As of July 2nd, that sight goes the way of carrier pigeons and horse-drawn carriages.

Fifteen years after the transition first started, Code Enforcement has completed the switch to a fully web-based plan and permit approval system. The final phase of the transition allows commercial operators to submit plans electronically and have their plans reviewed quickly online.

Code Enforcement began the transition in 1997 by offering Express Review and Internet Permitting. By 2002, Code Enforcement created Meck-SI, the paperless special inspections process and website. In 2008, Electronic Plan Submittal for residential projects was adopted. In January 2010, the AE Pass Rate Incentive program was instituted, giving preferential treatment to architects and engineers who consistently passed their plan reviews without major changes. Now the final piece to the puzzle -- electronic plan submittal and review for commercial projects -- is available online. That means a 100-percent paperless plan submittal process. 

“Historically, there was an efficiency problem in the construction industry,” says Code Enforcement Director Jim Bartl. “The two-decade building boom meant the industry needed plan approval as quickly as possible. It forced the revolution in the permitting and inspection process that we enjoy today.”

Code Enforcement worked closely with its advisory board and the industry’s Building Development Commission to advance a wide range of initiatives, benefiting Mecklenburg County residents as well as the department's customers and staff.

Counties are responsible for enforcing state building codes at the local level to ensure that the homes we work in and buildings we work and play in are safe. Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement has the distinction of having the only active Master Code Professionals in North Carolina certified by the International Code Council. Only 600 code professionals worldwide have achieved this distinction.

Full details about Code Enforcement’s technology timetable are available at www.meckpermit.com.

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Media contact: Roger Kortekaas 704-579-0258 or Roger.Kortekaas@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov