Presented by Waimakariri District

Council

DIGITISING PROPERTY FILES ‘IN-HOUSE’

From Pilot to ProductionIn early 2010 we obtained the go ahead from Council to start a pilot. The proposed start of the pilot was scheduled for the beginning of September.....

BUT THEN.....Much to our surprise, at 4.35am on the 4th of September, our project plans were forced into action by our first earthquake.

Property File Trolley DashOur Kaiapoi Service Centre which contained our Kaiapoi property files, was badly damaged in the September 4th quake.

And so.... the decision of which files to scan for the pilot phase of the project was decided!

Arriving the next day by grocery cart, approximately 4800 Kaiapoi property files were wheeled into one of our meeting rooms and the Records hallway.

It’s amazing how quickly you can achieve results in a real emergency situation!

Priority Files We verified & scanned all the properties classified Red & Yellow in the September earthquake first, anticipating they would be in high demand by Engineers & Insurance Companies.

They were! So, a lot of time and stress was saved being able to quickly drop the relevant documentation onto disc for collection.

Today, nearly 10 months later we are steadily working through the remaining Kaiapoi Files and any others that are requested for Earthquake claims.

Verification Process

• Creating the new structure within existing electronic property files.

Our LIMS Officer works for 20 hours a week physically and electronically verifying files.

This involves:

• Physically splitting the files into 9 sub folders.

• Auditing and moving the existing electronic documents already in TRIM, to their new subfolder.

• Verifying the file content, similar to a partial LIM check

Property File Structure • This shows the

overarching Valuation Number containing the Property ID Folder

• Each Property ID folder contains 9 subfolders

• Individual Building Consents & Licences found under appropriate divider

• Leases & Resource Consents showing alternatively within the valuation number

• Yellow – public access Red – staff only access

Life Before Structure!

Kofax Scanning

• Our Scanners are set by default to comply with the Digitisation Standard

• We scan in Black & White, 300 DPI unless there is significant or discrete colour, such as photos, drawings, mark ups on plans or highlighting

Kofax - Validation

• Each batch is checked, scanned with header, separation sheets and bar codes, then validated through Kofax

• The batches are checked each step of the way by the operator, and check sheets are signed and dated for each stage

Kofax Export

• Daily at 4pm the digitisation team finish in Kofax and a member of the IM team uses the CSV file to import the scans into TRIM

• Kofax creates a folder with PDF/A scans and a singular CSV file

Physical File

TRIM Import • Imported files

are visually checked to ensure they are contained in the correct folder in TRIM

• The physical property files are kept on site for 6 months and then sent to offsite storage

Digitised File

Change Management• As a visual indication to

Staff retrieving files we tag the transit cards with a fluorescent orange sticker so they can see at a glance the file is digitised

• File access was restricted from 1st April 2011 so we could have more control over physical folder locations. Files are now requested and issued by the IM team

Electronic Stamps

• Electronic Stamps

• Manipulation of Images

This report has been supplied to the council by the property owner and has been attached to the property file on a without prejudice basis for information only.

Public Viewing Kiosk

• Our ratepayers currently come into our Council Service Centre to view physical property files

• We needed a system in place to enable people to view the new digitised files electronically

• We worked with an external provider to develop software using the TRIM SDK to create a dot net application which gives us a web based interface to view the files electronically

• We wanted this view to closely replicate what our internal staff saw in TRIM, but to have very limited functionality for security reasons

• When creating our file structure within TRIM we created “Staff Only” and “Public” folders. Our kiosk view is set to show only “Public” folders to the users; there fore keeping sensitive or commercial documents private

Kiosk Interface• Customers will soon be able

to come in and request to view a property file at customer services. The front desk staff will ascertain if the property is digitised or physical, then print a code for the customer to take to a public kiosk in our foyer

• The code is entered into the kiosk computer by the customer, then the view appears of a single property.

• The customer is able to view the public subfolders and print as required

Property File On a DVD?

Disclaimers“Council has made the information available under sections 10 to 18 (inclusive) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 ONLY. Council does not warrant its accuracy and disclaims all liability whatsoever for any error, inaccuracy or incompleteness of the information. No person should rely on any information without seeking appropriate independent and professional advice. The information provided does not constitute a Land Information Memorandum or any similar document”

But wait there's more to do….

• How will the customer request the DVD?

• What are the timeframes for this?

• How much will we charge for this

service?

• How will we introduce the change to

the public?

Life in a Paperless Society

To date, our Project has been invaluable to Staff, Insurers, Engineers and Property Owners, particularly since the Canterbury Earthquakes

We have been able to produce key documents quickly and efficiently for those badly affected by the earthquakes.

We are grateful that we had “Buy In” & support from Management and Council to enable us to continue with the project.

Questions?

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