Permitting for a tenant improvement project can be confusing, expensive, and nebulous. Oftentimes, the Building Department’s unrestricted mandating of costly building requirements creates a moving target for you, the owner or lessee. With proper advocacy, though, you can dodge the requirements that don’t apply to you (but will be thrown your way, anyway). Proper knowledge about your plans, discussing them, and petitioning to the City can result in the circumnavigation of time lost in rounds and rounds of plan comments and corrections at a premium.
How the TI Permit Process typically flows:
When responding to comments and corrections, there is a constant need to clarify scope and challenge the interpretations and assumptions the plan checker is making. Discovering these issues and attempting to change permit drawing after you obtain your permit can add months to your project! Your architect/DB Contractor should be well-versed in this critical part of the process. Failing to recognize when your plans are not clearly communicating field conditions and your construction needs can lead to additional work that’s unnecessary yet still required through permitting (scope creep).
Contact us with help negating these issues with your upcoming TI project!
