The Ready to Build Expedited Plan Review Process

About the Program

Category: Community and Economic Development (Best in Category)

Year: 2012

In Chesterfield County, the Ready to Build Expedited Plan Review Process was generated from a concern in mid-2009 that many employees in the construction industry and related suppliers were losing their jobs with the economic downturn. The Ready to Build Expedited Plan Review Process is offered to all developers of nonresidential and multi-family development. It is not currently offered for single-family residential development, although the county will offer it for mixed-use that includes single-family residential buildings. The objectives of the Ready to Build Expedited Plan Review Process are: (1) protect jobs by getting projects under construction as fast as possible; (2) give priority to those developers who have obtained financing and have committed their team to high speed submission of plans. The process begins with a preliminary meeting between the developer’s team and the County/State review team. During that meeting, the development proposal is discussed, and the developer’s construction schedule is determined, backed by whether financing is already established for the project. If the developer needs the Ready to Build Expedited Plan Review Process, the consultant team prepares a calendar schedule for an initial submittal and up to three resubmittals with County and State reviews. The calendar will end with the construction start date desired by the developer. The time frame for each County/State review can be as short as three (3) business days. However, the developer’s team that prepares plans has no more than double the number of days to resubmit plans for the next review. If the County/State review team takes 3 days, then consultants have 6 days to resubmit plans. It should be noted that projects not given an expedited schedule will follow the County’s standard review timeframe of 21 days per review, and consultants have no time constraints for re-submission.