In order for a construction permit to be issued and the work to be properly inspected, plans must be prepared and submitted to the city for review and approval.  Plan check involves review of the submitted plans by various city departments to meet its respective code requirements.  Once the plans have been approved by all applicable city departments, the Department of Building & Safety will be authorized to issue the permit.

Information

• Types of Plan Review
• Plan Review Turnaround Time
• City Department Approvals
• Plan Check Waivers - when plans are not required

Types of Plan Review                                                                                      back to top

The review of plans for permit issuance may take place in one of two ways:

1. Over-the-Counter (OTC) Plan Review: OTC plan review occurs at our permit counter by our plan check staff during business hours on a first-come first-served basis. OTC plan review is limited to projects that are not complex and are small in scope of work.  It is also limited to projects that can be completely reviewed within approximately 10 to 15 minutes.  Such projects include patio covers, roof calculations, minor field revisions and small residential additions.
   
   Please feel free to inquire with our plan check staff on whether a specific project may be reviewed OTC.  OTC plan review is not available for mechanical, electrical and plumbing plans unless a prior appointment is made with the respective plan checker.
2. Overnight Plan Review: Overnight plan review is for all projects that require more than approximately 15 minutes to review. Multiple plan sets shall be submitted and will be forwarded to appropriate city departments for review and approval. The plans are then placed in the queue of each respective city department to be reviewed in the order they were received.
   
   An expedited plan review service is currently not available at this time.

Plan Review Turnaround Time                                                                        back to top

Turnaround time objectives for each submittal are listed below below.  Times are not guaranteed and may vary depending on size and scope of projects as well as on the number of projects currently under review by City staff.

Please note that the above objectives are for plan review by the Building & Safety Department only. Turnaround times may differ for other departments. Please contact each department separately for their respective times.

City Department Approvals                                                                              back to top

Plans must be reviewed and approved by the following city departments prior to permit issuance:

It is the responsibility of the applicant to coordinate with each department to receive their respective plan approvals.

Plan Check Waivers                                                                                        back to top

Plan requirements may be waived for Mechanical, Electrical, & Plumbing permits only, as approved by the associated planchecker. Please see the following forms where items that are not eligible for plan check waiver request are listed:

• Mechanical Plan Check Waiver Request Form
• Electrical Plan Check Waiver Request Form
• Plumbing Plan Check Waiver Request Form