Plan review software that shows which discipline is holding the drawing and for how long

Plan review is the check a building department, a fire marshal or a state agency runs on construction drawings before a permit can issue, covering code, life safety, accessibility and the trade disciplines. The clocks are published and they vary. Scottsdale quotes 7 business days of administrative review plus 15 business days of substantive review on most plan types, and the North Carolina state office aims to finish within six weeks. Neurobird holds the submittal, each review and every correction round on one record.

15 business daysScottsdale substantive review
180 daysbefore an application is abandoned
$200minimum Iowa plan review fee
Plans examiner marking corrections on a set of commercial drawings at a review desk with two more sets waiting, used to show where the published turnaround time is actually spent
The published turnaround is spent here, one set at a time, and nowhere in the file does it say so.

Neurobird Plan Review in short

  • Route a submittal through building, fire and accessibility and show which desk is holding it
  • Merge correction comments from every discipline into one letter to the applicant
  • Measure the review clock in business days, including time the drawing sat with another agency
  • 15 business days Scottsdale substantive review target for most plan types, on top of 7 business days of administrative review, rising to 20 substantive days for commercial and multi family projects over 50,000 square feet or four storeys. City of Scottsdale, plan review services
  • 180 days How long after the last completed review a permit application is deemed abandoned, unless it has been pursued in good faith or a permit has already issued. City of Scottsdale, plan review services
  • Pricing runs 229 to 1350 US dollars per month across 3 tiers. Early access is free.

What building departments and plan review offices actually deal with

A submittal sits with one discipline while the applicant is told the whole review is under way.
Correction comments come back from four reviewers in four formats and get merged by hand.
Nobody can say how long a plan type actually takes, only what the published target says.

Why it stays broken

A plan review crosses building, fire, accessibility and often a state agency, and each of those holds the drawing for a while. The clock belongs to the department but the work sits in several queues, so the published turnaround is a target rather than a measurement. Every jurisdiction writes its own review route, so no vendor models it, and the route ends up living in email and a shared folder.

Scottsdale publishes 7 business days of administrative review plus 15 business days of substantive review for most plan types, rising to 20 substantive days for commercial projects over 50,000 square feet.

Failure to obtain a permit within 180 days of plan approval will require plans and payment of the appropriate plan review fees to be resubmitted.

City of Scottsdale, plan review services, source

What the numbers say about plan review

Published review clocks in four jurisdictions, the fee schedules behind them, and the federal count of permit issuing places.

15 business days

Scottsdale substantive review target for most plan types, on top of 7 business days of administrative review, rising to 20 substantive days for commercial and multi family projects over 50,000 square feet or four storeys.

City of Scottsdale, plan review services
180 days

How long after the last completed review a permit application is deemed abandoned, unless it has been pursued in good faith or a permit has already issued.

City of Scottsdale, plan review services
6 weeks

The North Carolina Office of State Fire Marshal stated goal for completing a commercial plan review from receipt, with plans normally reviewed in the order they arrive.

NC Office of State Fire Marshal, commercial plan review
$200

Minimum plan review fee in Iowa, with fire alarm and suppression review priced at $100 up to a $5,000 valuation and $400 at $20,001 and above.

Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing, building code plan review
30 days

How far ahead of a Long Beach plan review application expiring an extension has to be requested, on the department own form.

City of Long Beach, plan review service
1,920 pixels

Minimum horizontal resolution Pennsylvania requires for transmitted plans, drawn to a scale of not less than one eighth inch to the foot, with a project 100 percent complete before an occupancy inspection is scheduled.

Pennsylvania Department of Health, plan review

Neurobird Plan Review Document Automation Platform

One record per submittal: the plan type, each discipline review with an owner and a due date, the correction comments merged into one letter, the resubmittal that answers them, and the days actually spent.

  • 1Route a submittal through building, fire and accessibility and show which desk is holding it
  • 2Merge correction comments from every discipline into one letter to the applicant
  • 3Measure the review clock in business days, including time the drawing sat with another agency
  • 4Show the applicant which round they are in without a phone call to the counter

What changes with Neurobird Plan Review?

The same work, read left to right: how it runs today, and how it runs once the record is in one place.

Plan review: current practice compared with Neurobird Plan Review
TodayWith Neurobird Plan Review
A submittal sits with one discipline while the applicant is told the whole review is under wayRoute a submittal through building, fire and accessibility and show which desk is holding it
Correction comments come back from four reviewers in four formats and get merged by handMerge correction comments from every discipline into one letter to the applicant
Nobody can say how long a plan type actually takes, only what the published target saysMeasure the review clock in business days, including time the drawing sat with another agency

Who is this for?

The same submittal, three different offices.

Small building department

One examiner, several hats

Intake, review and inspection are the same person. You need the queue written down so a week of leave does not stop the counter.

Fire and life safety

You review alarm and suppression plans

Your review runs alongside the building review. You need the handoff timed rather than assumed.

State agency review

You review healthcare or school plans

Your approval has to land before the local permit. You need the sequence and the dates recorded, not reconstructed afterwards.

The review queue, as your counter would run it

Tick a discipline to close it and watch the submittal move to the next desk with the clock intact.

neurobird / plan review queue
PDF
Correction letterdrop a file or click to simulate intake
waiting
waiting
waiting
waiting

Watch the fields extract from the document.

How does Neurobird Plan Review work?

  1. Intake and type

    Plan type, valuation, scope and the review targets that apply are set at intake, so the clock everyone quotes starts from the same moment.

  2. Review by discipline

    Each discipline is a step with an owner and a due date, and the drawing shows which one is holding it and for how many working days.

  3. One correction letter

    Comments from every reviewer merge into a single letter, and the resubmittal that answers it stays attached to the round that produced it.

Plan review software questions, answered

Key terms

What is plan review?
It is the check a building department, fire marshal or state agency runs on construction drawings before a permit issues, covering code, life safety, accessibility and the trade disciplines. Targets are published locally: Scottsdale quotes 7 business days of administrative review plus 15 business days of substantive review on most plan types.

Does this replace our permitting system of record?

No. Fees and the issued permit stay in the system of record. This holds the review route, the discipline queues, the correction rounds and the days actually spent, which is the part staff currently reconstruct from email.

How does it handle several disciplines on one submittal?

Each discipline is a step with an owner and a due date, and their comments merge into a single correction letter. The drawing shows which desk is holding it and for how long, rather than being described as under review.

Can we report real turnaround rather than the target?

Yes. The clock runs in business days per submittal and per discipline, so the number you publish traces back to the reviews underneath it instead of to a policy document.

Why we are building this

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Neurobird Team neurobird.com

Where the requirement comes from

Primary sources, straight from the regulators.

How much does Neurobird Plan Review cost?

Priced per jurisdiction because the code, the plan types and the review disciplines are jurisdiction level things. Submittals, rounds and applicants are unlimited on every tier.

Small department
$229
per month
  • Up to 3 reviewers
  • Unlimited submittals
  • Correction rounds
  • Applicant status page
Request early access
Department
$629
per month
  • Unlimited reviewers
  • Discipline routing
  • Business day clock and holidays
  • Turnaround reporting
Request early access
County or state
$1,350
per month
  • Multiple offices
  • Outside agency referrals
  • Public dashboard exports
  • Priority support
Request early access
Opening 10 early access places for plan review offices.

Get free early access

Early access means we model your plan types, your review targets and your correction letter before you type anything, and you keep the account free while we do it.

Straight answer on where this is: The software is in development. Nothing is purchasable today. Early access means you shape it and pay nothing while we build.

Prefer email? Write to office@neurobird.com and a person will reply. No autoresponder.