May we share our top 5 Tips and Tricks for Submittals

24 May May we share our top 5 Tips and Tricks for Submittals

With deadlines fast approaching for multiple projects and submittal packages being prepped and printed, we thought we would share with you our top 5 tips for submitting to the city (or county depending on your jurisdiction).

Photo by Sonja Langford on Unsplash

1 – Always Budget More Time than you think.

If you can, you should schedule your submittal, but even then you should plan for more time.

You might think you’re just going in for a simple over the counter check, and end up having to visit every department, twice, and then having to go to the photocopy center to make a copy of a handwritten revised note to replace a single page in the submittal package.

Photo by Jade Wulfraat on Unsplash

2 – Have a good breakfast and bring snacks.  

As seen above, submitting almost always takes longer than you think and therefore you will end up getting hungry, and almost always HANGRY because of the hoops you are jumping through.  Make sure you have water and a protein bar in your bag.

No matter how many times we suggest adding a coffee bar to the submittal counter they ignore it!

Photo by Brandi Redd on Unsplash

3 – Bring the Submittal Set plus some extra documentation.

It’s obvious to prepare for submittal by organizing and either folding or rolling up the actual drawing set, but we always bring extra documentation when we submit.  Why?  Sometimes you need to update or fill out additional submittal forms so its always good to have the owner’s and property information handy.

Sometimes you even need to prove the existence of a structure before pulling permits.  We ran into this issue recently with a couple of our remodels where the Building Department did not have the original house permits on file, but we were able to prove that they were legal structures with Assessor information which clearly referenced the original permit numbers.  #duediligence

Photo by Helloquence on Unsplash

4 – Always take Notes!

Make sure you remember and document who you are meeting with and what they are telling you.  If you’ve received multiple different interpretations on the building code its always nice to say:

“That’s not what Sam said last week when I reviewed the plans with him…”

Often this will lead to some “back of house” conferencing, but it has worked in our favor numerous times.  #duediligence

Photo by Hafidh Satyanto on Unsplash

5 – Always remember to get a receipt!

You want to always get and make a copy of the permit receipt.  We like to use CamScanner for this because we can do it immediately and send a copy to ourselves and the Client right from our phone.

Also, don’t forget to get a parking receipt!  This is a reimbursable expense and with all the time spent running from counter to counter the parking fee may be astronomical!

Do you have any additional tips or tricks for submitting?  We would love to hear them!

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!