Custom app for building permit application files
Appfront builds apps for architects, construction firms and consultancies that apply for environmental permits on behalf of their clients: a dossier per project with the checklist of attachments the Omgevingsloket (Dutch Environment Counter) requires for that activity, drawings and calculations in the correct version, the client's authorisation, and the status after submission together with any questions from the municipality. So that an application is not rejected as incomplete because a single attachment was missing.
What is an app for environmental permit application files?
A permit application dossier for an environmental permit contains everything the competent authority needs to decide on an activity: the application itself, the drawings, the calculations, the reports and the client's authorisation. Since the Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet) came into force, applications go through the Omgevingsloket, and each activity has submission requirements that determine which attachments must be included. An app for the application dossier builds a checklist per project, stores the documents in the correct version and tracks the application after submission, including any questions the municipality raises.
Without such an app, the application sits in the portal, the drawings are on the network drive in three versions, the structural calculation is in an email from the engineer, and the authorisation is a scan. The municipality requests supplementary information, the deadline runs, and the project manager has to work out which version of the elevation drawing was submitted. The client calls to ask how things stand, and the answer is an estimate.
We build custom solutions because the file must match your projects and your way of working: which activities you typically apply for, which attachments you normally deliver, which consultants contribute, how your drawings are managed and what the client is allowed to see. A generic project management package knows nothing about submission requirements or competent authorities.
Checklist per activity
For each project, the activities being applied for and, per activity, the attachments that belong to it, with the status of each: requested, received, checked, submitted.
Documents in versions
Drawings, calculations and reports in versions, with the submitted version clearly marked. A supplement becomes a new version, not an overwritten file.
Status after submission
The submission date, the deadline, requests for supplementary information and the response to them, visible to the team and, in plain language, to the client.
How we build your environmental permit application file app
We start with an application that was delayed: which attachment was missing, who should have supplied it, and where the file was at the time. The app is shaped by that.
Which activities you apply for, which attachments recur per activity, which consultants supply them, how drawings are currently managed and how the client is currently kept informed.
Per project, the activities and the checklist of attachments, with who supplies what and when. Linked to the project in your project administration.
Documents in versions, the pre-submission check, submission via the Omgevingsloket and recording exactly what was submitted.
Requests for further information and deadlines in the file, the client portal, and then management and the extension to notifications and pre-consultation.
What an app for the environmental permit application file actually does
The components below come up at almost every firm that applies for permits. Which ones you need depends on the type of projects and on your consultants.
Project file
Per project: the client, the location, the activities and the competent authority, with the client's authorisation as the first document.
Attachment checklist
Per activity, the attachments the portal requires, supplemented with what you always provide yourself, with the status of each attachment and who supplies it.
Version control
Every drawing and report in versions, with the submitted version locked and any change in a supplementary submission made visible.
Consultants deliver
The structural engineer, the building services consultant and the building physicist upload their part to the file, against the attachment it belongs to, without email.
Deadlines and requests for information
The submission date, the decision deadline and requests for further information with the final date, with a signal before each deadline.
Client portal
The client sees the status of their application, the submitted documents and what is being asked of them, without having to phone.
For whom we build an app for the environmental permit application file
The app is intended for firms and companies that regularly apply on behalf of others, and for whom a missing attachment currently costs weeks.
Architecture firms
Applications for new builds and renovations with drawings from your own firm and calculations from consultants. The checklist and consultants delivering their input are the core.
Construction firms and contractors
Applications as part of a construction contract, often under time pressure. The deadlines and the link with project planning matter most.
Building consultancies
Applications as a service, for many clients at once. The portal per client and reporting on ongoing applications are what is needed.
Developers with multiple projects
Applications per project with different firms. An overview of all files and the status per competent authority is the core.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page is about the application file. For managing the drawings themselves, in revisions, see our page on drawing revision management for architects, for the firm as a whole our page on architectural firm software, and for the permitting authority's side our page on permit software. You can read about our approach at building software.
If the risk matrix calls for a construction safety plan, there is our app for the construction safety plan.
If you want to track the BENG calculation from application to handover, look at our software for the BENG calculation file.
If you want to see the rules from the environmental plan for each location in your own system, see our page on an IMOW integration.
Why Appfront for your app for the environmental permit application file?
A permit application is only as good as the answer to whether everything is included. We build on that: one checklist, one version, one status.
The checklist is per activity
What the portal requires is set out in the file before the first drawing is made. A missing attachment shows up during preparation, not in the request for further information.
Submitted means locked
The version submitted to the counter remains the version that was filed. A supplement is a new version with the change added, not an overwritten file.
Your client knows where things stand
Status, documents and what is being asked of them are all in their portal. The project lead answers questions, rather than the same question every week.
Security and privacy for an app handling environmental permit application files
The file contains drawings and reports owned by your practice or by consultants, along with client and site details. Access is set by role and by project: the project lead sees their own projects, a consultant sees only the appendix they deliver, and the client sees only their own application. Every upload, change and submission is logged with name and time, and a submitted version cannot be altered.
The app runs in a European data centre, with encrypted storage and daily backups. Integrations with your project administration and drawing management use your own keys, which can be revoked per integration.
Frequently asked questions about an app for environmental permit application files
Questions architects and building firms ask before they get started.
It creates a file for each project listing the activities being applied for, a checklist of appendices for each activity, stores drawings and reports in versions, lets consultants submit their documents into the file, records what has been submitted, and tracks deadlines and requests for supplementary information. The client sees the status in a portal.
Submission takes place in the Omgevingsloket itself, by the authorised representative. The app prepares the dossier, checks the checklist and records which versions were submitted and when. Whether an integration with the portal is possible and worthwhile for your situation, we will look at in the first step.
From the submission requirements per activity, supplemented with what you supply as standard and what a municipality additionally asks for. You manage those lists in the app, so a change in the rules or in a municipality's practice is recorded once and then carries through to every new dossier.
The request is added to the file with its deadline, the documents requested become appendices with the status requested, the consultant who must deliver is notified, and the supplement becomes a new version. What was supplemented and when is shown alongside what was originally submitted.
For buildings that require a quality assessor, the quality assessor is listed as a party in the file, with the documents they provide or receive. The app tracks which documents are needed for the building notification and the completion notification; the substantive quality assurance remains with the quality assessor.
Yes. The project and the client come from your project administration, drawings can be linked from your drawing management in the version that applies, and the status of the application flows back to the project schedule. We connect to what you already use; the file does not become a second project list.
Ask that first. A folder works as long as one person has the overview and the municipality never asks for anything. Custom development makes sense when several advisers submit documents, when versions get mixed up, when deadlines are missed, or when clients keep calling to ask how things stand.
Every application submitted complete, with the status visible to everyone?
Tell us how many applications you file a year, which consultants contribute, and how often a supplement has pushed back a deadline in recent months. We will show you what the file, the checklist and the portal look like.