The Story of DPIE
2016 NACo Achievement Award Winner
Prince George's County, Md., MD
Best In Category
About the Program
Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)
Year: 2016
The Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement (commonly known as DPIE) is the newest department in Prince George’s County, Maryland, which is located just east of the District of Columbia. DPIE was originally conceived as a response to continuing criticism of the County’s permitting and licensing processes lodged by representatives of the County’s economic development community. DPIE is the keynote initiative of County Executive Rushern L. Baker III for improving the County’s capacity to meet the needs of developers and businesses seeking permits and licenses from the County in a timely and proficient manner. DPIE brings together staff from nine County, bi-County, and State agencies under one-roof so that customers can access related services required for issuing a permit or license in one place. DPIE has achieved dramatic improvements in various service measures through organizational transformation, process improvement, technology enhancement, staffing optimization, office space rehabilitation, performance monitoring and reporting and staff recognition. This includes an 88 percent increase in revenues between fiscal years 2014 and 2016; a doubling of permit, plan review and inspection activity, and a 63-95 percent reduction in the time needed to process various permits and licenses. All this was accomplished without increasing staff or outsourcing. Most recently DPIE began to apply its expedited Third-Party Plan Review and Third-Party Inspection processes to very large commercial projects delivered through Design-Build contracts to significantly reduce both the cost and timeframe for the entire project delivery timeframe. The phased/concurrent processing of certain design, plan review and construction activities can significantly reduce overall project timeframe by up to 35 percent and cost savings of up to 15 percent, while still enabling the permitting agency to maintain proper regulatory oversight of the project.