Delayed projects often add up to lost revenue, overworked staff, and unhappy residents. But with so many steps to get a project from start to finish, it can be difficult to stay on track and on budget — especially when many cities are facing permit backlogs, staffing challenges, or cannot facilitate concurrent plan reviews.
SAFEbuilt streamlines the community development process to get you from breaking ground to ribbon cutting faster.
1. Take advantage of electronic plan reviews
Moving to a digital format for plan reviews doesn’t just reduce paper — it improves efficiency and leaves less room for error. When plans are reviewed electronically, they can be reviewed anywhere by a certified reviewer while adhering to local codes and ordinances, and they can be concurrently reviewed by different departments, thereby eliminating a bottleneck in the review process.
SAFEbuilt has the largest team of certificated professionals in the nation. From planning and zoning support to building, MEP and fire plan reviews, we can help eliminate hangups and you move more quickly through the permitting process.
2. Expedite building permits
Not much can happen on a project site until permits are finalized. As a result, one of the best ways to keep projects moving is to speed up the building permit process.
Our team can help tackle larger projects so that municipal staff can stay focused on smaller, standard requests. Not only will this help keep smaller projects moving forward, but SAFEbuilt’s experts can bring their decades of experience to oversee your larger impact projects. With our team at your side, we can help make sure that all necessary permits are obtained and any potential challenges are identified and addressed.
How SAFEbuilt can take you from breaking ground to ribbon cutting
Curious how this looks in action? Let’s take a look at an example.
Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee is currently in the process of renovating their football stadium press box. The problem? They had a limited window to get the project done before football season, and Nashville's Building Department was swamped with projects, meaning it would be several months before you could get the green light to start.
SAFEbuilt had recently partnered with the City of Nashville as a third-party reviewer, allowing builders to use our services within a private provider model. Once the city understood the sensitive timeline of Vanderbilt's project, they referred the University to SAFEbuilt to perform the code and fire safety reviews to expedite the permitting process. We were able to accomplish this quickly to keep the project on track to be completed for the upcoming football season.
Interested in hearing how SAFEbuilt can help keep your next project moving forward?
Let's Bring Your Vision to Life
Revitalizing a Small-Sized Building Department
Welcome to Maryville, Georgia, population 12,000, led by City Manager Michelle.
Michelle and the city's building department have been unable to keep up with increasing workloads. Their backlog has only intensified as residents:
- Use insurance money to replace roofs following a spring hailstorm
- Continue to move to the community
- File complaints about the quality of their public spaces
City Manager Michelle:
- Time as city manager: < 6 months
- Platform: Revitalize her small community
Let's see what Michelle accomplishes in the next year:
New High School
With certified inspectors at the ready, Michelle made it possible to:
- Schedule inspections and manage inspectors online
- Streamline inspections with multi-disciplinary staffing
- Receive real-time inspection and project updates
Leading to:
- Less scheduling & administrative logistics
- A faster timeline to ribbon cutting
City Hall
With third-party plan reviewers on stand by, Michelle made it possible to:
- Complete plan reviews electronically
Leading to:
- Same-day inspections, leading to quicker plan review turnaround
- Breaking ground faster on new projects
Updated Public Park
With additional resources, such as planning and landscape architecture, SAFEbuilt helped:
- Design a practical, eco-friendly public space to better suit the neighborhood
- Interpret zone codes for Michelle
- Preserve the historical look and feel of the city
Leading to:
- A healthier, happier community
- A more desirable neighborhood to live in with increased property values
New Housing Development
With a third-party staff member to manage permitting, and SAFEbuilt’s electronic permitting software, Michelle was able to help:
- The department to keep up with the busy season via a permit technician
- Residents to submit, manage, and approve permits online
- The department to reduce their outstanding permits
Leading to:
- Happier residents
- Budget protection
- Speed to revenue
- Reduced calls and complaints to city hall
Do Michelle's experiences as a city manager sound familiar? Let SAFEbuilt bring your vision to life.
