Reply to Come along as we build our custom home- lessons learned in real time.

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[quote=Anonymous]So, permitting.  Spoiler alert--it took us nearly 18 months to get these done.  COVID and its knock on effects deserve some blame, but in talking to others, for a single home with a developer that doesn't do giant projects, anything under a year is very unlikely.

First issue:  I thought that having the architect & engineer was all we needed.  But they don't have experience in managing the beast that is your average county/city department of permitting.  Someone has to coordinate the submitting of plans, the updates, keeping track of the perpetually changing permitting requirements, and generally has to ride herd on county employees and sometimes the architect and engineer for changes or clarifications.  And that person has to know the ins and outs of the department and who to pick up the phone to call.  I wasted 6 weeks because like a sane person, I spent time on the county website and took it at its word.  And I even called the department and asked the hopelessly naive question " How long does it take to get a building permit?"  And the pleasant, helpful person told me:  10-12 weeks.  Fantastic! Great call.  What I didn't realize is that she had accurately answered the question, and ONLY the question I'd asked.  It does indeed take 12 weeks to get a building permit.  Except, the building permit is the last of a long line of permits that are needed for new construction.  These permits are for the most part issued sequentially, and each of them takes weeks and has multiple components.  YMMV with geographic location, but for close in DMV, these are generally needed (more rural may not need some of these) They are:

Stormwater Management Plan
Site Plan
Fine grading permit
Right of way + driveway permit
Sediment control plan(during construction)
Tree Conservation Plan
Building permit (which itself includes Mechanical, Engineering and Plumbing plans)

So we gave in and hired a nifty professional called a Permit Expediter.  Much like the builder manages the contractors during construction, the expediter quarterbacks  County, Engineer, Architect and the Builder in getting all these plans approved.  *The Builder isn't really vital to this process, except, that they do have to be licensed the County will check on this before construction gets under way.

Pausing for a moment.  There is so much more to come.[/quote]

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