MTJ Construction LLC — Residential wood-frame | mtjconstructionllc.com
Plan review commonly takes 2–10 weeks, and the clock runs only on a complete application — here is the sequence and where it stalls.
The permit sequence starts with the application set: architectural drawings, a site plan showing setbacks and drainage, structural details, and energy-compliance forms. Departments screen for completeness first; an incomplete set is rejected at intake and the review clock never starts.
Plan review itself commonly takes 2–10 weeks depending on the jurisdiction. Small offices with a single reviewer sit at the short end; large departments route the set through building, zoning, fire, and stormwater reviewers in sequence. Lots in flood zones or historic districts add specialized review and reliably land at the long end.
On narrow screens, swipe or scroll the plate sideways.
First-pass approval is not the norm. Reviewers return correction comments — a missing shear-wall schedule, an undersized header, an incomplete energy form — and each resubmittal re-enters the queue. Two correction cycles can add as much calendar as the original review.
Once approved, the permit issues and the job card goes on site; from that point every inspection hangs off the permit number. Permits also carry an expiry rule: if work stalls and no inspection is requested for a set period, the permit lapses and must be renewed before work resumes.
The practical planning move is to budget the full 2–10 week window up front and avoid scheduling excavation against the optimistic end. How the issued permit then drives the inspection sequence is covered in Home Construction Inspection Stages, and how the review window fits the total calendar is summed in House Construction Timeline by Phase.
Further reading