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Vertexplans is an online plan review, permitting and inspection platform operated by Aoka LLC ("Vertexplans," "we," "us" or "our"). Local governments ("Jurisdictions") use Vertexplans to accept permit applications, review plans, collect fees, schedule and perform inspections and issue permits and certificates. Contractors, property owners, design professionals and others ("Applicants") use it to apply for permits and request inspections.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share and protect personal information when you:
This policy does not cover how a Jurisdiction handles information under its own policies and laws, or third-party websites we link to.
Most information on the Platform belongs to a permitting process run by a Jurisdiction. In that work we act as the Jurisdiction's service provider (sometimes called a "processor"). We handle that information on the Jurisdiction's instructions and under our contract with it, and the Jurisdiction decides how its permitting records are used, kept and disclosed.
If you have a question about a permit, inspection or record held for a Jurisdiction, contact that Jurisdiction first. We will help it respond. If you contact us about such a record, we may refer your request to the Jurisdiction.
We collect information you give us, information the Platform records when you use it, and information from Jurisdictions and other users.
| Category | Examples | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Account and contact | Name, email, phone, mailing address, state, ZIP code, profile photo, signature, password (stored hashed), role and permissions. If you sign in with Google, your name and email address from Google. | You; Google (if you use Google sign-in); your Jurisdiction or employer when they invite you |
| Professional and credential | Licence type and number, licence expiry dates, years of experience, certifications, contractor licence, certificate of insurance and insurance expiry date, business name | You; Jurisdictions that verify contractors |
| Government ID | Image of a driver's licence and its expiry date, if a Jurisdiction requires it to register applicants | You |
| Project and permit | Property owner, contractor and design-professional details; property address, county, parcel and suite; project description; questionnaire answers; plans, drawings and other documents; permit numbers, statuses and review comments; signatures; code-enforcement case details such as violations and property-owner information; the name, email, phone and address of people who submit a public violation report | Applicants; Jurisdiction staff; plans examiners; people who submit violation reports |
| Inspection | Requested date, time window and type; mode (onsite or virtual); contractor and guest names, phones and emails; utility-provider contacts; inspector notes, checklists, results, photos, video, recordings, chats, comments and reports | Applicants; inspectors; Jurisdiction staff |
| Fleet and field operations | For Jurisdictions that use these features: vehicle records, mileage, maintenance and incident reports (which may include the other party's name, licence and insurance details), and wage reports | Jurisdiction staff and inspectors |
| Location | Device location of the person joining a virtual inspection; location captured when photos are added to health-inspection and code-enforcement reports; GPS and capture-time data embedded in photos you upload (EXIF metadata); geocoded project addresses | Your device, with your permission; your photos; addresses you enter |
| Payment | Fee amounts, transaction type (card, bank account, check, cash, other or waived), check numbers, waiver reasons, supporting documents, status and receipts. Card and bank details are entered directly with our payment processors (Stripe or Payroc). We keep only limited details for saved payment methods and receipts, such as the last four digits, card brand, bank name, account type and transaction result | You; Stripe; Payroc; Jurisdiction staff who record offline payments |
| Communications | Messages in the Platform's chat and messaging tools, feedback-form submissions and attachments, support and demo requests, email event records (processed, delivered, opened, clicked, deferred, bounced, dropped and spam reports) | You; other users |
| Usage and device | IP address, browser and device type, pages viewed, actions taken, timestamps, error and performance data, logs of changes to records ("Recent Logs"), cookie identifiers | Automatically, through cookies, server logs and monitoring tools (sections 6 and 7) |
| Calendar | We create, update and delete inspection events in a Google Calendar operated by Vertexplans. An event can include the inspection type, project address and permit number, and the names, emails and phone numbers of the inspector and contractor, who are invited as attendees. We do not access your personal calendar. | Inspection records (Google Calendar sends the invitations) |
Sensitive information. Driver's licence documents and precise device location are treated as sensitive personal information under several US state laws. We collect them only when a Jurisdiction's process requires it or you start a feature that needs it. We use them only for that purpose (section 11 explains your rights).
You can choose not to provide information, but some features will then not work. For example, a Jurisdiction may not accept a permit application without required documents.
We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising. We do not use the content of plans, inspection media or messages to train artificial-intelligence models.
Virtual inspections. Before a virtual inspection starts, your browser will ask for permission to share your device's location. Location is used to confirm that the inspection is taking place at the permitted property. It is shown to the inspector and saved with the inspection record. We require location access for virtual inspections.
Other participants. Contractors, observers and other participants who join a virtual inspection are asked for their device location in the same way. It is recorded when you join and saved with the inspection record. We do not track anyone's location continuously.
Photos and location metadata. When you add photos to a health-inspection or code-enforcement report, your browser may ask for your location, and we read any GPS location and capture time embedded in the photo. We convert coordinates to an approximate address and save it with the report.
Video, recordings and photos. Virtual inspections use live video provided by Livekit. Inspectors can record a virtual inspection. Recordings are stored in our cloud storage (AWS S3) and become part of the inspection record that the Jurisdiction keeps. Photos, video clips, notes and results that inspectors capture also become part of that record. Avoid filming people, documents or areas unrelated to the inspection.
Guests. If you add guest email addresses to an inspection, they receive inspection notices and can join the session. Add guests only if you are allowed to share their email address with us.
| Provider | Purpose | Data involved |
|---|---|---|
| Render | Application and database hosting (Oregon, US West) | Data the Platform processes, including account details, permit and inspection records, and messages |
| Amazon Web Services (S3 and CloudFront, United States) | File storage and delivery | Uploaded plans, documents, media, recordings and records |
| Stripe | Payment processing and fraud prevention | Payment details entered with Stripe, device and browser signals |
| Payroc | Payment processing through its hosted payment page and terminals | Payment details entered with Payroc, fee amount, order reference, transaction result |
| Google (Maps Platform, reCAPTCHA, Sign-In, Calendar, Fonts) | Address autocomplete, geocoding and maps; bot protection on public forms; optional Google sign-in; calendar invitations for inspections; web fonts | Addresses you type, IP address, device and interaction signals, Google account name and email, inspection calendar event details (names, emails, phone numbers, address, permit number) |
| Mapbox | Static map images in inspection PDF reports | Coordinates of the location shown (sent from our servers, not from your browser) |
| OpenStreetMap (tile servers and Nominatim) | Map images on inspection pages; converting coordinates into an address | Map tiles: your IP address and the map area viewed. Address lookup: coordinates only, sent from our servers |
| ArcGIS (city GIS services) | Parcel and address selection maps for some Jurisdictions | IP address, the map area viewed, addresses searched |
| Public content delivery networks (cdnjs, jsDelivr, unpkg, jQuery) | Delivering site scripts and styles quickly and securely | IP address, browser details |
| Livekit | Live video and recording for virtual inspections | Video, audio, names, IP address |
| SendGrid / Twilio | Sending email and text notifications | Name, email, phone, message content. For email we also receive processed, delivered, opened, clicked, deferred, bounced, dropped and spam-report events, which can include your IP address and email app or browser details |
| Rollbar and Scout APM | Error tracking and performance monitoring | IP address, browser and request details, error messages and technical context that may include user or record identifiers |
We may share aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably identify you, for example, average permit review times per city.
We use a small number of cookies, all needed to run, secure or pay through the Platform. We do not use advertising cookies or cross-site tracking.
| Cookie | Set by | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| _vertex_plans_session | Vertexplans | Keeps you signed in during your visit | Session |
| remember_user_token | Vertexplans | Keeps you signed in if you choose "Keep me logged in" or "Remember me" on the contractor login; removed when you sign out | 2 weeks |
| __stripe_mid, __stripe_sid | Stripe | Fraud prevention for payments | 1 year / 30 minutes |
| _GRECAPTCHA | Google reCAPTCHA | Distinguishes people from bots on public forms | Up to 6 months |
We also use your browser's local and session storage to remember interface settings, such as chat notification syncing between browser tabs. Our payment processors and map providers may set their own cookies when you use their pages.
Because these cookies are strictly necessary, the Platform does not work properly if you block them. You can delete cookies in your browser settings at any time. If we add analytics or other optional cookies, we will update this table and ask for consent where the law requires.
We do not currently respond to browser "Do Not Track" signals, because there is no common standard. We do not currently respond to Global Privacy Control signals. Because we do not sell personal information or share it for advertising, there is nothing for such a signal to opt out of.
Permit applications, plans, inspection results, permits and related correspondence are usually government records of the Jurisdiction. Depending on state law (for example, the Texas Public Information Act or a state's open-records law), they may be:
The Jurisdiction, not Vertexplans, decides what to release and how long to keep its records. Applicants should not upload information to a permit file that is not needed for the permit, such as unrelated personal documents.
How long we keep personal information depends on our contract with each Jurisdiction. Jurisdictions are often required to keep permitting records under state records-retention schedules, so each Jurisdiction decides whether its information is kept or permanently deleted.
Most deleted items are soft-deleted. When a project, document, inspection, account or other record is deleted in the Platform, it is removed from view but kept in our systems. We permanently erase it only when the Jurisdiction instructs us to, for example when its records schedule allows or its contract ends. A few items, such as files you remove from a permit questionnaire, are erased immediately.
When a contract ends, we keep, return or permanently delete the Jurisdiction's information as the contract provides and the Jurisdiction instructs.
Information we hold for our own purposes, such as demo requests, support messages, security and monitoring logs and payment records needed for tax and accounting, is kept only as long as those purposes or the law require.
We use administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information. These include encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, account lockout after repeated failed sign-in attempts, role-based access controls set by each Jurisdiction, audit logs of changes to records, and storage with cloud providers that maintain recognised security certifications.
No system is completely secure. Protect your password, sign out on shared devices, and tell us immediately at dev@aokaengineering.com, if you suspect unauthorized access. If a breach affects your personal information, we will notify you and the relevant Jurisdiction as required by law.
State privacy rights. Depending on where you live (for example California, Colorado, Connecticut, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and other states with comprehensive privacy laws), you may have the right to:
How to make a request. Email dev@aokaengineering.com. We will verify your identity using information already on your account, and we respond within the time the law requires (usually 45 days). An authorised agent may make a request for you with your signed permission. If we deny your request, you may appeal by replying to our decision, and we will answer the appeal within the time the law requires. If you disagree with the outcome, you can contact your state attorney general.
Limits. Many state privacy laws do not apply to government bodies or to data we process on their behalf. For permit and inspection records, we will pass your request to the Jurisdiction, which decides under its own laws, including public-records and retention laws (section 8).
What deletion means. Because deleted items are soft-deleted (section 9), a deletion request for a permit or inspection record is decided by the Jurisdiction. If it approves, or if information is held only for our own purposes and no law requires us to keep it, we permanently erase it and confirm to you when that is done.
The Platform is for adults doing permitting work. It is not directed to children under 13 (or under 16 where state law sets that age), and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we will delete it.
Vertexplans is operated from the United States, and the Platform runs on Render in Oregon (US West) and stores uploaded files in the United States (AWS us-east-2, Ohio). If in the future, information moves between countries, we protect it as this policy describes and use contractual or other safeguards where the law requires. By using the Platform from outside the United States, you understand that your information will be processed in the United States.
We may update this policy as the Platform or the law changes. The "Last updated" date shows the latest version. For material changes, we will notify account holders by email or a notice on the Platform at least [30] days before they take effect, unless a change is required sooner by law.
For questions about a specific permit or inspection record, please also contact the Jurisdiction that issued it.