The Digital Dormer: online building permits

Dormers are the most required modifications to peoples’ homes in The Netherlands. A city like Rotterdam, yearly handles about 300 requests for building permits concerning dormers. The costs of dormers are relatively low and therefore the administrative costs will be relatively high. The aim of the project is to improve the quality of the submitted requests and to streamline the process of checking the requests. This is achieved through a website where citizens can ‘design’ their dormer online and provide all necessary information to automatically check for all building codes. The site also provides additional advise to the citizen regarding the construction, insulation, daylight, ventilation, etc. of the dormer. The citizen using the site can then submit the application for the building permit online. Finally, the construction project can be entered into an online tender, where local contractors can bid for the project.