Automating Certificate of Occupancy Management: Fort Worth’s Success Story

Background

The City of Fort Worth’s development services teams identified a critical need for a more efficient way to manage Certificate of Occupancy (CO) documents. Historically, storing and retrieving COs was cumbersome and highly manual, requiring staff to download and transfer files to the city's document management system, Laserfiche. Additionally, a significant volume of historical COs had been digitized from microfiche and microfilm, adding further complexity to capturing and organizing these documents.

Ken Frame, Business Process Manager for the City of Fort Worth Development Services Department, explained the challenge: "Our development community specifically requested an easier way to access Certificates of Occupancy. Previously, COs were stored manually, making it difficult for businesses and staff to find them efficiently. We wanted a system where COs would be automatically transferred to Laserfiche, reducing reliance on staff to remember each step in the process."

Challenges

Without a seamless integration between Accela and Laserfiche, staff faced inefficiencies, often struggling to prioritize document transfers amidst other operational demands. This lack of automation increased the risk of missing records and reduced the accessibility of critical documents for businesses and city departments.

Brian Johnson, Senior IT Business Analyst, emphasized the manual burden: "It was a very manual process—when it got done. Staff had other priorities, so COs weren’t always transferred with diligence. We needed an automated, streamlined solution to eliminate wasted time and ensure accurate record-keeping."

Solution

To address these challenges, the City of Fort Worth implemented Velosimo’s integration between Accela and Laserfiche, creating a fully automated and streamlined process for transferring newly issued COs. This integration ensures that COs are instantly and accurately stored in Laserfiche upon issuance without staff intervention.

Anthony Garma, IT Solutions Manager, highlighted the integration's impact: "This was about freeing up our staff to focus on higher-value work. With the integration, we no longer rely on employees to manually transfer files—it happens automatically. That’s a huge win for efficiency and accuracy."

Results

By leveraging automation, the city has:

• Eliminated manual file transfers, reducing the risk of human error and missing records.
• Freed up staff time for higher-value tasks, increasing efficiency across departments.
• Improved document accessibility, making COs available as needed for businesses and stakeholders.
• Established a scalable system that supports ongoing and future digital transformation initiatives.

Through this strategic integration, Fort Worth has successfully enhanced its document management capabilities, reinforcing its commitment to operational efficiency and exceptional customer service.