Ireland’s Building Control Management System has won the 2016 eGov ‘Open Source Award’. The document work-flow solution was developed in 2014 for the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA), and is now used by all 31 local authorities in the country.
The Building Control Management System (BCMS) allows property owners, builders, developers, architects and engineers to submit notifications, applications and compliance certificates online. The solution includes an internal management system, processing notices received both online and over the counter in local authorities.
According to the LGMA, the system has to date processed about 4,000 commencement notices. The system has over 12,000 public users registered and the central document repository manages about 57,000 documents.
The LGMA procured the system in late 2013, specifying that it wanted to have full ownership of the intellectual property of any solutions, and the rights to re-use, distribute, update or amend the software.
Collaborative effort
“The delivery of the system was a result of the successful collaboration and partnership between the lead local authority, Fingal County Council and LGMA’s Open Source Team”, the LGMA says in a statement. “An important factor in the success of the project was the participation of County and City Council Chief Executives and the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government on the project board and also representatives of the industry partners such as CIF and RIAI.”
In 2014, the work-flow solution was included in Ireland’s Building Control Regulations, instructing that Commencement Notices should be applied for online, using the BCMS.