Starting a new business or expanding a business often involves building, remodeling, or expanding a commercial building. For those who are not familiar with day-to-day construction operations, the process can be confusing and may leave you feeling overwhelmed. The City of Indianapolis Department of Code Enforcement (DCE) is committed to helping business/property owners, design professionals and others work through the permit process.
Whether constructing a new commercial building or renovating an existing building, one of your first stops will likely be to DCE to obtain the proper building permits. Those who were familiar with the process may have noticed a change in November 2009, when DCE began performing a comprehensive plan review focusing on life safety and accessibility issues prior to issuing a structural permit. DCE implemented this review to provide better opportunities for property insurance rate savings while continuing to emphasize public safety and protect the quality of life for City residents.
The single best thing you can do when undertaking the permitting process is to concurrently submit your plans/applications to the State of Indiana and the City of Indianapolis. Submitting your plans to DCE when you submit them to the State of Indiana will reduce the overall project time, as your DCE review can be started, and likely completed, while the State Construction Design Release is being reviewed. If DCE completes its review first, your permit will simply be placed on hold until your Construction Design Release is received. To the degree possible, all other permit applications (mechanical, drainage reviews, improvement location permits, etc.) should be submitted to DCE with your construction plans. Submitting all of your permit applications and plans concurrently will greatly reduce the overall review time and may even result in a cost savings due to a decreased number of plan reviews.
It is also important to note that renovating older buildings may require additional planning and design consideration. Any change in occupancy type (for example, converting an office to a restaurant) requires the building be brought into compliance with current building code. This means all non-compliant aspects of the building will need to be addressed. Design professionals, project managers, property owners, and tenants should consider the possibility of additional construction or design costs to make an older building comply with current codes before beginning construction. Project managers can also take advantage of building code provisions that provide compliance alternatives for older buildings.
If any aspect of your plan qualifies for an exception or you wish to apply for a variance of the building code with the State of Indiana, it is best to make these requests during your initial filing for your State Construction Design Release. Please remember that DCE does not have the authority to grant variances.
If you are in a hurry, DCE offers Accelerated Plan Review to decrease time frames at any point in the process. Accelerated plan review is billed at a higher hourly rate. Accelerated reviews are typically completed in less than a week.
DCE has also launched a hotline to specifically address questions and concerns related to the permitting and the plan review process. You may speak to someone about the process by calling (317) 327- PLAN (7426) or by emailing PLAN@indy.gov. Regularly updated information, along with tips and tricks to save time and money, is also available at www.indy.gov/dce.