Land Use and Environmental Services Agency
Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement
Commercial Plan Review
February 4, 2008
2008 Proposed Commercial Plan Review Revisions
Executive Summary
Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement is considering a number of changes in the Commercial Plan Review and
Permitting Process, to improve staff efficiency, as well as to encourage more effective use of plan review
resources by the design community. The Plan Review Task Force (PRTF), including members of the A/E
community and line staff, developed a number of these initiatives, while others resulted from staff task-group
efforts. We reviewed all initiatives for validity with the A/E members of the PRTF.
The overall Commercial Plan Review and Permitting Process change initiative includes thirty proposed changes.
A large number of these are “behind the scene” process changes. However, several of the changes are major
process revisions, with an impact on customers:
• Create gatekeeper checklist
• Provide electronic temporary addressing
• Post weekly booking lead time on the web
• Create Hi-Performing A/E stream
• Charge for hourly review for all 2nd or later reviews
• Collect 25% review advance from owners or A/E with abandoned project track record
• Expand maximum project size allowed for CTAC
• Initiate an interactive review process
• Revise criteria for “approved-as-noted”
• Create mega project review team
• Charge for mega project hourly review for all review cycles
• Provide Priority Review
• Offer conditional permitting
• Pre-authorize all revisions to approved plans (RTAPs) by field inspectors
• Establish an abandoned plans policy
The following pages include descriptions of each of the initiatives noted above. In addition, the 2008
Comprehensive OnSchedule Change Summary, containing a brief description of all changes, is also included for
review. The Department welcomes your comments on all of the proposed changes described herein.
Some of these changes are “low hanging fruit” and will be placed in service quickly, or are already in service, as
is the case, for example, with Weekly Booking Lead Time Web Posting. Others, such as the Hi-Performing A/E
Stream, require extensive detailed development work, and will take months to bring on line. The tentative longterm schedule to advance all initiatives is:
• February 11: Public Hearing
• February 19: report Public Hearing results to the Building Development Commission
• April 15: formal vote by the Building Development Commission on the BOCC Request for Board Action,
including all ordinance changes required to support the program revisions.
• July 1, 2008: begin six month A/E notification period for the Hi-Performing A/E Stream
• January 1, 2009: begin the Hi-Performing A/E Stream program.
Please direct all questions on these initiatives to any of the following:
• James N. Bartl, AIA, ph 704-336-3827, james.bartl@mecklenburgcountync.gov
• Willis Horton, ph 704-336-4301, willis.horton@mecklenburgcountync.gov
• Patrick Granson, ph 704-432-0081, patrick.granson@mecklenburgcountync.gov