How long does it take in your area to get: • Plans drawn to Building Permit being issued? • What else is in your process? @Jay Hinrichs (I know you know several areas) @J Scott @Kenneth Bell @Lynn Currie and others?

@Karen MargraveIn Seattle for a remodel you submit your current floor plan and also the floor plan you plan to use. This is a quick process, I think the last one we did took a day to draw up and within a couple days we had the permit. Not sure how long for new construction and I'm sure different projects can vary. The cost is based off the total cost of the project.

@Karen Margrave, is it one house on a pre-approved lot or raw land for a subdivision creation? Public utilities or well and septic? Naturally, pre-approved lots on public utilities eliminates a plethora of hoops on the permitting side. The design process can often take longer than the permitting process and so purchasing pre-designed plans online can cut out a lot of time for that scope (not to mention the amount of money saved). In Loudoun County, VA, I've seen new home permits get released in just a matter of weeks. I believe the the quality of the permit drawings goes a long way to keeping the permit process to a minimum and that a plan expediter may be helpful if the process in your area is laborious.

In Austin it varies. I've seen it go as fast as 6 weeks, and as slow as 5 months. Currently we're seeing a 20 day turn time for plan review and there are almost always one round of comments that need to be addressed. That puts plans in at 20 days, comments addressed by architect at about a week, plus plans reviewed again for another 20 days. A total of about 50 days. The time to get plans done originally, depends on the architect and engineers. Sometimes it takes 30-45 days, and some projects drag on.

@Scott Pirrie Is it me or is that ridiculously long? Can you explain this process? Is it from applying to being able to start building?

In city of Seattle 4-8 months for Single Family and Townhomes currently.

By they way they DID approve my plans this afternoon!!!! I have a couple things to button up at the fire department, then I will have my permits!! Sorry, I had to share with someone...

If you are talking about a lot already developed, getting a permitted use permit, about 1-2 weeks here, and fees range from $10k - $20k. If you have zoning changes or an entire development, it's 6mos plus....

In New Orleans, 2-4 weeks after submitting plans you will have your permit (assuming no changes are required). In historic districts, the process is much longer due to public meetings and requirements to notify nearby residents, that took 12 weeks. None of the above required any zoning changes or variances. Those would add another 6-8 weeks on the minimum. Cost for permits are very low here.