I’m an architect, and by no means a mind reader, but having been in this business for 20+ years and working with city plan checkers in Long Beach and all of the surrounding cities during that time, I’ve learned a thing or two about what plan checkers are thinking when they review architectural drawings.
City plan checkers, at least in Southern California, tend to have heavy workloads. At any given time, they could have many projects on their desk in need of review—including multiple large commercial projects. With this many sets of plans to get to, plan checkers have to prioritize their time. When they see a set of plans that they deem to be problematic, they will often take a cursory look at the plans and send them back with vague instructions, such as “Review code, correct, and resubmit.”
What makes a set of plans “problematic?” It is typically a set of plans that was clearly drawn up by a DIYer or even a general contractor—often lacking in clarity, detail, and/or specifics. They may be missing certain key information, or the drawings are illegible, or the notes are unclear. City plan checkers generally aren’t going to waste their time trying to decipher what they think the designer is trying to convey in their plans. Instead, they will simply kick them back. If they’re feeling generous, they might include specific instructions on how the plans can be improved, but often, they will put the burden on the submitter to figure out how to make the plans suitable for approval.
As a member of the Cultural Heritage Commission in Long Beach, I am part of a team that reviews the plan submissions for historic home remodels and makes recommendations to the city. We recently reviewed a set of plans that included notes that were so small, they were impossible to read. We’ve also seen plans designed by general contractors that were completely devoid of any design considerations. In one set of plans, the design of the exterior resembled a stucco box, and reminded me of one of those “There, it’s fixed” memes.
There are many great general contractors in Long Beach, but few of them have the training and skills necessary to produce a great set of building plans. They are trained in construction, as opposed to architects, who are trained in design and in communicating through drawings.
While I totally understand the desire of homeowners and business owners to want to save money by having their general contractor draw up building plans and submit them, doing so can often add months—or even more than a year—of time to a project as they go back and forth multiple times with city plan checkers.
On the other hand, when a city plan checker sees the name of an architecture firm they know and respect on a set of plans, those plans tend to get through the city with fewer rounds of corrections—or even in a single plan check review. I’ve seen it happen. When my Long Beach architecture firm submits plans, the plan checkers know they will be clear and complete submissions, because that’s what we’re known for!
A good Long Beach architect will be well worth their fees! He or she will know what city plan checkers are looking for and draw up your plans accordingly. Then, once they are approved, you can hand them over to your general contractor, who can take things from there.
