Burnham Channels the Power of Maps

Burnham Channels the Power of Maps

by ROB McMANAMY | Nov 24 2015

Simply get it done. 

That's the motto of Burnham Nationwide, but the national permitting, code and energy consultant has a knack for broadening the definition of "it". This week, in advance of his breakfast focus group at BuiltWorlds on Dec. 1, Burnham President Carson Kyhl was kind enough to participate in a brief Q&A with us that talks about his firm's newest mobile web app, the Burnham PermitMapper, and how it fits into the company's national market strategy.

Already in use in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, the app allows users to seamlessly search for construction details quickly and accurately within select geographic boundaries. It provides all available information on permits, including issue date, type, work description, PINs, up-to-the-minute progress status, contractor information and more. So, without further ado...

BW: What led to the development of PermitMapper? 

Carson Khyl (CK): The permit information is already out there, for anyone to view. But viewing it on a map is powerful and it allows you to have a special relationship with the data. In addition, when we focus on developing solutions, we emphasize “mobile first”. We understand going forward that our services for helping users are going to rely heavily on a mobile platform. So, we want to give our users access to data when they truly need it, which is typically on the go, and from their handheld devices.

Khyl is having an (orange) ball.

BW: How can the PermitMapper help a business?

CK:  We know that building permits contain myriad details and data that correlate to scores of often times disparate information. So our mapper compiles this mountain of data in a GEO-specific way that organizes it and makes it much easier to search and to see where things are being built, who is building them, etc.

BW: What features will users find most useful?

CK:  The greatest impact I see for those using the mapper is the search functions, which simply show where permits are in relationship to your current location. We are going to continue to work on the search functionality so that our users can more efficiently construct queries for the data they seek.

BW: Who is your target audience to use the Burnham PermitMapper?

CK:  Anybody who lives in, works in or on, or occupies a structure that is manmade. All of us depend on buildings being safe, and we are committed to supporting all the stakeholders who build, design and maintain these structures. We offer more efficient ways to maintain and manage the often frustrating processes of code compliance and permit requirements.

BW: How do your employees use the tool?

CK:  Our people are still exploring the mapper, but already it is their 'go-to' tool for seeing other permits that are in the vicinity of jobs that they are working on. They can easily view that information now, and more importantly, they can reach out to the people associated with those permits, if need be.

BW: Do you have any future goals for the Burnham PermitMapper?

CK:  We know that we are going be publishing lots of data for our community of users -- project status updates, inspection reports, etc. -- and that will have special impact when it is overlaid on the permit mapper. But for now, we are just excited to “Make Permit Searches Easier” for everyone. So that's why we are putting the PermitMapper tool out there for all to try.

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Meet Khyl next week at BuiltWorlds for a free breakfast workshop and focus group centered on the new PermitMapper app. Space is limited, so reserve your seat today! Register HERE.