I hope the City of Dallas is truly prepared to get an earful. If what we’ve heard from builders, tradesmen, and insiders is any indication, there’s a lot to be said when it comes to improving the city’s often excruciatingly slow permit process.
The problem stems from the City of Dallas’ move to a system that was not ready to handle the demand, Dallas Builders Association executive officer Phil Crone told us. Users have experienced an inordinate number of issues simply navigating the application process.
The initiative advanced in fits and starts until COVID-19 pushed the system known as “ProjectDocs” decisively into the deep end.
Like everyone else, City of Dallas Building Inspections had to adjust quickly in March to county government mandates and the necessity of social distancing. As the industry sprang to life in late April and early May, it was clear the days of prompt permitting had gone the way of concerts, festivals, and packed stadiums.
“The expectations for online permitting have never been met,” said Kelly Reynolds of Keen Homes. “I recall when first introduced it took seven days or so and now it takes 30. I can’t see how anyone can feel this program is a success.”
In a city where zoning, development and utility connections are nightmarish processes, building permitting was a bright spot with far faster turnaround times than surrounding cities. While ProjectDocs is commonly used elsewhere, it’s deployment underscored problems that are uniquely Dallas.
Phil Crone, “Dallas’ Online Permitting is an Arduous Journey Fraught With Peril“Call For Feedback
In a bid to document just how stakeholders want the process to change, the city’s Government Performance Committee is going to hold a meeting at 1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 31, that is open to all concerned about the permitting mess to weigh in with suggestions for improvement. Speakers need to register by 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 28.
“It is very important for council and staff to hear from those affected by this,” Crone said.
What City Permitting Models Should Dallas Use?
There are many cities that offer more streamlined permitting experiences. As many of our columnists have noted, it takes nothing short of a miracle to make it through the process in a remotely timely fashion.
To streamline the process, the City of Fort Worth took their review process to a privately managed model.
“Fort Worth has both plan review and inspections privatized,” offered Crone. “Plan review would be sufficient here, but the city has indicated they are going to wait until the summer to even develop a plan to privatize it in that way.”
Waiting until summer may mean huge losses for builders and homeowners that need to start projects soon.
“That’s one reason we need a long line of people to weigh in,” Crone added. “Council and staff are tired of hearing from me, this lets them hear directly from those affected.”
Proposed Changes
As far as the changes that Crone and the Dallas Builders Association want to see, they include:
- Permanently fill the Building Official position ASAP and pay them competitively.
- Publish accurate prescreen and plan review timelines for residential and commercial projects.
- Ensure the permitting system ProjectDoxs is intuitive such that all builders and contractors can submit projects consistently and correctly on their own and obtain real-time and informative status updates and notifications.
- Provide regular updates on ProjectDoxs improvements and procure industry/user feedback.
- Ensure City Contracted Plan Reviewers are firing on all cylinders. Replace those who are not.
- Utilize Private Provider Program that allows applicants to contract directly with third party plan reviewers.
- Establish self-certification initiative for items incidental to residential and commercial development.
- Find efficiencies for higher volume builders with similar plans.
- Explore strategies to make zoning review less complex and more predictable, especially in conservation districts.
- Deploy “key performance indicators” identified by TREC, TEXO and Dallas BA by the end of 2022.
- Avoid new policies that will further encumber the permitting/zoning process.
What changes would you want to see in the permitting process? Have you experienced problems?
