Permit Submittal Roadblocks

Do not forget you will need to put a complete code summary on your cover sheet when submitting your building permit application package. A client came to us last week for help because the reviewer would not begin the review process until the code summary was in the submittal documents.A complete set of documents should […]

A Complete Permit Cheat Sheet

Even though there are 28,000 different interpretations of what should be on this very important portion of the plan review documents, providing the following items will get you through most building departments. Permit Place short list and create a complete permit cheat sheet for business owners, contractors, engineers, hotels and restaurants and more. What are […]

Building Department Responsibilities

Building departments adopt administrative rules from time to time for construction issues that are not covered by the currently adopted codes. These rules are called administrative guidelines and should always be reduced to writing by the local jurisdictions and placed in an administrative manual and easily accessible to the staff of the department. Understand what […]

Approval Does Not Always Mean Approved

Just because the local jurisdiction has approved your drawings, structural calculations and has issued the building permit does not mean you are out of the woods yet. If the plan reviewer overlooked something on your drawings that does not meet the requirements of the currently adopted building codes the building department can force you to […]

Alternate Materials and Methods

The three model codes are written to encourage the use of new materials and methods of construction, lowering costs, making affordable housing available and providing a safer and stronger built environment. The Uniform Building Code, National Building Code and Standard Building Codes all allow alternate materials and methods of construction not specifically prescribed by the […]