The Expedited Building Plan Review Program provides building owners and builders an optional and separate processing procedure for the building-related review of construction documents in order to expedite the permit application process provided such plans meet the requirements of the appropriate building code(s).  Each applicable discipline of the design must be reviewed by a city-approved third-party plan review team prior to submission to the city.  Plans reviewed and recommended for submission to the city by the third-party plan review team Supervising Professional shall qualify for expedited processing.

Program Scope

The Expedited Building Plan Review Program applies to any construction project which requires an approval of the related building plans by Building Safety Division's plans examiners.  This process does not apply to construction document reviews by Commerce City Planning, South Adams County Fire Department, Brighton Fire Rescue District, South Adams County Water and Sanitation District, Adams County Health Department and Commerce City Public Works.

Definitions

• Building Official: the individual appointed by the Director of Community Development, charged with the administration and enforcement of the Commerce City Building Code as well as related laws, ordinances, and policies.
• Building plans/construction documents: drawings and other documentation developed to graphically show or describe in writing the proposed construction in sufficient detail and with sufficient information to enable the Building Official or designee to determine compliance with the building code.
• City-approved plans: building plans/construction documents that have been reviewed and approved by Commerce City staff with "approved" and/or "reviewed" stamps affixed in either paper or electronic format.
• Design discipline: a design component that supports the occupancy, habitability, and functionality of a building or structure. Disciplines include building, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing.
• International Code Council (ICC): the independent organization responsible for the development of the codes adopted by Commerce City and for the examination and certification of code professionals.
• Occupancy classification: the formal designation of the primary purpose of the building, structure, or tenant space broken into occupancy groups based on the nature of the hazards and risks to the occupants.
• Registered design professional (RDP): a registered architect or professional engineer licensed in the state of Colorado.
• Review cycle: an instance of a code compliant review by one or more design disciplines; more than one review cycle may be necessary for the designers to address code violations identified by the review team before the plans can be recommended for submission to the city.
• Supervising Professional: the RDP in responsible charge of the third-party review team.
• Third-party review team: a building code professional or group thereof led by a Supervising Professional qualified as required herein to review one or more design disciplines.
• Type of construction: a code-defined designation classified by the building designer regarding the level of fire protection and combustibility of a building's components such as walls, partitions, and structural members.

Minimum Qualifications of the Third-Party Review Team

• The third-party review team shall be hired by the project owner, shall not be employed by or financial interest in the firm(s) responsible for the project design, and shall have no financial interest in the project being reviewed.
• The third-party review team shall be under the direction of a Supervising Professional who shall be ICC certified, as noted herein, in all project-applicable disciplines.
• Individual members of the review team shall be ICC certified, as noted herein, in the discipline(s) in which they are reviewing
• Individual members of the review team and the Supervising Professional shall have at least five years of design, inspection, or plan review experience in their related discipline(s).
• A Supervising Professional shall be permitted to be a reviewer of one or more disciplines.
• Listed below are the ICC certifications required for each discipline.

Notice of Intent

Prior to the onset of any third-party review, the developer, tenant or building owner must notify the Commerce City Building Official of their intent to utilize the Expedited Building Plan Review Program.  In order to be considered for the program, the applicant must submit the following to the Building Official for review.

• A brief description of the proposed project that must include the following at a minimum:
  • Project name
  • Description and scope of work
  • Occupancy classification
  • Type(s) of construction
  • Sprinkler information
  • Number of floors
  • Total square footage
  • Code(s) used for design
• The name, resume, and copies of the ICC certifications and Colorado license of the Supervising Professional.
• The names, resumes, and copies of the ICC certifications of each member of the review team.

The Building Official or designee shall respond to the applicant within two working days with either an approval or reasons for denial of the proposed review team.

Third-Party Review Requirements

Each member of the review team shall conduct a code-compliance review of the construction documents on behalf of the city using the currently adopted Commerce City building code(s), related laws, ordinances, and policies.  Review comments for each discipline shall be saved for each review cycle. 

Upon approval, the Recommendation Statement herein shall be affixed to or incorporated into the cover sheet of the drawings submitted to the city.  The statement may not be altered in any way except to insert the information necessary for each project.  Letter height may not be less than ⅛ inch or 3 mm.

The construction documents, with the Recommendation Statement affixed, and the full set of the reviewers' comments for each review cycle shall be submitted to the city during permit application.

City Processing

Step1)  Upon submission for permit application, it is the responsibility of the applicant to notify city staff that the project has been reviewed as part of the Expedited Building Plan Review Program.  As such, the permit application process will be expedited provided the related permit fees required to advance the application are paid in full.  City-related fees, including plan review fees, for projects submitted under the program are not eligible to be waived or reduced.

Step 2)  At the time of application, staff conducts a review of the submission package to ensure the required documents are included and the Recommendation Statement is affixed as required.  When that is confirmed, the related building review in the permitting database is approved.  Once other development agencies have approved their respective reviews, the permit is issued.  City-approved plans will include a statement that the approved plans are subject to a quality assurance review; see Step 3.

Step 3)  The plans undergo a quality assurance review by Commerce City plans examiners.  If any code violations are detected, the staff member contacts the permit holder to initiate a plan revision to address the deficiencies.

Step 4)  If code deficiencies are not addressed by the permit holder within 30 days of notification, then a stop work order is issued and construction is halted until plan revisions are submitted to the city and approved.

Quality of Third-Party Reviews

If, during the city-led quality assurance review, the building plans were found to contain a high degree of egregious code violations that should have been identified during the third-party review, the responsible review team member(s) and/or Supervising Professional may not be accepted for future projects as part of the Expedited Building Plan Review Program.