A permit expediter assists a person looking to build or renovate a property by helping them navigate the paperwork associated with obtaining a permit. A permit expediter does this by helping clients obtain, file, and follow-through with the necessary paperwork legally required to begin construction.
What Is A Permit Expediter And Why Do I Need One?
A permit expediter is more than a consultant. They’re a means of streamlining the permit expediting process. Commercial developers and architects have been working with permit expediters for decades for this reason. Permit expediters are able to research and prepare all applications required for plan review, follow through the review process and coordinate resubmittals when necessary.
Not only does this help save you save time, it also saves you the potential for costly mistakes that could delay your project.
What Does A Permit Expediter Do To Streamline The Process?
Permit expediters play a behind-the-scenes role in the construction and renovation process. They have a thorough understanding of the local permit requirements specific to each jurisdiction. This means a permit expediter is able to advise a wide variety of industry professionals, including business owners, engineers, and architects, on how their projects can be approved more efficiently. A permit expediter will typically execute the following duties:
- Performing due diligence outlining codes and permit requirements
- Filing paperwork with the building, fire and health departments
- Helping you understand the permit process
- Advising you on how to to speak with city officials
- Finalizing any revisions that need to be made
- Communicating with your project’s plans examiners and team
In a way, your permit expediter acts as a facilitator between you and your staff and city officials. Permit expediters provide you with a better understanding of the city’s local building and zoning codes, how city officials may interpret a certain project, etc.
What Is A Permit Expediter? A Smart Way To Save
A permit expediter may also be able to help you save on costs when it comes to paying additional staff. For instance, you might not need to hire a land use planner or code consultant. Instead, your architect may only need to hire a permit expediter to give them an inside look at the project and whether the construction process is legal.
What’s more, compared to code consultants and land use planners, a permit expediter has a unique perspective that gives them a greater scope of your project. Permit expediters work on hundreds of different projects in different cities. As a result, they’re able to examine your project thoroughly.
Whether you’re renovating your business or building a new property, it’s best to have someone familiar with local officials, local codes, and the permit process. This ensures your permits to begin construction will arrive as efficiently as possible rather than months in the future.
When Is The Best Time To Hire A Permit Expediter?
Many project managers and construction developers will quickly realize the ROI that comes with hiring a permit expediter. By hiring a permit expediter, project managers are leaving the frustrating and time-consuming behind-the-scenes work to professionals.
The best time to hire a permit expediter is before your project manager begins to spend hours of research attempting to navigate the requirements, paperwork, and research associated with the permit process. Permit expediters have the expertise and relationships available to them to efficiently move required paperwork through City Hall so you can begin your project on time and end on budget.
In fact, the service permit expediters provide is so valuable to project managers that the number of jobs filed at the Department of Buildings jumped 4.9% from 2012 to 2013. That number jumped again by 14.2% in 2014, a number which keeps on growing.
Old Vs. New: What Is A Permit Expediter?
In years past, if you asked someone “What is a permit expediter?” they would answer that they’re paper-pushers or runners. But today, permit expediters play a key role in the construction process.
Architects and project managers may be able to conduct the permit process themselves. But when it comes down to it, permit expediters have the professional know-how to navigate the nuts-and-bolts of the permit process. Today’s permit expediters are multi-disciplined professionals with certifications in zoning, building code interpretation, or real estate development. They’re experts in their field and know how to advise project managers to get the construction project done well and done efficiently.
What’s more, permit expediters are sometimes hired for their ability to decipher zoning codes to allow a specific square footage. They’re also hired to help construction teams get all the paperwork in order to be submitted and accepted the first time with no mistakes.
Permit expediters negotiate on your behalf from a place of knowledge to get you the best results possible for your project. This ensures you only have to make changes to your project and blueprints when absolutely necessary.
In some cases, design issues do pop up. And it’s for that reason that permit expediters work best when hired early on in the project to help keep these issues to a minimum. Compared to yesterday’s permit expediter, today’s permit expediting services are more like consultants than ever before. Permit expediters are professionals capable of contributing their fair share to the construction process to reduce costs and time for the project manager and business owner.
Not only will this help you streamline your project from beginning to end, it will also help you avoid paperwork and building process mistakes that could set your project back.
