Inspections taking ages

[Saxton]

I've become a grumpy developer because it's taking ages to get my buildings inspected. Unfortunately, I can't move forward with my projects until the inspections are complete. The city used to blame the pandemic and the massive backlog of work that it created, but surely that's been dealt with by now. Are you guys seeing the same thing where you live? Is this just the new normal? I think the office workers are getting tired of me calling them to follow up.

 

[Jjacochran]

I've become a grumpy developer because it's taking ages to get my buildings inspected. Unfortunately, I can't move forward with my projects until the inspections are complete. The city used to blame the pandemic and the massive backlog of work that it created, but surely that's been dealt with by now. Are you guys seeing the same thing where you live? Is this just the new normal? I think the office workers are getting tired of me calling them to follow up.

I have a hard time with plan review in my area. They send it out to one department at a time. Example water dept takes 3 weeks, then to fire marshal 3 weeks, then planning zoning etc etc. 3 months minimum for a project I will complete in a couple days. (Cobb county)

 

[Kimberly L]

City of Medford Oregon is 1 day turnaround time for inspections. Plan review is electronic so that all reviews/departments can complete at the same time. Residential plan review is 10 days, Commercial 15 business day increments. Some projects qualify for express review which is traditionally 2-3 days.

 

[Renee Reynolds]

City of Aberdeen, WA provide same day inspections. We are a small jurisdiction, but I believe most jurisdictions within the state are able to provide inspections within a day or two.
For us plan reviews depend on the project. All departments electronically review plans at the same time. We require that building and site development permits be ordered at the same time so they can be reviewed together. Residential is typically 3 weeks and commercial is up to 8 weeks. Small projects like a deck or a carport might take only a few days. Now this doesn't count for any projects having to go through land use permitting. Those have their own timelines.
I have heard of other jurisdictions in the counties or larger cities taking much longer to complete plan reviews. Some take up to a couple of years to get projects pushed through.