Permit Technician at City of Albany, OR

About the Department

Are you wanting to help your community with your customer service experience?  The Community Development Department is hiring for the vital role of Permit Technician. This role serves as the first point of contact for land use, permits, and code compliance, assisting the public, customers, and contractors ensuring they understand the permitting process and assisting their projects meet the various requirements. An ideal candidate will have a professional approach to providing information on requirements, while providing great customer focused service.

General Purpose
Performs a variety of advanced duties in support of the receipt, processing, and recordkeeping functions of the Community Development and Public Works permit counter; provides information and assistance to customers in applying for and obtaining City development permits; issues a variety of permits; monitors the permit review process by routing applications and plans and tracking applications through the approval process; ensures timely processing of application requests; provides essential functions for the department’s compliance program and assists with provided guidance on resolution with compliance cases ; and performs related work as required.

Position Duties

The duties listed are intended only as illustrative examples of the various types of work that may be performed by individuals in this classification. Any of the following duties may be performed. These examples are not necessarily performed by all incumbents and do not include all specific essential functions and responsibilities the incumbent may be expected to perform.

Customer Service

1. Represents the Community Development Department in a prompt, professional, and courteous manner while continuously maintaining a positive customer service demeanor.
2. Regards everyone, internal and external, as a customer and deliver the best service possible in a respectful and patient manner in person, by email, or by phone regarding technical questions and information related to development permit processes and pertinent standards.
3. Assists in resolving complex and sensitive customer service issues. Maintains records and documents of customer service issues and resolutions.
4. Attends and/or facilitates meetings such as development review, pre-application, training, and other meetings as assigned.
5. Provides information from the City’s GIS system.

General Data Management

1. Maintains records associated with application, plan reviews, code compliance, and correspondence in accordance with record management requirements and department standards.
2. Input data from various sources and ensure the data is posted to the appropriate accounts.
3. Archive permits, plans, site plans, soils reports, engineering calculations and other pertinent information. Responsible for maintaining accuracy of archiving system.
4. Assign addresses to property in the city of Albany and inform customers of assigned addresses.
5. Produce related reports for staff, outside agencies, and customers.

Code Enforcement

1. Intake code compliance complaints.
2. Assists in creating, processing, and archiving code compliance notices
3. Assists customers in the permitting process to resolve compliance cases
4. Provides general phone and email support for the code compliance program
5. Assists staff with other code enforcement activities, as needed.

General Duties

1. Process applications for development and associated permits.
2. Review applications and submitted plans for completeness, with required checklists and procedures. 
3. Research a wide variety of building related issues including permit activity and approved uses.
4. Reviews and ensures the appropriate fees are entered into the permitting system, in compliance with Oregon Administrative Rule and adopted fee schedules.
5. Coordinate operations of the counter including recommending procedures and practices, ensuring workflow functions smoothly, both within the Building Division and throughout the City structure.
6. Maintain Construction Contractors Board and Oregon Building Codes Division contractor information in the permitting system.
7. Create expiration letters for applicants and record correspondence on expired permits and applications. 
8. Provides assistance to inspectors and plans examiners. 
9. Conducts limited one- & two-family plan reviews related to scopes of work exempt from certification, as specified in Oregon Administrative Rule.
10. Assists in monitoring and review of projects as part of the division’s quality control program.
11. Assists in daily inspection routing, as required. 
12. Enters inspection results and code references into the permitting system, as required.
13. Represents the City of Albany by responding to the public, citizens, its employees, and others in a prompt, professional, and courteous manner while continuously maintaining a positive customer service demeanor. Regards everyone, internal and external, as a customer and deliver the best service possible in a respectful and patient manner.
14. Serves as a member of various City committees as assigned.
15. Assists other staff in the performance of their duties as assigned.
16. Maintains regular job attendance and adherence to working hours.
17. Operates a motor vehicle safely and legally. 
18. May provide training and orientation to newly assigned personnel.
19. Performs other related duties as required/assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

This is a non-supervisory position. Lead work/coordination of work of others is not a typical function assigned to this position. Incumbents in this position will provide training and orientation to newly assigned personnel.

Other Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

Education and Experience:
A high school diploma or its equivalent
AND
Two years of experience in providing public counter assistance in a closely related field.  

Special Requirements:

1. Possession of or ability to obtain an Oregon Inspector Certification within six months of job placement.
2. Possession of or ability to obtain a valid Oregon driver's license and a driving record that meets the City’s driving standards at time of job placement.
3. The individual shall not pose a direct threat to the health or safety of themselves or others.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 

Knowledge of: Oregon Building Code and Oregon Administrative Rule governing a building inspection program.  
General knowledge of: construction, customer service, operations of city government, modern office procedures and methods; English usage, spelling, grammar and punctuation; and basic mathematical principles.
Skill in: the operation of listed tools and equipment. Excellent public relations and interpersonal skills essential to acting as an ombudsman for all segments of the general public, as well as maintaining good working relations with staff. Demonstrated skills relative to code compliance, including the ability to interpret and apply policies, procedures, standards, rules, and regulations.
Ability to: read and understand complicated plans and specifications, work well with the public and local contractors, communicate effectively orally and in writing, quickly and accurately calculate fees and perform mathematical calculations; work both independently and as a team member; and establish and maintain effective working relationships with employees, customers, and others.

Work Environment:
In the performance of the job duties, the employee will typically perform in an office environment under usual office working conditions. The noise level in the work area is typical of most office environments, with some telephones, personal interruptions, and background noises. Travel is not a regular part of this classification, with the exception of running administrative errands.

Physical Demands:
The factors described herein are representative of, but not all-inclusive of, those that must be met by an individual to successfully perform the job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Detailed information may be available in a supplemental Job Task Analysis document.
The work is sedentary work which requires exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Additionally, the following physical abilities are required:

• Balancing:  sufficient to maintain body equilibrium to prevent falling while walking, standing or crouching. The amount of balancing does not exceed that needed for ordinary locomotion and maintenance of body equilibrium.
• Climbing: sufficient to ascend or descent light duty, multi-step stepstools and stairs, using feed and legs and/or hands and arms.
• Crawling: sufficient to move about on hands and knees or hands and feet.
• Fingering: sufficient to pick, pinch, type, or otherwise work, primarily with fingers rather than with the whole hand as in handling.
• Grasping: sufficient to apply pressure to an object with the fingers and palm.
• Handling: sufficient to pick, hold, or otherwise work, primarily with the whole hand.
• Hearing: sufficient to perceive the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction. Ability to receive detailed information through oral communication, and to make the discrimination in sound. 
• Lifting: sufficient to raise objects from a lower to a higher position or moving objects horizontally from position-to-position. Occurs to a considerable degree and requires substantial use of upper extremities and back muscles. 
• Mental Acuity: sufficient to make rational decisions through sound logic and deductive processes.
• Reaching: sufficient to extend hand(s) and arm(s) in any direction.
• Repetitive Motion: Substantial movements (motions) of the wrist, hands, and/or fingers.
• Speaking: sufficient to express or exchange ideas by means of the spoken word including the ability to convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately and concisely.
• Talking: sufficient to express or exchange ideas by means of the spoken word including those activities in which they must convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly.
• Visual Acuity: sufficient to observe violations of codes, to effectively operate standard office equipment; ability to read and write reports, correspondence, instructions, drawings, etc.; and to operate motor vehicles and/or heavy equipment, by both day and night.
• Walking: sufficient to move about on foot to accomplish tasks, particularly for long distances or move from one work site to another.

Tools and Equipment Used: 
In the performance of job duties, the employee will use a computer and various software programs; motor vehicle; calculator; phone; copy and fax machines; and other related tools and equipment.

Safety Equipment:
Develops safe work habits and contributes to the safety of self, coworkers, and the public.

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