RFP for PERMIT, LICENSE, & ASSET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS:
PERMIT, LICENSE, &
ASSET
MANAGEMENT
Issued: February 25, 2026
Proposals Due: April 10, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. CST
City of Bismarck
221 North 5th Street
P.O Box 5503
Bismarck, ND 58506

Table of Contents
Summary .........................................................................................................................1
Purpose for Request ........................................................................................................2
Scope of Work .................................................................................................................3
Platform requirements ..................................................................................................3
Permit, licensing and land management Core Platform & Architecture .......................4
Asset Management and Work Order Management System .........................................6
Reporting and Analytics ...............................................................................................8
Project Budget .................................................................................................................8
Project Contract (if applicable) .........................................................................................9
Community Profile .........................................................................................................10
Resources ......................................................................................................................10
Schedule of Process ......................................................................................................11
Submittal Instructions ....................................................................................................11
Required Proposal Contents ..........................................................................................12
Demonstrations ..............................................................................................................13
General Demonstration Topics ..................................................................................13
Engineering / Land Development ...............................................................................13
Building Inspections ...................................................................................................13
Planning .....................................................................................................................13
Administration ............................................................................................................13
Environmental Health .................................................................................................14
Fire Department .........................................................................................................14
Public Works (Streets, Forestry, Storm Water, Industrial Pretreatment) ....................14
Mobile Application ......................................................................................................14
Customer Portal .........................................................................................................14
Asset Management and Work Order Management (if proposed) ...............................14
Evaluation Criteria .........................................................................................................14
Other Information ...........................................................................................................17
Modifications to the Request ......................................................................................17
Multiple Award Reservation .......................................................................................17
Communications ........................................................................................................17
Responsibility for Proposal Preparation .....................................................................18
Civil Rights .................................................................................................................18
No Conflict of Interest .................................................................................................18

Open Records/Proprietary Information ......................................................................18
Ownership of Project Materials ..................................................................................19

Summary
Request for Proposals (RFP):
Permit, License & Asset Management
RFP Schedule:
Event/Process Date(s)
RFP Issued February 25th, 2026
Deadline for Questions March 20th, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. CST
Date Questions will be answered through
March 27th, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. CST
and addendum posted on the city website.
Proposal Deadline April 10th, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. CST
Firm interviews and evaluation period.
Interviews may be conducted in-person or
April 20th - April 25th, 2026
remotely.
Selection of proposal by City Commission. May 12th, 2026
Any interested individual or party may request to be on an email list to receive updates
on the RFP process, including addenda to the RFP if any are issued. The City may alter
this RFP at any time.
Submittal Instructions :
Proposals must be received by the City of Bismarck no later than 5:00 p.m. CST on April
10th, 2026. Proposals received after this deadline will not be accepted.
Send proposals and direct questions regarding the RFP to:
Rachele Hall
Senior Systems Analyst
P.O. Box 5503
221 N 5th, Bismarck ND 58501
rhall@bismarcknd.gov
1

Purpose for Request
The City of Bismarck is seeking proposals for a comprehensive, cloud-hosted software
solution to support permitting, licensing, inspections, code enforcement, and related
regulatory workflows across multiple City departments. In addition, the City is seeking
solutions that can support enterprise Asset Management and Work Order Management,
either as integrated components of the same platform or as a standalone system that
interoperates with the permitting and licensing solution.
The purpose of this procurement is to replace fragmented legacy systems and manual
processes with modern, integrated software solutions that improve regulatory
compliance, operational efficiency, data integrity, and public access to City services.
The selected solution(s) must support the full lifecycle of permits and licenses-from
application and review through inspection, enforcement, renewal, and closeout-while
also enabling the tracking and management of City assets, service requests,
inspections, and reactive and preventive maintenance work orders.
This initiative aligns with the City's strategic objectives for digital transformation,
improved customer service, and data-driven decision-making. The proposed solution(s)
must support complex, multi-departmental workflows, accommodate evolving regulatory
requirements, and scale with the City's anticipated growth, while allowing flexibility in
system architecture to support either a unified platform or best-of-breed integrated
solutions.
Key objectives of this procurement include:
Modernizing Regulatory Processes
Provide a unified system for managing permits, licenses, inspections, and code
enforcement activities, reducing reliance on paper-based and disconnected
systems.
Improving Public Access and Transparency
Deliver a secure, user-friendly online portal that allows residents, contractors,
and businesses to apply for permits and licenses, track application status,
schedule inspections, make payments, and access historical records with
minimal barriers to entry.
Supporting Complex Departmental Workflows
Accommodate multi-step, multi-department plan review processes; conditional
approvals; inspection dependencies; and automated license renewal workflows
aligned with City and State requirements.
Enabling Mobile and Field Operations
Provide full-featured mobile access for field staff, including offline functionality,
photo capture and annotation, GIS-based workflows, and real-time
synchronization.
Ensuring Data Integrity, Security, and Compliance
Support role-based security, audit trails, records retention requirements, and
integration with existing City systems, including GIS and financial platforms.
Providing Long-Term Flexibility and Interoperability
2

Support open standards, APIs, and integration capabilities to allow future system
expansion, third-party integrations, and potential alignment with enterprise asset
management or work order systems.
The City recognizes that enterprise Asset Management and Work Order Management
functionality may be delivered through a standalone solution separate from the
permitting and licensing platform. Proposers may include asset-related functionality as
an integrated component or as a tightly integrated third-party solution; however, the
primary focus of this RFP is regulatory and permitting operations. Vendors must clearly
identify which components are native to their platform and which are provided through
integrations.
This procurement represents a foundational step toward implementing a unified
regulatory platform that supports the City of Bismarck's long-term vision for responsive
governance, regulatory accountability, and enhanced service delivery to residents,
businesses, and development partners.
Scope of Work
The City of Bismarck seeks a qualified candidate to implement, configure, and support a
comprehensive, cloud-hosted Permit and Licensing system that supports operational,
regulatory, and public-facing needs across multiple departments. Asset Management
and Work Order Management functionality may be proposed as an optional, integrated
solution and will be evaluated separately.
Platform requirements
1. The proposed solution shall be delivered as a secure, enterprise-grade, cloud-
hosted Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform capable of supporting the City of
Bismarck's permitting, licensing, inspections, code enforcement, and optional
asset management functions across multiple departments.
2. The platform shall support Microsoft Entra ID Single Sign-On (SSO), role-based
access controls, and comprehensive audit logging. Permissions shall be
configurable by department, role, and function, with the ability to restrict access at
the record and field level
3. The platform shall natively integrate with the City's ESRI GIS environment,
including ArcGIS Online, and support GIS-based visualization, spatial querying,
and association of records with parcels, addresses, and other spatial features.
Spatial updates shall be reflected in near real time.
4. The platform shall provide open, well-documented APIs and support integration
with existing and future City systems, including Financial ERP, utility billing, and
third-party document management systems such as Real Vision Imaging,
SharePoint Online, and Tyler Content Manager. The City shall retain full
ownership of all system data, with the ability to export data in non-proprietary
formats.
3

5. The platform shall support configurable, logic-based workflows, forms, fees, and
business rules that can be administered by City staff without custom code or
vendor intervention. Configuration changes shall not require system downtime.
6. The platform shall meet or exceed industry standards for security, availability,
performance, scalability, and disaster recovery, with documented uptime
commitments.
7. The solution shall support responsive web and mobile access, including offline
field functionality with data synchronization upon reconnection.
8. The platform shall comply with applicable security, accessibility, and public
records requirements, and support configurable retention, compliance tagging,
and audit history for all records and documents.
Permit, licensing and land management Core Platform & Architecture
All components shall comply with the platform requirements.
Configure department-specific modules for land development, permitting,
licensing, code enforcement, inspections.
Migrate historical data from legacy systems, including attachments, metadata,
and inspection records.
Ability to integrate with 3rd party document management systems such as Real
Vision Imaging, SharePoint Online, Tyler Content Manager.
1. Permitting, Licensing & Plan Review
a. Track the full land development lifecycle from application through
application, approval, construction, inspection, and closeout.
b. Support management of both existing and newly created parcels, including
parent/child parcel relationships.
c. Enable multiple projects, permits, plans, and enforcement cases to be
linked to a single and multiple parcels and retained historically.
d. Provide GIS-based visualization of parcels, projects, and development
activity.
e. Support zoning, subdivision, planning, and redevelopment workflows with
auditable histories.
f. Develop logic-based workflows for permit and license applications,
renewals, and approvals (e.g., liquor, food, contractor).
g. Implement dynamic pricing, prorated durations, and renewal alignment
with state deadlines (e.g., December 31 for liquor licenses).
h. Integrate with state databases (e.g., NDSOS) for license validation and
renewal status updates.
i. Maintain full audit trails for all workflow actions and decisions.
j. Support concurrent, multi-department, and external participants plan
review with role-based access.
k. Support industry-standard digital plan review tools with markup,
commenting, and version control. Track resubmittals and maintain
historical versions.
l. Enable consolidated review comments and applicant responses through
the customer portal.
2. Inspections & Code Enforcement
4

a. Develop logic-based workflows for permit and license applications,
renewals, and approvals (e.g., liquor, arborist, contractor).
b. Implement dynamic pricing, prorated durations, and renewal alignment
with state deadlines (e.g., December 31 for liquor licenses).
c. Integrate with state databases (e.g., NDSOS) for license validation and
renewal status updates.
d. Maintain full audit trails for all workflow actions and decisions.
e. Implement a public-facing portal for permit applications, payments,
inspection requests, and review notifications.
f. Integrate GIS for spatial logging and visualization of code cases.
g. Enable mass communication tools for violation letters and digital
alternatives to paper-based processes.
h. Deliver a mobile application with full parity to desktop capabilities,
including offline functionality and data sync.
i. Enable field creation of permits, inspections, and work orders with support
for image annotation, drawing markup, and mobile printing.
3. Public Portal, Payments & Communications
a. Support online payments, partial payments, refunds, and fee adjustments.
b. Integrate with Financial ERP for invoicing, receipting, and reconciliation.
c. Support permit, license, inspection, work order, and enforcement-related
billing.
d. Provide audit trails for all financial transactions.
e. Set up a multi-channel notification system (email, SMS, in-app alerts, mail)
with automated reminders and mail merge templates.
f. Enable logging of all notifications and task assignments.
g. Robust notification settings to adjust logic of when notifications are
triggered.
4. Implementation, Training, Support & Security
a. Configure department-specific modules for land development, permitting,
licensing, code enforcement, inspections, and asset management.
b. Migrate historical data from legacy systems, including attachments,
metadata, and inspection records.
c. Ability to integrate with 3rd party document management systems such as
Real Vision Imaging, SharePoint Online, Tyler Content Manager.
d. Require role-based training plans (administrators, supervisors, field staff,
public users).
e. Require knowledge transfer and documentation.
f. Require defined stabilization and hyper care period.
g. Provide training sessions for city staff across departments to ensure
effective system use including administration training onsite and virtually.
h. Ensure this training is priced into the RFP response.
i. Offer post-implementation support for a minimum of one year, including
troubleshooting, updates, and workflow optimization.
j. This response should include a stabilization plan post-implementation.
k. Implement role-based access controls to restrict visibility and prevent data
misuse.
l. Ensure tagging comments/documents for retention and compliance.
5

m. Address known pain points such as slow load times, poor mobile reliability,
and fragmented workflows.
n. Meet or exceed industry standards for system availability, performance,
and scalability.
o. Provide documented uptime commitments and disaster recovery
capabilities.
p. Ensure mobile and web performance supports field operations without
degradation.
Asset Management and Work Order Management System
Scope of Work (Optional / Integrated Solution)
Proposers may include an enterprise Asset Management and Work Order Management
solution as either a native module or an integrated third-party system. Asset
Management functionality is not required to be native to the permitting and licensing
platform and may be evaluated independently by the City.
If proposed, the solution shall support the following scope elements.
1. System Architecture and Integration
a. Clearly identify whether Asset Management and Work Order functionality
is native or integrated.
b. Support open standards and APIs to enable integration with existing and
future City systems.
c. Integrate with the City's ESRI GIS environment, including use of GIS
layers for asset visualization and work order creation.
d. Support real-time or near real-time data synchronization between GIS,
asset records, and work orders.
e. Integrate with the City's Financial ERP and utility billing systems for cost
tracking, billing, and reporting.
2. Asset Management
a. Provide enterprise asset lifecycle management for assets including, but
not limited to:
i. Trees and forestry assets
ii. Streets, sidewalks, and right-of-way infrastructure
iii. Signs, signals, and street furniture
iv. Buildings, facilities, equipment, and fleet
b. Support asset creation, classification, location tracking, condition
assessments, maintenance history, and retirement.
c. Enable association of assets with permits, inspections, enforcement
cases, and work orders.
d. Track long-term asset costs, repairs, and lifecycle history.
3. Work Order Management
a. Support the creation of reactive and preventive maintenance work orders.
6

b. Enable work orders to be generated manually, from inspections, from
service requests, or from GIS events.
c. Support configurable workflows for work order assignment, approvals,
scheduling, and completion.
d. Track labor, equipment, materials, and costs associated with work orders.
e. Provide mobile field functionality, including offline capability, photo
capture, notes, and status updates.
4. Service Requests and Inspections
a. Provide a service request platform capable of capturing:
i. Internal City service requests
ii. External or citizen-reported concerns
b. Allow service requests to generate inspections and work orders.
c. Support inspection tracking and documentation associated with assets
and work orders.
5. Inventory and Resource Management
a. Support inventory tracking for materials and supplies related to asset
maintenance.
b. Associate inventory usage with specific work orders.
c. Provide inventory reporting and alerts for threshold levels.
6. Data Model, Configuration, and Administration
a. Provide a user-configurable and extensible data model that can be
modified by City staff without vendor support.
b. Provide a non-proprietary data dictionary describing data fields, tables,
relationships, and schema.
c. Support hierarchical organization of assets and data defined by the City.
d. Provide role-based security, audit logging, and administrative control by
City staff.
Evaluation Notice
Asset Management and Work Order functionality may be evaluated separately from the
core Permitting and Licensing system. The City reserves the right to select, phase, or
defer Asset Management functionality independently.
Reporting and Analytics
The system should provide configurable dashboards and reporting tools that support ad
hoc queries, scheduled report distribution, and export to common formats (e.g., Excel,
PDF, CSV). Reports must support filtering by department, date range, permit/license
type, parcel, status, and responsible staff, and must include audit and compliance
reporting capabilities.
1. Configure advanced search and reporting tools for active license holders,
projects and permits, fiscal tracking, and FEMA-compliant reporting.
2. Provide configurable dashboards and ad hoc reporting for assets, work orders,
inspections, service requests, and costs.
3. Support metadata-based reporting, document versioning, and audit trails for all
project-related activities.
4. Ability to perform advanced query searching for ad hoc reporting.
7