Hi there,

Bruno from the GovWell team here. Buckle up, this is going to be a long (but great) update! Over the past month, our team has introduced a sweeping number of updates to our Plan Review feature. They were inspired by your feedback, so thank you for your input in making GovWell better!

We have many new things to talk about so let's dive in!

Search in Plan Set

You can access the Search tab in the left sidebar or by pressing Command⌘ + F (MacOS) or Ctrl + F (Windows). Type the keyword you're looking for and our system will browse through the text content of every page in the selected plan set. Our system will look for any matches, and show the respective file name, page title, page number, and a snippet.

Plan Pages in Universal Search

Plan pages now show up in global search. Click a hit and plan review opens on that page with the keyword highlighted. You don't have to open the record first.

Page Titles

In the Files tab, thumbnails now display auto-detected page titles (e.g. "Floor Plan"). You can edit the titles using the pen icon next to the page title in the thumbnail.

Jump to Page and File Selection

Search for specific pages within plan files using the page selector or the following command in MacOS: Command + G or Windows: Ctrl + G

Select the files from this Plan Set that you want to view from a dedicated dropdown menu.

Cloud Callout

A new shape that allows you to draw a cloud with a text callout attached to it! Includes customization options such as line thickness and colors.

Freehand Pen & Highlighter

Freehand Pen - Freely draw draw, sign and make precise annotations with this tool

Highlighter - Use this tool to add semi-transparent area callouts on the plan itself. Great to highlight text and areas of interest!

Fill Color and Opacity Settings for Shapes

Easily customize the fill color and opacity in any shapes now! Very useful for calling out areas without relying on comments.

Text Annotations

• Customizable in size and colors
• Support code book links & comment templates
• Don't require a response by the applicant
• Appear in a Notes section on the corrections report cover

Stamp Settings

New controls for opacity, rotation, and size can apply to stamps across many pages at once

Fit to Page Width

Easily fit your plans to fit the width of your plan viewer. This is very helpful when a plan set mixes different page sizes.

Undo/Redo Actions

Undo and redo your last actions. This feature works with any actions related to markups (create/move/edit/delete actions and calibration changes).
​
Keyboard shortcuts are Command⌘ + Z (undo) / Command⌘ + Shift⇧ + Z (redo) for MacOS devices and Ctrl + Z (undo) / Ctrl + Shift⇧+ Z (redo) for Windows devices

Preset and Reusable Scales

• You now have preset standard scales to apply to a page in the measurement tool

• You can copy existing scales from other pages to use across the set

• It is possible to configure how precise the measurements are as well!

Three new measurement types were added:

• Volume:
• Radius/diameter
• Angle

Thinner Measurement Lines

Updated Print/Export Menu

Comments in Plan Pages

The Corrections Report PDF displays all the comments left by reviewers in each plan page, pointing exactly to the area the comment refers to.

All plan pages also include labels with their respective file name and page number.

Comment Search with Code Book Names

Searching in the comments sidebar now matches code book item names, not just the comment body text!

And that's our update! Thanks for sticking with me all the way through this update - I hope these features our engineering team deployed help you deliver even better and quicker plan reviews to your applicants.

We'd also like to invite you to check out our Guide to Plan Review which goes into detail about the Plan Review process and all the tools at your disposal. Stay tuned for more updates!

Hi there,

We're thrilled to introduce a powerful new addition to our AutoCheck feature: AutoCheck is now available in Application Reviews!

This update brings AutoCheck to the very first phase of every new application entered in your system.

Here's what you can expect:

• 🔍 Runs in the background: AutoCheck automatically runs on every submitted and updated application, scanning for and flagging any concerns in the Unaddressed section. You can add those flagged comments to your update request for the applicant, or simply acknowledge them and mark them as not applicable this time.

• 💬 Automatically adds comment suggestions to your update requests: Use AutoCheck's suggestions to support your comments when requesting updates from applicants. AutoCheck provides an intuitive interface to help you populate your update requests with its suggestions. You can select which suggestions you want to add as comments, along with adding your very own comments as well.

• ✅ Detects resolutions: Every time you send a request for updates and the applicant responds by updating their form submission, AutoCheck will run again to check whether any flagged items (AutoCheck comments and staff comments) were addressed. If the changes match what the comments asked for, AutoCheck will automatically mark those requests as addressed, along with an explanation of how the change matches the addressed requests!

✨Check our video below for a quick tour of this updated feature!

Complete your reviews with confidence – AutoCheck is now live in Application Reviews! 🎉

Hi there,

We're thrilled to introduce Overdue Task Notifications – a new feature designed to make sure you and your team are always aware of important tasks! Whether it's an upcoming Plan Review or a task that's slipped past its due date, GovWell has you covered.
​

Here's what you can expect:

• 📋 Keeps track of both upcoming and overdue tasks so nothing falls through the cracks.
  ​
• 📅 For upcoming tasks: You'll get an email reminder starting 5 days before the due date, then again the day before and the day of – plenty of heads up!
  ​

• 📬 For overdue tasks: A weekly digest email is sent every Monday, rounding up all overdue tasks in one convenient message. There are two versions of this digest you can receive:
  
  1. Personal digest: a summary of your own overdue tasks, sent to you automatically.
  
  2. Module-wide digest: a broader view of all overdue tasks across the modules you're subscribed to.
  
  To sign up for the module-wide weekly digest, simply reach out to your GovWell representative or our Support team and we'll get you set up!

No more missed deadlines, no more scrambling – just your team staying on top of things and keeping applicants happy. 🎉

Hi there,

Our team is excited to announce the new Planning & Zoning Conditions feature. This feature provides your team with a structured way to capture, store, and reuse conditions of approval. These conditions are directly tied to a parcel or address and record the text, the property, who added the condition, and when/where it came from.

Some highlights:

• Conditions are stored on addresses/parcels, so they live across any records linked to that address.
• Conditions are shown to applicants when they apply with an address tied to a condition.
• Conditions can be added to generated documents automatically.
• Manageable directly on the Address and Parcel pages.
• Conditions can be found via Universal Search!

Conditions can be entered and viewed in different areas of our platform, such as:

• When logging a meeting
• During Plan Review
• Directly on the Locations page

With the Planning & Zoning Conditions feature, you can ensure that address and parcel conditions are reliably visible to both staff and applicants.

💡 Want to see it in action? Our engineer Tanuj put together a video tour – check it out below!

Hi there,

Our team has now integrated the Community Assistant directly into the product, allowing your applicants to access our chatbot at any time within the app!

The Community Assistant is GovWell's AI chatbot designed to help your applicants find the answers to common questions about permits, applications, and municipal processes.

You can think of it as a virtual help desk to help your applicants with questions they would normally ask your team and through the entire journey on GovWell from start to finish. The Community Assistant is available 24/7!

🔑 Here are some of the key features your community can benefit from while using the Community Assistant:

• Available 24/7: The Community Assistant is always accessible from your municipality's website or GovWell public portal, acting as a virtual help desk for your jurisdiction.

• Trained on local requirements: The Community Assistant is configured and trained to respond to questions based on official sources from your jurisdiction

• Context aware and page-aware context: The Community Assistant automatically determines the correct context and is aware of the contents of the page your applicants are looking at. Then, it can answer questions specific to what they are seeing, such as which steps they need to take to upload revised plans.
  ​
• Provides clickable links: When answering questions, the Community Assistant will respond directly with clickable links to provide the correct forms and resources for faster follow-ups and faster routing into the right application.

• Human in the loop: If the assistant cannot answer a question, it directs applicants to the appropriate contact person in your team.

• Available in any language. The Community Assistant is available in over 80 languages and can automatically detect your language to respond with the appropriate context. The assistant can also translate any page or form into your native language.

For a more detailed outlook of this feature, please check our Help Center article here!

Interested in adding the Community Assistant on your website? Check out our configuration guide here!

Hi there,

We've made some changes that make it easier to record and review payer information when handling payments!

💳 Invoice and Fee Tables

You can now see both who paid and who processed a payment for completed payments. This information will also be included on generated receipts!

✍️ Manual Payments

When manually marking a payment as complete, you can record who paid by selecting a GovWell user or entering contact info for users who aren't signed up yet.

🔗 Finix Integration

If your organization uses Finix, card and ACH payments will have payer information captured as well.

Hi there,

Planning your day just got easier!

Custom columns are now available in your Tasks view. Decide exactly what information matters most to you and see it all at a glance. More flexibility with everything you need in one place!

Hi there,
​

We have a pretty exciting update to share with you: Universal Search capabilities have been expanded, allowing you to search for more data types!

Whenever you use the universal search function, you can now search by these data types:

• 🔢 Record ID
• 🏠 Address Name
• ⛰️ Parcel Name
• 🗺️ Searchable GIS Fields
• 📝 Application Content
• 🏷️ Tags
  ​

_____________________

We want to give a special mention to the brand new Application Content and Tags data types for Universal Search.

📝 Application Content

Universal Search searches within application fields and matches them to your query. For example, if an application contains "Mechanical Work" in its description field, searching for "Mechanical Work" will find that application!

🏷️ Tags

Search by tag name and our search function will find any applications with that tag, making tags even more useful as a way to easily find and identify records!

Stay tuned for more updates!

Hi there,

Our engineers have introduced a handful of of upgrades that will make your Plan Review process even smoother!

✨ General Comments:

Add feedback about the entire plan set using General Comments! You can now provide overall feedback without tying it to a specific item or page in the plans.

🎯 Repositioning Comments:

Placed a comment in the wrong spot? No worries! Simply use the Select tool to move it to the right location.

📏 Curve Measurement Tool:

Quickly measure curved distances – like walls, arcs, or rounded edges – with this new tool.

📂 Move Files in the Plan Set:

Move files in and out of the Plan Review set directly from the Files tab – no need to upload plan files again!

​

Hi there,
​

We’re thrilled to introduce AutoCheck! AutoCheck is a brand new AI-powered review tool that automatically reviews submitted applications and plan documents with your requirements and best practices in mind, helping you catch issues from the get-go.
​

• 👀 For Application Reviewers: Instantly spot missing details or inconsistencies in submitted applications.
• 📝 For Plan Reviewers: Get smart, ready-to-use comment suggestions based on your uploaded plan documents.
  ​

✨Check our video below for a quick tour of this feature!