Permit application form

The permit application form is the jurisdiction's own document, and it is where a package usually starts. Every department publishes its own version, and they are not interchangeable even between neighboring cities in the same county.

Where it applies in the lifecycle

Filled during Preparation and filed at Submission. It is one of the few documents whose content is entirely dictated by the jurisdiction rather than by the code.

What it captures

• Property address and parcel identification
• Owner name and contact details
• Contractor name, license number, and qualifier
• A description of the scope of work
• The valuation of the work, which usually determines the fee
• Occupancy and construction type
• Signatures, frequently notarized

Why this is more annoying than it should be

The same underlying facts get re-entered into a differently laid out form for every jurisdiction, and small differences matter: one department wants the parcel number in a specific format, another wants the scope described in its own vocabulary, a third requires the owner's signature notarized while the neighboring city does not.

The form also has to agree with everything else in the package. A scope description on the form that does not match the drawings, or a valuation that does not match the contract, is an easy comment to draw and an easy one to avoid.