In modern day America, every building project will be subject to regulations of one form or another. At a minimum, the zoning, health and building departments for the municipality in which the property is located will review the application and supporting documents and issue permits upon approval. Our approach is a proactive one. For each new project, we immediately confer with the zoning officer to establish the parameters of our property – setbacks, coverage, and other limitations – as well as to identify what other additional regulatory agencies have jurisdiction. There may be several, especially in coastal or waterfront areas.
Because some approvals are not guaranteed, we favor a measured process whereby the design is developed only to the point necessary to gain an approval and no more. For instance, if a project is in an historic district with its own architectural review board, who may or may not decide that a design is contextually proper, we would only create documents necessary for that express purpose. By doing so, we avoid unnecessary effort, and expense, and move forward with further development of the documents only after approval.
Another advantage of our process is time. By entering into the approvals process as early as possible, we are in most instances ready for a building permit (the last approval on the list) once the construction documents are complete.