Terms of Service

Effective 2026-05-04. Draft — pending legal review.

1. What PermitPilot is

PermitPilot is a permit-filing concierge for the City of Whitefish, Montana. We collect your application information and supporting documents, prepare the city’s required forms and authorization letter, email your packet to the City of Whitefish Building Department, and track the application through issuance. We are an independent service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or representing the City of Whitefish.

2. What PermitPilot is not

PermitPilot does not provide plan review, building-code interpretation, design advice, engineering, architectural services, or legal advice. We are not a licensed architect, engineer, contractor, or attorney. We do not certify whether your project complies with the International Residential Code, International Building Code, Whitefish City Code, the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) standards, or any other regulation.

Per Montana Code Annotated, Title 37, Chapter 65 (Architects and Landscape Architects) and Title 37, Chapter 67 (Engineers and Land Surveyors), only licensed professionals may practice architecture and engineering in Montana. PermitPilot does not engage in any conduct constituting the unlicensed practice of those professions, nor of law. If your project requires a stamped drawing, sealed engineering, or legal counsel, you must retain a Montana-licensed professional.

3. Your responsibilities

• You confirm the project address and the work to be performed are accurately described.
• You confirm you are the property owner, or have the property owner’s authorization (an owner-authorization letter must be uploaded for any non-owner application).
• You confirm any drawings, plans, or supporting documents you upload were prepared by you or a properly licensed professional.
• You confirm that the city’s final fee may differ from our estimate, and authorize PermitPilot to reconcile any difference (we will collect a top-up if higher; we refund the difference if lower).
• You agree the city, not PermitPilot, has final authority on whether to issue a permit.

4. Fees

Our service fee is 10% of the City of Whitefish’s permit / plan review / application fees, with a $25 minimum. The city fees are paid through to the city; the service fee is our compensation. See the refund policy for refund triggers and the fee table for our service fee computation.

5. Submissions and city email

The City of Whitefish accepts permit applications via buildingdept@cityofwhitefish.gov in addition to its Citizen Portal. We use the email pathway. You authorize PermitPilot, as your representative, to email your application packet to the city on your behalf. The email originates from permits@chrisshaw.me with applicable SPF/DKIM alignment.

6. Data handling

Your supporting PDFs are stored encrypted at rest using AES-256-GCM with a per-file random initialization vector. The master key is held in our infrastructure environment, not in source code or the database. Your submission is retained for up to 12 months from creation, after which encrypted files and database rows are deleted by an automated retention sweep. You may request earlier deletion by emailing permits@chrisshaw.me.

We log only your submission UUID; we do not log emails, phone numbers, addresses, or filenames in normal operation.

7. Breach notification

Should we experience a security incident affecting your personal information, we will notify you in accordance with applicable law, including Montana Code Annotated 30-14-1704 / 2-6-1002, generally within 45 days of discovery. If the incident affects more than 250 Montana residents, we will additionally notify the Montana Attorney General as required.

8. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, PermitPilot’s total liability arising out of or relating to this service is limited to the service fee you paid us for the affected submission. PermitPilot is not liable for delays, denials, conditions, or revocations imposed by the City of Whitefish, nor for any consequential or incidental damages. Nothing here limits liability for fraud, gross negligence, or willful misconduct.

9. Disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Montana. Disputes are resolved in the state or federal courts located in Flathead County, Montana.

10. Changes

We may revise these terms; the “Effective” date at the top will reflect changes. Material changes to fees or refunds will be emailed in advance.

11. Contact

Questions: permits@chrisshaw.me.