7Managing Contractor Information
Contractor License Overview
Permit and planning applications can include information about the contractor who performs the work. Your contractor records help you validate whether contractors have licenses that are active and in good standing.
Contractor Licenses
Contractor information is stored in your main contractor records, where agency staff creates and maintains the information. Additionally, applicants can supply contractor information in permit and planning applications. If an application includes a license number that doesn’t yet exist in your main records, submitting the application creates a new contractor record.
If you implement contractor integration, you can validate license information against your state or other external licensing body using the integration capabilities of Oracle Autonomous Integration Cloud (OIC).
Regardless of whether you integrate with an external licensing body, your contractor records include the same type of information. However, integration affects how you view and manage certain information. The following table describes these differences.
| Information Type |
No Integration |
Integration Active |
|---|---|---|
| All |
Agency staff manually enters or updates license information in the contractor record. Applicants can enter contractor information within an application. Applicants who self-identify as contractors must supply a license number. Other applicants are not expected to know the license number, and they can enter whatever information they have. If an applicant supplies a license number, they can pull additional license details from your contractor records into the application. If the license number doesn’t yet exist in your system, the applicant can manually supply the details or submit the application without the details. |
Agency staff performs a real-time license number validation that retrieves license details from the licensing body. For most users, the license detail fields are read-only, and re-validation is the only way to update the information. However, system administrators are able to modify contractor information. Applicants who enter a license number in an application can use the same validation process. The validation process checks your contractor records first, and if you don’t yet have a record of the license, the process gets information from the licensing body. Applicant who self-identify as contractors must supply a license number. They can’t manually enter any other data because the integration process is available to retrieve the information. Other applicants are not expected to know the license number, and they can enter whatever information they have. They can manually enter or update data regardless of whether they use the validation process. |
| License status |
Agency staff uses the Internal Status field to indicate if a license is active, suspended, expired, and so forth. Applicants can see the internal status if they bring details from your contractor records into an application. They can’t modify the status. |
The license validation process retrieves a source status from the external licensing body. This status is read-only for all users, and can only be updated by re-validating the license number. Your status mapping settings assign a default internal status based on the source status. Agency staff can update the internal status. Your status mapping settings also specify if specific source statuses will prevent applicants from submitting applications. For example, if you don’t want to accept applications that include an expired or suspended license, configure the source status for expired licenses accordingly. If the application is declined due to the source status, the applicant sees a message explaining that the application can’t be submitted. |
| License type |
When integration is not enabled, the agency must create a license type for contractor licenses. Set up the license type in the contractor options. Applicants must select this value as the license type when they enter contractor license information in an application. Oracle recommends creating a single license type for contractors, and using license classifications to track the specific types of work that a contractor is licensed to perform. |
License types are not enabled in the contractor options, and applications do not include a license type field. Use license classifications to track the specific types of work that a contractor is licensed to perform. |
Contractor Information in the Intake Form
Applicants who enter a contractor license number in an application can use that number to bring additional contractor information into the application. This process initially checks the data in your main contractor records. If you don’t have a record of the license number, and you integrate with an external licensing body, the process can retrieve license information from the external source.
If an applicant self-identifies as a contractor, then a license number is required. If integration is active, all other fields are read-only and can be populated only by the process of validating the license number.
Non-contractors are free to enter as much or as little information as they know. For example, an applicant who isn’t a contractor can still enter basic information such as the contractor’s name or contact details. They can’t enter or modify the license status.
When an application that includes a license number is submitted, the system creates a new contractor record if there isn’t already a record for the specified license number.
When public users review details for submitted applications, they can see the contractor information. As with all other information in a submitted application, the contractor information is read-only. Certain information, including the license status, is not visible to applicants.
Authorized Agents
A contractor’s authorized agents, such as employees of the contracting business, can submit applications on behalf of a contractor. If you include the Authorized Agent field group in an application form, the applicant can self-identify as an authorized agent. Information about self-identified agents is saved to the associated contractor record. Newly identified agents are saved with a status that shows that verification is pending. Agency staff can review the information and update the verification status.
Agency staff can’t add authorized agents in a contractor record. Agents are added only when they submit applications where they self-identify as agents.
Agency staff also can’t remove authorized agents from a contractor record. Instead, they mark the verification status as failed.
The list of authorized agents for a contractor record is informational only.
Managing Contractor Licenses
This topic describes the main contractor pages that agency staff uses to enter and maintain information about licensed contractors and their authorized agents.
Viewing Contractor Licenses
To view the summary information on the contractor list page:
Select
Review the following summary information:
Page Element
Description
License
Displays the contractor license number and its status.
Dates
Displays the license issue date (or reissue date, if one exists), and the license expiration date.
Business Name
Displays the name of the contractor business.
Address
Displays the address of the contractor business.
License Last Updated
Displays the date that the contractor record was last updated.
Last Reviewed
Displays the date that license information was most recently retrieved from the external licensing body. This field is relevant only if integration is active.Used in Application
Displays Yes or No to indicate whether this contractor is associated with any permit or planning applications.
When a record is created in the main contractor pages, the initial value is No. The value is Yes if an application referencing this license has been submitted.
Use the three-dot Actions menu to perform these actions:
Action
Description
Edit
Select this action to access the detail page, where you can update the contractor information.
Verify
Select to retrieve and save updated license information from an external licensing body. This action is available only when integration with the licensing body is enabled.
Delete
Select this action to delete the contractor record. This action is available only if the contractor record has not been used in any applications, as indicated by the value in the Used in Application field.
Adding Contractor Licenses
To add a contractor license:
Select
Click Add.
The Add Contractor page displays the following the read-only information:
Page Element
Description
License Source
Identifies the system-wide contractor options that are active at the time the contractor record is created. These options including settings that determine whether integration is active and which sections of contractor data are shown on the pages that display license information.
In the License Number field, enter the license number that was issued by the licensing body.
If you do not integrate with an external licensing body, enter the following:
Page Element
Description
License Type
Select the license type for contractor licenses. Although your agency can create multiple license types as part of the contractor options, Oracle recommends using a single license type for contractors, and using license classifications to track the specific types of work that a contractor is licensed to perform.
This field is not visible if you integrate with an external licensing body.
Internal Status
Select the license status. Values include Active, Canceled, Expired, Suspended, Other, Revoked, and Inactive.
This field is available even when integration is active, but the initial value is based on the status from the external licensing body and the contractor options that map licensing body statuses to internal statuses.
If you use integration to get information from an external licensing body:
Click Validate.
This button is visible only when integration is enabled. The validation process uses the license number to retrieve additional details from the licensing body. When the process finishes successfully, it populates the rest of the fields on the page.
Confirm the license status.
The read-only Source field displays the status provided by the external licensing body. This value is updated any time you re-validate the license. Your contractor options map the source status to a default Internal Status that comes from the set of statuses your agency assigns to licenses. If a source status is not mapped to an internal status, the default internal status is Other.
Enter, update, or review information about the business.
You can enter or update data if you do not use integration. If integration is active, the fields are read-only.
Business information includes these fields:
Page Element
Description
Business Name
The name of the contractor business.
Ownership Type
The ownership structure for the business, such as Sole Proprietor or Partnership.
Postal Code
The business address. The Country field displays US.
As you enter a Postal Code, the type-ahead list shows values that include appropriate city and state combinations. After you select a value, the city and state appear as read-only fields, and two address fields appear so that you can enter the rest of the address.
If you don’t know the postal code, click the Don’t know link to display a full set of address fields.
Phone
The phone number for the business.
Issue Date
The date that the license was originally issued.
Reissue Date
The date that the license was reissued after a period of inactivity.
Expire Date
The date that the license expired or is due to expire.
Enter, update, or review additional information about the business.
You can enter or update data if you do not use integration. If integration is active, the fields are read-only.
Your system-wide contractor options determine what additional information is available and how it is labeled. If the agency displays all available information using the default labels, these sections appear:
Section Name
Description
Classifications
License classifications indicate the type of work that the contractor is licensed to perform.
This grid lists a Code and a Description for each classification.
If integration is not active and the fields are editable, selecting a code displays the associated description.
Contractor Bond
Contractor bond information includes the Company Name (the bond issuer), Policy Number, Amount, Effective Date, and Cancellation Date.
Other Bonds
Information for other bonds includes a Qualifier Name (the name of the qualifying individual on the bond) and the same fields that appear for contractor bonds.
Workers Compensation
Workers compensation information includes the Qualifier Name, Company Name, Policy Number, Effective Date, Expiration Date, and Cancellation Date.
To clear all information and start fresh, click the Clear button and go back to the step where you enter a license number.
Click Save.
The Add Contractor page closes after you save.
The next time you access the details for this contractor, the detail page displays two tabs: License Information displays the information you entered when you added the contractor, and Authorized Agents lists any users who submitted applications where they self-identified as agents for this contractor.
Modifying License Information
To modify the license information for a contractor:
Select
Locate and click the row that you want to modify.
Make your updates:
Update the Internal Status.
If integration is active, click the Validate button to retrieve the most recent contractor information and update the license detail fields.
System administrators can update data manually even when integration is active.
If integration is not active, manually modify the contractor information as needed.
Click Save.
Managing Authorized Agents
Authorized agents are added when an applicant self-identifies as an agent for a licensed contractor. The agent’s name and contact information is copied from the applicant’s account profile.
You can’t manually add authorized agent information for a license, but you can verify the agent and update the agent’s verification status depending on the results. Only verified agents are marked as active. Agents who are pending verification or whose verification failed are marked as inactive.
To manage authorized agents for a license
Select
Locate and select the contractor license.
Click the Authorized Agents link to access the tab with agent information.
Review the following information:
Page Element
Description
Agent
Displays the authorized agent’s name, email, and phone.
Business
Displays the business name from the contractor license details.
Address
Displays the authorized agent’s address.
Association
Displays Active if the agent has been verified.
Displays Pending if verification is pending or verification has failed.
Click a row to access agent details.
Update the Verification Status by selecting Verified, Pending verification, or Verification failed.
The default status for an agent who submits an application is Pending verification.
The Last Reviewed date under the verification field provides the date that the verification status was last saved.
Make any necessary changes to the agent’s personal information or contact information.
The default values are copied from the applicant section of the intake form where the applicant self-identified as an authorized agent. You can update everything except the agent’s name.
Click Save.
The detail window closes and your changes are saved. If you changed the verification status, the system also updates the Association field on the agent list and the Last Reviewed field on the agent detail page.