The work products provided in this section were developed by the Alliance for Building Regulatory Reform in the Digital Age with funding support from the federal government. These resources are designed to address specific barriers to regulatory streamlining as identified by state and local building officials, the construction industry, and the information technology community.

How do I know that I need to streamline and what savings are possible?

• documents the costs to the public and private sectors caused by inefficient and ineffective building regulatory programs and provides examples of savings that are being achieved through streamlining.

• Cindy Builds a House, a graphic representation of the typical regulatory complexity found in communities where streamlining has not been applied and how onerous regulatory requirements complicate the home building process .

What have other jurisdictions done to effectively apply information technology to their building regulatory processes? What hardware and software products are available?

• Building Regulatory Software Listing, an overview of available hardware/software streamlining technologies for state and local usage.

• Listing of Jurisdictions Using Information Technology, a list of jurisdictions that have streamlined using information technology and a sample successful funding strategies.

How do we go about procuring the most current information technology?

• Model Procurement Requirements, a detailed guide to purchasing interoperable hardware and software for use in your building regulatory processes.  These requirements have been endorsed by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO).

• Interoperability Statement, defines and describes interoperability in the building regulatory process.

What legislative actions are being taken to streamline? What resources are available to fund streamlining?

• Model Streamlining Enabling Legislation, model legislation for undertaking a statewide streamlining initiative that coordinates local jurisdiction regulatory programs through the effective use of information technology. The content is based on Oregon legialtion that was signed into law in June 2003.

• Proposed Matching Grant Criteria, a federal funding program is currently under consideration. The proposal is for a series of matching streamlining implementation grants. The criteria for those potential matching grants and a proposed implementation program to gain their funding are provided for state and local government review and support.

Background on current and past Alliance activities, including resources from the annual forums on Building Smarter in the Digital Age hosted by NCSBCS, is available on the NCSBCS Web site