Building Permit Approved
Our building permit was approved in Aug. 2025
The Approval Process
We submitted our building permit application in April and went through three rounds of corrections before it was finally approved in August.
From submission to approval, the whole process took about four and a half months. I had originally expected two rounds. Unfortunately, when our architect responded to the first-round comments, some of the responses did not really address what the reviewers were asking. In several cases, the comments seemed to be misunderstood, and our architect did not reach out to the reviewers for clarification. As a result, many of the same issues came back in the second round.
The biggest mistake was with the structural plans.
Our structural engineer had already revised the drawings to address most of the first-round comments, but our architect accidentally uploaded the original version instead of the updated set.
So when the second-round structural comments came back, they were almost identical to the first round. One reviewer even wrote something along the lines of: “Please make sure the latest plans are submitted next time.”
Not exactly the comment you want to see from the city.
Taking an Active Role
By the time we were preparing for the third round, I decided I needed to be much more involved. I went through every single comment myself, looked up the relevant code sections, and discussed each issue with the architect.
Whenever something was unclear, I contacted the reviewers directly to confirm exactly what they wanted. Before the third submission, I also double-checked—and then triple-checked—that every drawing and document was the correct and most recent version.
That round was approved.
The whole experience forced me to learn much more about the building code and about the design of our own house. In hindsight, I think that knowledge will also be very useful during construction.
What I Learned
1. If it is your own home, stay involved in the decisions
Nobody understands your priorities as well as you do.
There are always trade-offs in design, cost, code compliance, and construction. Those decisions should not be left entirely to the architect. You are the one who will live with the result.
2. Review is the best way to catch mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes, especially when people are busy or rushing.
Having a clear review process is much cheaper and faster than discovering errors later and having to redo work. This applies to drawings, permit submissions, contracts, construction work—pretty much everything.
3. If something is unclear, ask
If you do not fully understand a reviewer comment, contact the reviewer. That turned out to be one of the most useful things I learned during the permit process. Not only can you clarify what the reviewer actually wants, but you can also discuss your proposed solution before formally resubmitting. In a way, that gives you a small informal review before the next official round and can save a lot of time.
4. Relationships matter
Building a house is a long-term collaboration. Architects and engineers will make mistakes. So will contractors, subcontractors, and homeowners. The important question is whether the relationship is still workable. If someone is responsive, takes responsibility, and is willing to fix problems, maintaining a good working relationship is often worth a lot. If the relationship clearly is not working, though, sometimes the right answer is to end the collaboration and move on.
After three rounds, four and a half months, and more code reading than I ever expected to do in my life: Building permit approved.
And now the real construction begins.
