A few posts back (about a month ago), I mentioned that our Building Plans had been approved by the Health Department, which was very exciting indeed. Then, just a few days after our plans were stamped I took them over to the Dept. of Building and Safety for yet another approval process.
After they had our plans for three weeks, they finally gave them back with lots of red lines (corrections) on them, and a stack of papers detailing several “clearances” we need to get through before they will give us an approval. Actually though, now that I’ve spent almost a week working through these corrections, I’m realizing that they aren’t really that bad. In fact, most of the corrections deal with Accessibility Compliance (for wheelchair access, etc.), so it is just a matter of having the correct width for hallways and doorways, and the correct height for tables, etc.
As far as the “clearances” they are requesting, these have to do with other City agencies (like Fire Dept, Planning Dept, etc.). Not a huge deal, but kind of frustrating from the perspective of process and efficiency. It seems as though every process involving the City, has to go through LOTS of different departments that never really communicate with each other. So if you want to accomplish anything, you need to spend lots of time running around and paying each department their own “processing” fee.
Oh well…After a year of dealing with this slow moving bureaucracy, at least I know what to expect, and how to navigate through it all with a little less frustration. I guess the really important thing here, is that we are finally very close to starting our construction phase. We just need to finish these corrections, re-submit to the plan checker, (get approval), and then pull the building permit. I can actually start to see a light at the end of this long and crazy tunnel!
