter
the email address you want to use in the box to the right.
If you are entering more than one email address in a box, separate each address with a semi-colon.
5. Click Submit.
| Ad Hoc Reports | 874
Ad Hoc Reports
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with ad hoc reports.
Related Information
Ad Hoc Reports Overview
Ad Hoc Reports Configuration Requirements
Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer
Working with Existing Reports
Designing a New Report
Designing a New Dashboard
Working with Graphs
Working with Categories
Working with the Form Layout Tool
Ad Hoc Reports Button and Field Reference
| Ad Hoc Reports | 875
Ad Hoc Reports Overview
The ad hoc report writer gives users the ability to create reports and dashboards quickly and easily.
When you design a new report, the report designer leads you through a logical series of steps, beginning
with the choice of a data source. After you have a data source, you can then choose the fields you want to
use in your report. You can configure field attributes such as sorting and grouping, create charts and gauge
panels, choose the colors and shading for your report, and define the header and the footer content. You
can also define who you want to share the report with, and what permissions that you want to allow other
users when interacting with your report.
If your agency has obtained a license key to access the form layout tool in ad hoc reports, you can use the
form layout tool in ad hoc reports to create forms, edit forms, and add data fields.
The design process always presents users with a simple set of actions on each tab that enables even a
novice report writer to create an effective report. However, the process also provides several opportunities
for more advanced configuration and setup for more experienced users.
You can save reports and dashboards and categorize them into folders for easy reference. Saved ad hoc
reports can be re-run as needed. You can update dashboards at the click of a button. Administrators can
upload ad hoc reports to the Reports menu that is available on many portlets.
| Ad Hoc Reports | 876
Ad Hoc Reports Configuration Requirements
To use the ad hoc reports feature in Civic Platform, you must install the tool on your reports server. Some
additional configurations are necessary after the installation.
For complete instructions, see the Civic Platform Installation Guide, available via the Documentation
Library on Community and on the FTP site.
| Ad Hoc Reports | 877
Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer
You can access the ad hoc report writer and ad hoc reports documentation from the Ad Hoc Report Writer
landing page.
To access the ad hoc report writer
1. Click the Ad Hoc Reports link in the main links section of your Civic Platform console.
The Ac Hoc Reports landing page displays.
2. Click Open Ad Hoc Report Writer.
| Ad Hoc Reports | 878
Working with Existing Reports
Topics
•Running an Existing Report
•Deleting an Existing Report
•Editing an Existing Report
•Exporting a Report
Running an Existing Report
You can run an existing report from the Report List or from the Report Designer.
To run an existing Report from the Report List
1. Open the ad hoc report writer portlet (see Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer) and locate the report
you want to run.
2. Click the desired report name.
The report runs and its contents display.
To run an existing report from the Report Designer
1. Open the ad hoc report writer portlet (see Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer).
2. Create a new report, or edit an existing report by clicking the Design icon as shown.
The Report Designer opens.
3. Click the Preview button on any of the tabs or click the Preview tab.
The report runs and its contents display.
Deleting an Existing Report
You can remove existing reports from the Report List as needed.
To delete a report
1. Open the ad hoc report writer portlet (see Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer) and locate the report
you want to delete.
2. Hover your mouse cursor on the desired report to reveal the report tools to the left.
3. Click .
4. The ad hoc report writer prompts you to confirm the deletion.
5. Click OK.
The ad hoc report writer removes the report.
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Editing an Existing Report
You can modify existing reports in Report Designer, provided that you have permission to do so.
To edit an existing report
1. Open the ad hoc report writer portlet (see Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer) and locate the report
you want to work with.
• If you are on the Report List, hover your mouse cursor on the desired report to reveal the report tools
to the left. Click .
• If you are on the Report Viewer (accessed by clicking a report name in the Report List), click the
Design button in the toolbar.
2. Make changes to your report as needed. For information about modifying information on the different
tabs, refer to any of the following sections:
•Data Source Section and DB View Relationships Section
•Fields Tab
•Summary Tab
•Chart Tab
•Gauge Tab
•Misc Tab
•Style Tab
3. Click Save to save your changes.
Exporting a Report
You can export ad hoc reports to several different output types, where you can further manipulate the data
as needed.
Note:
When you export a report from Accela Ad hoc Reports, you are exporting it with ‘as of’ data embedded. You
cannot re-run the exported version of the report to update the data. If you want updated data for an export
report, you must re-run the report in Accela Ad hoc Reports and then export it again.
To export a report
1. Open the ad hoc report writer portlet (see Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer).
2. Create a new report or edit an existing one by clicking the Design icon as shown.
The Report Designer opens.
3. Click the export button corresponding to the format you want to export to. The following formats are
available:
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• Adobe Acrobat PDF
• HTML
• CSV that can be imported to a spreadsheet
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Word
• XML
4. After the report is downloaded, you can open or save the exported file.
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Designing a New Report
Civic Platform ad hoc reports are easy to create and easy to modify. The design form walks you through
the report creation process, making it an easy process for simple reporting needs, while providing more
robust features that experienced report writers can use to create more complex reports.
The ad hoc report writer walks you through a series of tabs where you can add a data table, a report
summary, a chart, and/or a panel of gauges. You can add all of these elements, or you can add only the
elements that you want. For example, if you just want to create a chart for use in a dashboard, skip to the
Chart tab after you select your data source and define your chart as described in Chart Tab.
Topics
•Creating a Report
•Adding Templates to Your Data Source
•Visually Grouping by Field Value
•Creating a Calculated Column
•Adding a Pivot Column
Related Information
•Izenda Report Design Guide
Creating a Report
The following procedure describes how to design a new report with all the elements included.
To creating a simple new report
1. Open the ad hoc report writer portlet (see Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer).
The Ad hoc Report portlet opens and displays the Report List.
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2. Click Design a New Report.
The Ad hoc Report Designer displays the Data Sources page which lists the DB_Views available to you
for reporting.
3. Select the DB_Views you want to use in your report. If you want to use template data in your report,
select the DB_View associated with the template you want to use (see Data Source Templates for Ad
Hoc Reporting).
The Add Fields button becomes enabled. If you selected multiple tables, the DB View Relationships
section automatically expands.
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4. Do one of the following:
• If you selected only one DB_View and do not plan to use template data in your report, proceed to the
next step.
• If you selected a DB_View with the intent of selecting an associated template, click the Template
button .
• for the related DB_View and follow the process described in Adding Templates to Your Data Source.
• If you selected more than one data source for your report, use the DB View Relationships section to
create joins between the selected data sources.
5. Select Distinct if you want to remove duplicates from the result set.
Note:
Marking the Distinct check box inserts the DISTINCT clause into the sql SELECT statement you are
building. After you select fields in the Fields tab, you can click the SQL button to see how the DISTINCT
clause appears in the SELECT statement you are creating.
6. Click Add Fields.
The Fields tab displays. The Field drop-down list includes the fields from the selected data source(s).
If you chose more than one data source, the fields from each selected data source display beneath the
data source name wherein the fields reside. If you added ASI/ ASIT templates to a data source, the
template fields display separately beneath the template name.
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Note:
The Field drop-down list excludes data source fields that ad hoc report writer does not use in the DB
View Relationships, even if the data source is selected in the Data Source (Views and Tables) section.
7. From the Field drop-down list, select a field to add to your report.
Note:
Use the Quick Add button to display a checklist of all available fields. Go through the list and select each
field you want to add to your report, then click OK. The ad hoc report writer adds the selected fields. You
still need to set the attributes for each field (See Fields Tab).
The Description field auto-populates from the data source.
8. Define how you want the field data displayed in your report. See Fields Tab for information about field
attributes.
9. To add another field to your report, click to insert a field above the existing row, or to insert a
field below the existing row. See the Tip in step 7 for an alternate method for adding fields.
10.Repeat steps 7 and 8 for each new row.
11.If you want to add pivot columns to your report, click Add Pivot (see Adding a Pivot Column).
12.If your agency has obtained a license key to access the form layout tool, and you want to create a form
layout for your report, click Design Form (see Working with the Form Layout Tool).
13.When you finish adding fields, click Continue to Summary.
14.If you want to add a Summary section to your report, configure your summary report (see Summary
Tab).
15.Click Continue to Chart.
16.Select the type of chart you want to create. Configure your chart as described in Chart Tab. See
Working with Graphs for further information.
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Note:
Use Preview to view your chart settings as needed. Use the Filters tab to define limits on the data used
for your chart as needed. See Filters Tab for more information.
17.Click Continue to Gauge.
18.Configure your gauges as described in Gauge Tab.
19.Click Continue to Misc.
20.Enter text in the Title, Description, Header, and Footer fields as needed.
21.Use the Justification button (see image below) for each of these elements as well as for the Report
Header Image to define what type of justification you want to apply to the element. The choices are (L)
left justification, (R) right justification, and (M) middle/center justification.
22.Define whom you want to be able to access your report, and what you want to allow them to do. See
Misc Tab for details.
23.Click Continue to Style.
24.Use the settings on the Style tab to enhance the visual appearance of your report. See Style Tab for
details.
25.Complete your report, then click Save As in the toolbar.
Civic Platform prompts you to name a report and category (optional).
26.Enter a name for your report where indicated.
27.If you want to store the report in a category, select an existing category name from the drop-down list or
choose Create New to enter a new category name.
28.Click OK.
Civic Platform saves your new report.
Adding Templates to Your Data Source
If a data source has pre-defined templates, you can choose one or more of those templates to include
in your data source for reporting. Your agency administrator may define one or more templates for
a data source. Each template contains a series of additional information fields on records, workflow
tasks, addresses, parcels, owners, conditions, licensed professionals, or contacts. For example, your
administrator may define a group of application-specific information fields (ASI) for each record type. Civic
Platform lists the ASI and ASIT groups associated with all record types in the template selection window.
Civic Platform lists them as templates for the “V_Record” data source.
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For more information about which data sources have pre-defined templates and what those templates are,
see Data Source Templates for Ad Hoc Reporting.
To add templates to your data source
1. In the Ad hoc Report portlet, open the Data Sources page either by creating a new report (see
Designing a New Report) or by opening an existing report and clicking the Data Source button.
The Data Source (Views and Tables) page displays.
2. Click the Template button for the DB_View associated with the template that you want to use for
reporting.
The template selection window appears.
3. If needed, click Filter and enter filter criteria to refine the list of displayed templates.
Note:
Available filter fields vary by data source. For example, you can filter templates for the data source
“V_Addresses” by template name and filter templates for “V_CONDITION_RECORD” by template name,
condition group, and condition type.
The template selection updates to display only those templates meeting your filter criteria.
4. Select each template that you want to use.
5. Click Submit.
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Table 89: Data Source Templates for Ad Hoc Reporting
Template Category What Makes Up the Template
Name
Description
ASI(application-
specific information
fields)
ASIT::ASIT Group Code::ASIT
Subgroup Code
Civic Platform lists the ASI groups associated
with each record type as templates for these
data sources: V_RECORD_LICENSE,
V_RECORD_DATES_STAFF, V_RECORD.
ASIT (application-
specific information
tables)
ASIT::ASIT Group Code::ASIT
Subgroup Code
Civic Platform lists the ASIT groups associated
with each record type as templates for these
data sources: V_RECORD_LICENSE,
V_RECORD_DATES_STAFF, V_RECORD.
TSI(task-specific
information fields)
TSI::TSI Group Code Civic Platform lists all TSI groups as templates
for this data source: V_WORKFLOW.
Address Template Address Template Name Civic Platform lists all APO templates of the
“ADDRESS” attribute type as templates for this
data source: V_ADDRESS.
Parcel Template Parcel Template Name Civic Platform lists all APO templates of the
“PARCEL” attribute type as templates for this
data source: V_PARCEL.
Owner Template Owner Template Name Civic Platform lists all APO templates of the
“OWNER” attribute type as templates for this
data source: V_OWNER.
Checklist Template GUIDESHEET_TPL::ASI Group
Code
You can associate a checklist item with an
ASI group. Civic Platform lists the ASI groups
associated with each checklist item as templates
for this data source: V_GUIDESHEET.
Reference Contact
Template
PEOPLE_REF::Contact Type Civic Platform lists the people templates defined
for each reference contact type as templates for
this data source: V_REF_CONTACT.
Record Contact
Template
PEOPLE_DALIY::Contact Type Civic Platform lists the people templates defined
for each record contact type as templates for this
data source: V_CONTACT.
Record Condition
Template
RECORD_COND_TPL::ASI Group
Code
Civic Platform lists the ASI groups associated
with each type of record conditions as templates
for this data source: V_CONDITION_RECORD.
Standard Condition
Template
STD_COND_TPL::ASI Group Code Civic Platform lists the ASI groups
associated with each type of standard
conditions as templates for this data source:
V_STANDARD_CONDITION.
Record Licensed
Professional Template
LP_TPL::License Type You can associate a licensed professional with a
record. Civic Platform lists the people templates
defined for each type of record-related licensed
professionals as templates for this data source:
V_PROFESSIONAL.
Reference Licensed
Professional Template
LP_REF_TPL::License Type Civic Platform lists the people templates defined
for each reference licensed professional
type as templates for this data source:
V_REF_PROFESSIONAL.
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You can use more than one data source for a report. When you select multiple data sources, you need to
define the relationship (join) between the data sources in the DB View Relationships section at the bottom
of the Data Source (Views and Tables) page. In most cases, users do this by identifying a common column
(field) on both tables that helps tie the two tables together and then they specify the type of join between
the tables.
To specify multiple data sources for your report
1. In the Ad hoc Report portlet, open the Data Sources page either by creating a new report (see
Designing a New Report) or by opening an existing report and clicking the Data Source button.
The Data Source (Views and Tables) page displays.
2. Select each data source that you want to use in your report.
The DB View Relationships section automatically expands when you select more than one data source.
3. From the first row of the DB View Relationships list, select the first data source from the drop-down list.
4. Click the Insert Row button on the right side of the window.
Civic Platform inserts a new row.
5. Complete the new row as follows:
First cell Select the second data source.
Second cell Select a column in the second data source that can be mapped to a column in the
first data source.
Third cell Read-only. This field contains the operator “=”
Fourth cell Select the first data source.
Fifth cell Select a column in the first data source to map to the column you selected for the
second cell.
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Sixth cell Select the type of join you want to create. The following join types are available:
Inner (Direct) Join: An inner join selects rows from two tables such that the value
in a column for the first table also appears in a column for the second table.
Cross Join: A cross join returns a result table where each row from the first table
combines with each row from the second table.
Left (First Exists) Join: A left join (left outer join) returns all rows from the left table
in the left outer join clause, whether the joined columns have a match or not. A field
in a result row displays a null if the corresponding table does not contain a matching
row.
Right Join: A right join (right outer join) returns all rows from the right table in the
right outer join clause, whether the joined columns match or not. A field in a result
row displays a null if the corresponding table does not contain a matching row.
Full Join: A full join (full outer join) returns all rows from both the right outer and left
outer joins. A field in a result row displays a null if the corresponding table does not
contain a matching row.
The Ad Hoc Report tool creates the desired join between the selected data sources.
6. To create another join between the same data sources, or between the one of the previously joined
data sources and a third data source, click the Insert Row button to insert a new data source row,
then repeat step 5.
Note:
The fourth cell on a new row is a drop-down list containing the data sources that you selected in the first
cells of all the previous rows and the new row.
Visually Grouping by Field Value
You can group data rows by field in your report, using field values as subheadings for each group.
Example
You can create a payment report that lists the Payment Method (where check, credit card, and cash are
the options), the Payment Amount, and the Payment Date.
If you leave VG blank for all fields, your report displays a single table with 3 rows of data as shown.
If you mark VG for Payment Method, your report displays a series of two-column tables - one table for each
Payment Method value. Civic Platform uses the Payment Method values as these sub-table headers.
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Creating a Calculated Column
You can create a calculated column for your report that performs basic arithmetic operations using field
values.
To create a calculated column
We want to sum the field A value and the field B value to get a new value C (A+B=C). In our report display,
we want to display field A as the first column, field B as the second column, and the new calculated column
C as the third column.
Note:
You do not need to display field A and field B in the report to use them in creating a calculated column.
1. Open the Ad hoc Report portlet.
2. Create a new report or edit an existing one by clicking the Design icon as shown.
The Report Designer opens.
3. Make sure you have a data source selected. See Data Source Section and DB View Relationships
Section.
4. Go to the Fields tab.
5. Create the first column:
• Select Field A from the Field drop-down list.
6. Click the Add New Row Below button.
7. Create the second column:
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• Select Field B from the Field drop-down list in the new row.
8. Create the third column, which is the calculated one:
• Click the Add New Row Below button.
• Select Field A from the Field drop-down list.
• Type TOTAL in the Description.
• Click the Add New Row Below button.
• Select Field B from the Field drop-down list.
• Click the A box for the Field B row until a + displays.
Civic Platform disables the Field B Description and Format fields and uses these values from the
Field A row, for column C. When you run the report, Civic Platform labels Column C with TOTAL,
and displays the sum of the values in column A and column B as shown below.
Adding a Pivot Column
The Pivot feature allows users to generate analytical data grids from within a report, essentially adding
extra pivot columns to the right side of the report. Pivot columns are useful for comparing data over
multiple categorical dimensions. For example, you can create a report that lists inspections by type and the
number of each type for the year to date. To that, you can add pivot columns that break out the number of
inspections by month, with monthly sub-totals listed.
To add a pivot column
In this scenario, we are going to create a report that lists the number of inspections performed for the
current year and visually group the data by inspection type. Then we are going to add a pivot that further
breaks out the number of inspections by month for each inspection type.
1. Open the Ad hoc Report portlet.
2. Create a new report or edit an existing one by clicking the Design icon as shown.
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The Report Designer opens.
3. On the Data Sources tab, select the V_INSPECTION data source.
4. On the Fields tab, set the following fields as shown:
The preview shows these results.
5. Return to the Fields tab and click Add Pivot.
The Add Pivot Columns controls display.
6. Set the fields as shown:
The preview shows these results.
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Designing a New Dashboard
A dashboard is a convenience that enables you to set up a display that shows multiple report sections,
such as a chart, a summary, or a list of fields, on a single page. For example, the manager of a city’s
building permits department may create a dashboard view that displays updated graphs that allow him
to monitor the number of scheduled vs. completed inspections, the types/quantities of permits being
requested, and fee payment data. He can check this dashboard to get an up-to-date snapshot of his
department’s activities without having to go in and run each report separately.
Note:
Dashboards make use of existing reports. Create your reports first, then create your dashboard.
To design a new dashboard
1. Open the ad hoc report writer portlet (see Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer).
The Ad hoc Report portlet opens and displays the Report List.
2. Click Design a New Dashboard.
The Ad hoc Dashboard Designer displays.
3. In the first set of report selection fields, complete the following fields:
Title Enter the title for the report.
Report From the drop-down list of existing reports, select the report you want to add to your
dashboard display.
Records From the drop-down list, select the number of records to show.
Report Part Select which part of the selected report you want to display in your dashboard.
Choices may include Chart, Gauges, Summary, or Detail, depending on which parts
are available in the source report.
4. Repeat the previous step for each new report you want to add to your dashboard. You can add up to 11
reports.
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5. Set the permissions for your dashboard by selecting values from the Share With and Rights drop-down
lists. The Share With field defines who can access your dashboard. The Rights field defines what other
users can do with your dashboard.
6. Use Preview to see how your dashboard looks. To return to the Dashboard Designer, click the Design
button.
7. When you finish, click Save As, enter a name for your dashboard, and select a category in which to
store the dashboard.
8. Click OK.
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Working with Graphs
Using tools on the Charts tab, you can create the following types of charts to illustrate data trends,
compare values, or show a progression.
•Trend Charts
•Pie Charts
•Plot Charts
•Bar Charts
•Funnel Charts
Trend Charts
Use a trend chart when you want to view the pattern of change in a data element over a period of time.
Figure 26: Trend Chart Example
To create a trend chart
1. Open the ad hoc report writer portlet (see Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer) and either click the Edit
icon for an existing report, or click Design a New Report.
2. If you are designing a new report, select one or more data sources. See Data Source Section and DB
View Relationships Section.
3. Go to the Charts tab.
4. From the Chart Type drop-down list, select Trend.
5. Enter a title for the chart in the Title field.
6. Select the date field you want to use for measuring progress on the x-axis.
7. Select an option from the Function drop-down list to apply to the date field. For example, choose
Group(Month Name) to display data by month.
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Note:
The Function options can impact your x-axis unit labels. For example, if you choose Group(Month), the x-
axis labels display numerical values representing the months of the year (1 for January, 2 for February,
and so forth). If you choose Group(Month Name), the x-axis labels display the abbreviated names of the
month (Jan for January, Feb for February, and so forth).
8. Select Sort to sort the values chronologically. If you do not check this box, the field labels may not
appear as you expect them to.
9. From the Value drop-down list, select the field you want to use for the y-axis. Your selection is the value
you want to track over time. For example, if you want to track the amount of payments received over
time, you can choose the Amount field.
10.Select an option from the Function drop-down list to apply to the Value you just selected. For example,
you can choose Sum to sum the data for the Value field for each period of time defined by the Date
function.
11.Optional: Click Advanced Properties to see additional chart settings.
12.Complete additional chart attributes as described in Trend Chart Fields and Settings.
13.Either save your work, or click Continue to Gauge.
Pie Charts
Use a pie chart when you are comparing parts of a whole. The circle represents the “whole,” whereas each
‘slice’ of the pie corresponds to a percentage of the whole that each part of the whole represents.
Figure 27: Pie Chart Example
To create a pie chart
1. Open the ad hoc report writer portlet (see Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer), and either click the Edit
icon for an existing report, or click Design a New Report.
2. If you are designing a new report, select one or more data sources. See Data Source Section and DB
View Relationships Section.
3. Go to the Charts tab.
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4. From the Chart Type drop-down list, select Pie.
5. Enter a title for the chart in the Title field.
6. Enter a number in the Records field to limit how many records you want to use to create the chart.
7. Select a field from the Label drop-down list. Civic Platform uses the values from this field to define the
different portions of the pie chart.
For example, you want to create a pie chart that shows the percentage of total payments for each of
five payment methods. You can use Payment_Method as the label.
8. Select an option from the Function drop-down list to apply to the Label field (for example, Group).
9. Select a field from the Value drop-down list.
For example, you want to measure the percentage of total payments for each of five payment methods.
You can use Amount as the Value.
10.Select an option from the Function drop-down list to apply to the Value field (for example, Sum).
11.Optional: Click Advanced Properties to see additional chart settings.
12.Complete additional chart attributes as described in Pie Chart Fields and Settings.
13.Either save your work, or click Continue to Gauge.
Plot Charts
Use a plot chart when you are tracking changes over a long or short period of time. It is common to apply
a date or time value to the x-axis, and a secondary value, such as number of inspections per day, to the y-
axis.
Figure 28: Plot Chart Example
To create a plot chart
1. Open the ad hoc report writer portlet (see Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer), and either click the Edit
icon for an existing report, or click Design a New Report.
2. If you are designing a new report, select one or more data sources. See Data Source Section and DB
View Relationships Section.
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3. Go to the Charts tab.
4. From the Chart Type drop-down list, select Plot.
5. Enter a title for the chart in the Title field.
6. Enter a number in the Records field to limit how many records you want to use to create the chart.
7. Choose a field to use for the x-axis values. Users often choose a date field.
8. From the drop-down list, choose a function to apply to the field you just selected (for example, Group).
9. Choose a field to use for the y-axis values.
10.From the drop-down list, choose a function to apply to the field you just selected (for example, Sum).
11.Optional: Click Advanced Properties to see additional chart settings.
12.Complete additional chart attributes as described in Plot Chart Fields and Settings.
13.Either save your work, or click Continue to Gauge.
Bar Charts
Use a bar chart when you want to compare data between different groups or you want to track changes in
data over time.
Figure 29: Bar Chart Example
To create a bar chart
1. Open the ad hoc report writer portlet (see Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer), and either click the Edit
icon for an existing report, or click Design a New Report.
2. If you are designing a new report, select one or more data sources. See Data Source Section and DB
View Relationships Section.
3. Go to the Charts tab.
4. From the Chart Type drop-down list, select Bar.
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5. Enter a title for the chart in the Title field.
6. Enter a number in the Records field to limit how many records you want to use to create the chart.
7. From the Label drop-down list, choose a field to use for the x-axis values. Users often choose a date
field.
8. Choose a function to apply to the field you just selected (for example, Group(Month)).
9. From the Value drop-down list, choose a field to use for the y-axis values.
10.Choose a function to apply to the field you just selected (for example, Sum).
11.Optional: Click Advanced Properties to see additional chart settings.
12.Complete additional chart attributes as described in Bar Chart Fields and Settings.
13.Either save your work, or click Continue to Gauge.
Funnel Charts
Use a funnel chart to illustrate a sales analysis of potential revenue over a series of stages.
Figure 30: Funnel Chart Example
To create a funnel chart
1. Open the ad hoc report writer portlet (see Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer), and either click the Edit
icon for an existing report, or click Design a New Report.
2. If you are designing a new report, select one or more data sources. See Data Source Section and DB
View Relationships Section.
3. Go to the Charts tab.
4. From the Chart Type drop-down list, select Funnel.
5. Enter a title for the chart in the Title field.
6. Enter a number in the Records field to limit how many records you want to use to create the chart.
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7. From the Label drop-down list, choose a field to use for the x-axis values. Users often choose a date
field.
8. Choose a function to apply to the field you just selected (for example, Group(Month)).
9. From the Value drop-down list, choose a field to use for the y-axis values.
10.Choose a function to apply to the field you just selected (for example, Sum).
11.Optional: Click Advanced Properties to see additional chart settings.
12.Complete additional chart attributes as described in Funnel Chart Fields and Settings.
13.Either save your work, or click Continue to Gauge.
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Working with Categories
Topics
•Creating a New Category
•Copying a Report to Another Category
•Deleting a Category
Creating a New Category
Before you create new categories, be aware that renaming and deleting categories is currently not
supported. Once you create a category, it is part of your ad hoc report list display. A good strategy may be
to pre-plan your report categories. Another strategy might involve report categories specific to users (for
example, ‘Tom’s Reports’ or ‘Manager Reports’).
To create a new category
1. Open the ad hoc report writer portlet (see Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer).
2. Either create a new report/dashboard, or open the design form for an existing report/dashboard that you
want to assign to the new category.
3. Click Save As.
Civic Platform prompts you to input a report name and select a category to which to assign the report.
4. From the Category drop-down list, choose (Create new).
Civic Platform prompts you to enter a category name.
5. Enter a category name. You may use spaces, capitalization, and hyphens. Avoid other special
characters.
6. Click OK.
You are returned to the Input Report Name dialog with the new category name displayed in the
Category field.
7. Click OK.
Civic Platform prompts saves the report name and new category, and the new category is now appears
in the Category drop-down list for naming/assigning reports and dashboards.
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Copying a Report to Another Category
You can copy a report from one category to another as needed. The process for doing so is very similar
to the process for creating a new category, except that you can either create a new category or select an
existing category from the Category drop-down list.
See Creating a New Category.
To copy a report to another category
1. Open the ad hoc report writer portlet (see Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer).
2. Open the design form for an existing report/dashboard that you want to copy by clicking the Design
button to the left of the desired report. Note that the Delete and Design buttons for a report become
visible when you hover your mouse cursor on the report name.
3. Click Save As.
Civic Platform displays the current report name and category.
4. From the Category drop-down list, choose either another existing category or (Create new).
5. If you chose Create new, enter a category name and click OK. Otherwise, skip this step.
Civic Platform displays the Input Report Name dialog with the new category name showing in the
Category field.
6. Click OK.
Civic Platform copies the report to the new category.
Deleting a Category
Remove unwanted categories by emptying them of contents. If you have a category you do not want, do
the following:
1. If you want to save any of the reports or dashboards in the category you are removing to another
category, copy them to the new categories now. See Copying a Report to Another Category.
2. Delete each report and dashboard within the category you want to remove. See Deleting an Existing
Report.
When you remove the last report/dashboard from the category, Civic Platform removes the category as
well.
Note:
You may need to refresh your browser or clear your browser cache to make the empty category
disappear from your Report List view.
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Working with the Form Layout Tool
You can use the form layout tool in ad hoc reports to design and create forms that you can populate with
Civic Platform data, resulting in customized document output.
For example, you can create an invoice form that populates with data from the database. When you run the
report, Civic Platform creates a separate, customized invoice for each record included in the report.
Note:
Agencies must obtain a license key to access the form layout tool.
Topics
•Creating a New Form
•Creating a New Form Using Existing HTML Code
•Adding a Table to a Form
•Adding Fields to a Form
•Adding Graphical Elements to a Form
•Adding a Hyperlink to a Form
•Adding a Bookmark and Linking to It
Related Information
•Izenda Report Design Guide > Izenda Forms
Creating a New Form
Novice and expert users alike can use the form layout tool to create letters and forms. You can create
letters and forms from scratch as described below, or you can copy the html code from an existing letter
or form and paste it into the form layout tool, where you can add fields (see Creating a New Form Using
Existing HTML Code).
BEST PRACTICES TIP: If your letter or form does not already exist, take a few minutes to plan the
letter/form contents before you begin working in the form layout tool. Identify the graphics you need, any
hyperlinks you want to create, and what database fields you want to use in the form. Write a list of the
database fields you want to use, so you can be confident that you are spelling the field names correctly
when you insert them into your form.
Note:
Work with the Display Document Structure button enabled to better see how your form layout is
proceeding.
To create a form or letter
1. Open the ad hoc report writer portlet (see Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer).
2. Select the database source for your report
3. Go to the Fields tab.
4. Select the fields you want to use in your form.
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5. Write down the field names exactly as they appear. You will need this information later.
6. Click the Design Form button.
The form layout tool displays.
7. Enter all text content that you intend to be common to each form that runs. For example, you can enter
a title to a form, or the body of a form letter. Do not format the text yet.
8. If you want any information or data in your form/letter to appear in columns, create a table and use the
columns in the table to organize your data (see Adding a Table to a Form).
Note:
You can use tables to control your form layout as well. For example, your form might be on letterhead,
with a header title and your agency’s logo in the same horizontal space on your form. You can create a
2-column table without lines and put the logo in one table cell, and the header content in the other cell.
9. Using the list of fields you wrote down in step 4, enter each field you want to include in your form
in the location where you want it to appear. Enclose each field name in square brackets. Example:
[record_id]. (see Adding Fields to a Form).
10.Insert horizontal lines, graphics, and page breaks as needed (see Adding Graphical Elements to a
Form).
11.Format the text as you want it to appear. For example, apply a new font style and size to your header.
12.Click OK when you are done.
Civic Platform closes the form layout tool and then returns you to the Fields tab.
You can proceed with report setup as described in Designing a New Report.
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Creating a New Form Using Existing HTML Code
You have the ability to create new forms by copying the HTML code from an existing letter or form and
pasting it into the form layout tool, where you modify the contents as needed.
Note:
Work with the Display Document Structure button enabled to better see how your form layout is
proceeding.
To create a form or letter using existing HTML code
1. Open the ad hoc report writer portlet (see Launching the Ad Hoc Report Writer).
2. Select the database source for your report
3. Go to the Fields tab.
4. Select the fields you want to use in your form.
5. Write down the field names exactly as they appear. You will need this information later.
6. Locate the source document you want to copy, such as a XML or HTM file.
7. Double-click the file to open it in your browser.
8. Right-click in the page display.
A command menu displays.
9. Select View Source.
The source code for the page displays.
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10.Click within the window, then press Ctrl+A to select all of the contents of the window.
11.Press Ctrl+C to copy the contents to the clipboard.
12.Navigate to the ad hoc reports form layout tool, and click Design Form.
13.Click the HTML Source Code button.
14.On the Source Code window, press Ctrl+V to paste the contents of your clipboard to the form layout
tool.
15.Click Insert and Close button on the Source Code window to view the content in WYSIWYG format.
16.Using the list of fields you wrote down in step 4, enter each field you want to include in your form
in the location where you want it to appear. Enclose each field name in square brackets. Example:
[record_id] (see Adding Fields to a Form).
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17.Insert horizontal lines, graphics, and page breaks as needed. (see Adding Graphical Elements to a
Form).
Note:
To have each instance of your form appear on a separate page, use the Page Break button to insert a
break at the bottom of your form. For example, you have an invoice form, and you want each invoice that
Civic Platform creates when you run the report to be on a separate page.
18.Edit the form content as needed to make it appear the way you want it.
19.Click OK when you are done.
Civic Platform closes the form layout tool and then returns you to the Fields tab.
For more information about designing report forms, see the Izenda Report Design Guide > Izenda Forms.
You can proceed with report setup as described in Designing a New Report.
Adding a Table to a Form
You can use tables in a form to display data in a columnar format. You can also use tables to regulate
where on a page that you want form elements to appear. For example, if you want to create letterhead for
a letter that includes your agency logo on the left and your agency name and address on the right, you can
use a table to align these elements side by side.
You can add a table to a form in the form layout tool with the click of a button. Use the table editing buttons
to modify your table as needed.
Note:
Work with the Display Document Structure button enabled to better see how your table appears. This is
especially useful if you do not define borders for your table.
To add a table to a form
1. With the form layout tool open, position your cursor where you want to place the table.
2. From the Table menu, select Insert table and choose the number of rows and columns.
3. To see the table properties, select the table on the form designer, and select Table > Table properties.
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Adding Fields to a Form
You can add field markers to your form that tell Civic Platform which data elements to use in your form.
When you run your report, Civic Platform replaces those field markers with data from the fields you
indicated, creating custom letters and completed forms. For example, you can create a form letter and
insert field markers for the contact’s name and address. When you run the report, Civic Platform populates
those markers with the name and address of each record it uses in the run. Your output is a series of form
letters; each letter has the form letter content, but different names and addresses.
Field markers are easy to create. Simply enter the name of the database field you want to use, enclosed
in square brackets. For example, to create a marker for the record_ID field, enter [record_ID] in the form
layout tool. It is good practice to write down the list of fields you want to use while you are in the Fields tab.
Doing so gives you the opportunity to double check the field name spelling and syntax.
You can use tables to regulate where on a page that you want field markers to appear. For example, you
can create columns and place field markers in the cells so that the data aligns when you run the report
(see Adding a Table to a Form).
To add field markers
1. On the Fields tab for your report, select the fields you want to use in your form (see Designing a New
Report).
2. As you select fields, write down the names of the fields. You may find that the written list is handy when
you are working in the form layout tool.
3. Click the Design Form button.
The form layout tool displays.
4. Position your cursor where you want to place the field.
5. Enter the name of the field you want to place, enclosed in square brackets. For example, to create a
marker for the record_ID field, enter [record_ID] in the form layout tool.
6. Apply font styles and formatting as needed.
Adding Graphical Elements to a Form
You can enhance your form’s appearance by inserting graphics, such as an agency logo, or by inserting
horizontal rules (lines) as needed.
Topics
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•Adding a Horizontal Rule
•Inserting a Graphic
Adding a Horizontal Rule
You can add a horizontal rule (line) to your form when you want to visibly distinguish one section of your
form from another.
1. With the form layout tool open, position your cursor where you want to insert the line.
2. From the Insert menu, select Horizontal line.
Civic Platform places the horizontal rule (line) as defined.
Inserting a Graphic
1. With the form layout tool open, position your cursor where you want to place the graphic.
2. From the Insert menu, select Insert image.
3. In the Source field, enter the location and name of the graphic you want to insert. You can use a URL
address or a file directory address (for example, c:\graphics\agency_seal.jpg).
4. If you are an experienced HTML coder, you can enter HTML code in the Source code window.
Adding a Hyperlink to a Form
You can create hyperlinks in your forms as needed. When your report runs, the hyperlinks you created
provide readers of the electronic report with a link to a URL you specify. For example, you can insert a
hyperlink that customers can click to access your agency’s website.
To add a hyperlink to a form
1. With the form layout tool open, position your cursor where you want to create the hyperlink.
2. Enter the text that you want to use as the base for your hyperlink. For example, if you want to create a
hyperlink to your agency’s website, you can enter your agency’s name.
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3. Highlight the text that you want to use for your hyperlink.
4. From the Insert menu, select Insert link.
The Insert link dialog box displays.
5. Enter the URL and other link properties.
6. Use the Target field to define whether you want the linked site to display in the current window or in a
new window.
7. Click OK.
Civic Platform displays the new link as a colorized, underlined object. When you run the report, or when
you use Preview, you can test the link.
Adding an Anchor and Linking to It
You can add an anchor ("bookmark") to an object within a form, and then create a link to that bookmark
from another location within your form. For example, you can insert a bookmark where your agency’s
address and phone number appear in the form, and then create a hyperlink in the form body that instructs
the reader to click the link to see the agency address.
To add an anchor and create a link to that anchor
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1. With the form layout tool open and your form displayed, position your cursor where you want to insert
the bookmark. This location is the destination for the link you want to create.
2. From the Insert menu, select Anchor. On the Anchor window, enter the name of the anchor.
Civic Platform inserts an invisible marker in the form at the location you indicated.
3. Go to the location in your document where you want to create the hyperlink.
4. Highlight the text that you want to use for your hyperlink.
5. From the Insert menu, select Insert link.
The Insert link dialog box displays.
6. From the Anchors drop-down list, select the name of the anchor you created.
7. Use the Target field to define whether you want the linked site to display in the current window or in a
new window.
8. Click OK.
Civic Platform displays the new link as a colorized, underlined object. When you run the report, or when
you use Preview, you can test the link.
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Ad Hoc Reports Button and Field Reference
Whether you are creating a new report or a new dashboard, or accessing an existing report or dashboard,
you use the ad hoc report writer. The topics in this section describe what you see both on the Report List
page and on the Report/Dashboard Designer.
Topics
•What You See on the Ad Hoc Report Writer List
•What You See on the Report Designer
•What You See on the Dashboard Designer
Additional Reference
•Izenda's Report Design Guide
What You See on the Ad Hoc Report Writer List
When you first open the ad hoc report writer, you see a display called the Report List. The display contains
both a report list (organized by category), and hyperlink commands to design a new report and a new
dashboard, as shown in the figure below. Clicking either of the Design hyperlinks opens the Report/
Dashboard Designer.
The categories, or folders, are user-defined, and you can decide which reports or dashboards to assign to
a category. Click any category to expand or collapse the contents.
Each report in the list has a set of tools you can use to interact with that report. Which tools you can use on
a given report depends on your User ID permissions to that report.
To see the toolbar for a report, hover your mouse cursor on the report name in the Report List. The report
tools display to the left of the report name as shown in the figure below.
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Table 90: Report Toolbar Icons
Button Control Name Description
Delete Click this button to delete the report.
Edit Click this button to edit the report. The Report Designer opens.
Report Name The report name is a hyperlink. When you click the name, the report runs
and then displays.
What You See on the Report Designer
The Report Designer provides users with a series of tabs that divide the report building tasks into logical
groupings.
Descriptions of the Reports Designer toolbar, the common record controls, the data source sections, and
the Report Designer tabs are available in the following sections.
Topics
•Report Designer Toolbar
•Record Control Buttons
•Data Source Section and DB View Relationships Section
•Fields Tab
•Summary Tab
•Chart Tab
•Gauge Tab
•Misc Tab
•Style Tab
Report Designer Toolbar
A common element to all the tabs on the Report Designer, the toolbar contains a series of buttons you can
use while working in Report Designer.
Hover your mouse cursor over any button to see a brief definition of the button’s function. If the button is
not active for any reason, Civic Platform displays a ‘no access symbol,’ as illustrated in the example below.
For additional reference, see Izenda's Toolbar documentation.
The following table lists and defines the buttons available in the Report Designer toolbar:
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Table 91: Record Control Buttons
Button Control Name Description
Report List Returns user to the Report List page. If you did not save your
report, you may lose your work.
New Creates a new report (without having to return to the Report
List page). If you have been working on another report,
remember to save your changes before clicking New.
Save Saves a new report or saves changes to an existing report.
Save As... Saves a report with a new name, or an existing report to
another category, or a new category (see Creating a New
Category).
Print Prints your report to PDF. For a hard copy, you can print the
PDF to your printer.
SQL Displays the SQL logic that defines your report.
CSV Exports the report to CSV (comma delimiter) format.
Excel Exports the report to Excel (XLS) format.
Word Exports the report to Word format
XML Exports the report to XML format.
RTF Exports the report to Rich Text Format (RTF).
Results field Defines the number of records to display when previewing a
report.
Record Control Buttons
Many of the tabs share record controls that give you the ability to add additional records, as well as delete
and reorganize them. The following table lists and describes those controls.
Table 92: Record Control Buttons
Button Control Name Description
Delete Deletes the row the button is on.
Insert Row (above) Inserts a row above the row that the button is on.
Insert Row (below) Inserts a row below the row that the button is on.
Move Moves a row up or down in the list.
Advanced Properties Opens advanced properties for a row. (Not available on all tabs)
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Data Source Section and DB View Relationships Section
Use the Data Source (Views and Tables) page to define which tables (DB_Views) you want to use to
populate data in your report. You can select one or multiple data sources. You can also select templates
that give you access to sets of customs fields/attributes configured for a record, a workflow task, an
address, a parcel, an owner, a condition, a licensed professional, or a contact for the agency.
When you select more than one data source, Civic Platform prompts you to create joins between the tables
using the DB View Relationships section. A ‘join’ is when you combine records from multiple tables by
using a common value that the tables share. You can choose the type of join you want to use. Options
include inner joins, cross joins, and outer joins (left, right, and full).
Your administrator defines which data sources are available to each user. He can use Report Manager to
enable data access to each DB_View, both by User Group and by Module.
For additional reference, see Izenda's Data Sources Tab documentation.
The following table describes the buttons and fields available on the Data Source (Views and Tables)
page.
Table 93: Data Sources Buttons, Fields, and Columns
Button/Field Description
Report List Returns user to the list of Accela ad hoc reports.
Add Fields Enabled after you define one or more data sources. Use to move on to the next
step in your report creation process: field selection and field definition.
Allow Nulls Creates a left outer join between the tables. When you do this, the report creates
a record for the value in the left-most table, whether there is a record in the right
table or not.
Distinct This option duplicates from the result set. When you select this option, Civic
Platform inserts the DISTINCT clause into the sql SELECT statement you are
building. After you select fields in the Fields tab, you can click SQL to see how the
DISTINCT clause appears in the SELECT statement that you are creating.
Name column Indicates the name of a data source. Select each data source that you want to use
for reporting. If you specify multiple data sources for reporting, you need to create
joins between the data sources.
Description column Provides a description of a data source.
Number of Selected
Templates column
Indicates the number of templates that you choose to include in your data source
for reporting. You can select the additional information fields contained in the
selected template and define them as report criteria.
Templates button
If templates (sets of customs fields/attributes) are available for a data source, this
button displays in the Template column. It displays a template selection list for the
selected data source. For more information, see Adding Templates to Your Data
Source.
Fields Tab
Use the Fields tab to define which fields you want to include in your report. The list of fields available to you
depends on the data source(s) you select in the DB View Relationships section.
Each field you add on this tab appears as a column on the report. The order of the fields from top to bottom
determines the display order (left to right) of the data columns on the report. For example, if you add
RECORD_ID, followed by DATE_OPENED, and DATE_CLOSED in the Fields tab and then click Preview,
you see three columns of data displayed. The columns, from left to right, are Record ID, Date Opened, and
Date Closed.
After you select a field, you can define how the data for that field displays in the report by setting field
attributes as described in the following tables.
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For additional reference, see Izenda's Fields Tab documentation.
Field Tab Tables
•Fields, Buttons, and Basic Field Attributes on the Fields Tab
•Advanced Field Attributes
•Function Attribute Options
•Format Options for Numerical field types
•Format Options for Date field types
Table 94: Fields, Buttons, and Basic Field Attributes on the Fields Tab
Attribute Description
AThis attribute for a given field uses an arithmetic operation to create a calculated
column in your report, such as column A = column B + column C. Click multiple
times on the box to cycle through the available operators (add, subtract,
multiply, divide). See Creating a Calculated Column for information.
Add Pivot Invokes the Pivot feature, which enables you to create a breakout of additional
detail on data in your report, essentially adding extra ‘pivot columns’ to the
right side of your report. For example, you create a report that lists the sum
of payments by payment type. You can use Pivot to add additional columns
that break out the payment sums by month in addition to the original sum of
payments by payment type. See Adding a Pivot Column for more information.
Add Subtotals Creates sub-totals when you have applied visual grouping. A subtotal for each
group displays. The ad hoc report writer makes a best guess at which field is
to be sub-totaled and the function to use. If you want to change the subtotal
function, use the Subtotal Function drop-down list in the Advanced Attributes to
choose the function you want.
Continue to Summary After you define one or more data sources and then set up the fields you want
to display, this button becomes active. Use it to move on to the next step in your
report creation process: defining a report summary.
Description The ad hoc report writer uses this field attribute as the column header in
the report. When you select a field, the ad hoc report writer writes a default
description to this box. You can modify the field description/column header as
needed.
Field The field(s) you are adding to your report. The order in which fields appear on
this tab (top to bottom) is the order in which the ad hoc report writer displays
field data (left to right) in columns when you run the report. This drop-down list
auto-populates based on the data source(s) you define.
Format This field attribute defines how you want the data for a given field to display. The
contents of this attribute drop-down list varies, depending on the field type. For
text fields, this list is empty. For number fields, you have a variety of options.
See Format Options for Numerical field types and Format Options for Date field
types for formatting options.
Function This field attribute applies a function to a given field. If you apply a function
to one field, you must apply a function to all the fields in your report. If you
select the Group option, you can create a group of fields. See Function Attribute
Options for available Function options.
Preview Shows a preview of the report you are creating.
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Attribute Description
Records field This restrict the number of records returned when you preview the report. For
example, if you enter 25 and then click Preview, your report displays only 25
rows of data.
Sort This sorts the rows in your table in ascending order based on a given field. To
sort rows in descending order, go to Advanced Field Settings.
VG This changes the field values for the current field into subheadings, grouped
by field value. See Visually Grouping by Field Value for more information about
using visual grouping.
Hide Grid Hides or shows table grids for report styling.
Remove All Removes all fields from the report in the Viewer.
For descriptions of the advanced field attributes, see Izenda's Advanced Field Settings.
Table 95: Function Attribute Options
Function Name Description
Group Groups field values together for aggregating
Count Counts the number of values in a column.
Count Distinct Counts the number of distinct values in a column.
Sum Sums the value in a field.
Average Takes the average value of a field.
Maximum Takes the maximum value in a field.
Minimum Takes the minimum value in a field.
Group(Date),(Day), (Month),
(Year)
Groups a date field by value.
Table 96: Format Options for Numerical field types
Format Option Description Examples
0,000 Displays the number as a whole number. 11231,2341,234,567
$0.00 Displays the number as currency $123.45$0.12
0.0 Displays the number with one decimal place 123.5
0.00 Displays the number with two decimal places 123.46
0.000 Displays the number with three decimal places 123.456
0% Displays the number as a percentage 1%12%
Table 97: Format Options for Date field types
Format Option Description Examples
Short Date Displays the date using the mm/dd/yyyy format 8/1/1996
Long Date Displays the day of the week, month, numeric day,
and the year
Friday, August 09, 1996
Short Time Displays time as hh:mm AM/PM 12:34 AM
Long Time Displays time as hh:mm:ss AM/PM 12:34:56 PM
Full(short) Displays the Long Date format, followed by the Short
Time format
Friday, August 30, 1996 4:34 PM
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Format Option Description Examples
Full(long) Displays the Long Date format, followed by the Long
Time format
Wednesday, October 23, 1996
2:28:37 AM
D&T (short) Displays the Short Date format, followed by the Short
Time format
3/12/1996 7:45 PM
D&T (long) Displays the Short Date format, followed by the Long
Time format
2/27/1996 12:45:13 AM
Form Layout Tool
If your agency has obtained a license key to access the form layout tool in ad hoc reports, you can use the
form layout tool to create forms, edit forms, and add data fields.
The form layout tool uses a standard, easy-to-user document editing user interface. It works in the same
manner as any browser-based text editor which provides:
• WYSIWYG editor with a standard editing user interface
• A source code window to show the underlying HTML code. To open the source code window, click
the HTML button . Customizations entered in the source code window render in the editor and
preview window.
• A preview window. To open the preview window, from the View menu, select Preview. Alternatively,
click the Preview button .
Summary Tab
Use the Summary tab to create a sub-table within your report output that provides a less granular view of
the report data; for example, a high level overview in addition to the report details you set up.
For example, you create a payment report that lists the sum of incoming payments by month. You can add
a Report Summary that provides readers with a total count of incoming payments, an average payment
intake value per month, or other useful information.
For additional reference, see Izenda's Summary Tab documentation.
The following table lists and defines the fields and attributes on the Summary tab.
Table 98: Summary Tab Fields and Buttons
Function Name Description
Title This is the title for the report summary.
Records See Fields, Buttons, and Basic Field Attributes on the Fields Tab for a definition of
this field.
Field See Fields, Buttons, and Basic Field Attributes on the Fields Tab for a definition of
this field.
Description See Fields, Buttons, and Basic Field Attributes on the Fields Tab for a definition of
this field.
Sort See Fields, Buttons, and Basic Field Attributes on the Fields Tab for a definition of
this field.
Function See Fields, Buttons, and Basic Field Attributes on the Fields Tab for a definition of
this field.
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Function Name Description
Format See Fields, Buttons, and Basic Field Attributes on the Fields Tab for a definition of
this field.
Add Subtotals See Fields, Buttons, and Basic Field Attributes on the Fields Tab for a definition of
this field.
Add Deltas Any time there is a change in a quantity, the ad hoc report writer calculates that
change by taking the later value for that quantity and subtracting from it the earlier
value for that quantity. You can capture this change in a report by selecting the
Add Deltas option.
Continue to Chart When you finish defining a report summary, click this button to move to the next
tab and the next set of actions: setting up charts.
Preview See Fields, Buttons, and Basic Field Attributes on the Fields Tab for a definition of
this field.
Chart Tab
Use the Chart tab to create a chart, or graph, for your report using the data from the data source you
selected when you created your ad hoc report.
Each chart type has a unique set of fields and settings you can use to define how your chart appears.
Choose a chart type from the following list to see a list of fields and settings for that chart type. See
Working with Graphs for more information about creating charts.
•Trend Chart Fields and Settings
•Pie Chart Fields and Settings
•Plot Chart Fields and Settings
•Bar Chart Fields and Settings
•Funnel Chart Fields and Settings
For additional reference, see Izenda's Chart Tab documentation.
Trend Chart Fields and Settings
When you select a trend chart, the following fields and settings are available for you to configure.
Table 99: Trend chart fields and settings
Function Name Description
Separator/Function If you want to compare multiple sets of data on the same chart, use the Separator
drop-down list to define the field you want to use to separate your data. For
example, you can select the same date field you used for the x-axis, and set the
Function to Group(Year). When you run the report, you see separate results for
each year (you can use the Filter tab to set parameters) overlaid on the same grid.
See Trend Chart Example for an example.
Show Legend Displays a legend for your chart.
Show Value Labels Displays the value of each data point.
Smooth Changes the trend line from angular to smooth.
Label Title (Bottom) This is the label for the x-axis.
Label Title (Left) This is the label for the y-axis.
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Function Name Description
Scale % This defines how large you want the chart to appear in your report as compared
to the default size. For example, if you enter 75, the chart displays at 75% of the
default size. If you enter 125, the chart displays 25% bigger than the default size.
Pie Chart Fields and Settings
When you select a pie chart, the following fields and settings are available for you to configure.
Table 100: Pie chart fields and settings
Function Name Description
Separator/Function If you want to break out the data into multiple sets, use the Separator drop-down
list to define the field you want to use to separate your data. For example, you can
select the Date_Payment field and set the Function to Group(Year). When you
run the report, a pie chart for each year displays (you can use the Filter tab to set
parameters).
Show Legend Displays a legend for your chart.
Show as 3D Displays the pie chart in a 3D view.
Explode Largest Slice This causes the largest slice of a pie chart to be extracted slightly from the main
body to make it more visible.
Show Percentage Displays the percentage value of the total that each slice of the pie represents.
Show Value Labels Displays the actual value (from the Value field) that each slice of the pie
represents.
Show Slice Labels Displays the actual value (from the Label field) that each slice of the pie
represents.
Combine Bottom % This is a percentage value that represents a combined percentage value. It is used
to combine the smallest slices into a single group and label the group as Other
on the chart, For example, to combine the bottom 10% of slices into one, enter
10. The ad hoc report writer adds the smallest percentage values together, not to
exceed 10% and displays the aggregate value as a single slice.
Chart Type This is the type of pie chart. Options include Pie or Doughnut.
Scale % This defines how large you want the chart to appear in your report as compared
to the default size. For example, if you enter 75, the chart displays at 75% of the
default size. If you enter 125, the chart displays 25% bigger than the default size.
Target Report This enables you to select a sub-report for your chart. You must create and save a
sub-report before you can use it as a Target Report. When you run the report, the
sub-report displays when you invoke the effect you choose in the Effect field.
Effect This is the effect you want to use to display the sub-report selected in the Target
Report field. Choices are Popup (sub-report displays in a popup upon click of a
pie slice), Hover (sub-report displays in popup on mouseover of a pie slice), and
Link (sub-report displays in a new window upon click of a pie slice).
Plot Chart Fields and Settings
When you select a plot chart, the following fields and settings are available for you to configure.
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Table 101: Plot chart fields and settings
Function Name Description
Separator/Function If you want to compare multiple sets of data on the same chart, use the Separator
drop-down list to define the field you want to use to separate your data. For
example, if you chose a date field for the x-axis, you can select the same field as
the Separator and set the Function to Group(Year). When you run the report, you
see a separate plot line for each year (you can use the Filter tab to set parameters)
overlaid on the same grid.
Show Legend This displays a legend for your chart.
Connect This connects the plot points on the chart with a line.
Auto-Scale
Scale % This defines how large you want the chart to appear in your report as compared
to the default size. For example, if you enter 75, the chart displays at 75% of the
default size. If you enter 125, the chart displays 25% bigger than the default size.
Bar Chart Fields and Settings
When you select a bar chart, the following fields and settings are available for you to configure.
Table 102: Bar chart fields and settings
Function Name Description
Separator/Function If you want to compare multiple sets of data on the same chart, use the Separator
drop-down list to define the field you want to use to separate your data. For
example, if you chose a date field for the x-axis, you can select the same field as
the Separator and set the Function to Group(Year). When you run the report, you
see a set of bars for each x value, where each bar in the set represents data for a
given year (you can use the Filter tab to set parameters).See Bar Chart Example
for an example.
Line Value This defines a field to use as the y-axis value in creating a plot line to run on top
of your bar chart. If you define a line value, the Show Pareto option becomes
disabled.
Show Legend This displays a legend for your chart.
Show Pareto This creates a pareto chart that contains both bars and a line graph, with individual
values represented in descending order by the bars, and the cumulative total
represented by the line. If you create a pareto chart, the Line Value field becomes
disabled.
Stacked Select this option if you use a separator value and you want to display the bars in
stacked format rather than side by side,
Horizontal Select this option to display your bar chart horizontally rather than vertically
(default display).
Shade Area Under Line Select this option to apply a shadow to the line created by selecting a field for Line
Value. If you do not populate Line Value, this box becomes disabled.
Label Title (Bottom) This is the label title for the bottom value set of your chart. This title corresponds to
the Label data set.
Value Title (Left) This is the label title for the left side value set of your chart. This title corresponds
to the Value data set.
Value Title (Right) This is the label title for the left side value set of your chart. This label corresponds
to the data set for either the Line Value field or the Pareto plot. If you are using
neither of these, this field becomes disabled.
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Function Name Description
Scale % This defines how large you want the chart to appear in your report as compared
to the default size. For example, if you enter 75, the chart displays at 75% of the
default size. If you enter 125, the chart displays 25% bigger than the default size.
Target Report This enables you to select a sub-report for your chart. You must create and save a
sub-report before you can use it as a Target Report.
Funnel Chart Fields and Settings
When you select a funnel chart, the following fields and settings are available for you to configure.
Table 103: Funnel chart fields and settings
Function Description Description
Show Percent This displays the percentage value of the total that each disk represents.
Scale % This defines how large you want the chart to appear in your report as compared
to the default size. For example, if you enter 75, the chart displays at 75% of the
default size. If you enter 125, the chart displays 25% bigger than the default size.
Target Report This enables you to select a sub-report for your chart. You must create and save a
sub-report before you can use it as a Target Report.
Gauge Tab
In the Gauge tab, you can add one or more radial or linear gauges to a report.
For additional reference, see also Izenda's Gauge Tab documentation.
A gauge is a graphical status indicator much like a car speedometer. The gauge displays a needle that
moves within a range of numbers displayed on its outside edges. Gauges display the value of a single
metric.
You can design up to 12 gauges. Designing multiple gauges provides readers with a way to compare
multiple values. Multiple gauges display in a panel similar to the gauge panel in the figure below.
Figure 31: Gauge Panel
You can choose from three types of gauges. Each type is illustrated in the following figures.
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Figure 32: Gauge Type Radial 1
Figure 33: Gauge Type Radial 2
Figure 34: Linear Gauge
The following table lists and defines the fields and attributes on the Gauges tab.
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Table 104: Gauge Tab Fields and Attributes
Attribute Description
Color This field can be used to adjust the color and color gradient in your gauge. Enter a
percentage value and the color you want to use at that point using this format:
#%:ColorName
, where
#
is the percentage value and
ColorName
is the color you want to apply. You can enter multiple values, separating each value
with a semicolon. For example, we used the following color settings to create the
gauge in Gauge Type Radial 1:
0%:LawnGreen;50%:CornflowerBlue;100%:Purple
. To see what colors are available to use, go to the Style tab and view the drop-down
list for any element color field.
Continue to Misc When you finish creating gauges, click this button to move to the next tab and the
next set of actions.
Gauge Style This is the gauge style to be used in your report. See Gauge Type Radial 1, Gauge
Type Radial 2, and Linear Gauge for illustrations of the different types.
Minimum/Maximum These fields define the range of values to use for the gauge.
Name This defines a field to use for the gauge labels. Values from the chosen field serve as
labels for each gauge you create. If you have more label values than gauges, Civic
Platform creates gauges for the first x number of labels values sorted in ascending
order, where x is the number of gauges you are creating as defined in the Results
field.
Note:
You cannot directly pick which label value to create a gauge for. However,
you can use the Filters tab to hide the label values you do not want to create
gauges for. See Filters Tab.
Results This is how many gauges you want to show. If you choose to count the number of
products in multiple categories, you could specify that you want to only show the
first 4 categories by alphabetical order. You can create up to 12 gauges. See Gauge
Panel for an example of multiple gauges.
Preview This runs a preview of your report so you can check your report output.
Sort/Function When you create a number of gauges that is fewer the number of available gauge
labels, the ad hoc report writer creates gauges for the first x (number) gauge labels,
where x is the number of gauges you are creating. This field defines how the ad hoc
report writer determines the sort order of gauge labels. For example, if you choose
the same field for Sort as you chose for Name, you can apply a function COUNT.
You can then turn on reverse sort (z to a) to make the highest count appear at the
top of the list.
Target Report This enables you to select a sub-report for your chart. You must create and save a
sub-report before you can use it as a Target Report.
Title Enter a title for the gauge or panel of gauges.
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Attribute Description
Value/Function Choose a field from the drop-down list that represents the value you want to measure
with your gauges, then apply a Function to that field that displays the data you
want to see. For example, to create a gauge that measures the average payment
intake, you can choose AMOUNT as the Value, and apply the function AVERAGE
to that value. When the ad hoc report writer creates the gauge, it shows the average
payment intake.
Misc Tab
Use the Misc Tab to add a title, description, header, and footer for your report. You can define what type of
justification that you want to apply for each of these elements as well as for the Report Header Image (the
logo). The choices are (L) left justification, (R) right justification, and (M) middle/center justification. You can
also set permissions for your report, defining whom you want to be able to access your report, and what
you want to allow them to do.
For additional reference, see Izenda's Misc Tab documentation.
The following table lists and defines the fields, buttons, and attributes available on the Misc tab.
Table 105: Misc Tab Fields and Buttons
Field/Button Description
Description This is a description of the report. Toggle the Justification button for the Title field to
define whether you want the text left justified, right justified, or middle justified.
Drill-down Key This defines the drill-down key for use with a sub-report (as defined in the Target
Report field on the Charts tab).
Footer This defines report footer content. Toggle the Justification button for the field to
define whether you want your footer left justified, right justified, or middle justified.
Header This defines Report Header content. Toggle the Justification button for the field to
define whether you want your header left justified, right justified, or middle justified.
Owner This field identifies the user name of the individual who created the current report.
Share With/Rights These fields define who you want to share the current report with, and what
permissions you want to give them when interacting with the report. Select Shared to
allow other users to see your report and modify it. Select Read only to set the report
so that it is only modifiable by the report owner. Select View Only to allow other users
to simply view the report and not make any modifications.
Title This is the title of your report. Toggle the Justification button for the Title field to
define whether you want your title left justified, right justified, or middle justified.
Style Tab
Use the Style tab to customize the look of your table by changing the color of borders, headers, and rows.
When you apply new colors, you can see the end result immediately reflected in the sample grid available
on the tab.
You can set report properties on this page as well. See the table below for a list of properties and
definitions.
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Table 106: Style Tab Fields and Buttons
Field/Button Description
Border Color, Header Color,
Header Foreground Color,
Item Color, Item Foreground
Color, Alternating Item
Color
This allows you to select a color from for each table element. Refer to the Sample
Grid below the Restore Default button to see how the colors you choose, appear.
Restore Default This restores the default color settings for the six color fields.
Landscape Printing This prints your report in landscape page format.
Show Page Number This displays page numbers on PDF output reports.
Show Date and Time This displays the date and time of the report run on PDF output reports.
Use Pagination in Webview This enables readers to see pagination in web view. Normally, pagination is not
applicable in web view.
Add Bookmarks for Each
Visual Group
This adds PDF bookmarks for each visual group. You must have applied the VG
attribute to a field and you must print to PDF to see these bookmarks.
Page Break after Visual
Groups (PDF)
This applies page breaks for each visual group, such that each visual group begins
on a new page. You must have applied the VG attribute to a field and you must print
to PDF to see this result.
Minimize grid width This trims the width of the columns in your table to match the widest field value,
eliminating unused space.
Visual Group Style This style applies to visual groups sub-headers that contain more than one field
value; for example, Name and City. You must have applied the VG attribute to more
than one field to see this result.
Items per Page (in viewer) This limits the number of rows displayed per page in your report viewer.
Report Order The Move Up and Move Down buttons allow you to change the order in which the
different parts of your report display. The order in which the parts appear in this field
is the order in which they display when you run the report.
Field/Value Column Pairs This sets the field value style, which can be useful for accounting and financial
reports.
Show main report in Field/
Value Style
This changes the main report table to display in the Field/Value style defined in Field/
Value Column Pairs field.
Show summary report in
Field/Value Style.
This changes the summary report table to display in the Field/Value style defined in
Field/Value Column Pairs field.
Continue to Filters When you finish setting styles, click this button to move to the next tab and the next
set of actions.
Preview This runs your report and check your report output.
Enable Responsive Grid Check this box to enable responsive grids. For details, see http://wiki.izenda.us/
Guides/ReportDesign/12.0-Pivots-in-Izenda.
Pivot columns per exported
page
Specifies the number of pivot columns on an exported page. For details, see http://
wiki.izenda.us/FAQ/Responsive-Grid.
Filters Tab
Use the Filters tab to filter the data from the data source(s) so that Civic Platform uses only pertinent
results in your tables, charts, and gauges.
The following fields and attributes may appear on the Filters tab:
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Table 107: Misc Tab Fields and Buttons
Field/Button Description
Filter Field This defines the field on which to filter the data returned from your data source(s).
Operator This defines the operation to perform on the field you selected as the Filter Field.
Values This is the value to which the ad hoc report writer applies the operation. For example,
“Begins With A” returns only those records with entries in the filter field that start with
“A.”
Blank This defines whether you want this filter to return both data that matches the defined
Values and data that has a blank/null value in that field.This control does not affect
the Preview view.
Param This defines whether you want to display this filter and the current settings in the
Report Viewer, allowing the user to change the filter value. This control does not
affect the Preview view.
Show Filters in Report
Description
This writes a read-only summary of the report filters you created to the Description
field for the report.
Require X Parameters in
Viewer
This option require the reader of the report to set one or more filter values before the
report contents display.
Preview Use this button to run your report and check your report output.
Preview Tab
Use the Preview tab to view a preliminary version of the your report, including any table, summary table,
chart, or gauge you added. Return to any of the previous tabs to make changes, then click the Preview
button or tab to see how those changes affect report output.
What You See on the Dashboard Designer
Use the Dashboard Designer to add multiple reports for display in a single viewer. When you select the
reports to display in your dashboard, the ad hoc report writer prompts you to select which report part to
use. You can elect to use the table, the summary, a chart, or gauges - whichever is more useful for your
purposes.
Note:
You must create reports before you can add them to a Dashboard display. See Designing a New Report
The Dashboard Designer contains multiple sets of report selection fields. Each set you define displays a
different report in your dashboard. The table below lists and defines the report selection and the permission
fields available on the report designer, as well as the buttons available in the toolbar.
Table 108: Dashboard Design Form Buttons and Fields
New Creates a new report and opens the Report Designer.
Preview Previews your dashboard design.
Print Prints your dashboard to your computer’s default printer.
Records This is the number of records to show; includes All and All (No scroll bar).
Report This is the report you want to add to your dashboard display.
Report List This returns you to the Report List view.
Report Part This is the report part you want to use in your dashboard display. This list populates
based on the parts (Chart, Gauges, Summary Detail) of the report you selected.
Save This saves your dashboard.
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Save as This allows you to save your dashboard with a new name and/or to assign your
dashboard to a category.
Share With/Rights This defines who you want to share the dashboard with, and what permissions you
want to give them when interacting with the dashboard. “Shared” allows other users
to see your dashboard and modify it. “Read only” sets the dashboard so that it is only
modifiable by the owner. “View Only” allows other users to view the dashboard but not
make any modifications.
Title This is the title for the report
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SmartCharts
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with SmartCharts.
Related Information
SmartCharts Overview
Examining SmartChart Types
Viewing a SmartChart
Accessing the SmartChart Portlet
Creating a New SmartChart
Editing a SmartChart
Deleting a SmartChart
Organizing the SmartChart Portlet
Examining the SmartCharts Form
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SmartCharts Overview
A SmartChart is a graphical representation of data; for example, a bar chart or line graph.
You can generate a SmartChart as needed to represent the data in a list view. The visual of a SmartChart
can help you compare data more effectively. For example, you can generate a SmartChart that shows you
how many building projects are occurring on the same street, or you can have a SmartChart that identifies
all your open records and sorts them by type. If your agency has set permissions accordingly, you can
customize your SmartCharts to most effectively represent the information that you need.
QuickQueries that affect the list contents also affect the values that display in the SmartChart. If you apply
a different QuickQueries to a list, the SmartChart contents refresh to reflect the contents of the new list. For
more information, see Understanding QuickQueries .
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Examining SmartChart Types
SmartCharts come in several types.
Table 109: SmartChart Types
Column Bar Chart Column bar charts are used to compare different items of data. This type
of chart can be useful for comparing workload or other important values.
Line Chart Line charts represent the changing value of one item of data, typically
over a period of time. This type of chart can be useful for observing
trends.
Pie Chart Pie charts display data by percentage, giving you a visual view of each
data group’s relationship to other data groups and to the whole. This
option can be useful for identifying needs such as staffing.
Odometer Odometer charts track a single value and serves as a counter. This
type of chart can be useful for keeping a running tally of any meaningful
action or event.
Speedometer Speedometer charts track a single data item and provide a visual
representation of frequency or volume at a given point. This type of chart
can be useful in tracking workload and identifying potential problems
before they become critical.
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Viewing a SmartChart
It is easy to access SmartCharts in Civic Platform.
To view a SmartChart
1. Navigate to the portlet you want to work in.
2. Hover over the Menu button to display a menu, then choose SmartCharts from the menu.
Civic Platform displays a thumbnail of the default SmartChart to the right of the list.
To view a full-size SmartChart, click the SmartChart thumbnail.
Note:
You need to install Sun browser plug-in JVM version 1.4 or newer to view a full-size SmartChart.
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Accessing the SmartChart Portlet
1. Navigate to the portlet you want to work in.
2. Hover over the Menu button to display a menu, then choose SmartCharts from the menu.
Civic Platform displays a thumbnail of the default SmartChart to the right of the list.
3. Hover on Menu, then choose New.
A SmartChart form displays in a new window.
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Creating a New SmartChart
You can create one or more SmartCharts as needed.
To create a new SmartChart
1. Complete the form as needed for the type of chart you are creating. Be sure to populate required fields
(indicated by a red asterisk in the field label.
For a list of what types of charts are available, see SmartChart Types in this chapter.
For a description of the fields, SmartChart Fields in this chapter.
2. Click Submit.
3. To close the SmartChart thumbnail, click Cancel.
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Editing a SmartChart
If your SmartChart is not displaying the exact information you want, you can modify it to suit your needs. By
customizing your SmartCharts, you can more effectively and quickly get the information that you need.
To edit a SmartChart
1. Navigate to the portlet you want to work in.
2. Select SmartChart from the Menu drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays a thumbnail of the default SmartChart to the right of the list.
3. To view a full-size SmartChart, click on the SmartChart thumbnail.
Note:
You must have installed Sun browser plug-in JVM version 1.4 or newer to view a full-size SmartChart.
4. Use the drop-down list that displays above the SmartChart to choose the SmartChart you want to work
with.
If the drop-down list is empty, you can create a new SmartChart (See Creating a New SmartChart).
5. Choose Edit from the SmartChart portlet menu.
Civic Platform displays a form you can use to edit the SmartChart.
6. Modify data as needed.
For a description of the fields, see SmartChart Fields.
7. Click Submit.
8. To close the SmartChart thumbnail, click Cancel.
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Deleting a SmartChart
When a SmartChart is no longer needed, you can removed it from the display.
To delete a SmartChart
1. Navigate to the portlet you want to work in.
2. Select SmartChart from the Menu drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays a thumbnail of the default SmartChart to the right of the list.
3. Use the drop-down list that displays above the SmartChart to choose the SmartChart you want to
delete.
4. Choose Delete from the SmartChart portlet menu.
5. To close the SmartChart thumbnail, click Cancel.
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Organizing the SmartChart Portlet
You can modify which charts display in the SmartCharts Portlet and the order in which the charts appear.
Your agency administrator determines the charts you can select from.
If the SmartChart portlet is empty, contact your agency administrator. The portlet may be empty because
your administrator has not assigned any SmartCharts to your user group or because your user group does
not have access to SmartChart functionality.
To organize your SmartChart portlet
1. Navigate to the portlet you want to work in.
2. Select SmartChart from the Menu drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays a thumbnail of the default SmartChart to the right of the list.
3. Click Edit.
Civic Platform displays a pop-window for the SmartChart Organizer.
4. If you want to show or hide a SmartChart:
a. Select one or more fields from the list of available SmartCharts. Hold the CTRL key to select multiple
fields.
b. Click the right and left-+facing arrows to move the SmartCharts into the correct boxes to either hide
or show. Click the double arrows to move all SmartCharts.
5. If you want to change the SmartChart sequence:
a. In the Show list, select the SmartChart that you want to move.
b. Click the up or down arrow to change the position of the SmartChart in the sequence.
Civic Platform displays selected SmartCharts from left to right on horizontal portlets and top to
bottom on vertical portlets.
6. When the Show SmartCharts list displays only the SmartCharts you want to display, in the order that
you want to display them, click Submit.
Civic Platform updates the portlet to reflect your changes.
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Examining the SmartCharts Form
When you create a new SmartChart (or edit an existing one), a SmartCharts form is displayed. Use the
fields on the form to define what type of chart you want to create, what data values you want to use, and
how you want the chart to appear. The table below lists the fields available by default in the SmartChart
form.
Table 110: SmartChart Fields
Background Color The color behind the actual chart. HTML hexadecimal value for colors can be used, or
a color can be chosen from the color palette.
Category (X) Axis Label (Column (bar) or Line chart) The label text that you want to display below the
horizontal axis. The Show Category (X) Axis Label field must be set to Yes to see
this label.
Chart Type The type of chart. Options include Column (Bar) Chart, Line Chart, Pie Chart,
Odometer, and Speedometer. See SmartChart Types for more information about the
chart types.
Column (Column (bar) or Line chart) This is the column to be used for grouping SmartChart
values. For example, if you want to display a line chart showing the number of each
application type in your list, choose Record Type.
Critical Start (Speedometer) The value at which you want to start displaying a different color, which
indicates a critical zone.
Date Column Calculations (Column (bar) or Line chart) This option is used to base statistical function and
resulting SmartChart values on date columns. Use the Date Operand field to specify
the date range that you want to use. For example, if you want to determine how many
days it takes to process certain types of applications after they were submitted, select
“Closed Date” in the first operand field and “Opened Date” in the second.
Numeric Columns (Column (bar) or Line chart) This option is used to base statistical function and
resulting SmartChart values on a numeric column. For example, if you want to display
a pie chart showing the average progress of certain types of applications, choose
“Percent Complete.”
Range Start/End (Speedometer) This indicates the range of values you want to display, and define the
start and end points of your speedometer.
Show Category (X) Axis
Label (Column (bar) or Line chart) This controls the display of a label below the horizontal
(category) axis. Use the Category (X) Axis Label field to define label content.
Show Legend (Line or Pie chart) This controls the display of a legend.
Show Title This controls the display of a title at the top of the SmartChart.
Show Value (Y) Axis Label (Column (bar) or Line chart) This controls the display of a label for the vertical (value)
axis.
SmartChart Title The name of the SmartChart. If you want the title to appear on the SmartChart, set
Show Title to Yes.
Statistical Function (Column (bar) or Line chart) This is the statistical function that you want to use
to calculate numeric SmartChart values. Options include: average, sum, count,
minimum, maximum, standard deviation, variance. For example, if you want to display
a line chart showing the number of each application type in your list, choose “Count.”
Thumbnail Height/Width The height and width in pixels of the thumbnail view of the SmartChart.
Value (Y) Axis Label (Column (bar) or Line chart) The label text that you want to display on the vertical
(value) axis. The Show Category (Y) Axis Label field must be set to Yes to see this
label.
Warning Start (Speedometer) The value at which you want to start displaying a different color, which
indicates a warning zone.
| Workflows and Workflow Tasks | 939
Workflows and Workflow Tasks
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with workflows and tasks.
Related Information
Workflow and Tasks Overview
Accessing and Viewing Tasks
Working in the My Tasks Portlet
Working with Workflows and Workflow Tasks
| Workflows and Workflow Tasks | 940
Workflow and Tasks Overview
A workflow is a set of tasks your agency links together to accomplish a certain process, such as processing
an application or tracking a service request. Once set up, a good workflow functions as an automated to-do
list for each record, ensuring that tasks are done in the proper order by the proper personnel, with no detail
falling between the cracks.
Since each application, service request, or work order has its own workflow, you likely have a number of
tasks assigned to you from many different record workflows. Civic Platform makes it easy to manage your
tasks both from the Workflow tab for a record and from the My Tasks portlet.
| Workflows and Workflow Tasks | 941
Accessing and Viewing Tasks
Topics
•Accessing Tasks via the Workflow Tab
•Accessing Sub-Tasks within the Workflow Tab
•Accessing Tasks from the My Tasks Portlet
•Accessing Tasks from the Task Management Portlet
Accessing Tasks via the Workflow Tab
When you review tasks on the Workflow tab of a record, it helps you understand where the record is in its
processing, who is involved in the process, and what still needs to be done, whether by you or by another
person.
To view the tasks for a record
1. From the desired portlet (for example, the Building portlet or the Service Requests portlet), locate and
open the record you want to work with.
See Performing a Portlet Search for instructions on locating a record.
2. In the record details, navigate to the Workflow tab.
Civic Platform displays the workflow summary card view for the record.
The Workflow Tasks summary card view allows users to track the progress of an application throughout
the workflow process. Users can easily access information for each step in the process and quickly see
which steps are complete and incomplete, required and optional.
Each set of workflow tasks - Completed, In Progress and Up Next, can be collapsed in order to help
the user focus on a specific task or set of tasks. The Completed and Up Next tasks will be collapsed
by default. Users can quickly expand collapsed task sets and then expand the individual tasks that are
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most pertinent to their jobs. This puts important information, such as Task-specific information (TSI) or
ad hoc processes, at the user's fingertips without presenting an overly detailed and distracting view of
the entire workflow process.
3. To view task details, click an active task or the pencil icon next to the workflow task. Only active task
details are viewable.
Civic Platform displays the detail card view for the selected task. The Workflow Tasks detail card view
allows users to see or edit the detailed step information that is pertinent to a specific workflow task so
they can track, update and move an application forward.
From the Workflow tab, ad hoc workflow tasks can be added by clicking New on the Workflow Tasks
menu. (Alternatively, click the New Ad Hoc Task link if ad hoc tasks already exist.) Ad hoc tasks will be
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displayed in the same manner, with Completed and In Progress tasks grouped together so they can be
quickly collapsed or expanded.
Accessing Sub-Tasks within the Workflow Tab
If a workflow task has been set up on the workflow to include sub tasks, they can be accessed by clicking
the collapsed Sub-Task area on the parent task.
Sub-tasks are displayed just like standard tasks, with Completed, In Progress and Up Next task sets. To
return to the parent task, click the Workflow Tasks breadcrumb link at the top of the page.
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Documents attached to a workflow task via the Electronic Document Review functionality are listed in a
Sub Tasks tab on the Workflow page. Reviewers can interact with the document review sub-tasks from the
Workflow page, from the Documents tab, or from their My Tasks portlets.
To access the document review sub-tasks a workflow task
1. From the desired portlet (for example, the Building portlet or the Service Requests portlet), locate and
open the record you want to work with.
See Performing a Portlet Search for instructions on locating a record.
2. In the record details, navigate to the Workflow tab.
3. Click the Sub Tasks tab on the Workflow page to view any documents assigned for review to the
current workflow task.
4. You can interact with the document review task details via the Action menu. See Electronic Document
Review for information about interacting with documents needing review.
Accessing Tasks from the My Tasks Portlet
When you review tasks on the My Tasks portlet, it helps you understand what your workload is for a given
time period. Knowing this enables you to better prioritize your time, and even reassign tasks if needed.
To access a task from the My Tasks portlet
1. Navigate to the My Tasks portlet on your console.
Civic Platform displays a list of assigned tasks.
2. If not already displayed, click the Workflow Tasks tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of workflow tasks assigned to you.
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3. Locate the task you want to see. See Filtering and Searching on the My Tasks Portlet.
4. To view task details, click the underlined task name of the desired task.
Civic Platform opens the record for which the task is needed, and displays the Workflow tab with the
selected task details displayed.
Filtering and Searching on the My Tasks Portlet
You can filter the contents any or all of the tabs on your My Tasks portlet.
To filter tasks and inspections
1. Navigate to the My Tasks portlet.
2. Click the > My Task Searching link.
Civic Platform displays a search form. You can search using record information, task information, or
inspection information.
3. Enter search criteria in one or more fields. You can enter criteria in more than one group.
For a description of the fields available, see My Task Fields.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform refreshes the Workflow Tasks tab and Inspections tab to display the search results.
Resetting the My Tasks portlet lists
After applying filters, you can reset the My Tasks portlet to the original listing display.
To reset the My Tasks display
1. Navigate to the My Tasks portlet.
2. Click the > My Task Searching link.
3. Click Reset.
4. Click Submit.
The Workflow Tasks and Inspection lists are restored to their original state.
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Accessing Tasks from the Task Management Portlet
Topics
•Finding Tasks
•Scheduling a New Inspection, Meeting, or Activity
•Processing Tasks
Finding Tasks
To find a task
1. Access the Task Management portlet.
2. Click Search.
Civic Platform displays the task search page.
3. Enter search criteria as available.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the list of tasks matching the search criteria.
Scheduling a New Inspection, Meeting, or Activity
You can schedule inspections, meetings, and activities from the Task Management portlet.
To create a new inspection, meeting, or activity
1. Access the Task Management portlet.
2. Hover over the New menu button to display a command list.
3. Select an option (inspection, meeting, or activity).
4. Follow the steps in the appropriate linked topic.
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• Creating a new inspection (see Working with Inspections ).
• Creating a new meeting (see Working with Meeting Calendars ).
• Creating a new activity (see Activities ).
Processing Tasks
You can perform actions on line items in the Task Management portal. The actions you can perform
depend on the task type.
To perform an action on a line item
1. Find the task you want to act on (see Finding Tasks).
2. In the Action column, click the triangle next to the task and select the action you want to perform.
Task Type Available Actions
Inspection Reschedule Inspection
Result Inspection
Cancel Inspection
Delete
Workflow Task Assign
Claim
Release
Document Review Assign
Download
Preview
Review
View Doc Info
Activity Delete
Meeting Reject
3. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the action.
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Working in the My Tasks Portlet
Topics
•My Tasks Overview
•Setting the Display Order of Tabs on My Tasks
•My Tasks Portlet Fields
•Workflow Task fields
My Tasks Overview
The My Tasks portlet provides you with access to workflow tasks, document review tasks, and/or
inspections that have been assigned to you.
This portlet has three tabs:
• The Workflow Tasks tab displays tasks that have been assigned to you.
• The Inspections tab lists inspections that have been assigned to you.
• The Document Review Tasks tab lists documents that have been assigned to you for review.
Setting the Display Order of Tabs on My Tasks
When the My Tasks portlet displays more than one tab, you can define which tab displays on top by
default. For example, if you prefer to view your inspection workload first, you can set the display order to
display the Inspections tab by default whenever you open the My Tasks portlet.
To set the tab display order
1. Navigate to the My Tasks portlet.
2. Hover on Menu to display a command menu, then choose Display Order.
Civic Platform displays a display order form.
3. Enter 1 for the tab you want to display first. Enter 2 for the tab you want to display second.
4. Click Save.
Civic Platform displays the My Tasks list portlet with the tabs in the assigned order.
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My Tasks Portlet Fields
The following table lists the fields you can use to filter the Workflow Tasks and Inspection lists on your My
Tasks portlet. Fields are in alphabetical order by group.
Table 111: My Task Fields
GENERAL
Alternate ID Filter by alternate record ID (for agencies that use a numbering scheme different
from Record ID (xxxxx-xx-xxxxx)).
Assigned to Department Filter tasks and inspections by department. Click Current Department to auto-
populate the field with your name.
Assigned to Staff Filter by responsible individual within a department. Click Current User to auto-
populate the field with your name.
City Filter by the city where the primary address is located.
County Filter by the county where the primary address is located.
Direction Filter by street direction. For example, N for north, as in North Broadway.
Record ID Filter by unique record ID.
Record Type Filter by record type.
State Filter by the state where the primary address is located.
Street Filter by street name (primary address associated with the record). This field
supports wildcard searches.
Street # (start) - Street # (end) Filter by a range of street numbers.
Street Type Filter by street type, such as Street, Boulevard, or Lane.
WORKFLOW TASK
Action By (Dept.) Filter by the department that last updated the task status.
Action by (Staff) Filter by the individual who last updated the task status.
Assigned Date Filter by the date when the task assignment was made or changed.
Assign Status Filter by assignment status.
Due Date Filter by the due date for the task. You can specify a date range by using both the
To and From fields.
Duration (Days) Filter by the estimated number of days to complete this task.
Module Name Filter by the module to which the task is related.
Parent Task Filter by parent task (if any tasks in your current task list are sub-tasks of a parent).
Status Filter by task status.
Status Date Filter by the date when the task status last changed.
Task Filter by task name.
INSPECTION
AM/PM Use in combination with Schedule Time to filter by inspection time.
Billable Filter by inspections that are billable to the client.
Created by ACA Filter inspections created via Citizen Access.
GIS Area Filter by geographic area of the inspection.
Inspection Date Filter by the date when inspections were completed.
Inspection Sequence Number Filter by a unique inspection sequence number
Inspection Type Filter by the type of inspection.
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Latitude Filter by the latitudinal coordinates of the inspection site.
Longitude Filter by the longitudinal coordinates of the inspection site.
Mileage (Start) Mileage (End) Filter by the starting/ending mileage on the odometer when travelling to an
inspection site.
Mileage (Total) Filter by the total number of miles required for an inspection.
Request Date Filter by the date inspections were scheduled and submitted.
Scheduled Date Filter by scheduled inspection date.
Scheduled Time Use in combination with AM/PM to filter by inspection time.
Status Filter by the current status of an inspection.
Submit Date Filter by the date an inspection is submitted.
Total Time Filter by the total number of hours required to complete an inspection.
Vehicle ID Filter by the Vehicle ID number of the vehicle used to complete the inspection.
DOCUMENT REVIEW
Doc Name Filter by the name of the document.
Category Filter by document category.
Document Status Filter by the status for the document.
Document Status Date Filter by the last date the document status was updated.
Review Status Filter by the review status for the document.
Review Status Date Filter by the last date the review status was updated.
Reviewer Filter by the name of the assigned reviewer.
Review Department Filter by the department where the assigned reviewer works.
Task Filter by the workflow task name to which the document is attached.
Task Status Filter by the status of the workflow task to which the document is attached.
Workflow Task fields
The following table defines the default fields available the Workflow tab.
Table 112: Task Field Definitions
Action By (Department) The name of the department that last updated the task status.
Action By (Staff) The name of the individual who last updated the task status.
Address The physical (street) address associated with the task.
Application‑Specific
Information
The Application‑Specific Information (ASI) group associated to the task.
Assigned Date The date when the task assignment was made or changed.
Assigned To (Department) The department responsible for completing the current task.
Assigned To (User) The user responsible for completing the current task.
Assigned To (Staff) The individual currently responsible for completing the task.
Comments Comments about the current status. Agencies with a second language configured will
see a comments box for each language.
Comment Display in ACA Activated when “Display Comment in ACA” is selected. Indicates who can view
workflow task comments. Options include All ACA Users, Record Creator, Licensed
Professional, Contact, and Owner.
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Current Status The current status of the task.
Display E-mail Address in
ACA
Indicates whether or not public users can view an agency employee’s email address
from ACA.
Due Date The date by which the task should be completed.
Duration (Days) The estimated number of days necessary to complete a task. Your agency
administrator defines this value.
Estimated Hours The estimated hours necessary to complete this task. Your agency administrator
determines this value. Only supervisors have the privilege to edit this value.
Parent Task If the current task is a sub-task, this is a description of the parent task.
Record Assigned to
Department
The department to which the record is assigned.
Record Assigned to Staff The staff member to whom the record is assigned.
Record By The person or department responsible for updating the task status.
Record ID The unique ID number assigned to the record to which the task belongs.
Record Status The status of the record.
Record Type The type of record to which the task belongs.
Short Notes A brief description of the record.
Status Date The date when the task reached its current status.
Task Name The name of the task. This field accommodates up to 100 characters.
Ad Hoc Task Fields
The following table defines the fields that may be available when working with ad hoc tasks.
Table 113: Ad Hoc Task Fields
Comments Comments about an ad hoc task.
Days Active The number of days from the start date of the task to the current date of an active
task.
Department The department responsible for completing this task.
Due Date The date that the task is to be completed.
Duration (Days) The estimated number of days necessary to complete this task.
Estimated Hours The estimated hours necessary to complete this task. Once saved, only supervisors
have the privilege to edit the value.
Staff The staff member responsible for this task.
Task Description A description of the ad hoc task that corresponds with the task name.
Task Name The name of the ad hoc task.
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Working with Workflows and Workflow Tasks
Select from the list of processes below to see how you can work with workflows, workflow tasks, and the
My Tasks portlet.
Topics
•Assigning and Reassigning Workflow Tasks
•Updating a Task
•Deleting and Reassigning a Workflow
•Reviewing Workflow History
•Deleting a Workflow History
•Working with Ad Hoc Tasks
•Activating Tasks
•Overriding a Workflow Process
•Attaching a File to a Workflow
•Querying an ASI Group Field
•Managing Inspections in My Tasks
•Managing Document Review in My Tasks
Assigning and Reassigning Workflow Tasks
Workflow tasks can be assigned and reassigned from the My Tasks portlet.
•To assign or reassign workflow tasks
•To claim a task for yourself
•To release a task from your queue
To assign or reassign workflow tasks
1. Navigate to the My Tasks portlet.
2. Select the Workflow Tasks tab.
3. Locate the workflow task(s) you want to assign. Use search if needed.
4. Select the workflow task(s) you want to assign/reassign.
5. Click Assign.
Civic Platform displays the Assign Task form.
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6. Populate the fields as described below.
Department Choose the department you want to assign the task to. Click the Current
Department link to choose your department.
Workflow Calendar Choose a workflow calendar.
Staff Choose the individual you want to assign the workflow task to. Available options
are dependent on your Department selection. Click the Current User link to choose
yourself.
Due Date Use the picker to select the due date for the task.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform updates the selected workflow tasks.
To claim a task for yourself
1. Navigate to the My Tasks portlet.
2. Select the Workflow Tasks tab.
3. Locate and select the workflow task(s) you want to claim.
4. Click Claim.
Civic Platform assigns the indicated assignment changes to your queue.
To release a task from your queue
1. Navigate to the My Tasks portlet.
2. Select the Workflow Tasks tab.
3. Locate and select the workflow task(s) you want to release.
4. Click Release.
Civic Platform removes the task from your queue into the unassigned queue.
Updating a Task
If a task is assigned to you, you can edit ongoing task details such as status, responsible department, and
staff members, and you can add information or instructions as needed.
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To update a task
1. Locate the workflow you want to update, either from the Workflow Tasks tab on the My Tasks portlet or
from the applicable record portlet.
See Accessing and Viewing Tasks for instructions.
2. With the Workflow tab displayed, identify the task to be updated in the task hierarchy on the left side of
the display. If necessary, click the plus (+) sign to expand folders and reveal additional tasks.
Active tasks display in red. Completed tasks display in black.
3. Click the link for the workflow task in red.
Civic Platform displays the workflow task details and if applicable, task specific information.
4. Modify the task details as needed. For descriptions of the fields, see Task Field Definitions.
5. Click Submit.
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Deleting and Reassigning a Workflow
Your system may be configured to enable some users to delete the current workflow from an existing
record and replace it with another workflow using the Delete & Assign Workflow command.
To delete and reassign a workflow
1. From the desired portlet, locate and open the record with the workflow you want to replace.
See Performing a Portlet Search for instructions on locating a record.
2. In the record details, click the Workflow tab.
Civic Platform displays the current workflow task list for the record.
3. Hover your mouse on the Menu button and then select Delete & Assign Workflow from the drop-down
list.
The Delete & Assign Workflow form displays.
4. If you want to keep a read-only version of the old workflow history when you replace the workflow,
choose Yes in the Delete Workflow History field. Otherwise, choose No.
Note:
You may be required to enter a comment explaining the reason for the deletion/reassignment before it
can take place.
If you choose No, you can always delete individual workflow history items as needed later. See Deleting
a Workflow History for more information.
5. Choose a new workflow from the New Workflow drop-down list and click Submit.
Reviewing Workflow History
Workflow history provides a record of workflow task update actions. It shows the past statuses of each task
in the workflow history as well as the user who updated the status and when it was updated. For example,
it may show that an inspection, building review, or service request was rejected on a certain date and is
now pending.
To review workflow history
1. Use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
2. Click the link for the record you want to work with in the Record ID column.
Civic Platform displays the record details.
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3. Navigate to the Workflow History tab.
Civic Platform displays the workflow history. Active tasks are listed first.
4. Click the link to the task you want to review.
Civic Platform displays the details of the task.
Note:
Depending on your agency's settings, the task details may be read-only.
Deleting a Workflow History
You can delete workflow history by locating the specific record and then using the Workflow History tab.
To delete a workflow
1. Navigate to the Building portlet and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
2. Click the link for the record you want to work with in the Record ID column.
Civic Platform displays the record details.
3. Click the Workflow tab.
Civic Platform displays a workflow hierarchy of the processes and tasks prescribed for the record.
4. Select each task you want to delete.
5. Click Delete.
Note:
You may be required to enter a comment explaining the reason for the deletion before it can take place.
The task items you selected are removed from the list of Workflow History for that record.
Working with Ad Hoc Tasks
Ad hoc tasks are useful when you need to keep a record of unplanned or immediate tasks that affect the
record. For example, you may need to schedule a review meeting to discuss unexpected changes. Ad hoc
tasks do not interrupt the standard workflow for a record, nor do they change the workflow templates that
your agency administrator has established.
Ad hoc tasks display separately in the Workflow portlet as shown below.
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Creating an Ad Hoc Task
Your agency administrator has already defined the types of ad hoc tasks that you can choose from. If you
do not see the type of ad hoc task that you need, talk with your agency administrator about setting it up.
After you create the ad hoc task, you can assign it to a department or individual.
Note:
When an ad hoc task is added to a record workflow, this action (along with any comments entered) is logged
in the Workflow History and Workflow History Audit Logs.
To create an ad hoc task
1. Use search to locate the record you want to work with.
2. Click the link for the record you want to work with in the Record ID column.
Civic Platform displays the record details.
3. Click the Workflow tab.
Civic Platform displays the workflow hierarchy.
4. Click New.
Civic Platform displays a blank form.
5. Complete the form with available data.
For a description of the fields, see Ad Hoc Task Fields.
6. Click Submit.
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Activating Tasks
If your administrator activates this feature, you can activate or deactivate tasks, as well as change optional
tasks to required tasks.
To activate tasks
1. Navigate to the Building portlet and use Search to locate the record you want to work with.
2. Click the link for the record you want to work with in the Record ID column.
Civic Platform displays the record details.
3. Click the Workflow tab.
Civic Platform displays a workflow hierarchy of the processes and tasks prescribed for the record.
4. Click the Task Activation.
Civic Platform displays the Task Activation portlet.
5. From the Workflow Tasks tree on the left, select the task you want to work with.
6. Select Active and/or Required as needed for the parallel tasks you want to activate/set to required.
To set all parallel tasks to active and/or required, select Active and/or Required in the Parallel Tasks
header.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform changes the status the tasks as you indicated.
Overriding a Workflow Process
Users with sufficient access (for example, supervisors) can alter the current status of tasks in a workflow
process. They can return completed tasks to previous levels, or complete tasks that are not yet active.
Note:
This function should be used with extreme caution. If done incorrectly, the normal workflow could be
disrupted. Contact Civic Platform Implementation staff for further information.
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To override a workflow process
1. Use search to locate the record you want to work with.
2. Click the link for the record you want to work with in the Record ID column.
Civic Platform displays the record details.
3. Click the Workflow tab.
Civic Platform displays a workflow hierarchy of the processes and tasks prescribed for the record.
4. Click Supervisor. The button is available only if you have supervisory privileges.
Civic Platform displays the Workflow - Task Supervisor list portlet.
5. Select the workflow task from the list.
Civic Platform displays the details for the chosen task in the detail form portlet.
6. Modify the task details as needed (see Task Field Definitions and Ad Hoc Task Fields for field
definitions).
7. Click Submit.
Attaching a File to a Workflow
You can attach files to a workflow by uploading them from your computer to Civic Platform. You may also
link to an existing attachment that has already been uploaded and attached to another asset or work order
See Attaching Files for more information.
Querying an ASI Group Field
You can create a query that filters Application‑Specific Information (ASI) group fields in the My Tasks
portlet. QuickQueries are generally simple to create, but you must refine your filter parameters when
querying the ASI group field. Otherwise, the list of returned records is too long and can affect system
performance. See Understanding QuickQueries for more information about QuickQueries.
Before you create an ASI group QuickQuery, talk to your agency administrator to get the correct ASI group
and subgroup information for the task set you want to view.
To query the ASI group field
1. Navigate to the My Tasks portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of assigned tasks.
2. Hover on Menu to display a command menu, then choose My QuickQueries from the drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays a list of QuickQueries associated with the list in primary portlet
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the Create QuickQueries form.
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4. Complete one or more of these fields:
Name Identifies the QuickQuery.
Description A description that defines the purpose of the QuickQuery.
Primary Defines whether a QuickQuery is the primary query for the list portlet. A primary
QuickQuery is applied to the list portlet automatically each time you navigate to
it. Only one QuickQuery can be primary at any given time. If one QuickQuery is
designated as the primary, all other queries automatically reset to “No” for this field.
5. In the Search By section, select Application Specific Info either from the drop-down list or by clicking
the Data Picker button to the right.
Civic Platform displays a ASI Group Code information list.
6. Select the ASI Group you want to use in your query.
Civic Platform displays the subgroups contained in the ASI group and the fields included in each
subgroup.
7. Select a field from one of the subgroups. You can select only one field at a time.
Civic Platform adds the field to the query, along with additional fields.
8. Enter the desired value for the ASI field. The value must match a value in your agency’s database.
Use the Variable picker button to the right of the field to select a variable or enter the desired value into
the field manually.
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If you are querying a check box, the valid values are CHECKED and blank (no value).
If you are querying a radio button, the valid values are Yes and No.
9. When you query an ASI field, it is a good idea to refine your search further. For example, you can query
ASI fields for tasks within a due date range, for tasks assigned to a designated staff member, or for
both.
Complete the following query parameter fields:
Due Date, >= The beginning date of the date range you want to view.
Due Date, <= The end date of the date range you want to view.
Assigned to Staff, = Enter a valid user ID.
To add further fields to your query, see Understanding QuickQueries .
10.Click Submit.
Civic Platform informs you if you created the query successfully and updates the query list.
Managing Inspections in My Tasks
You can view and manage inspections from the Inspections tab in the My Tasks portlet. Supervisors
can view all inspections assigned to the department, or filter the inspections to view those assigned
to a certain user. Non-supervisor users can view inspections assigned to themselves. The information
displayed and the options available in this tab are the same as those displayed in the Inspections portlet,
such as scheduling and rescheduling inspections. For more information about managing inspections, see
Inspections .
The benefit of the Inspections tab in the My Tasks portlet is that you can filter all the workflow tasks and
inspections separately or at the same time. This could help you narrow the search for all workflow tasks
and inspections you want to reassign. For example, if John Q Smith has inspections due today but called in
sick, you can filter the inspections by choosing his name in the Assigned to Staff drop-down list, choosing
the Assigned option in the Assigned Status drop-down list, and selecting the current day. Civic Platform
filters the inspections and workflow tasks to display only those assigned to John Q Smith.
This option is set by your agency. If you do not see the Inspections tab in the My Tasks portlet, contact
your agency administrator.
Managing Document Review in My Tasks
You can access documents assigned to you to review from the Document Review Tasks tab on the My
Tasks portlet. Use the My Tasks Searching tools to find a particular document or use the columnar sort
capabilities to organize the documents in your queue to your liking. An Action menu is available for each
document that enables you to interact with the documents from the My Tasks portlet. For information
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about document review, see Electronic Document Review . For additional information about working with
attachments, see Attachments .
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Work Orders
Choose a topic from the list below to learn more about working with work orders.
Related Information
Work Order Overview
Managing Work Orders
Managing Work Order Tasks
Running a Report
Cloning a Work Order
Managing Work Order Assignments and Costs
Viewing the Work Order Calendar
Managing Work Order Assets
Managing Work Order Parts
Tracking Work Order Production
Examining Work Order Details
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Work Order Overview
A work order is a record or a request to perform a task, such as servicing all line hydrants. Many work
orders have associated information that can include address information, costing information, related
assets, associated documents or pictures, inspections, and parts. In addition, your agency has a
geographic information system (Civic Platform GIS), you can use it to locate addresses of work orders and
locate trends on a map.
Example:
Suppose several fire hydrants in a neighborhood need to be serviced next month. You can create a work
order for one of the fire hydrants and use that work order as a template for the rest of the hydrants. You
start by searching for the hydrant on the Asset portlet and copying the fire hydrant data, including the
address, to your new work order. You can also add parts associated to the asset to the work order along
associated part data. If desired, you can attach a PDF schematic of the fire hydrant. When the work order
is complete, you can use it as a template to create work orders for each fire hydrant, changing the asset
and address information. When the maintenance is completed, an inspector can reference the work order
as he confirms that the maintenance was performed correctly and that the hydrants are working according
to specifications.
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Managing Work Orders
Once work order records are created, they can be edited and updated individually or in batches. You can
also print work orders to provide hard copies for field workers, copy information from an existing work order
to another work order or Set, and attach different file types as needed.
Topics
•Creating a Work Order
•Viewing and Updating Work Orders
•Using Group Update for Multiple Work Orders
•Printing a Work Order
•Managing Related Work Orders
Creating a Work Order
You can either create work orders individually for an existing asset, or you can batch create them by
setting up Preventive Maintenance (PM) schedules.
There are two options for creating individual work orders:
• The application intake form allows you to view many fields when creating, editing, or reviewing an
application or service request. It combines the information from many of the tabs associated with a
record.
• The single portlet entry and review form is organized into sections that correspond with record detail
tabs.
If your agency has Accela GIS, you can also use it to create work orders. An advantage to this is the ability
to create multiple work orders for multiple assets at one time. It also provides a visual of the assets and
their location.
For information about creating preventive maintenance (PM) schedules which enable your agency to
schedule specific preventative maintenance tasks for an asset, see Preventative Maintenance Schedules .
If the type of work order has a primary work order template associated, the basic work order information
defined in the primary template is automatically populated into the Assigned to Department, Assigned to
Staff, Description, Work Order Type and Priority fields on the work order form during work order creation.
After the work order is submitted, the cost items, parts, and work order tasks within the primary template
are automatically associated with the work order and are shown under the corresponding tab.
Topics
•Creating a Work Order via the Application Intake Form
•Creating a Single Work Order
•Creating Work Orders via Accela GIS
•Creating a Work Order from an Asset List
Creating a Work Order via the Application Intake Form
Creating a work order via an intake form can be convenient because all of the fields needed to create a
work order are located on one form instead being distributed across multiple tabs. Fields may be sorted
into sections.
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To create a work order via an intake form
1. Navigate to the Work Orders portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of work orders.
2. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the work order details in a new window.
3. Define the type of work order that you want to create by completing the Group, Type, Subtype, and
Category fields.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a work order form.
5. Complete the fields with available data. See Work Order Fields for field definitions.
6. Do one of the following.
• Use Search to find and associate an asset.
1. Click Search.
Civic Platform displays an Asset Search page in a pop-up window.
2. Enter search criteria as appropriate.
3. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the search results.
4. Select the asset(s) you want to attach to the work order and click Select.
Civic Platform attaches the asset(s) to the work order.
• Use the GISmap system to locate and associate an asset.
1. Click GIS.
Civic Platform generates the GIS map view.
2. Use the GIS toolbar and map to select a group of assets
Civic Platform displays results in the Selected Objects list.
3. Select the item(s) to add to the work order.
4. Choose Link Objects to Work Order from the drop-down list
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform attaches the asset(s) to the work order.
• Use Delete to remove an asset from a work order
1. Select the asset(s) to be removed from the work order.
2. Click Delete.
7. Click Validate to validate the fields in the work order. You may skip this step and click Submit directly.
Civic Platform still performs validation before submitting the work order.
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Note:
If a work order is associated with an asset that has active conditions, a Condition Notice window
displays, listing all the active conditions for the asset. If the severity of an active condition = Lock,
validation fails. See Conditions for more information.
8. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns to the work order list portlet, and updates the work order record detail tabs.
Creating a Single Work Order
You can create single work orders using the New Work Order (Record) by Single form. This is a template
that often minimizes the data required for the work order, bypassing the extensive data entry process of
the permit intake form. The New Work Order (Record) by Single form can be used from the work order list
portlet or from Accela GIS. For more information on how to create a work order using GIS, see Creating
Work Orders via Accela GIS.
To create a single work order
1. Go to the Work Orders portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of work orders.
2. Click Create by Form.
Civic Platform displays the work order template selection portlet in a new window.
3. Choose the type of work order you want to create by selecting an option from the Work Order Template
or Work Order Type drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays the New Work Order (Record) by Single Form.
4. Complete the fields with available data. See Work Order Fields for field definitions.
5. Click Submit.
Creating Work Orders via Accela GIS
Accela GIS can be an efficient vehicle for creating work orders. Instead of searching and selecting each
individual asset and linking them to each individual work order, Accela Silverlight GIS allows you to select
an area within the map viewer and display all assets in that location, providing not only a visual of the
assets, but enabling you to automatically link a group of assets to a work order.
To create a work order using GIS
1. Navigate to the Work Orders portlet.
Civic Platform displays a list of work orders.
2. Click GIS.
Accela GIS map viewer displays.
3. Using the Selection tool, select the objects you want to include in the work order.
4. From the GIS Data tab within the Select List tab, mark the check box for each item you want to link to a
work order.
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5. Select either Create Single Work Order or Create Multiple Work Orders from the drop-down list.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the work order template selection portlet in a new window.
7. Choose the type of work order you want to create by selecting an option from the Work Order Template
or Work Order Type drop-down list.
Civic Platform displays the New Work Order (Record) by Single Form.
8. Complete the fields with available data. See Work Order Fields for field definitions.
9. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates the work order (provided all the work order fields pass validation)
Note:
If a work order is associated with an asset that has active conditions, a Condition Notice window
displays, listing all the active conditions for the asset. If the severity of an active condition = Lock,
validation fails. See Applying Asset Conditions on Work Orders for more information.
Creating a Work Order from an Asset List
You can generate a work order from an asset list, enabling you to create a group work order for all chosen
assets or create individual work orders for each item.
To create a work order from an Asset List
1. Navigate to the Assets portlet.
Civic Platform displays the Assets portlet.
2. Select the asset(s) you want to generate a work order for.
3. Click New WO.
Civic Platform displays a message informing you that separate work orders will be created for each
asset.
4. Optionally, click GIS (or Map) to plot the assets on a map.
The map displays the selected assets, and lists them on the Records panel. To create work orders
from the Records panel, select the assets you want to generate a work order, and choose Create a
Work Order or Create Multiple Work Orders from the Actions menu. For example:
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5. Do one of the following:
• If you selected only one asset, click OK.
• If you selected more than one asset and you want to generate individual work orders for each asset,
click OK.
• If you selected more than one asset and you want to generate one work order for all assets, click
Cancel.
Note: If you click the wrong button by mistake, click Cancel on the next page to begin again.
6. Choose the Work Order Template and Record Type from the drop-down lists.
Civic Platform displays the New Record by Single window.
7. Complete the fields with available data. See Work Order Fields for field definitions.
8. Verify that all assets are attached to the work order in the Assets section at the bottom of the page.
9. Click Submit.
Civic Platform validates the work order fields and creates the work order, provided the validation is
successful.
Note:
If a work order is associated with an asset that has active conditions, a Condition Notice window
displays, listing all the active conditions for the asset. If the severity of an active condition = Lock,
validation fails. See Applying Asset Conditions on Work Orders for more information.
10.Click one of the asset IDs from the asset list associated with the new work order.
The Work Order tab displays the updated work order information.
Viewing and Updating Work Orders
Users can view a list of work orders as well as a summary of individual work orders. Work Order List and
Detail Portlets, illustrates the work order list as well as the work order detail portlet that displays when a
work order is selected from the list.
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Figure 35: Work Order List and Detail Portlets
ARecord ID Link. Click the Record ID link associated with the work order that you want to view.
BRecord ID. When you click the Work Order ID in the Work Orders list portlet, Civic Platform displays the work
order details on the tabs below.
CRecord Detail tabs. Each of the tabs displays related or associated Work Order detail information.
Topics
•Viewing and/or Updating a Work Order
•Viewing a Work Order Summary
•Viewing Work Order-Associated Data in GIS
Viewing and/or Updating a Work Order
You can quickly access a list of work orders that you are responsible for and make changes as needed.
To view and/or update work orders
1. Navigate to the Work Orders portlet.
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Civic Platform displays a list of all of the work orders currently assigned to you.
2. Apply a QuickQuery if needed. See Understanding QuickQueries for more information
3. Click an ID link to view work order details.
Civic Platform displays the details on the Record tab. You can select different tabs to view various
details.
4. If you want to update the work order, edit the data as needed. See Work Order Fields for field
definitions.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform saves your information and refreshes the work order list so that it reflects the changes.
Viewing a Work Order Summary
After you create a work order, you can view a summary of major work order details.
To view a work order summary
1. Navigate to the Work Orders portlet and use Search to locate and select the work order you want to
view.
Civic Platform displays the details on the Record tab.
2. Click Summary.
Civic Platform displays the work order summary.
3. If you want to update the work order, click the Work Order Detail tab and edit the data as needed. See
Work Order Fields for field definitions.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform saves your information and refreshes the work order list so that it reflects the changes.
Viewing Work Order-Associated Data in GIS
Civic Platform allows you to view the related asset, address, and parcel information of some work orders in
the GIS viewer, giving you the ability to create a useful map of relevant data. It also allows you to map work
order histories to get a visual representation of asset, address, and parcel conditions.
For example, a user searches for all work orders for instances where high‑pressure cleaning was
performed over the past six months. The GIS system displays all the pipes that were associated to these
work orders, giving you a broad idea of areas where pipe systems are performing poorly.
To view work order-associated data in GIS
1. Navigate to the Work Orders portlet and use Search to identify the work orders you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays a list of all of the work orders currently assigned to you.
2. Select the work order(s) you want to map in Accela GIS.
3. Click GIS.
Civic Platform displays a map of the relevant area, and displays all assets, addresses, and parcels
related to the selected work orders.
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Using Group Update for Multiple Work Orders
You can edit or update several work orders at the same time if they all require the same change. For
example, if you complete many work orders in one day, you can add the same “completed” date to all the
records using the Group Update function.
To perform a group update
1. Navigate to the Work Order portlet and use Search to locate and select the work orders you want to
update.
2. Hover over Menu to display a drop-down menu and then select Group Update.
Civic Platform displays the work order detail fields available for group update.
3. Update data as necessary. See Group Update Fields for field definitions.
4. Click Save.
Civic Platform saves your information and updates the work orders you selected with the information
you entered.
Printing a Work Order
You may print work order details or a work order list. For example, you may want a list of the work orders
that you plan to work with today. You can search for the work orders and then print the list. Or you might
print the work order details for a single work order if you are going off site to take care of some aspect of
that work order.
Note:
You must have installed Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader in order to view and print. Civic Platform
generates printable permits, licenses, applications, and service requests in PDF.
To print a work order
1. Go to the Work Order portlet and use Search to locate the work order(s) that you want to print
Civic Platform displays the work order details on the Record tabs.
2. To print the list of work orders, click Reports above the list.
3. To print work order details, click Reports above the record detail tabs.
Civic Platform generates a PDF version of either the asset list or the asset details in a new browser
window.
4. Use your browser’s print command to print the permit.
Depending on what browser you use to view PDF files, you may have the option to save the permit PDF
to your hard drive or send it as an email attachment.
5. To look up a work order ID, click Search and enter the desired fields.
Managing Related Work Orders
There are three possible relationships between work orders: parent, child, or sibling. The parent work order
is the primary work order, and other work orders are identified in relation to the parent. The parent is easily
identified as it has a global icon next to it in the work order list. A child work order is a step down from the
parent and is identified by a check box next to it. When there are many child work orders attached to a
parent, the relationship of one child work order to another is known as a sibling relationship.
The relationship of a work order is determined when a work order or many work orders are copied. The
source or initial work order is the parent and the target work order is the child. When more than one work
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order is copied from a source parent, this creates the sibling relationship. To view the work orders, select
the parent work order, then select the related work orders record tab. From the list all child work orders can
be viewed along with the parent. To activate a child work order, select the desired work order from the list.
In order to create a parent/child/sibling relationship between work orders, you need to copy data from at
least one existing (parent) work order to another (child/sibling) work order.
Topics
•Copying Work Order Data to Existing Work Orders
•Viewing and Activating Related Work Orders
•Removing Related Work Order Relationships
Copying Work Order Data to Existing Work Orders
You can copy any data collected on an existing work order to one or move existing work orders, including
Fee items, Workflow status, Inspections, Application-specific information, Workflow-task-specific
information, Parcel information, People information, and Conditions.
For example, a work order may list the same owner, contact, and licensed professional information as
another work order entered into Civic Platform. To save data entry time, you can use this copy function to
copy data from one existing work order to another. Once copied, you can modify and update the data in the
new work order.
To copy data from one work order to another
1. Find the existing work order(s) you want to copy.
To look up the work order ID(s), click Search.
2. Navigate to the Record tab.
Civic Platform displays the work order details.
3. Hover on the Menu button to display a command menu, then select Copy.
Civic Platform displays the Copy to Application and Copy to a Set page.
4. Enter the new work order application number or set you want to copy the existing work order
information to.
To look up the work order ID, click Search.
5. Select the work order data elements you want to copy to the existing work orders or set.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays a pop-up window indicating the work order or set copied successfully.
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Viewing and Activating Related Work Orders
Once you have copied work order information from an existing work order to another work order or Set,
you can view and activate the new work order. A work order that is associated with another work order
is called a parent, child or sibling work order. For more information on work order relationships, see
Managing Related Work Orders.
To view and activate a related work order
1. Find the work orders you want to view and activate.
To look up the work order ID, click Search.
2. Click the Related Records tab.
Civic Platform displays a work orders genealogy page.
3. Click the work orders that you want to view and activate.
Civic Platform displays the child work order record tabs.
Removing Related Work Order Relationships
Civic Platform allows users to remove or delete the parent or child relationship between two work orders.
This feature does not delete either of the work orders. It simply removes the relationship between them.
To delete related work order relationships
1. Find the child work order(s) you want to remove from the parent work order.
To look up the work order ID, click Search.
2. Click the Related WO & SR tab.
Civic Platform displays a work orders genealogy page.
3. Select of the child work order(s) you want to delete from the parent work order.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform deletes the child work order(s).
Note:
Before removing a work order relationship, make sure you want to remove the relationship. No warning
or confirmation message appears when removing related work orders.
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Managing Work Order Tasks
Civic Platform supports a lower level of detail on the work order form, referred to as a work order task. A
work order task is a step in completing a work order activity. These tasks have little to do with the flow of a
work order, but instead are a checklist or set of instructions for the individual or crew performing the work.
For this reason, they are adjustable per work order. For example, you need maintenance completed on a
vehicle. The technician would create a single work order but put multiple tasks on the work order, such as
changing the oil and inspecting the brakes.
Civic Platform supports the administration of Work Order Tasks by providing a new tab on the work order
form entitled Work Order Task. If the administrator enables the feature and enters the tasks, work order
tasks are attached to work order templates and specify the exact data to be completed. The user is then
able to edit the Estimate and Standard Operating Procedure, as well as record Actual, enter a Completed
Date, and update the Comments for each task. The work order also provides a cost column. Depending on
user permissions, users either see asterisks (****) in the cost column or the actual numerical values of the
work order cost by tasks.
Topics
•Viewing Work Order Tasks
•Creating a Work Order Task
•Looking Up and Adding a Work Order Task
•Updating a Work Order Task
•Deleting a Work Order Task
Viewing Work Order Tasks
You can quickly access a list of the work order tasks attached to the work order that you are currently
responsible for. The tasks display in a portlet underneath the work order in a tab called Work Order Tasks.
To view work order tasks
1. Go to the Work Orders portlet. If you are using the default settings, this appears on your Home or Work
Orders main link.
Civic Platform displays a list of all work orders currently assigned to you.
2. Locate the work order you want to view and click the link.
Civic Platform displays the work order details on the Record tab.
3. Click the Work Order Task tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of all work order tasks associated with the work order.
4. To update the work order task, see Updating a Work Order Task. For a complete list of the fields that
display, see Work Order Task Fields.
Creating a Work Order Task
Civic Platform has a form for creating a new work order task within a work order. In this form, you can enter
a description of the task to be completed. The basic data that is populated for the task include: Task Code,
Description, and Default Standard Operating Procedures.
To create a work order task
1. Go to the Work Orders portlet. If you are using the default settings, this appears on your Home or Work
Orders main link.
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Civic Platform displays a list of work orders.
2. Click the work order that you want to view.
3. Click the Work Order Task tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of work order tasks.
4. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the Work Order Task form.
5. Enter the Task Code, Task Description, and Standard Operating Procedures. For a complete list of the
fields that display, see Work Order Task Fields.
6. Click an Effective date, Expire date, and Default Estimate Duration from the drop-down menu.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform adds the new work order task to the work order.
Looking Up and Adding a Work Order Task
You can add a work order task by looking up and selecting a task that already exists in Civic Platform. If
you have permission, you can update information about a work order task once you find it.
To look up and add a work order task
1. Go to the Work Orders portlet. If you are using the default settings, this displays on your Home or Work
Orders main link.
Civic Platform displays a list of work orders.
2. Click the work order that you want to view.
3. Click the Work Order Task tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of all attached work order tasks.
4. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays a search form.
5. Complete any of the fields that display. See Work Order Task Fields.
6. After you enter all the desired search parameters, click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of work orders matching your search parameters.
7. Select the work order task(s) that you want to add to the work order.
8. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the selected task(s) to the work order.
Updating a Work Order Task
Users can update some of the information in the work order task. For example, when a task is completed,
the user can enter the Completed Date. Fields available for changes are: Comments, Actual time needed
to complete the task, and Completed Date.
Depending on your agency’s business practices and depending on your permissions, you may have
access to update the Estimate number, SOP, and Comments. Civic Platform records and displays the
name of the user who enters the updates, and the date that the user saves the updates.
To update a work order task
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1. Go to the Work Orders portlet. If you are using the default settings, this appears on your Home or Work
Orders main link.
Civic Platform displays a list of work orders.
2. Click the work order that you want to view.
3. Click the Work Order Task tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of all attached work order tasks.
4. Update the desired fields on the work order task that you want to edit.
Note:
If the work order task is assigned to a workflow task, the workflow task must be marked as currently
Active or Complete before you can mark the work order task as complete. When a work order task is
marked complete, the task displays in green.
5. Click Submit.
Deleting a Work Order Task
There may be reason to remove a work order task, whether it has been entered by mistake or is no longer
used. When a task is deleted from the work order, the association between the task and the work order
is removed. The task remain in the work order task definition list and can be used to associate with other
work orders and work order templates.
To delete a work order task
1. Go to the Work Orders portlet. If you are using the default settings, this appears on your Home or Work
Orders main link.
Civic Platform displays a list of work orders.
2. Click the work order that you want to view.
3. Click the Work Order Task tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of all attached work order tasks.
4. Select the work order task you want to delete.
5. Click Delete.
Civic Platform asks you to confirm the deletion.
6. Select OK.
Civic Platform deletes the work order task.
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Running a Report
Process and print any report that your system administrator makes available to you, such as the Work
Order report. Many agencies run custom reports that are designed for business practices. Some reports
require specific report criteria. For example, you may need to identify the work order type, user group,
dates, or other information. Because reports may differ, contact your system administrator or your
supervisor if you have questions about a particular report.
To run a report from a work order
1. Navigate to the Work Order portlet and select a Work Order. You can use Search to locate a particular
work order..
2. From the Work Order detail portlet, choose the report you want to run.
• If you want to run the Work Order report, click the printer button and choose the report name from
the drop-down list.
• For all reports, choose Menu > Report, then choose the report name from the list that displays.
Civic Platform displays a list of available reports to run.
3. Enter parameter information for your report.
The parameter information varies by report. If you have questions about this form, or are uncertain of
the criteria to include, contact your supervisor or your system administrator.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform generates the form in a PDF document that you can print using your browser’s print
controls.
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Cloning a Work Order
You can create one or more new work orders by cloning an existing work order. Cloning is the act of
creating a duplicate application, permit, asset, or service request using an existing permit, application,
asset, or service request as a template. Civic Platform automatically generates work order numbers for any
new work orders created by cloning.
When you clone a work order, the new work order copies any of the following information depending on
the cloned work order: work order type, address, parcel, owner, licensed professional, applicant, complaint,
complainant, additional information, work order specific information, valuation calculations, and work order
conditions.
You have the option to copy the existing workflow, including active and inactive tasks, and any fee items
that have already been assessed for the cloned work order.
To clone a work order
1. Find the work order you want to clone.
To look for the work order ID, click Search.
2. Navigate to the Record tab.
Civic Platform displays the work order details.
3. Hover on the Menu button to display a command menu, then select Clone.
Civic Platform displays the Set—Clone Application page.
4. Complete these fields:
Number of Clones The number of new work orders that you want to create. If you are cloning more
than one work order, Civic Platform creates this many copies of work orders for
each work order you are cloning.
Fee Items Copies fee items from the cloned work order. This includes all of the fee items
from the cloned work order, but does not include any fee payments.
Workflow Status Copies workflow information from the cloned work order. This information
includes active and inactive tasks and task statuses.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform copies the work order.
6. Modify the work order to reflect any differences from the original work order.
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Managing Work Order Assignments and Costs
Assignment and cost items help identify where resources are allocated and where the money is spent.
For example, a new fire hydrant is to be installed in a new subdivision. A work order is generated for the
installation. It includes the assignments or costs of relevant human resources (contractor) and assets (fire
hydrant and tools). The cost of a new fire hydrant is $5000 and the hourly rate for a contractor to install
the fire hydrant is $40/hr. The tools needed to install the fire hydrant cost $300. The combination of these
assignments and costs results in the total job cost for the work order.
Note:
Depending on the number and type of assets associated with a work order, you can distribute the total cost
of a work order by asset count, asset size, asset type, or manual allocation. For information on work order
cost distribution, see Work Order Cost Distribution .
Topics
•Adding a Work Order Assignment or Cost
•Editing Work Order Assignments and Costs
•Deleting an Assignment or Cost Item from a Work Order
•Converting Assignments to Costs
•Creating Cost Groups
Adding a Work Order Assignment or Cost
You can add cost items to a work order either as assignments or costs.
• Assignments are the cost item arrangement for the work order. They do not comprise the total work
order cost but can be converted into costs.
• Costs are the actual spending on a work order and comprise the total work order cost.
You can add cost items to a work order manually, or use cost items available on the work order template.
Your agency administrator pre-defines cost items on work order templates. For information on how to set
up new costing items or associate costing with a work order template, see your agency administrator.
Topics
•Looking Up Cost Items to Add Assignments or Costs
•Looking Up Cost Groups to Add Assignments or Costs
•Adding a New Assignment or Cost
Looking Up Cost Items to Add Assignments or Costs
You can search the cost items defined by your agency administrator and add them as assignments or
costs into a work order.
To look up cost items and add assignments or costs
1. Navigate to the Work Orders portlet and use Search to locate and select the work order you want to add
assignments or costs to.
Civic Platform displays the work order detail portlet.
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2. Click the Assignments and Costs tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of existing assignment and cost items associated with the work order.
3. Click Look Up.
4. Select Look up by Cost Item from the drop-down menu.
Civic Platform displays detail fields associated with the cost item.
5. Choose an option from the Cost Type drop-down list and/or complete the fields associated with the
cost item you are searching for.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of work order cost items matching your search parameters.
7. If you are adding a single cost item, select the cost item you want to associate with the work order,
complete the fields with available data (see Costing Fields for field definitions). If you are adding
multiple cost items, go to the next step.
If you are assigning an asset or human resource to the work order, you can select the asset or human
resource, and then click Resource Calendar to view the availability of the asset or human resource.
The calendar displays in day, week, or month view.
8. If you are adding multiple cost items,
a. Select the first cost item you want to associate with the work order and complete the fields with
available data. See Costing Fields for field definitions. Use the Resource Calendar to view the
availability of the assets or human resources as needed (see previous step).
b. Select the next cost item that you want to associate with the work order.
The following fields auto-populate, provided you entered data into the same fields for the previous
cost item, and provided you have not entered data into the current cost item fields: Work Order Task,
Type, Quantity, Date, Start Time, End Time, and All Day Event checkbox.
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Note:
When you select the next cost item, the values from the previous cost item are auto-populated to the
new item unless the newly marked item had previously entered data. Previously entered data is not
overwritten.
EXAMPLE: Cost item one is added as Type = Assignment, Quantity = 1, and Start/End times =
3:00pm-4:00pm. Cost item two has the same values for all of the fields, so when you mark the box to
select the second item, all of the item one data values copy to the item two fields. Cost item three has
the same values for all the fields except for Quantity. For Cost item three, Quantity = 5. Enter 5 in the
Quantity field, then check the box to select the third item. All of the item two data values except for
Quantity copy to the item three fields.
c. You can accept the auto-populated data, and repeat the previous step for subsequent cost items
that you want to add, or you can modify the one or more of the values in the fields for the new cost
item.
9. Click Select.
Civic Platform creates an association between the selected assignment and cost items and the work
order, and it displays them in a list.
Looking Up Cost Groups to Add Assignments or Costs
If you work frequently with certain cost items, you can apply the cost group management functionality to
group the cost items as needed. This enables you to look up and add costs by group, adding each cost
item in the group to work orders in a single step.
To look up cost groups and add assignments or costs
1. Navigate to the Work Orders portlet and use Search to locate and select the work order you want to add
assignments or costs to.
Civic Platform displays the work order detail portlet.
2. Click the Assignments and Costs tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of existing assignment and cost items associated with the work order.
3. Click Cost Group Management.
Civic Platform opens a new Cost Group Management window displaying a list of existing cost groups.
4. If necessary, add a new cost group
a. Click New.
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b. Specify the cost group name in the Cost Group Detail tab, and click Submit.
c. Select the Cost Item tab, and click Look Up to search for cost items you plan to add in the cost
group.
d. Select the cost item(s) you want to add, and click Select.
e. Close the Cost Group Management window, return to the Work Order Details portlet.
5. Click Look up.
6. Select Look up by Cost Group from the drop-down menu.
Civic Platform displays the cost group selection drop-down list.
7. Choose the cost group name you want to use, and click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of all work order cost items in the cost group. You can use the auto-populate
feature to add multiple cost items quickly and efficiently.
8. If the cost items you are adding have similar data (such as Work Order Task, Type, Quantity, Date,
Start Time, End Time, and/or All Day Event), do the following:
a. Select the first cost item you want to associate with the work order and complete the fields with
available data. See Costing Fields for field definitions.
If you are assigning assets or human resources to the work order, you can select the assets or
human resources, and then click Resource Calendar to view the availability of the assets or human
resources in a calendar. The calendar displays in date range view.
b. Select the next cost item in the group that you want to associate with the work order.
The following fields auto-populate, provided you entered data into the same fields for the previous
cost item, and provided you have not entered data into the current cost item fields: Work Order Task,
Type, Quantity, Date, Start Time, End Time, and All Day Event checkbox.
Note:
When you select the next cost item, the values of the cost item preceding the new item are auto-
populated to the newly marked item unless the newly marked item had previously entered data.
Previously entered data is not overwritten.
EXAMPLE: Cost item one is added as Type = Assignment, Quantity = 1, and Start/End times =
3:00pm-4:00pm. Cost item two has the same values for all of the fields, so when you mark the box to
select the second item, all of the item one data values copy to the item two fields. Cost item three has
the same values for all the fields except for Quantity. For Cost item three, Quantity = 5. Enter 5 in the
Quantity field, then check the box to select the third item. All of the item two data values except for
Quantity copy to the item three fields.
c. You can accept the auto-populated data, and repeat the previous step for subsequent cost items
that you want to add, or you can modify the one or more of the values in the fields for the new cost
item.
9. Double check the auto-populated values and make any needed adjustments.
10.Click Select.
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Civic Platform creates an association between the selected assignment and cost items and the work
order, and it displays them in a list.
Adding a New Assignment or Cost
In some circumstances you may want to add a new assignment or cost to a work order directly.
To add a new assignment or cost
1. Navigate to the Work Orders portlet and use Search to locate and select the work order you want to
work with.
Civic Platform displays the work order detail portlet.
2. Click the Assignments and Costs tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of existing assignment and cost items associated with the work order.
3. Click New.
Civic Platform displays the fields related to cost items.
4. Select the cost type and cost item, then set the type to Assignment or Cost.
5. Complete the fields with available data. See Costing Fields for field definitions.
If you are assigning an asset or human resource to the work order, you can click the Show Calendar
link next to the Date field to view the availability of the asset or human resource in a calendar. The
calendar that displays is the same one shown on the Calendar tab of the Assets portlet.
6. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates an association for the selected assignment or cost item with the work order and
displays the work order assignments and costs list.
Editing Work Order Assignments and Costs
You can edit the assignments and costs for a work order as needed, and as permitted.
Note:
If all of the fields are read-only, and a cost item needs to be updated, please contact your system
administrator.
To edit work order assignments and costs
1. Navigate to the Work Orders portlet and use Search to locate and select the work order you want to
work with.
Civic Platform displays the detail of the work order selected.
2. Click the Assignments and Costs tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of existing assignment and cost items associated with the work order.
3. Open the assignment or cost item you want to view or edit.
Civic Platform displays detail fields associated with the cost item.
4. Make changes as needed. See Costing Fields for field definitions
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of all cost items associated with the work order.
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Deleting an Assignment or Cost Item from a Work Order
When a cost item is deleted, the association between the cost item and the work order is removed.
However, the cost item is still available in the cost item definition list and you can use it to associate with
other work orders and work order templates.
To delete a work order assignment or cost item
1. Navigate to the Work Orders portlet and use Search to locate and select the work order you want to
work with.
Civic Platform displays the detail of the work order selected.
2. Click the Assignments and Costs tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of existing assignment and cost items associated with the work order.
3. Select the cost item(s) you want to remove.
4. Click Delete.
Civic Platform displays a message indicating record(s) deleted successfully.
Converting Assignments to Costs
When managing a work order, you may find that an assignment that is associated with the work order
needs be converted to a cost.
To convert an assignment to cost
1. Navigate to the Work Orders portlet and use Search to locate and select the work order you want to
work with.
Civic Platform displays the detail of the work order selected.
2. Click the Assignments and Costs tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of existing assignment and cost items associated with the work order.
3. Select each assignment item that you want to convert to costs. You can select multiple assignments.
However, if an assignment is converted to cost before, you cannot do it again.
4. Click Convert to Cost.
Civic Platform displays a Usage/Time Tracking window.
5. Enter the usage/time tracking information for the cost item, and click Submit.
Civic Platform generates a cost item for each selected assignment while still keeping the assignment
entry.
Creating Cost Groups
Some cost items may always work together, you can group them for convenience. You can manage cost
groups in either the Work Orders or Asset Condition Assessment portlet.
To create a Cost Group
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1. Navigate to the Work Orders or Asset Condition Assessment portlet and use Search to locate and
select the work order you want to work with.
Civic Platform displays the work order detail portlet.
2. Click the Assignments and Costs tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of existing assignment and cost items associated with the work order.
3. Click Cost Group Management.
Civic Platform displays a list of existing cost group and cost items associated with the work order.
4. Click New.
5. Specify the cost group name and click Submit.
Civic Platform creates a cost group.
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Viewing the Work Order Calendar
The work order calendar allows users to view the task schedule for the current work order, including the
scheduling of assignments, inspections, and events.
To view the work order calendar
1. Navigate to the Work Orders portlet and use Search to locate and select the work order you want to
work with.
Civic Platform displays the detail of the work order selected.
2. Click the link to the work order you want to view.
Civic Platform displays the work order details on the tab.
3. Click the Calendar tab.
Civic Platform displays the calendar in month view.
4. Click any link for a scheduled to view the details, or click New Inspectionto schedule an inspection.
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Managing Work Order Assets
Work orders usually are tasks performed on assets, thereby most work orders associate with assets. For
example, you could create a work order for a fire hydrant to be serviced next month. Since the fire hydrant
is an asset, you must search for the fire hydrant and associate the fire hydrant information, including the
address, to your new work order.
There are multiple access points for you to associate assets with work orders, including the Assets, Work
Orders, and PM Schedule portlets. In the Assets and PM Schedule portlets, if you select some assets and
create a work order, the work order automatically associate with the assets. In the Work Order portlet, you
may go to the Assets tab of an existing work order and link assets to the work order. You can also select
assets from the map to link with work orders via Accela Silverlight GIS.
Topics
•Associating an Asset to a Work Order
•Viewing and Editing Associated Assets
•Deleting Associated Assets
•Updating Details for Multiple Work Order Assets
Associating an Asset to a Work Order
A work order may already have assets associated with it at its creation. When you edit the details of a work
order, you may want to associate more assets to the work order. You can look up in existing assets list and
select ones to create the association. Or, you can open the Accela Silverlight GIS map viewer, view the
assets that are already linked to the work order, and select new assets that need to be linked.
To associate an asset to a work order
1. Go to the Work Orders portlet and locate the work order you want to work with (see Using the Search
Features ).
Civic Platform displays work order details on the Record tab.
2. Click the work order ID link to open the work order.
Civic Platform displays the work order details.
3. Click the Assets tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of assets associated with the work order.
4. To look up an asset and associate it to the work order, do the following:
a. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the Associated Assets search form.
b. Enter search criteria.
c. Click Submit.
Civic Platform returns a list of assets that match your search criteria.
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d. Select the asset you want to associate to the work order.
e. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the asset into the associated assets list of the work order.
5. To select an asset from the Accela Silverlight GIS map viewer and associate it to the work order, do the
following:
a. Click GIS and select Show/Select Assets.
Civic Platform displays the Accela Silverlight GIS map viewer.
b. Select an asset on the map.
Accela Silverlight GIS displays a map overlay or icon on the selected asset. The asset also displays
in the Contents panel.
c. Open either the Context or Actions menu.
Accela Silverlight GIS displays the available map commands.
d. Click Link Object to Work Order.
Civic Platform returns to the associated assets list, with the selected asset in the list.
Viewing and Editing Associated Assets
You can view detailed information about an associated asset in the Assets tab. Furthermore, you can edit
the details of each asset, and configure the asset fields that are specific to the work order. If you configure
the start and end locations of linear assets in a work order, you can open the Accela Silverlight GIS map
viewer to view the assets with their start and end locations.
To view and edit an associated asset
1. Go to the Work Orders portlet and search the work order to which you want to associate assets.
Civic Platform displays work order details on the Record tab.
2. Click the work order ID link to open the work order.
Civic Platform displays the work order details.
3. Click the Assets tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of assets associated with the work order.
4. To edit the details of an associated asset:
a. Clicking the asset ID link of the asset.
Civic Platform displays the asset details.
b. Edit field values as needed.
c. Click Save.
5. To edit the asset fields specific to the work order:
a. Find the asset in the assets list.
b. Complete the editable fields next to the Asset ID of the asset.
c. Click Save.
6. To view associated assets in the Accela Silverlight GIS map viewer:
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a. Select the assets in the assets list.
b. Click GIS and select Show/Select Assets.
Accela Silverlight GIS opens the map viewer and displays the selected assets with map overlay or
icon in the map.
7. To view the work location of associated linear assets in the Accela Silverlight GIS map viewer:
a. Select the linear assets in the assets list.
b. Click GIS and select Show Work Location.
Accela Silverlight GIS opens the map viewer and displays the selected linear assets with the start
point, end point, and an arrow indicating the start location and end location.
For a description of the linear asset work location, see Work Order-Related Asset Fields.
c. If you want to reverse the start and end locations of a linear asset, open the Context menu of the
asset in the map viewer, and select Flip Direction.
The arrow that indicates the start location and end location reverses its direction.
Deleting Associated Assets
You may want to remove some assets that are associated to a work order. Deleting an asset record from
a work order does not delete the asset from the database; rather, it deletes the relationship between the
asset and the work order.
To delete associated assets
1. Go to the Work Orders portlet and search the work order to which you want to associate assets.
Civic Platform displays work order details on the Record tab.
2. Click the work order ID link to open the work order.
Civic Platform displays the work order details.
3. Click the Assets tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of assets associated with the work order.
4. Select the asset you want to delete from the work order.
5. Click Delete.
Civic Platform deletes the relationship between the asset and the work order.
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Updating Details for Multiple Work Order Assets
Occasionally, you may find that you need to update several assets associated with a particular work order
with the same information. For example, several streetlights may all be put into service on the same day.
Civic Platform allows you to save time and improve data accuracy by updating a group of assets with one
action.
To update group asset details
1. Navigate to the Work Order portlet. Use Search to locate and select the work order associated with the
assets you need to update.
2. From the work order detail area, select the Asset tab.
3. Select the asset(s) you want to update. You may select assets of the same type, or of different types.
4. Hover over the Menu button to display a drop-down menu and then select Group Update.
Civic Platform displays the Asset Details page. A notice displays if you attempt to update assets for
which you do not have permission.
The fields displayed are those that are common to all of the selected asset types. Notice that when
assets of the same type are selected, such as a group of street lights, additional fields specific to the
asset type are displayed.
5. Update the fields as needed with available data.
6. Click Save.
Civic Platform saves your information and refreshes the asset list so that it reflects the changes.
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Managing Work Order Parts
The parts inventory allows an agency to track usage and supply of consumable parts. The parts inventory
defines each individual part, the location of the part, and the vendor or manufacturer contact information.
When these parts are needed for a job, they are linked to a work order. When these parts are linked to the
work order and used, the available supply on hand for each part and location is updated.
For example, your agency may be responsible for maintaining a fleet of trucks. Maintaining a truck requires
several different parts, one of which is an oil filter. If there are three trucks that are in need of an oil change,
service providers need three oil filters to perform the service. You create a work order for the oil change,
and using the part inventory, you locate the oil filter needed for the trucks you are servicing. The part
inventory provides the available supply of oil filters and where they are located. When you assign the parts
to the work order, the three oil filters are subtracted from the total supply count at the location, proving an
accurate and current inventory count.
Topics
•Linking a Part to a Work Order
•Adding Standard Parts
•Editing Work Order Parts
•Deleting a Work Order Part
Linking a Part to a Work Order
You can specify the parts to be used for specific types of work orders by linking a part to a work order.
Note:
The parts that can be associated with the work orders are created and maintained in the parts inventory
portlet. See Part Inventory for more information on creating parts.
To link a part to a work order
1. Navigate tothe Work Orders portlet and use Search to locate and select the work order you want to
work with.
Civic Platform displays the detail of the work order selected.
2. Click the Part tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of parts associated with the work order.
3. Click Look Up.
Civic Platform displays the fields associated with part.
4. Complete the fields with available data. See Work Order Parts Fields for field definitions.
5. Click Submit.
Civic Platform displays the part search results.
6. Select the part(s) you want to associate with the work order template.
7. Click Submit.
Civic Platform creates an association for each part selected with the work order template and displays
the work order template part list.
8. Enter the number of parts and Location Name for the work order. These fields are required.
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9. Update any of the fields that display and are editable in the part you want to update.
10.Click Submit.
The part is linked to the work order.
Adding Standard Parts
If the assets linked to a work order have parts associated to them, you can access a list of the standard
parts from the work order form and add them to the work order. For information on associating a part to an
asset, see Associating a Part to an Asset. For information on working with parts, see Part Inventory .
To add standard parts
1. Navigate to the Work Orders portlet and use Search to locate and select the work order you want to
work with.
Civic Platform displays the detail of the work order selected.
2. To verify that a linked asset has parts associated to it, you can view the asset record (for instructions,
see Viewing Assets), skip to step 5, or do the following:
a. Click the Asset tab.
Civic Platform displays the linked assets list portlet.
b. Click the name of an asset.
Civic Platform displays the asset record in a detail portlet.
c. Click the Associated Parts tab.
Civic Platform displays the list of any parts associated to the linked asset.
3. Click the Part tab.
Civic Platform displays the list of parts, if any, associated to the work order.
4. Click Standard Parts.
If there are parts associated to the linked asset, they are displayed in a standard parts list.
5. Select the part(s) you want to add to the work order.
6. Click Select.
Civic Platform adds the part to the work order.
Editing Work Order Parts
When editing work order part information, you may find that some of the part information is read-only. If
you need to update any of the read-only fields, go to the Parts Inventory portlet. See Part Inventory for
more information.
To edit a work order part
1. Navigate to the Work Orders portlet and use Search to locate and select the work order you want to
work with.
Civic Platform displays the detail of the work order selected.
2. Click the Part tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of parts associated with the work order.
3. Select the part that you want to review and edit.
Civic Platform displays the part details on the Record tab.
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4. Update fields as needed. See Work Order Parts Fields for field definitions.
5. Click Submit.
Deleting a Work Order Part
When you delete a work order part, the association between the work order and the part is removed. The
part is still available in the parts inventory for use in creating other work orders.
To delete a work order part
1. Navigate to the Work Orders portlet and use Search to locate and select the work order you want to
work with.
Civic Platform displays the detail of the work order selected.
2. Click the Part tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of parts associated with the work order.
3. Select the part(s) that you want to dissociate.
4. Click Void.
Civic Platform displays a message indicating record(s) voided successfully.
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Tracking Work Order Production
Civic Platform provides a way for an agency to track Work Order Production information. This feature
allows an agency to anticipate realistic expectations for a work crew with realistic estimated costs for
completion. Once the actual work order cost is entered into Civic Platform, the actual data is compared
against a defined estimated standard. As a result, the costs and crew performance for a Work Order can
be compared on an equal basis to the costs and crew performance of another Work Order. The agency
can take this information, review it, and apply it to problem solve, budget, and plan.
In order to incorporate Work Order Tracking for your agency, the system administrator must set up the
defined standards for the Work Order Types, and set other configurations such as FIDs and enabling a
Standard Choice. Once this is complete, enter the work order production information in the designated
fields and the calculations for tracking functions properly.
Topics
•Implementing Work Order Production Tracking
•Recalculating the Work Order Production
•Viewing Work Order Production History
Implementing Work Order Production Tracking
Begin using the Work Order production tracking by entering data for the work order in the appropriate
production fields.
To implement Work Order Production Tracking
1. Go to the Work Orders portlet from the Home or Work Order console tab.
2. Click New for a new work order or choose an existing work order from the Record list.
3. Complete the work order fields. Please refer to Work Order Fields for a complete list of fields.
a. If the default value for Est. Prod. Units is incorrect, enter the appropriate value.
b. When closing the work order or each days activity, update production information in the Actual
Prod. Units field.
4. Click Submit.
Civic Platform validates the Actual Prod. Units and Est. Prod. Units fields, then the record is saved in
production history.
Recalculating the Work Order Production
If the agency decides to change some of the default or estimated standard values for a Work Order Type,
existing work orders can be recalculated to reflect the change. By doing this, the ability to compare work
order production crews from work order to work order remains consistent and constant. If you want to
make the changes to the default or estimated standard values, contact the system administrator.
To Recalculate the Work Order Production
1. Go to Work Orders portlet from the Home or Work Order console tab.
Civic Platform displays a list of work orders in the portlet.
2. Select the work order(s) you want to recalculate.
3. Hover over the Menu button and choose Recalculate from the menu.
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Civic Platform executes the calculations and a new record for production history is created.
Viewing Work Order Production History
Civic Platform provides the ability to track the production history for work orders. This allows the agency to
track recalculations and may assist in the ability to anticipate the inflation rate. This information may also
assist in reviewing and comparing production crew proficiency during different times of the year.
To view a Work Order Production History
1. Go to the Work Order portlet from the Home or Work Order console tab.
2. Select the work order that you wish to review production history from the list.
3. Navigate to the detail portlet for the work order and click the Production History tab.
Civic Platform displays the work order production history.
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Examining Work Order Details
The following tables list and define the default fields available in the different interfaces you encounter
when working with work orders.
•Work Order Fields
•Group Update Fields
•Costing Fields
•Work Order Task Fields
•Work Order-Related Asset Fields
Note:
Based on your user permission for each cost item, you may or may not be able to see the actual values
of some cost fields. When you do not have permission to work with a cost item, the cost fields display
asterisks "***" instead of the actual values.
Work Order Fields
Any of the fields listed below may be available in your Work Order form.
Table 114: Work Order Fields
Actual Prod. Units The actual production units for the work order.
Civic Platform generates a default value for this field from the “Default Production
Unit” set up by the system administrator. If enabled, you may enter a range when
searching, where the desired number of actual production units is between the upper
(From) and lower (To) values.
Alt ID An alternate ID used to identify the application.
Assigned Date The date when work order assignment to a department or individual occurred.
Assigned To Department The department that is responsible for the work order.
Click the Selection icon to choose a department. If you are responsible, click the
Current User link to enter your user name in the field. The associated department
field then updates to reflect the correct department for the current user.
Assigned to Staff The individual within a department that is responsible for the work order.
Use the drop-down list to choose an individual within the selected department. If you
are responsible, click Current User to enter your user name into the field. When you
click Current User, the associated department field updates to show the department
for the current user.
Brief Description A brief description that helps you to identify the work order.
Channel Reported The communication method used to submit a work order. For example, mail, email, a
public internet site, or a phone call.
City The city associated with the work order.
Closed By The person who closed the request.
Closed Date The date when the work order closes. Click the calendar icon located next to the
From and To fields to specify a date range. Civic Platform supplies these dates in the
corresponding fields.
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Closed Department The department responsible for closing the work order. Click the Selection icon to
choose a department.
Closed Staff The individual within a department responsible for closing the work order.
Use the drop-down list to choose an individual. If you are responsible, click Current
User to enter your user name into the field. When you click Current User, the
associated department field updates to show your department.
Contact Email The email address of the primary contact associated with the work order.
Contact First Name The first name of the primary contact associated with the work order.
Contact Last Name The last name of the primary contact associated with the work order.
Contact Middle Name The middle name of the primary contact associated with the work order.
Contact Relationship The primary contact’s relationship to this work order. For example, choose “citizen.”
Contact Type The type of primary contact associated with the work order, such as “applicant.” If you
are searching for a work order, use the drop-down list to choose a type.
Cost Per Unit Read-only field that displays the cost per unit.
Detailed Description A detailed work description of the work order.
Direction The street direction designation of the primary address associated with the work order.
Email The email address of the primary contact associated with the work order.
Est. Cost Per Unit Read-only field that displays the estimated cost per production unit, which is defined at
the Application Type level by the system administrator.
Est. Job Cost Read-only field that displays the estimated job cost (Cost Per Unit” X “Est. Prod.
Units). This value calculates automatically when you save a work order.
Est. Prod. Units The default value for estimated production units.
First Name The first name of the primary contact associated with the work order.
House # Alpha (end) The ending street number that makes up the address. You can enter alphanumeric
characters in this field.
House # Alpha (start) The beginning street number that makes up the address. You can enter alphanumeric
characters in this field.
Last Name The last name of the primary contact associated with the work order.
Level # (end) The ending level number (floor number) that makes up the address within a complex,
used to identify a floor or level of a multi-storey building/sub-complex.
Level # (start) The beginning level number (floor number) that makes up the address within a
complex, used to identify a floor or level of a multi-storey building/sub-complex.
Level Prefix The prefix for the level numbers (floor numbers) that make up the address.
Middle Name The middle name of the primary contact associated with the work order.
New Status Use the drop-down list to choose the status for the Work Order. See also the
description of the Status field.
Opened Date The creation date of the work order record.
Opened Department The department responsible for creating the work order. Click the Selection icon to
choose a department.
Opened Staff The individual within a department who is responsible for creating the work order. Use
the drop-down list to choose an individual. If you are responsible, click Current User
to enter your user name into the field.
Organization Name The name of the organization to which the primary contact associated with the work
order belongs.
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Owner Name The primary owner associated with the work order.
Parcel Number The primary parcel associated with the work order.
Parts & Costing This field displays the total cost for a work order, which is the sum of the total cost
from the Parts tab, and the total cost from the Assignments and Costs tab.
PM Schedule ID The preventive maintenance schedule ID associated with the work order. If enabled,
you may enter a range when searching where the desired PM Schedule ID number is
between the upper (From) and lower (To) values.
Priority The priority level assigned to the work order. Use the drop-down list to choose the
priority level.
Relationship The primary contact’s relationship to this work order.
Reported Date The date of the application report.
Reported Time The time of the application report.
Schedule Date The scheduled date for the work order.
Schedule Time The scheduled time for the work order.
Severity The severity of the work order. Your agency creates the severity levels.
State The state associated with the work order. If you are searching for a work order, use
the drop-down list to choose a state.
Status The current status of the work order. If you are updating work order details, you can
change this status.
If the “Value Required to Close” error appears when trying to change the Status to
close, this means that the system administrator defined that a value must be present
in the “Actual Production Units” field to close the order.
Status Group If you are searching for a work order, you can specify what status group the work
order status belongs to.
Street # The street number of the primary address associated with the work order (for
example, the 150 in 150 N. Main Street).
Street Direction The street direction of the primary address associated with the work order (for
example, the N in 150 N. Main Street).
Street Name The street name of the primary address associated with the work order.
Street # (Start/End) The street number(s) of the address associated with the work order.
If the address includes multiple street numbers (for example, a fourplex), you can use
the Street # Start and Street # End fields to define the range of numbers. Otherwise,
you can specify a singular street number in either field. Agencies can configure the
Street # Start and End fields to support range search (adding To-From fields), allowing
users to search for one or multiple street numbers within a user-defined range.
Street Suffix The street suffix designation of the primary address associated with the work order.
Street Type The street type designation of the primary address associated with the work order.
Sub Type A more specific classification for the work order. Select the desired sub type from the
drop-down.
Total Job Cost Displays the total calculated job cost for the Work Order. If enabled, you may enter a
range when searching where the desired total job cost is between the upper (From)
and lower (To) values.
Undistributed Costs Displays the undistributed costs for this work order. If enabled, you may enter a range
when searching where the desired undistributed cost amount is between the upper
(From) and lower (To) values.
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Unit Type The unit type designation of the primary address associated with the work order. Enter
the unit type of the location associated with the work order. For example, CONDO,
APT, or SUITE.
Work Order Description A brief description of the work order.
Work Order ID The number used to identify the work order. When you first create a work order, Civic
Platform generates this number automatically. You cannot modify this number. You
can however create an alternate ID if needed. You can enter the full or partial work
order ID.
Work Order Name Enter the name of the work order.
Work Order Task Identify a work order task on a work order when recording costings. This is possible
when the task is marked complete, or associated with a work order task that is
complete or currently active.
Work Order Type The type of work order. The type may be a collection of module, type, subtype, and
category. Select the desired type from the drop-down menus.
ZIP Code The postal code designation of the primary address associated with the work order.
Group Update Fields
Group Update can be used to update any of the fields listed below and apply the changes to multiple work
orders as needed.
Table 115: Group Update Fields
Action By The person responsible for following up on the work orders.
Action By Department The department responsible for following up on the work orders.
Actual Prod. Units The actual production units for the work orders. The default value for this field is
generated from the “Default Production Unit” set up by the system administrator.
Assigned Date The date when the work orders were assigned to a department or individual. Click the
calendar icon located next to the field to specify a date range. Civic Platform supplies
the date in the corresponding field.
Assigned to Department The department that is responsible for the work orders. Use the drop-down list to
choose the department. If you are responsible, click the Current User link to enter your
user name in the field.
When you click the Current User link, the associated department field is updated to
reflect the correct department for the current user.
Assigned to Staff The individual within a department that is responsible for assigning the work orders.
Use the drop-down list to choose an individual within the selected department. If you
are responsible, click the Current User link to enter your user name into the field.
When you click the Current User link, the associated department field is updated to
reflect the correct department for the current user.
Closed by Department The department responsible for closing the work orders.
Closed by Staff The individual within a department responsible for closing the work orders. Use the
drop-down list to choose an individual. If you are responsible, click the Current User
link to enter your user name into the field.
When you click the Current User link, the associated department field is updated to
reflect the correct department for the current user.
Closed Date The date when the work orders were closed. Click the calendar icon located next to
the field to specify a date. Civic Platform supplies this date in the corresponding field.
Comments Comments about the work orders in this field.
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Completed by Department The department responsible for completing the work orders.
Completed by Staff The individual within a department responsible for completing the work orders.
Completed Date The date when the work orders were completed. Click the calendar icon next to the
field to specify a date. Civic Platform supplies this date in the corresponding field.
Detailed Description A description of the work required.
Est. Prod. Units This read-only field displays the estimated cost per production unit, which is defined
by the system administrator.
New Status The status for the group of work orders.
Opened Date The date when the work order records were created in your system. Click the calendar
icon located next to the field to specify a date. Civic Platform supplies this date in the
corresponding field.
Priority The priority level assigned to the work orders.
Reported Date The date the work orders were reported. Click the calendar icon located next to the
field to specify a date. Civic Platform supplies this date in the corresponding field.
Reported Time The time the work orders were reported.
Status Date The date the status was set for the work order group in this field.
Costing Fields
The table below lists and defines the fields that may be available when costing a work order.
Table 116: Costing Field Descriptions
Cost Account The appropriate cost account where the units should be added or subtracted from
when associating with a work order.
Cost ID The identification number populates automatically when you click the Submit button.
Cost Item The name for the cost item.
Cost Type The appropriate cost type, such as: contract, employee, materials.
Current Asset Usage The current usage of the asset. This field displays only when you are assigning an
asset as a cost to the work order, and the asset type is associated with usage types in
the administrator portlet.
When you fill value in this field and save, Civic Platform adds a usage record for the
asset in the Assets portlet.
Date The date
Description The description for the cost item.
End Time The end time of the assignment or cost item usage. Mark “All Day Event” if applicable.
Fixed Rate The fixed cost rate to be used for the cost item.
Quantity The quantity of items included in this type.
If your agency administrator did not configure the Standard Choice COST_FACTOR,
when you add a new cost item to a work order, the Quantity section only allows you to
specify one quantity for the cost item.
If your agency administrator configured the Standard Choice COST_FACTOR, when
you add a new cost item to a work order, the Quantity section of the Cost Item New
form provides several cost factors, for example, Regular, Overtime, and Holiday. You
can enter quantities by cost factors.
Record Status This read-only field indicates whether the cost item record is active or inactive in the
administrator portlet.
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Start Time The end time of the assignment or cost item usage. Mark “All Day Event” if applicable.
Time Accounting Group The Time Accounting group for a human resource. This field displays only when you
are assigning a human resource as a cost on the work order, and the selected user
profile is associated with a Time Accounting group.
Time Accounting Type The Time Accounting type for a human resource. This field displays only when you are
assigning a human resource as a cost on the work order, and the selected user profile
is associated with a Time Accounting type.
Time Elapsed The actual work time of the cost item (human resource). It is updated automatically if
either Start Time or End Time values are modified, or you can enter a value directly
into this field.
This field displays only when you are assigning a human resource as a cost on
the work order, and the selected user profile is associated with a Time Accounting
type. After you enter values in Time Accounting Group, Time Accounting Type, and
Time Elapsed and save, Civic Platform adds a time accounting record in the Time
Accounting portlet.
Total Cost Automatically calculated according to the formula below.
If there are no cost factors for the cost items:
Total Cost = Fixed Rate + Quantity * Unit Rate *
Default Cost Factor
If there are multiple cost factors for the cost items: Total Cost = Fixed Rate + Unit Rate
* (Cost Factor #1 * Quantity #1 + Cost Factor #2 * Quantity #2 +...+ Cost Factor #n *
Quantity #n)
Type The type from assignment or cost.
Unit Rate The unit cost rate to be used for the cost item.
Unit of Measure The unit of measure for the cost item.
Updated Date This read-only field shows when the cost item is last updated in the administrator
portlet.
Updated By This read-only field shows the user account that last updated the cost item in the
administrator portlet.
Usage/Time Tracking This field contains three parts: Time Accounting Group, Time Accounting, and Time
Elapsed.
Work Order Task The work order task associated with the cost. Only the active or completed work order
tasks display in the list. This item is not required for a cost entry. Because users can
add the same task in a work order more than once, each work order task name has
the Task Suffix attached to it, for distinguishing which specific task is associated with
the cost. For example, if the work order task of a cost is “on-site inspection-3”, the cost
is associated with the “on-site inspection” task that is added the third time to the work
order.
Work Order Task Fields
The table below lists and defines fields that may be available for Work Order tasks.
Table 117: Work Order Task Fields
Actual The actual amount of time needed to complete the task, as opposed to the estimated
amount of time.
Comments Comments associated with the work order task. Default comments can be entered on
the work order template so that they appear with the tasks on the work order when the
template is used.
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Complete By The worker who completed the task.
Complete Date The date the task is completed.
Cost The total work order cost that is recorded against each specific task. Depending on
user permissions, Values in the cost column or the actual may be masked, depending
on permissions.
Default Estimate The anticipated number of units of time, such as 3 weeks, that is needed to complete
the task. If this field is not marked when adding the task to a work order template, the
Duration unit option is disabled.
Description Description associated with the work order task.
Duration Unit The anticipated unit of time needed to complete the task, such as day or week. This
field is used in conjunction with the Default Estimate field.
Effective Date The date the task was first active in the software. Administrators can create tasks
ahead of time to prepare for use in Civic Platform. The Effective Date must occur
before the Expire Date.
Allow Estimate Change The option of whether to allow changes to be made to the estimate.
Expire Date The date the task is inactive in the software. This allows administrators to remove
tasks while still maintaining history. The Expire Date selected must occur after the
Effective Date.
Order The order of the task in comparison to the other tasks in the work order. This allows
for the tasks to be organized in sequential order.
Record Status New work order tasks are automatically set to Active when created. When a task is
deleted, it is inactivated in the software. To reactivate a task, look up inactive tasks
and use the drop-down list to select the active status.
Standard Operating
Procedures
The established or prescribed method to be followed routinely for the performance of
the task. For example, “Clean sample tube with brush.” To see or modify the SOP,
click the link in the work order task tab, as described in Updating a Work Order Task.
Task Code The identification code number for a work order task.
Task Suffix This read-only field displays the number of times that the same task is added in a work
order. When a task is first added in a work order, its task suffix is 1; when it is added
the second time, the task suffix is 2; and so on.
Updated By The user who last updated the work order task.
Updated Date The most current date the work order task record is updated.
Workflow Task The workflow task that you want to associate with the work order task.
Workflow Task Status The workflow task status that activates this Work Order Task.
Work Order-Related Asset Fields
The following table defines the default work order-related asset fields.
Table 118: Work Order-Related Asset Fields
Comments Comments associated with the asset.
Current Value This read-only field shows the current value of the asset. The value is the result of
the asset depreciation calculation that takes the current date as the depreciation
end date.
Date of Service The date the asset was initially placed into service.
Depr. Amt This read-only field shows the decline in the asset value by the asset depreciation
calculation.
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Depr. End Date The end date for the asset depreciation calculation.
Depr. Start Date The start date for the asset depreciation calculation.
Depr. Value This read-only field displays the asset value after the asset depreciation
calculation.
Description A description of the asset.
End Location The distance between the start of a linear asset and the end of the work against
the asset. If you leave this field blank, Mobile Office takes the end of the asset as
the end location of the work. The unit of the end location is the same as that of the
asset size.
This field is available only when you edit a linear asset.
ID The identification number used to identify the asset.
Last Update This read-only field indicates when the asset was last updated.
Name The name of the asset.
Salvage Value The residual value of the asset at the end of its useful life.
Short Notes This field displays a link. If you click the link, an Edit Short Notes window displays.
You can enter, view, or edit the note for the asset in the Edit Short Notes window.
Size The size of the asset. This field may be required for asset types that belong to the
Linear, Node-Link Linear, or Polygon class types, depending on your agency’s
settings. Enter the unit of measure in the Unit field.
Start Location The distance between the start of a linear asset and the start of the work against
the asset. If you leave this field blank, Mobile Office takes the start of the asset as
the start location of the work. The unit of the start location is the same as that of
the asset size.
This field is available only when you edit a linear asset.
Start Value The beginning value or purchase price of the asset.
Status The status of the asset. The status will default to active when a new asset is
created. Changing the status of the asset will effect the maintenance, availability,
and deprecation calculation of the asset.
Status Date The date the asset status changed.
Type The type of asset.
Note:
After you select an asset type, some asset attributes or attribute tables
may display below the standard asset fields. The attributes and attribute
tables are defined by your agency administrator in the asset template that
associates with the asset type. You can enter more information about the
asset in the attributes or attribute tables.
Unit The unit of measure for the value entered in the Size field. Your system
administrator determines which units are available in this menu.
Useful Life The number of years the asset is expected to be used.

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