If your team is considering electronic plan review, the biggest question isn’t whether it works — it’s how to implement it without disrupting your current operations.
In Part 2 of our Electronic Plan Review webinar series, Don Wilkins — a former Chief Building Official with more than 30 years of experience — shares how municipalities are moving from paper to digital with clear intake requirements, defined routing, and flexible support models that fit real staffing constraints.
Below are common implementation questions and the practical answers municipalities are using today.
Q: Where should we start if we don’t quite know “step one”?
A: Start by defining what a “complete” submittal looks like — before you change anything else.
Don recommends beginning with a written checklist for required construction documents. That includes plan sheets, but also supporting PDFs such as geotechnical reports, project manuals, energy reports, and structural calculations.
Clear intake requirements reduce incomplete submissions, rework, and delays before review even begins.
Q: Do we need new software to implement electronic plan review?
A: No. Implementation is about process first — not replacing your system.
In practice, review teams can work inside the platforms municipalities already use. Jurisdictions assign projects through their existing system, reviewers complete the work, and results are uploaded back into the same workflow.
This allows departments to improve efficiency without a full technology overhaul.
Q: What does “implementation” actually mean beyond accepting PDFs?
A: It means having a defined process for how plans move through review.
Accepting digital files alone doesn’t change much. The real improvement comes from clearly defining how plans are routed, how comments are documented, and how submittals are reviewed — all within a consistent workflow.
That clarity is what keeps projects moving.
Q: How are small departments implementing electronic plan review without hiring more staff?
A: By keeping local control and adding plan review capacity only when it’s needed.
Don describes small municipalities that maintain their internal team but use outside support for commercial plan review or peak workload periods. This avoids hiring a full-time plans examiner for demand that fluctuates throughout the year.
The department stays in charge while gaining flexibility.
Q: What about larger cities dealing with backlogs or retirements?
A: The same flexible approach applies — often as a way to stabilize turnaround times.
Don notes that many larger departments face staffing gaps from retirements and difficulty backfilling roles, creating backlogs even when demand is steady. Adding review capacity helps teams catch up and maintain predictable timelines.
Q: How does the private provider model work — and who stays in control?
A: Where allowed, applicants choose an approved third party, but the municipality remains the permitting authority.
In this model, reviewers are paid by the applicant, upload reviewed plans into the municipal system, and the jurisdiction performs quality control and final approval.
Don also addresses a common concern: payment does not override code enforcement. Reviewers work closely with building officials, and the municipality retains final decision-making authority.
Q: How does electronic plan review help when volume spikes overnight?
A: It removes paper bottlenecks when departments need to respond quickly.
Don points to real scenarios — such as localized storms — that suddenly generate large volumes of permit activity. Digital submittal and review allow departments to process work faster when printing, handling, and routing paper plans would slow everything down.
The goal is simple: help residents move forward without the department becoming the delay.
Watch Part 2: Implementing Electronic Plan Review
Electronic plan review doesn’t require replacing your system or rebuilding your team. In practice, implementation works best when departments start with clear intake requirements, establish how plans move through review, and add support in ways that align with how they already operate.
If your department is ready to move forward, Part 2 shows how municipalities are implementing electronic plan review in real situations, using practical approaches that keep projects moving without disrupting day-to-day operations.
