Expedited TI Permitting in Phoenix
The City of Phoenix operates a well managed and efficient building department, but waiting for plan review can often be time consuming and frustrating for small projects of limited scope. For tenant improvement (T.I.) projects like this, Phoenix offers their customers an expedited option for getting your permits approved quicker than standard plan review. It’s called the “Permit by Inspector Program”, more commonly referred to as PBI. Instead of plan review being conducted by the city’s in-house plan review staff, the PBI program has it’s designated inspectors do their own plan review in the field, short-cutting the time drawings have to spend in the building department before being approved.
If your project is smaller than 10,000sf, involves interior work only and no significant structural work, AND you already have a General Contractor selected, then this could be the best option for you.
Submittal documentation requirements are the same for standard plan review, and the electronic submittal sequence is identical, however instead of routing to internal plan review staff, the drawings are only screened for basic content compliance before a permit is issued. Then an on-site meeting is scheduled with the GC and PBI Inspectors where any concerns that the Inspector has are communicated to the construction team to be addressed as necessary, and construction can proceed. From that point, ongoing inspections with PBI Staff occur much like they would for any permit, ending in the issuance of completion or occupancy certificates.
While initially, the City’s goal was to allow a customer to obtain a permit in as little as 3 business days as stated in their program brochure, in reality it may take up to 2 weeks to have the permit issued. However, that is still a significant improvement over standard plan review, which in contrast may easily consume 6 to 8 weeks for a simple T.I. including two review cycles.
Fee levels are often less for the Plan Review fees, and the city will flex size and structural restrictions upon special request. Truly one of the best and most efficient permitting programs in the greater Phoenix market, and something you should definitely consider if you’re planning to buildout or occupy space in the City of Phoenix. Here’s a informative video produced by the City of Phoenix.
