What is self-certification? It's a voluntary option some cities offer to licensed architects & engineers to skip plan check and go straight to building permits for certain types of projects. NYC, Chi, Phx, San Diego all have programs, as does the So Cal City of Bellflower. - ThreadSky

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mottsmith.bsky.social • 48 days ago

What is self-certification?

It's a voluntary option some cities offer to licensed architects & engineers to skip plan check and go straight to building permits for certain types of projects.

NYC, Chi, Phx, San Diego all have programs, as does
the So Cal City of Bellflower.

Comments

mottsmith.bsky.social•48 days ago

The principle is this: Plan check is important for complex projects. But for simple ones it can be redundant. Licensed architects should know the code, and inspectors enforce code during construction--often going beyond what's shown on the plans or verified in plan check.

mottsmith.bsky.social•48 days ago

So, for relatively simple projects like single family homes, small commercial buildings or tenant improvements, self-certification saves builders time and money, and lightens the load on city staff, who are freed to focus on the more complex projects that really need them.

mottsmith.bsky.social•48 days ago

Today, 59% of all plan checks at City of L.A. are for Single Famliy Home additions and new builds. Another 27% are for commercial, a significant portion of which is TI. A large portion of single family and commercial plan checks are excellent candidates for self-cert.

mottsmith.bsky.social•48 days ago

Whenever we talk about expediting important projects, like multifamily, homeless shelters or 2028 Olympics facilites, someone inevtiably says, "we can't do that until we triple the number of plan checkers at the City."

mottsmith.bsky.social•48 days ago

This is a much easier way to get to the same result. By offering self-cert on simple, low-risk projects, we free up plan checker bandwidth for the complex projects that demand their attention.

It would be like driving in L.A. on a Sunday when traffic is light--you'll fly.

mottsmith.bsky.social•48 days ago

Other fixes are needed too, but this is very low-hanging fruit.

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