Completing an Application

Agencies configure the specific sections and fields for each type of application. Regardless of these specifics, the general interface for completing an application is consistent.

Applications for business license renewals and amendments also follow this process. For more information, see Applying for a Business License Renewal and Applying for a Business License Amendment.

Example of an application — This example illustrates an application.

Single Page View and Multiple Page View

A drop-down field at the top of the application page lists the steps, including data entry pages, the Review page, and the confirmation page. Selecting a step takes the user directly to that step.

The final item on the step list is an option to toggle between the Single-Page View and Multi-Page View.

In single-page view, all of the data entry steps are combined into a single step labeled Step 1: Single-Page View. The review and confirmation steps remain separate.

General Navigation Controls

The banner above the application form includes these buttons for general navigation:

Previous and Next buttons enable users to move through the steps.
On the final step, a Submit button replaces the Next button.
Submitting an application initiates the workflow for the application. Registered public users can’t make changes to submitted applications.
Note: After submitting a business license application, you can’t make changes to the business information. Once the license is approved, you follow the amendment process for any changes. See Applying for a Business License Amendment.
The Save button lets users save their progress without submitting the application.
You’ll see warnings when you save an incomplete application, but you can still save the application and complete it later.
The Close Application button closes the application and discards unsaved changes.
A warning message gives users a chance to return to the application instead of closing it.

Data Entry Pages

An anonymous public user who starts an application must sign in before the application pages appear. Users who have not previously registered must register before accessing, filling out, and submitting an application.

The application begins with data entry steps that the agency configures. There can be one or many data entry steps. Agencies configure the sections and fields for each data entry step. For more information, see Intake Form Designer Topics. See Using Predefined Field Groups for more information about the sections that might be used in an application form.

Data entry sections are generally self-explanatory, but the following information includes notes about certain common sections.

Note: When conditions are applied by agency staff to a parcel, address, person, contractor license, or business license with the Prevent Application Progress option enabled, then the application may prevent you from submitting any new application that contains the object. Click the condition icon that is displayed next to the Application record ID field to see the list of conditions. Only agency staff can drill down to the Conditions details page for each condition by clicking the Source Reference link. They must resolve conditions before applicants can proceed with submittal.

Grids

Some intake forms contain one or more grids, which are page controls that enable you to collect and display data in a tabular fashion, using rows and columns.

Intake Form Grid User Interface

To add data to a grid:

Click Add (the plus sign).

A pop-up dialog box appears where you can enter your data.
Select or enter all the required data for the grid.

A grid can contain many fields (columns) to capture data of different types, such as dates, numbers, text, drop-down lists, check boxes, and so on. The number and types of fields depends upon the intake form designed by the agency.

Note: Some fields are configured to be read-only and can't be edited.
Select Add another row to continue to enter data when adding multiple rows.
Click OK, after you've added all the required information.
Click Save.

Note: Each new row added to a grid is assigned a sequential row number automatically.

Note: For grids with many rows, you can use the filtering option. Select a column to sort by from the Filter By drop-down list, and add a column value, if needed in the filtering value field.

Applicant

All applications include this section, which is used to identify the applicant. The applicant is also automatically added to the Contacts section.

When a registered public user starts an application, this section is prepopulated, and certain identifying fields are read-only. Updates made to the address, phone, or email when applying can be saved to the user’s account profile.

Agency staff members who complete an application on behalf of a member of the public must identify the applicant by selecting an active profile for an existing registered user or by registering a new user.

When registering a new user, the staff member can continue with the application after entering and submitting the required registration information. A confirmation email is sent to the account email address so the user can complete the registration process by clicking the provided link and setting an account password. The registration is valid even if the agent abandons the application.

Registered users and agency staff with appropriate permissions can update the applicant’s address, phone, or email in subsequent applications and optionally save the changes to the user’s account profile. System administrators can also update account information.

See The Public User Registration Process.

Application

The Application section includes the record ID and a field where applicants can enter a description. Agency staff can provide the date the application was received while entering data into the system. The received date field isn’t available for applicants applying online.

The received date determines the effective dated fee schedule that will be used when calculating fees for the application.

Note: In the prior releases, the application submission date was used for fee calculations. For transactions where the received date and submission date are different, and there are multiple effective dates for the fee schedule, then fees may be recalculated differently than previously.

To define the start and end dates of a fee schedule, see Setting Up Fee Schedules.

The Related Transaction section allows you to link your current application to other existing applications in the system. Click the Link button to open the Link Transaction page. Select all the desired applications using the check boxes and then click the Add Selected As button to view the options of link type:

Primary
Subapplication
Linked

Select one of the options to establish a link between the current application the selected transaction applications.

Note: By default, the page shows only the applications that have the property address same as what you’ve entered in your current application. You can remove the filter to see all available transactions.

For more details, see Working with Related Transactions.

Attachments

The Attachments section provides a grid where you can upload files, such as documents or images.

Depending on the agency setup, the Attachments page may display the types of documents that are required for an application type and the stage in the application process at which they are required. Click Upload to attach the specified document in the Required Documents list. This list is informational only. The applicant selects the document properties such as category and subcategory during upload and the file appears in the Attachments grid in the application. After you submit the application, the files that you added appear in a list on the Attachments page in the application's detail pages.

Also depending on agency setup, you may be prevented from uploading protected PDF files.

Terms and Conditions

If a data entry step includes the Terms and Conditions section, public users must agree to the terms before continuing past that step.

Agency staff can’t accept terms on behalf of a public user, so this section is hidden from agency staff. Instead, users are prompted to accept the terms when they first sign in.

Contacts

The Contacts section lists people who are contacts for this specific application. These people can be, but aren’t required to be, the applicant’s profile contacts.

The list of contacts for the application displays the contact type, description, and level of application access.

The contact types and levels of access that a contact can have are different for business license applications and permit and planning applications. For more details about contact types and their access to a business license application, permit, or planning application, see Setting Up Contact Types.

There are similarities and differences between contacts for permits and planning applications and business license applications:

All applications:

Select an existing contact from a list, or enter information for a new contact on the Contact Details page.
The applicant is automatically added as the primary contact in the Contacts section, but you can add or select a different primary contact. You can change the contact type, but you can't remove the applicant contact. You can also change the primary contact in the application details after submission if you are the applicant, primary contact, or business owner for business license application.
The page where you enter or edit contact details includes explanatory text to ensure that you are aware of the type of access the selected contact type confers. Applicants and agency staff can elect to provide more access to the contact.
All application contacts must have a contact type that describes the role of the person relative to the specific application. Different contact types have different levels of application access, as set up by your agency. When you add a contact to an application, you select a contact type, but you can upgrade the level of application access.
When you add a new contact, use the Add this contact to the applicant's account switch to replicate them to the applicant’s list of profile contacts. Any changes (such as an updated email or phone number) made to previously-added contacts are automatically updated in the profile contact record.
If configured by your agency, the system sends an email notification to contacts on the intake form upon application submission as well as to new contacts when they are added to the application after submission.
The applicant can never be made inactive on an application whereas other contacts can.

Permits and planning applications:

Contact information for the contractor entered in the Contractor section in the application appears in both the Contractor and Contacts sections. For more information about adding contractor licenses to an application, see the next section.
When you add a new contact, you can see the level of access each contact type confers—Full or None. You must select an agency-defined contact type but you can give the contact full access, which is similar to applicant-level access.

Applicants and contacts with full access can also make a contact inactive. Inactive contacts can't access the application.
If the contact type is configured to allow permit or planning application access, and the contact email matches the account email for a registered user, then that registered user can access the permit or planning application after it's been submitted.

Business license applications:

Agency staff members or applicants can add and update a contact type to primary contact. They can also provide the following access to a contact: Full, None, or View, pay, and print. If the contact type is configured to allow full access, and the contact email matches the account email for a registered user, then that registered user can access the application after it's been submitted. Contacts with full access can also view the associated business entity and license records. If a contact type is allowed View, Pay, Print access, then they can only view the business license application, pay fees, and print the license certificate. The View, Pay, Print option is available only for business license application contacts.
Any owners or corporate officers added to a business license application are automatically added as contacts in the Contacts section. Business owners can't be made inactive contacts in the Contacts section.
Agency staff or applicants can choose to hide the business information from public view. Turn on the Hide business from public view switch in the Business Details section of the application. This ensures that the business-related information will not be displayed in the global search results as well as on the maps.

Contractors

Applicants who self-identify or are identified by agency staff as contractors (or their authorized agents) are required to select a contractor license. Applicants can search by license number, business, or owner to retrieve information about the license from the agency’s main contractor records, if the information already exists there. If the agency integrates with an external licensing body, the information can be retrieved from the licensing body’s records.

When applicants add the contractor license from the agency's contractor records, they select a contact person from a list of verified contractors associated with the license. Once the applicant selects Done for the license information, the selected contact person also appears in the Contacts section of the application. Contractor contact access to an application can be updated in the Contacts section.

Applicants who are not contractors or authorized agents, such as homeowners, can optionally add contractors to their applications. The same is true for agency staff who are applying on behalf of this type of applicant. Only system administrators can modify contractor information in an application.

Agencies sometimes add extra validations when you add contractors to make sure that contractor licenses meet permit requirements. The license requirements for a permit can include a specific license type, classifications, and insurance attributes. Validations can also check the license expiration date. Conditions applied to a contractor license may also apply restrictions to a transaction.

Caution: You may not be able to submit the application when contractor validations fail on the permit or a condition is applied to the license, depending on how the agency sets up the license validations and conditions, respectively.

For more information, see Adding Licenses to an Application Form.

Review

A Review step appears after the last data entry step for an application. The page for the Review step shows all of the data entry sections on a single long read-only page.

Confirmation

If the application includes a confirmation page, it appears after the review page. This page can have any name.

A common scenario is to show a fee summary on the confirmation page. Displaying a read-only fee summary at the very end of the application, after all data entry is complete, ensures that the fee calculations are final.