Article Provided by:

Chuck Akers 

 

 

 
1. Post your permitting process, policies and local ordinance requirements on your website.

Benefit to the Contractor: Regardless of what we AHJ's may sometimes think, contractors do want to be code compliant. Code compliant designs should receive permitting approval quicker and result in a reduced number of field changes that could delay the job. Posting the permitting thresholds on your web site allows the contractor to quickly ascertain what it takes to get a permit and to ensure their design is code compliant.

 

Benefit to the AHJ: The more information that the contractor has access to during the design phase; the greater the chance the submittal will be code compliant. Code compliant designs reduce the AHJ's workload during the plans review and inspection process. Providing this information also reduces the opportunity for excuses by the contractor that they "did not know" or "nobody else" requires this.

 

2. Provide an expedited plan review option for fire sprinkler and fire alarm plans.
Benefit to the Contractor: Time is money in the contracting business. Although most jobs allow sufficient time for permitting, on more and more jobs, the sub-contractors are under extreme time constraints and may not be brought on until the last minute. This is even more the case for fire protection work. While mechanical, electrical and plumbing plans are basically complete when the architectural plan review is complete; this is not the case for fire sprinkler and fire alarm. For both of these types of permits, shop drawings are required to be drafted, reviewed internally and submitted for a separate permit/plan review. These additional steps create significant time constraints on the fire alarm and sprinkler sub-contractors. Frequently, they are put in a position that it is cheaper to pay the double fee rather than get behind on the job. They would willingly pay a much higher plan review fee for the added service of an expedited plans review.

 
Benefit to the AHJ: Just because we as AHJ's do not already offer an expedited plans review process, does not mean that we are not already being impacted by expedited jobs. We confront these jobs every day as contractors begin work early, so we issue stop work orders. The sub-contractors call us three times a day to check on the status of their permit, so we are interrupted in our other tasks. Eventually, the owner or general contractor starts calling because they are now behind and the Mayor or County Commissioner calls next. In the end, we probably move the plans to the head of the list anyway just to stop the phone calls. Rather than deal with all of this wasted time, with no additional revenue, why not create an expedited plans review option? In this period of tax reform, the additional revenue would be welcome and the phone calls for these jobs would be significantly reduced.

3. Provide contractors a more precise time of day for inspections.
Benefit to the Contractor: When a jurisdiction does not provide a specific time for an inspection, the sub-contractor is stuck scheduling a crew for the entire day. On small jobs, the work may be completed but the people are stuck sitting around with no production. Make no mistake about it that these added costs are passed down to your business owners and customers. It is even worse in jurisdictions that may roll inspections over from one day to another.

Benefit to the AHJ: Most of us have showed up on a job site and the sub-contractor is nowhere to be found. As a result, you are stuck meddling through the job, unable to ask questions or clarify corrections. You may have to take a second trip as a result. Would it not have been better to have the sub-contractor on site? Can you blame the sub-contractor for not being on the job site when they lose production of the crew for an entire day? Although you may not be able to give a time when you take the inspection request, you can at least allow the contractor to call the office in the morning to try to get a better idea of when you will be there.

4. Eliminate plans review on small fire sprinkler/fire alarm additions and relocations.
Benefit to the Contractor: On small jobs, the cost of permitting and plans can quickly exceed the cost of the work. If the local jurisdiction requires plans for five head relocation, it may be best to just do the work and take your chances. Eliminating plan review for small jobs would greatly reduce the cost to the business owner and citizens. Again, time is money and the time for the plan review of a small job may significantly impact a Certificate of Occupancy or Certificate of Completion.

Benefit to the AHJ: The code does not require an engineered design until a fire sprinkler system exceeds 50 heads or the fire alarm work exceeds $5,000. For these small relocations or alterations, there is very little return in conducting a plans review as an AHJ. Keep in mind that just because there is no plans review being conducted, that does not in any way reduce the requirement that the job be code compliant when the inspection is conducted. Building Departments have been issuing mechanical, electrical and plumbing permits as stand-alone over the counter permits with no plans review for years without problems. There is no reason that we cannot do the same for small fire protection work. The benefit in this to the AHJ is the time can be freed up for much more productive tasks and the reduced phone calls on small jobs to check on the plan review status. Most of us would much rather spend this time on more productive tasks. Who knows, we may even see more small jobs permitted and inspected because we have reduced the incentive for contractor to not permit their work. Even if you are uncomfortable with raising your fire sprinkler threshold for no plan review for relocations/additions to 49 heads, there is no reason that a ten to twenty head threshold could not be implemented along with the $5,000 threshold for fire alarm work.

5. Allow contractors to provide product/material submittal data in electronic format or allow them to provide a list of website links.
Benefit to the Contractor: The basic reduction in copying time and paper costs is significant benefit to the sub-contractor. In this time of greater environmental awareness, nobody wants to be killing unnecessary trees. This is one little added step in helping to protect the environment. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing contractors rarely have to submit their data sheets. Why should fire protection be any different? Yes, it needs to be available in the field but there does not need to be four full hard copy sets submitted with every permit.

Benefit to the AHJ: Allowing electronic submittals will reduce the possibility that older data sheets will be substituted by mistake. The most current information is available directly on the manufacturer's web site. By going directly to the manufacturer's web site, the AHJ will become more aware of the products and their limitations.
6. Allow contractors to pay with credit cards over the phone or on-line.
Benefit to the Contractor: A number of jurisdictions require contractors to pay reinspection fees prior to their next inspection. Paying the fees is not the issue. The cost in time of sending a runner down to the jurisdiction in order to pay a thirty to fifty dollar reinspection fee way exceeds the cost of the inspection. In today's day and age, electronic payment options are necessary.
Benefit to the AHJ: Each time a contractor pays on-line or over the phone, it is one less customer that your jurisdiction must deal with on a face-to-face basis. This frees up the AHJ's time for more productive tasks. Even if the AHJ is not the one collecting the fee, the jurisdiction's billing or permit technician has many other customers that they can be helping. One less customer paying a bill means better customer service for the others standing in line for a permit or other outstanding issues.

7. Institute a simplified permit and inspection process for fire sprinkler systems for one-and two-family dwellings.
Benefit to the Contractor: This has a tremendous impact on the cost of fire sprinklers in one-and two-family homes. Residential homes are constructed in a different manner from the typical commercial jobs that the fire service AHJ's are typically accustomed. Recognizing this need, a number of building departments turn around single-family plans in less than a week. Some building departments turn around single-family plan in less than two to three days. Forcing a contractor to wait two to three weeks for a residential fire sprinkler system plan review creates a significant disruption to these jobs and increases costs. Since one trade needs to follow another in quick succession, a single delay to the fire sprinkler contractor can ripple through each of the trades and affect the CO for the general contractor. Inspection delays create the same problems. Thinking about new options, what about getting some of your plumbing or building inspectors certified as a fire inspector and let them inspect the 13D sprinkler system? They are already out on the job site. . .

Benefit to the AHJ: The statistics are very clear. The fire problem in the United States is mainly in one-and two-family dwellings. We should be doing everything we can do in order to encourage residential sprinklers in new homes. Besides the myths that are out there, some of the main concerns are the time impact and the cost that our review and inspection process creates in the residential market. Removing the fire service created impediments to the installation of these systems needs to be our commitment to the cause of fire sprinkler protecting one- and two-family dwellings.

8. Conduct complete plans review and inspections the first time around.
Benefit to the Contractor: Contractors frequently have to deal with AHJ's that begin to conduct an inspection, find two or three problems, and then stops the inspection. The AHJ walks off of the job without conducting a complete inspection. The sub-contractor corrects the two or three problems, calls the inspector back, the inspector then finds another handful of problems resulting in a second rejection. The same situation can, and does occur in the plans review process. Each of these "incomplete inspections" or "incomplete plans reviews" can result in significant permitting delays, additional costs to the contractor and delays in opening to the developer. Fire sprinkler and fire alarm subcontractors have no problem correcting code violations. They want to know about them. However, they just want to know about them in a timely manner so they can correct them once and get it right the first time.

Benefit for the AHJ: Incomplete inspections and plans reviews waste the AHJ's time as much as the sub-contractor's time. When we conduct an incomplete inspection, we are almost guaranteeing an additional return reinspection trip to check on the items that we should have caught during the first inspection. We all realize that there will be occasions when we make a mistake, miss something on the first inspection, and pick it up on a subsequent one. The contractor understands that this is going to happen on occasion. However, how we deal with these mistakes is just as important. Finding flexibility in meeting the contractor's needs while getting the item corrected should be a priority. By missing the item on the initial inspection, we helped create the problem. Therefore, we have a responsibility to help find a reasonable solution.

9. Read, understand and implement FAC 61G15-32 regarding the differences between "fire protection system engineering documents" and "fire protection system layout documents."
Benefit to the Contractor: The long-standing discussion over the role between engineering design and shop drawing is settled, at least in Florida. There is no need for "fire protection system layout documents" to be required by the AHJ at the time of building permit application. The "fire protection system engineering documents" should be required at the time of the building permit application as the engineering documents establish the "overall design requirements and provide sufficient direction for the contractor" to layout the system. Requiring "layout documents" before a general contractor can get a building permit creates delays, increases costs and almost guarantees that the "layout documents" will have to change. At the time of the building permit, the sprinkler contractor may not even have the bid yet and the truss design may not be complete.

 

Benefit to the AHJ: Forcing engineers to provide "layout documents" at the time of the building permit application and forcing sprinkler contractors to provide "engineering documents" encourages design professionals and contractors to practice outside of their licensed field. The intent of the state law and FAC 61G15-32 is that the engineer produces the "engineering documents" and the sprinkler contractor produces the "layout documents" that are consistent with the "engineering documents." When the AHJ requires engineers to conduct layout or sprinkler contractors to perform engineering, the AHJ is changing the intent of the law and rule. The AHJ interjects an unnecessary level of complexity into the design process that can easily result in numerous revisions, delays in the permitting process and significant questions regarding who is responsible for what in the design. The AHJ will be forced to deal with each of these issues if they choose to act contrary to state law.

10. Allow "master filing" of fire alarm and sprinkler permits on typical buildings.
Benefit to the Contractor: Most building departments allow a "master filed" set of plans for typical buildings that will be constructed repeatedly with no or minimal design changes. There is no reason that the fire protection systems should also not be allowed to master file their shop drawing plans for these types of projects. This does not mean that separate permits are not issued to control the scope of the permitted work and track inspection but separate plan submittals should not be required. Obviously, master filing significantly reduces the permitting time for duplicate buildings.

Benefit to the AHJ: Would you review the same fire protection plan for a single building repeatedly once it was determined to be code compliant? Absolutely not. However, that is what we are doing when we refuse to allow master filing of fire protection system drawings. We are wasting our time and efforts looking at the same document repeatedly. In addition, we are significantly reducing the potential complication of a job by utilizing a single plan. We only need to store a single plan, a single plan needs to be in the field and, if revisions occur, they only need to occur against a single plan.

11. Allow fire sprinkler and alarm contractors to receive "Early Start Permits."
Benefit to the Contractor: More and more building departments are authorizing "early start permits" for an added fee. Basically, these permits allow a contractor and their subs to start demolition and begin the interior build-out up to the point of the first inspection. These permits are issued over the counter without plans at the contractor's sole risk while the plans are being reviewed. Allowing the fire sprinkler and alarm contractors to being "early start" work along with the mechanical, electrical and plumbing contractors can greatly expedite the completion of a job.

Benefit to the AHJ: Issuing "early start permits" can significantly reduce the pressure on the plans review process by giving the contractor the ability start a job while the permitting process is underway. Rather than the contractor calling the AHJ everyday about the status of permit, the contractor can be working on the job.

 

 

 

Agreed to recommend that the Legislature include International Association of Plumbing & Mechanical Officials into statutes as a recognized product evaluation entity;

 

Agreed to recommend that manufacturers may pay the product approval program administrator application fees directly;

Agreed to recommend to the Legislature that the Commission be granted authority to recognize equivalency standards as part of the glitch code cycle; and,

 

Made additional recommendations to the Legislature to clarify carbon monoxide detector requirements; administration of the manufactured buildings program;  authority to charge a fee for non-binding interpretations; establish the 75% vote requirement for Commission actions into statute; authority for Commission committee members to represent clients on issues before the Commission not related to the committee on which they serve;