What is the City of Austin Quick Turnaround Process and How Can it Help Get Your Project Underway Faster?
In the past, permit approval was one of the big X factors in any construction or remodeling projects. It didn’t matter if approval was for a new construction build or a basic finish-out on a second generation space. You filed for the permit and then waited to hear back. Permit applications got reviewed in the order they arrived. So, if you applied during a busy stretch, you could wait a month or longer. If everything went well, you got approved. If not, you started all over. Lucky for you, the City of Austin has a different system in place to manage smaller projects. It’s called the Quick Turnaround process. So, what is this process and how can help you.
What Are the Quick Turnaround Options?
The Quick Turnaround process is handled by the City of Austin Development Services’ Commercial Plan Review Division. The process has two main branches: Quick Turnaround and 7 Business Day. Both options provide you with a much faster permit review and approval.
Quick Turnaround Process
The Quick Turnaround Permit is a 24-hour review and decision process for projects that meet certain qualifications. You submit the Quick Turnaround Permit Checklist, along with a Commercial Building Application and Commercial Building application Checklist, and pay the QT fees. All the submitted materials go to a Building Plans Examiner. The Examiner reviews the documentation, evaluates the project to ensure it meets the qualifications, and delivers a permit decision within 24 hours. If the project meets the requirements, you get approved for a permit. If the project doesn’t meet with requirements, the Examiner will reclassify the project to a more appropriate review option, such as a 7 day or 15 day review.
7 Business Day
The 7 Business Day review isn’t quite as fast as the true Quick Turnaround, but it’s faster than many other options. It covers projects with a wider scope and allows more modifications to the structure. The permit applications get reviewed by the appropriate review teams. You get a decision within 7 business days. As with the Quick Turnaround, if the review process determines that the project exceeds the qualifications of the 7 day review, the project will get reclassified for a longer permit review.
Quick Turnaround Qualifications
Since the Quick Turnaround process only goes through the hands of a Building Plans Examiner, projects must meet a number of fairly strict requirements.
Structural Framing Members
Neither interior nor exterior work can modify the structural framing members of the space.
Size
For interior work, such as a second gen space remodel, the space must come in under 5000 square feet.
Interior Work Limitations
The work can’t involve gas lines, most electrical services, fire control systems, or access control devices. Veterinary or medical offices also cannot qualify for QT permits. This permit applies primarily to administrative, business, and professional office spaces.
Exterior Work Limitations
Materials such as windows, awning, and roofing material must comply with IECC. Any new additions cannot alter the height of the space more than 6 feet or the square footage of the space.
Hazardous Materials
The space cannot involve the use, storage, or dispensing of hazardous materials.
These are the primary limitations that projects in commercial spaces must comply with for a QT permit.
7 Day Qualifications
While not quite as stringent as the QT qualifications, the 7 Business Day Review also imposes limitations on qualifying projects.
Size
For most basic remodeling and finish-out projects, the space must come in under 5,000 square feet. This permit also covers larger office spaces – excluding medical or vet offices – or retail sales spaces between 5,000 square feet and 10,000 square feet.
Interior Work Limitations
The space cannot involve the use, storage, or dispensing of hazardous materials. Modifications, such as electrical services and upgrades to fire control systems are permitted.
Exterior Work Limitations
While this permit does allow limited changes to structural framing members for stairs or balconies, the changes cannot alter the square footage of the space.
The 7 day review costs a little more time but secures you a more expansive permit for more complex projects.
How Does a Quick Turnaround Permit Help You?
The quick turnaround permit is ideal for a tenant improvement project that involves, for the most part, cosmetic changes in a 2nd gen space. For example, let’s say your new tenant wants to reduce the number of offices in favor of a conference room. It shouldn’t involve any structural framing members or obstructions to fire control systems.
Depending on which non-load-bearing wall will go, it may not even involve any wiring. If it does involve wiring, it should primarily involve removing an outlet or two with no meaningful changes to the electrical system.
Once the wall does come down, the remaining work is almost purely cosmetic. For example, the contractor will put up fresh drywall to hide the spot where the old wall went, repaint, and put down new carpet. If the tenant is especially picky, they may ask the contractor to install different light fixtures in the new conference room. A project like this is custom made for a Quick Turnaround permit.
It means that if commercial contractors have an immediate opening in their schedule for a small project, you can get them in right away. It also means your tenant can make full use of the space sooner, which makes everyone happier.
How Does a 7 Business Day Permit Help You?
While the 7 day review lacks the immediacy of the Quick Turnaround, it’s also helpful for more expansive tenant improvement projects. While some new tenants in second generation spaces may opt for a limited tenant buildout, not all of them will.
Specialist Tenants
For example, say that a graphic design firm or video production firm wants to move into your space. Unlike a normal business office, graphic design requires extensive use of powerful computers, not to mention a wide range of printers and other peripheral devices. Video production, which is almost entirely digital these days, also requires the use of a lot of computer equipment.
Tenants like these may want fairly extensive rewiring in one area of the space to support a production bay with multiple computers and peripherals in place. Yet, beyond that, they may not want much in the way of changes. Since this project may involve a meaningful change or addition to the electrical system to support all of those devices, the project can’t go under the Quick Turnaround Permit. It will, however, probably will qualify for a 7 Business Day Permit. That means your tenant can get a contractor in and the work done sooner, which means your tenant can get back to business sooner.
Flexibility
The 7 Business Day Permit also allows for more flexibility. Unlike the Quick Turnaround, which limits itself pretty exclusively to business office spaces, the 7 day process includes retail and food service spaces. So, let’s say you own a space that houses a little coffee shop. The tenant wants to convert it into more of a coffee bar/café, which means installing some new equipment. Under the 7 day review, they can get approval for new refrigeration units, including walk-in installations, chillers, coolers and freezers. These kinds of changes simply aren’t possible under a Quick Turnaround, but likely don’t require the 15 day or 25 day review that bigger, more complex projects demand.
What About First Generation Spaces?
First generation spaces are something of a gray area in terms of qualifying for a Quick Turnaround of 7 Business Day Permit. Both of those permits are primarily aimed at finished spaces looking at a remodel or largely cosmetic changes. A first generation space will frequently lack the necessary infrastructure to support a Quick Turnaround or even a 7 Business Day Permit.
After all, think of some of the shell spaces you may have seen in the past. Many of those first generation spaces are little more than an empty metal or concrete cave without any kind of electricity in place. That is without even considering issues like plumbing or interior framing. Since a space like this will need a primary electrical system installed, it can’t get a Quick Turnaround approval.
The possibilities for any first gen space getting approval will depend on exactly how close to finished the space is at the time of the permit. For example, if a fire control system, plumbing, and primary electrical service are already in place, a first generation space might qualify for 7 Business Day Permit. In all likelihood, though, the permit would get reassigned to a 15 day review process.
Quick Turnaround Is Great, When It’s the Right Choice
The historical long delays in permit approval were a thorn in the sides of property owners, tenants, and commercial building contractors. This was especially true for smaller projects that were primarily cosmetic remodels or projects that involved changes for specialist tenants who needed a change for only part of the space.
The Quick Turnaround and 7 Business Day Permits are great for the projects that fall into these general parameters. That means office spaces for QT permits. For 7 day reviews, you can work with office spaces converting to retail spaces, or small food service spaces, vet offices, or even small doctor’s offices.
The key takeaway is that these permits aren’t really designed for major renovations or shell spaces. The extent and kind of work necessary for first generation spaces almost always pushes them out of contention for even the 7 Business Day Permit. Trying to sneak a first gen space through the 7 day review will likely end up costing you time when it gets reassigned for a 15 day review.