Tackling the Challenges of Code Enforcement with Forerunner

As severe weather events become more frequent and intense, local and state governments are enacting stricter regulations to protect their communities from damage. According to a recent survey conducted by Forerunner, 57% of floodplain managers say that adopting higher regulatory standards is one of the main actions their communities are taking to plan for and mitigate future flood risk. 

While enacting higher regulatory standards is a challenge in itself, hazard management teams are facing significant challenges in enforcing those regulations, too.

Many communities are understaffed and burdened with heavy caseloads, leading to delays in addressing violations, poor interdepartmental coordination, and duplicated efforts. This can result in miscommunication, wasted resources, and confusion for property owners. Agency workflows are often spread across disconnected systems, forcing officers to toggle between mapping tools, permitting software, and physical files, making case tracking inefficient and increasing the risk of oversight. Compounding the challenge, code enforcement officers must follow strict legal procedures that can be complex to manage. Missing a step or documentation can expose an agency to legal challenges or invalidate enforcement actions. 

Forerunner has rolled out new Code Enforcement solutions designed to help local and county governments efficiently track violations, improve compliance, and build safer, more resilient communities.  These solutions include:

• Code Violation Tracking & Case Management: Forerunner equips communities with a structured way to log, categorize, and track violations, including property maintenance issues, illegal construction, and zoning violations.
• Public Complaint Submission & Management: Forerunner provides municipalities with a public website where residents can report violations, upload photos, and receive updates on case status, saving valuable time and allowing teams to focus on other tasks. 
• Inspection & Enforcement Workflows: Forerunner enables code enforcement officers to log field inspections, document violations with photos, and track enforcement actions in a standardized format. Mobile-friendly tools also allow these tasks to be completed in the office or in the field. 
• Automated Notifications & Follow-ups: Forerunner offers a system for communities to manage deadlines, issue notices, coordinate follow-up, and track resolutions efficiently and transparently.
• Cross-Department Coordination: Forerunner helps code enforcement teams view related permits, inspections, and past violations across municipal systems to enforce compliance effectively. Forerunner’s platform centralizes code enforcement data, including violations, inspections, and compliance statuses, ensuring that all departments can access critical information.
• Reporting & Compliance Tracking: Forerunner allows municipalities to generate reports on code enforcement trends, violation patterns, and case resolution rates to support regulatory compliance and strategic planning.

Hazard management teams across the United States are utilizing these invaluable solutions in their code enforcement workflows. 

Steve Winters, Floodplain Manager and Construction and Building/Fire Sub-Code Official for Manasquan, NJ, shares, “We talk about adopting the regulations, writing them, but the question is, who's going to enforce all of this? Forerunner allows us to track inspections and whether these properties are repetitive loss or severe repetitive loss. If we did not have Forerunner, we would not be able to effectively manage our floodplains. The construction management software platforms available today do not manage floodplains.”

With mobile-friendly tools, automated workflows, and real-time mapping, Forerunner supports code enforcement agencies’ backlogs, cross-departmental collaboration, and public communication, reducing complaints and improving response times. Whether you’re tackling zoning enforcement, blight remediation, or flood zone compliance, Forerunner’s Code Enforcement solutions support faster case resolution, better compliance, and provide teams with a comprehensive, user-friendly tool.

To learn more about Forerunner's code enforcement