The Dept of Planning & Permitting (DPP) has stated that one of the causes of building permit delays is incomplete plan submittals by design professionals. DPP has prepared the following checklist to assist.Interestingly, incomplete plan submittals have been a longstanding issue for DPP. If incomplete documentation has been an ongoing issue with DPP, then by itself, it would not seem to be responsible for the recent spike in permit processing time that occurred after ePlans became mandatory for new buildings.
A 2004 City Auditor's report of DPP noted that "Failure to submit properly documented applications delays the approval process and can result in staff wasting their time trying to process or 'fix' incomplete or inadequate applications."
The report stated that over 33% of applications received, were incomplete.
"However, permitting staff often spend similar amounts of time with 'professional' applicants who submit incomplete and/or inadequate applications. For example, a professional applicant may submit plans that are stamped '80 percent complete,' when it is known that plans must be stamped as 100 percent complete. Such attempts result in staff wasting time attempting to process applications that professional applicants already know are unacceptable. Other professionals may submit inadequate or 'sloppy work,' banking on staff spending extra time and effort to correct their materials. Some insist their applications be submitted even when they are advised they are incomplete. While staff emphasized that many professionals make a good faith effort to submit correctly prepared applications, those who do not cause more delays for the remaining applicants." (Office of the City Auditor, 2004)In support of complete submittals, DPP's ePlan submittal checklist is provided below. It can also be downloaded here.
EPlans Checklist Plan Format by QQuestor on Scribd
