Turnaround Solutions (TAS) Is Successfully Navigating Permit & Inspection Challenges in L.A.

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Permitting in Los Angeles

The City of Los Angeles has revised guidelines and rules for the Department of Building and Safety due to the current Covid-19 situation.  The results: more cumbersome permitting procedures for construction projects within the city leading to an increasing timeline for basic permit approval.  What used to take 1-2 days for a drywall project can now take approximately 3 weeks.

What has changed for multifamily renovations? 

More permit applications are being pushed to Plan Check.  We are seeing a need for more detailed plans for the scope of work including:

  • Layout to scale of the unit and work area, type of products, all work details
  • Layout of every room in the unit with work details and scale of drawings
  • TAS using 11×17 plans for more thorough drawings and plan details in order to limit requests for corrections and minimize our time to RTI/permit issuance.

“Prior to the stay at home orders you could build relationships with city staff and make edits to permit applications on the fly and in person.  Those relationships helped us get certain work accomplished more quickly,” says Eddie Padilla, President of TAS.  “Now, those individuals only see company names on applications, lacking familiarity with the contractors submitting them and resulting in a more formal and time consuming permitting process.”

With tighter rules and systems in place city workers in Building and Safety are more vigilant about executing the new procedures.  In addition to navigating the current permit guidelines, it is clear the old way of certain outfits conducting unpermitted, non-compliant and corner-cutting jobs is a thing of the past.

The city has made efforts to conduct inspections through Zoom, but many cities in L.A. County are back to on-site inspections, but with the necessary safety features in place.  Additionally, in-person inspections allow the city to monitor Covid work guidelines for the construction industry. TAS has been ahead of the safety requirements from the start, always in compliance and without experiencing any delays from inspections.

Turnaround Solutions is getting results despite the challenges.

TAS is successfully navigating the permitting process by setting clear expectations for clients as to timing, submitting detailed plans and not omitting job scopes to save money.  TAS learned to pivot and react to changing guidelines from state and local governments.  The results of our experience are leading to better outcomes for our clients as we successfully gain permits when cheaper third party contractors are unable to execute.

Are you having trouble with permits and inspections in Southern California?  

We would love to help.  Turnaround Solutions can get your renovation project back on track efficiently, cost effectively and with clear communication.  Contact us HERE!

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