CITY HALL — Mayor Rahm Emanuel is touting new reforms that he says will streamline the sometimes unwieldy permit process.
Emanuel's administration announced new policies Friday, basically putting architects and designers in charge of compliance with city building regulations.
"This is an important step forward for our economy and for these industries," Emanuel said in a statement. "Anyone doing construction in Chicago obviously has to have a building permit, and by finding new ways to cut red tape around the building-permit process we can support our industry partners and strengthen economic development in Chicago."
The city is expanding its Certified Plan Corrections Program to allow "design professionals of record to assume responsibility for compliance with plan review corrections," after an initial review is performed by the Department of Buildings.
Similarly, according to the department, a Self-Certification Program allows "the architect of record" to take "full responsibility for code compliance, eliminating any city plan reviews."
It's akin to reforms adopted by the city calling for buildings to maintain their own inspections of city water tanks, after a water tower toppled from the Brewster Building in Lakeview two years ago.
The city is also streaming the reinstatement process for building permits that expire if work isn't performed within six months of approval, as well as those that expire if a year passes without work being done on the project.
Architects will also be able to self-certify outdoor stage and tent permits if they have "an attached structural engineer's report with detailed load and wind calculations" that show they're up to code.
Acting Building Commissioner Judy Frydland promised additional reforms to come, saying the city is working closely with a prominent architects' group "to review the building permit process and create ways to make technical staff available for collaborative resolution of building permit issues."
“We want to do everything we can to move building permits forward," Frydland said.
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