The workflow system is available across all modules within CivicGov. All comments entered from various sources such as departments, special groups, or individuals within and also external to the agency can be tracked. Each review point has the ability to provide comments and suggest rejection or approval of a specific application. The system also supports an overall review "final review authority" that allows for a controlling department or group to review all comments and suggestions and have the final say on the approval or denial of an application.

In addition, the Status area of a record keeps track of every action within the system from record creation to closure. It is a "one-stop" area to instantly determine the status of an application review or permit/project that has been approved for implementation.

While the workflow is available across most of the modules, it is used mostly in the Permitting and Project systems. It is used to control the routing of various applications to the required departments for review and approval prior to the application being approved as a permit or project. In this guide, we will use mostly the permitting system to demonstrate the process.

Modifications

For specific records that may need additional routing or regular routing stops removed from the default setting, the system allows those with appropriate rights to remove groups, departments, and users that may not need to review that specific application. This process does not affect the default settings. Furthermore, the admin can also route the record to other stops as required using the record override feature. This feature is only available (visible) if a record is in the pending or hold status. Records that have already received approval cannot have their routing modified.

After approval of the application to become a permit, no more manual entries can be made in the workflow system. Workflow from the approval point on will automatically track all other activity regarding the permit such as the scheduling and completion of inspections, the issuance of certificates, and the closure of the permit. 

Workflow Configuration

Workflow is configured during the initial setup of the system. However, users with the required rights level can override the routing on the Status tab of an individual record as required by special circumstances. During setup, project management teams work with the customer to identify a workflow routing for each permit type and/or each permit or project use. 

Approval Entity

This provides a process where any group, department, or user set with that authority, has the ability to reject an application. If this rejections is set, once any area with that authority sets the record as rejected, further review is stopped and the entire application is rejected.

Sequential vs. Simultaneous Routing

Fields are available to determine if the routing should be sent to all review stops at the same time or sent one after the other based on if the record is approved to continue its review from the previous review point.

Deadlines

The system can track deadlines from the time an application is submitted. At each record stop, an administrator can configure how long each review point has to review the application. If that deadline has passed, the system will warn with a series of color-coded entries and notifications in the action items window within the system dashboard.

Workflow Notifications

If the municipality activated the email system, when a permit or project application is routed for review, an email from CivicGov will be distributed to those in the workflow routing.