By Helen Collier
In 2018, a steady flow of renovation and reconstruction work from recent hurricane and fire catastrophes will continue along the Texas Gulf Coast to the West Coast and other areas. And when combined with the impact of the new tax law resulting in hundreds of millions to billions of dollars flowing into the pockets of large corporations and sizeable bonuses to corporate employees, there is expected to be solid construction projects to go after. Such projects like large corporations looking at expanding campuses to renovation of residential properties to early development projects driven by infrastructure improvements and to the continued boon that is occurring with distribution and warehouse centers across various states.
While most contractors and sub trades get excited about the amount of work in the marketplace and evaluating potential growth, many contractors often forget about how much time is needed and hurdles required to obtain a building permit. Delays in obtaining building permits impacts generating the desired sales in 2018.
To assist in your business success this year, below are 5 tips to make sure your building permits are on track for your projects
Don’t Assume: Simply grabbing the plans from the Designer, Engineer and Architect and off you go to pull a permit can cost you time and money. Taking time to do due diligence and review the plans not only saves you time and money at city permitting, it also can eliminate costly mistakes on the job site.
Review Permitting Jurisdictions Web Site: Visit the perspective jurisdiction’s web site to make sure you are familiar with processes and that no changes have occurred that may create frustration and delays. This one step alone alerts you to possible shifts you need to make ahead of time.
Use Jurisdictions Checklist: Helpful tool found on most jurisdictions web sites that can be used to QA/QC permit package before submitting. And if your project work involves underground utilities or involves DOT right-of-way then visit their web sites for tips and checklists to insure have proper approvals and permits.
Ask Questions: Most jurisdictions across the country have resources to answer your questions over the phone or in person. Some jurisdictions may charge a slight fee for in person meeting, but it is well worth going down the road with mistakes when submitting package electronically or manually. You can also reach out to permitting experts like the Permit Us Now team that understand city standards, adopted codes and permitting processes.
Plan Proactively: General McCarthy was known to say that plans may go out the window during the heat of a battle, but the art of planning (knowing how, whom, where to make shifts and adjust) will help you win. Plan your permitting tasks ahead of time based on the amount of project work and types of scopes, you are pursuing this year.
In closing, some contractors’ pipelines are already healthy for this year and pulling a building permit in a timely manner assists in starting and wrapping up construction on time. When managed well, revenue targets are possible and contractors’ dreams of success can come true. I love to hear from you. Connect @PermitUsNow on Facebook and Twitter. Safe building!
