Since the City of Tampa, Florida, implemented the Clariti Guide in 2024, nearly half of all homeowners have used it to start their residential permit applications. With the Guide, they get personalized instructions and information specific to their project, which has saved them – and staff – hours of time.

Prior Challenges

Before Tampa’s Guide was live, homeowners struggled to complete applications or would submit the wrong one, even paying fees that then had to be reimbursed. And because they didn’t understand the process, staff were flooded with customer questions, often spending up to an hour answering the same basic questions over and over.  

As JC put it, the city's current permitting software is more of an "input, output system," and doesn't provide customers with instructions on how to apply. "You see where you upload files and which fees are due, but it's like, 'I don't know if I'm doing the right thing or not.’"

The Clariti Guide Solution

When asked why the city decided to go with the Guide, JC explained that it stood out as a simple and intuitive permitting encyclopedia. Now, he can confirm that “the number one use of the Guide is for fact-finding.”

Since it launched, over 43% of residential permit applicants have gone to the Guide to find out the type of permit(s) they need, what documents are required, what fees they have to pay, or simply to get information.

Another benefit of the Guide – which was somewhat unexpected – was the support it provided in the city’s rebuilding efforts after Hurricanes Helene and Milton. As JC explained, “The Guide provided immediate support for homeowners.” In the month after the storms, the city saw a 10x increase in customers using the Guide to prepare applications, ultimately resulting in 400+ homeowners getting the permits they needed to repair damage to their homes faster.

Because the Guide has been so useful for homeowners, Tampa next plans to add site information to better support commercial permit applicants. “Since we catered to the homeowners in the Guide, now our contractors and architects are like, ‘Hey, we want this too.’” Then those on the commercial side will be able to take a roadmap back to their clients and better estimate timelines and costs.

Benefits

• Customers can access the Guide anonymously. Homeowners don’t always finish their applications and instead use the Guide as a sandbox to determine what documents they need to collect. They can do this without adding an address or by signing in as a guest. 

• It’s available 24/7. When the office was shut after the hurricanes, the Guide provided immediate access to information, reassuring applicants who needed to rebuild their homes but didn’t know what the process looked like. “It was as if they called into the department,” said JC. It didn’t matter what time it was; the Guide works around the clock. 

• Even staff use it as a reference. Staff often use the Guide when engaging with customers since it’s an informative digital SOP (Standard Operating Procedure). When they get callers, staff read out the questions in the Guide to step the applicant through. “We didn’t necessarily know that staff would use it as much as they did, but they have,” noted JC. 

• The workflows are adaptable. Even though Tampa hasn’t needed to edit the Guide yet, Florida Building Code changes every three years, so they’ll inevitably have to soon. But because the Guide is so simple to configure, JC’s team know they’ll easily be able to incorporate changes when they need to.