TerraQuest, the operator of Planning Portal, is unveiling a new Building Control Portal, offering a raft of new features designed to benefit local authority building control teams (LABCs), planning agents, architects and developers, as well as householders. The move is a key step in streamlining and digitising the building control application process for all users, creating a single portal that serves as the home of planning and building control.
Built on TerraQuest’s proprietary KeyChain software platform, which is recognised by international experts for its quality, the new building control Portal expected in spring 2024 allows applicants to pull information through from existing or approved planning applications to pre-populate elements of building control applications.
A single sign-on will give users direct access to all their planning and building control applications, while the platform brings with it a host of usability and interface enhancements that will save users time and money.
Meanwhile, LABCs stand to benefit from a single portal for all development applications across planning and building control. The single portal means they will have the same high degree of integration with their back-office systems that they already enjoy from Planning Portal, bringing a streamlined approach that allows for a substantial reduction in manual data entry, processing and time.
Geoff Keal, CEO at TerraQuest, said: “Having developed the new Planning Portal, we know the benefits that leading digital products and services bring to end users, whether they are applicants or on the local authority side. We wanted to extend these benefits to building control applicants and LABCs, which is why we have built our new integrated Building Control Portal on our proven KeyChain software platform.”
Behind the scenes, LABCs will benefit from substantial efficiencies arising from the new service’s payment processing, providing a consolidated payment solution.
“One of the main drivers of this software update is to enable greater agility in adapting to shifts in health and safety legislation, enabling applicants to make compliant submissions more easily. We have in-house policy experts who are constantly striving to ensure our platform is up to date and allows us to serve our overall goal to drive development more quickly,” added Geoff. TerraQuest has cautioned users that existing Planning Portal building control service accounts will not carry over to the new system, and that draft applications will not be transferred. Existing drafts will need to be submitted before the transition to the new system or inputted into the new system when it launches.
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