A public works director usually meets stormwater software at the moment of decision. The coordinator has found something they like, IT has questions, and there is a budget line to defend. The demo will look good. Every demo does. The questions below are meant to surface the differences a demo hides.
Each section ends with how NPDESTracker answers, so you can hear what a plain answer sounds like. Ask every vendor the same questions, including us.
1. Which permit is this configured for, exactly?
“Supports your state” can mean anything from a finished annual report template to a state name on a map. Ask for the permit number and version the vendor would configure, where each requirement comes from, and when they last checked the source.
A good answer names the permit, shows a source for each requirement down to the page, and gives dates.
Our answer: NPDESTracker is built for Phase II programs, and we configure each workspace to the agency’s permit framework. The annual report template implemented in the product today is the Western Washington Phase II template; for other permits, the template is built and verified before Annual Reporting is switched on. The permits page says which state pages are preliminary planning references rather than verified coverage. NPDESTracker is not marketed as a complete Phase I program system. What to check in any vendor’s state setup is in evaluating state-specific MS4 configuration.
2. Can you show me the record chain on sample data?
Ask the vendor to follow one inspection from the field to the annual report: the finding, the follow-up, the notice, the closure and the report evidence. If they cannot do it in a few minutes, your staff will not manage it on a busy day.
Our answer: the public demo (opens in a new tab) uses fictional data and is read-only on our side: nothing you try there is saved on our servers or sent. It shows inspections, follow-up tasks, the map and the coordinator views. Annual Reporting is locked there and shown in a private demonstration. The steps are written out in from field observation to annual report.
3. What works in the field today?
Ask what runs on your inspectors’ phones now, what needs a connection, and whether any native app is downloadable today or still planned. Then test it on your own devices, on a real route.
Our answer: the browser web app is available now and works on phones and tablets with a connection. Loading and saving needs a connection, and a production offline mode is not available today. The native iOS app has a Target release: April 2027, subject to field validation, release readiness and App Store review. The offline, voice-first Inspection Copilot is in development. See the native iOS app post.
4. Who owns the data, and how do we leave?
Ask for the export formats, whether files come with the export, and what happens at the end of the contract. Leaving should not be harder than starting.
Our answer: your agency owns its records. Workspace administrators can download an export of their workspace from the application, and we provide a complete export, including files, on request. How it works covers onboarding, data handling and offboarding.
5. What is built and tested, and what is certified?
Keep the two apart. Controls a vendor builds and tests itself can be real and valuable without being certified. A vendor that blurs the line is a risk.
Our answer: we describe controls we build and test ourselves, such as separate workspaces enforced inside the database and automated checks that try to cross between them. NPDESTracker does not currently hold a SOC 2 report, an ISO/IEC 27001 certificate, or FedRAMP or StateRAMP authorization. See the security page.
6. Where does AI touch our data?
Ask which features send data to an AI model, which data they send, who can switch them on, and whether your data trains anyone’s models.
Our answer: no feature sends your workspace’s records, uploaded files, photos or recordings to an external AI model. The features that can call one are tools for our own staff, used while we set up a workspace, so nothing your staff use calls one, and every part of the product works without AI. Smart Draft does not use AI. We do not use your agency’s data to train AI models. See protecting municipal data when AI is optional.
7. Does it work with our GIS?
Ask whose credentials the software uses, whether it can write to your layers, and where its own records are stored.
Our answer: staff sign in with their own ArcGIS named-user accounts, and NPDESTracker reads your content read-only and never writes to it. See working alongside ArcGIS.
8. What does it cost, all in?
Ask for a written quote that names what is included and what is scoped separately: setup, data migration, training, GIS work, custom development and taxes.
Our answer: annual plans are on the pricing page. Prices shown exclude applicable taxes. Self-service configuration is included; done-for-you setup, bulk migration, advanced GIS setup and custom engineering are scoped separately. Written annual quotes, purchase orders, and scoped onboarding are available. Your agency determines its purchasing and approval requirements.
9. Who answers when something goes wrong?
Ask what support is included, how staff reach it, and what the vendor’s response target actually promises. A target for a first response is not a promise of a fix.
Our answer: our support terms are on the pricing page and in the support documentation, in writing.
10. What happens when the permit changes?
Permits are reissued on a cycle and sometimes modified in between. Some are continued past their expiration date while a new one is prepared. Ask how the vendor handles each of those, and how the software shows which version is in force.
Our answer: an annual report template is tied to a specific permit. The one implemented today follows Western Washington’s Phase II permit for 2024 to 2029. When your permit is reissued or modified, ask us to show you what would change in your workspace and when, before the new version’s first report is due.
11. How much staff time does setup take?
Ask who does the setup work, what your staff must provide, and how long a typical workspace takes to be useful. A small program cannot absorb a long rollout.
Our answer: we configure the workspace to your permit framework and walk your team through it. Your staff provide the permit documents, decisions on the questions setup raises, and the starter data they want to bring in. Implementation describes who does what.
12. Can our coordinator and IT reviewer try it first?
The people who will live with the software should see it before the purchase, not after. Ask for time with the product for the coordinator and for your IT reviewer.
Our answer: the public demo needs no signup, and a private demonstration can include your coordinator, your GIS lead and your IT reviewer on the same call.
Red flags
- A compliance score built from empty fields.
- “Automatic submission” to the state, without a walkthrough of your state’s actual submission channel.
- Certifications mentioned but never documented.
- A native app described as available that you cannot download today.
- Prices that appear only after a sales call.
- Answers that use adjectives where you asked for documents.
The bottom line
The best vendor for a public works department is the one whose answers you can check. Ask for sources, dates and documents, and give the coordinator and the IT reviewer real time with the product before you sign.
If you would like to put these questions to us directly, request a private demonstration or reach us through the contact page. The MS4 overview is a useful primer to share with colleagues who are new to the program.