Setting Up Agencies

An agency is an organization that offers a range of services to its constituents, including issuing permits and licenses. You set up a variety of agency-level settings, including options for plan reviews and inspections, on the Agency Information page.

Administrators add and modify agency information using the Agency page.

Set up exactly one agency, with agency ID 1. Oracle Permitting and Licensing doesn't currently support multiple agencies.

Adding an Agency

1. Select the Setup and Maintenance tile on the Agency Springboard to access the Functional Setup Manager.

2. From the Setup drop-down list, select your offering.
3. From the Functional Areas list in the left panel, select Agency Profile.
4. The right panel shows the required tasks for the selected functional area. Select All Tasks from the Show drop-down list and then select Manage Agencies from the tasks list.

5. Click a row on the Agency page to open the Agency Details page.

6. On the Agency Details page, click the Agency Information tab and enter values for the following fields:

   Page Element	Definition
   Agency ID	Enter the number 1 as the ID for your agency.
   Name	Enter a name for the agency.
   Description	Enter a short description for the agency.
   Country	Enter the country in which the agency is located. This value is informational only. Address fields throughout the system support only USA addresses.
   Currency	Enter the currency that the agency uses for financial transactions. This value is informational only. It does not affect the currencies for fees, cash drawers, or payment adaptors.
   Time Zone	Select your agency’s local time zone. All times displayed in Oracle Permitting and Licensing use this time zone.
   Time Format, Date Format, and Number Format	Select the default formats that the agency uses to display times, dates, and numbers for anonymous users.
   Oracle Policy Automation ID	Enter the unique identifier for an agency-wide Oracle Intelligent Advisor policy model. Oracle Intelligent Advisor is a separate Oracle product. Oracle Intelligent Advisor policy models provide logic models for questionnaires that help public users determine which applications they need to complete. The policy model that you enter here is used by offerings that do not have an offering-specific policy model. To specify an offering-level policy definition, select the Features tab on the Agency Information page, then click the Options link for the offering. For more information on Oracle Intelligent Advisor, see Overview of Oracle Intelligent Advisor Configuration.

7. In the Payments section, you can configure the payment settings.

   Page Element	Definition
   Partial Payments	Select a value to indicate whether partial payment is allowed only for agency users, allowed for all users, or not allowed.
   Payment Allocation Order	Select a value to prioritize the payment allocation either as oldest or newest.

8. In the Property section, you can configure the property settings.

   Page Element	Definition
   Parcel Owner Format	This field is reserved for future functionality. Currently, regardless of your selection, parcels have one field to identify the parcel owner and an additional field to identify a secondary owner.
   Hide property owners from public users	Turn on this switch to hide property owner information from public users.
   Users can create a new address on applications	Enables registered users to create a new address on the Search Property page during application intake.
   Identify and import property information using GIS	Enables registered users to identify and import property information using the GIS.

9. In the Business section, you can configure the business settings.

   Page Element	Definition
   Business Number Rule	Select the autonumbering rule to increment numbers for businesses. Note: This field is required if the Business Licenses offering is enabled for your agency. Autonumber rules need to be defined after you create the agency, so be sure to return to the agency pages to add the business number autonumber rule that you define.
   Location Number Rule	Select the autonumbering rule to increment numbers for business locations. Note: This field is required if the Business Licenses offering is enabled for your agency. Autonumbering rules need to be defined after you create the agency, so be sure to return to the agency pages to add the location number autonumbering rule that you define.

10. In the Search section, you can search an agency using the default search filter or type.

    Page Element	Definition
    Default Search Filter	Select a default search filter. The available search filters are Address, Parcel, and Owner.
    Default Search Type	Select the default search type. The available search types are Starts with and Contains.

11. In the Copy Applications section, you can define the number of copies that can be created for an application.

    Page Element	Definition
    Maximum Copies Allowed	Use the increment and decrement buttons to increase or decrease the number of copies that can be created for an application at a time. By default, this is set to five, but the agency can enter any number between 0 to 100.

12. The fields in the Business Rules Framework section apply to setting up email notifications for business rules in a status of Error and for setting up automated retries for unsuccessful business rule actions.

    For more information on setting up email notifications and automated action retries, see Viewing Business Rule Logs and Scheduling Automated Retry.

13. In the Plan Reviews section, you can set up plan reviews with these options in both the Permits and Planning and Zoning offerings.

    Page Element	Definition
    Default Plan Review Date Type Filter	Select a default value for the date type filter on the Plan Reviews console page for agency staff: Cycle Due - The date when the plan review cycle is scheduled to be completed. Cycle Created - The date when the plan review cycle was created. Reviewer Due - The date by which the plan reviewer must provide a decision. Reviewer Decision - The date when the plan reviewer provided a decision. Cycle Decision - The date when the cycle decision was provided. All Dates - All date types.
    Default Plan Review Date Filter	Select a value in the time period filter to correspond with the date type filter on the Plan Reviews console page for agency staff: Today Yesterday Tomorrow Last 14 Days or Next 14 Days Last 30 Days or Next 30 Days You can't select specific dates as the default date value.
    Exclude Saturday and Sunday	Turn on this switch to calculate plan review due dates not counting Saturday and Sunday. The holiday calendar is always taken into account to exclude holidays. For more information. see Setting Up Plan Review Due Dates.

    For more information about the Plan Reviews console page, see Using the Plan Review Console.

14. In the Inspections section, you can set up inspections with these options in both the Permits and Business Licenses offerings.

    Page Element	Definition
    Default Inspection Date Type Filter	Select a default value for the date type filter on the Inspections console page for agency staff. Requested - Displays inspections that were requested. The status can be Requested or Canceled. Unassigned - Displays inspections with no inspector assigned and the status is Requested. Scheduled - Displays inspections that were scheduled. The status can be Scheduled or Canceled. Completed - Displays inspections with a Completed status. All Date Types Displays inspections with all of the listed date types.
    Default Inspection Date Filter	Select a value in the time period filter to correspond with the date type filter on the Inspections console page for agency staff: Today Yesterday Tomorrow Last 14 Days or Next 14 Days Last 30 Days or Next 30 Days
    Inspection Count Limit	Enter the maximum number of inspections in a day that can be assigned to an inspector. The default value is 20.

    For more information, see Managing Inspections for an Agency.

15. Click Save.

16. In the Application section, you can

    Page Element	Definition
    Automatic Saving for Intake Forms	Enables agencies to automatically save the applications for intake forms.
    Enable images on apply page	Enables agencies to attach images to display group definitions. The images can help convey the type of applications within that group. After enabling, you can use the Application Display Group Details page to upload an appropriate image for that display group. For more information, see Setting Up Application Display Groups.
    Guest users can estimate fees	Enables guest users (non-registered users) to estimate fees prior to submitting an application. For more information, see Estimating Fees.

Modifying an Agency

1. Select the Setup and Maintenance tile on the Agency Springboard to access the Functional Setup Manager.

2. From the Setup drop-down list, select your offering.
3. From the Functional Areas list in the left panel, select Agency Profile.
4. The right panel shows the required tasks for the selected functional area. Select All Tasks from the Show drop-down list and then select Manage Agencies from the tasks list.

5. Click a row on the Agency Information tab.

6. Update the agency information field values.

7. Click Save.

Adding an Agency Address

1. Select the Setup and Maintenance tile on the Agency Springboard to access the Functional Setup Manager.

2. From the Setup drop-down list, select your offering.
3. From the Functional Areas list in the left panel, select Agency Profile.
4. The right panel shows the required tasks for the selected functional area. Select All Tasks from the Show drop-down list and then select Manage Agencies from the tasks list.
5. Click a row on the Agency Details page.

6. Select the Addresses tab, and click + Add.

7. On the Addresses drawer, enter values for the following fields:

   Page Elements	Definition
   Address ID	Enter a unique ID for the address.
   From Date and To Date	Enter the date range for which the address is valid.
   Address Fields	The agency 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.
   Primary	Select to indicate that this is the primary address for the agency. An agency may have only one primary address.

8. Click Save.

Modifying an Agency Address

1. Select the Setup and Maintenance tile on the Agency Springboard to access the Functional Setup Manager.

2. From the Setup drop-down list, select your offering.
3. From the Functional Areas list in the left panel, select Agency Profile.
4. The right panel shows the required tasks for the selected functional area. Select All Tasks from the Show drop-down list and then select Manage Agencies from the tasks list.
5. Click a row on the Agency Details page.

6. Select the Addresses tab.

7. Click a row on the Addresses tab. You can:

   • Update the agency address field values.

     Note:

     You cannot change a primary address row to non-primary. Instead, when you update a non-primary row to primary, all other address rows are saved as non-primary.

   • Delete the address. You will be prompted to confirm the permanent deletion.

     Note:

     You cannot delete primary address rows.

8. Click Save.

Deleting an Agency Address

1. Select the Setup and Maintenance tile on the Agency Springboard to access the Functional Setup Manager.

2. From the Setup drop-down list, select your offering.
3. From the Functional Areas list in the left panel, select Agency Profile.
4. The right panel shows the required tasks for the selected functional area. Select All Tasks from the Show drop-down list and then select Manage Agencies from the tasks list.
5. Click a row on the Agency Details page.

6. Select the Address tab.

7. Click Edit.

8. Select the checkboxes next to all the agency addresses that you want to delete.

9. Click Delete. You will be prompted to confirm the permanent deletion.

Note:

You cannot delete primary address rows. To delete an address row that is designated as primary, you must first designate a different address row as primary. This changes the previously primary row to non-primary, allowing it to be deleted.

Adding Agency Languages

For information on adding languages and establishing language defaults for an agency, see Setting Up Languages.

Configuring Agency-Level Options for Specific Offerings

The Features tab lists offerings that are enabled in Functional Setup Manager (FSM). Use the Review Options link to configure offering-specific settings.

For more information about configuring these options, see

• Permits: Setting Up Agency-Level Options for Permits
• Planning Applications: Setting Up Agency-Level Options for Planning Applications
• Code Enforcement: Setting Up Agency-Level Options for Code Enforcement
• Business Licenses: Setting Up Agency-Level Options for Business Licenses

Setting Up Related Transaction Linking

The Related Transactions tab allows you to set up access for your users to link their applications with other related transactions. You control the way related transactions are linked with applications based on whether an applicant or a contact user is working with the application.

1. Select the Setup and Maintenance tile on the Agency Springboard to access the Functional Setup Manager.

2. From the Setup drop-down list, select your offering.
3. From the Functional Areas list in the left panel, select Agency Profile.
4. The right panel shows the required tasks for the selected functional area. Select All Tasks from the Show drop-down list and then select Manage Agencies from the tasks list.
5. Click a row for your agency on the Agency Details page.

6. Select the Related Transactions tab.

7. Select the checkboxes for applicants and contacts to allow linking related transactions:

   • Applicants can link transactions to only their own applications

   • Applicants can link transactions to any application

   • Contacts can link transactions to any application that they manage

   • Contacts can link transactions to any other application

   Note:

   If no option is selected, then the Link and Actions options will not be available for applicants and contacts on the Related Transactions page.

8. Click Save.

See Working with Related Transactions.