The EPPP focuses on simplifying, standardizing and expediting building permit plan review.  Noting housing industry trends toward high volume production building, the program specializes in rapid turnaround and process consistency. Business entities rely heavily on the program’s timeframes.  New technologies from scanned building footprints to electronic submittals have been rapidly incorporated and the processes have been streamlined to maximize efficiencies and lower costs.

Keyed to the Valley’s critical residential market, the program’s volumes detect market trends. Using available staff resources and portions of its reserve fund built up through the housing boom, the department has taken advantage of the recent housing slowdown to improve its EPPP.

The department has rapidly escalated its process reengineering, offering an entirely digital EPPP process that requires less customer paperwork and travel, allowing builders to do more with fewer staff. The department is also using the EPPP digital intake process as a baseline for the migration of custom plan review processes to an electronic framework. 

In addition to improved customer service and satisfaction, the introduction and integration of technology has reduced the amount of paper used and eliminated unnecessary travel, making the new process much "greener" as well.