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The Truth About Permitting5/3/2017 Why does permitting take so long? Why is the city so slow in issuing permits?
The truth is that the city is getting faster and faster as each year progresses. But the REAL reason - which the city has been so nice to avoid pointing the finger... is drumroll.... ME. Yes, I'm responsible. The Architects and engineers out there who are preparing the plans. The draftsmen and designers who are submitting the drawings... IT'S THE QUALITY OF THE INFORMATION THAT THE CITY REVIEWS! Let's define what I mean by QUALITY in drawings. here's an excerpt of an email I sent to one of my clients whom I've worked with for many years, and is finally doing her home: "Quality means: communicating the "right" information to the examiners who are looking at the drawings and making comments. If they are confused in any way, this immediately leads to a 2 week delay as they will make comments, and then it needs to be turned around. NONE of us score 100 percent perfect scores every time. We all get comments back. but some of us get "A"'s, and some of us get "C's or worse in terms of speed of response, number of comments, rejected drawings, etc. The better you know the code and what the examiners are looking for - and how to present that information, the better response you'll get in terms of speed of approval. I've had a few 100%'s in my career, but no way am I batting 1000.. Also had my moments, fails just like we all do. It's taken years of practice and working with the Department of Planning and Permitting to know the nuances. I started taking care of comments on permit drawings in 1993. So I've got a few years under my belt. Sometimes we are rushed with too many jobs... and then mistakes happen, things are missed. Often it is editing, typos, - information missing.... really basic things. It happens to architects, the engineers, to the best of us. It usually happens when the office is flooded with work, and the clients are asking to push the deadlines. Just the nature of the beast. Then it's a whirlpool effect: economy busy. everyone going for permits. the designers are flooded with work. mistakes are happening. the reviewers at DPP are bogged down with the volume, and the poorer quality of the drawings. they are forced to take more time to understand the drawings... time ticks further, the public gets frustrated... jobs and construction is slowed down... meanwhile the jobs keep piling up... which is why I've structured my business as it is.. limited clients. yes, I'm a little more expensive so i can keep laser focus. which helps with permitting, construction, pricing accuracy, and less questions and returns to the site for the contractor... All resulting in much less time wasted. So in the end, although it seems like it's more expensive, it really isn't. Because the time efficiency leads to much higher quality which leads to less mistakes(which is the #1 money burner) , less time wasted (the #2 money burner), and ultimately better affordability. goes back to my formula: velocity + quality = affordability" Now you must know that not all Department of Planning and Permitting reviewers are equal. Some are better than others. Some like to nitpick, others know that they are simply taking care of and reviewing life-safety issues... they are watching my back to make sure any mistakes I make, and the contractor could make - are caught. For my safety and yours. It's an excellent service. We must always try to remember why they are there. Although they are called "regulators", they should be called super-heroes, public defenders, or perhaps just Protectors.
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