Checklist for Gaining Approval for Alternative Designs, Materials and Methods of Construction

Planning and Preparing for the Approval Process

Start early. The first rule is to recognize that getting approval is a process. Identify as many of the non-standard aspects of the project as early as possible, giving yourself and the building department a long lead time to address these. No one, building officials included, likes to be hurried or pressured. Your perfectly innocent sense of urgency may be interpreted as a suspect need for rushed approvals. They will need time to digest and respond to the material you present in support of the alternatives you are proposing; expect a number of exchanges as questions or concerns are raised.

Gather information about the jurisdiction and applicable codes. Learn what you can about the jurisdiction in which the project is located. Familiarize yourself with local permit process requirements and the current codes and standards that will apply to your project, including the sections related to the alternative approaches that will be included in the project.

Gather information about the specific alternatives. Identify potential areas of concern for each alternative being proposed and then research and collect relevant information. Try to obtain the best reference materials -- technical reports, test results, books, authoritative publications, videos and documentation of the successful use (and approval) of the alternative in other places. Look for both historic and recent precedents for their use and approval. Supporting material should be as regionally, climatically, seismically, or generally similar to the local circumstances as possible. It is not uncommon for building officials to discount supporting information if it is from regions with significantly different conditions.

Find and enlist the help of allies and sources of expertise. Seek out and, when necessary, engage knowledgeable experts and resource people, including sympathetic code officials, to support your position. Use networking to find others who have previously gone through an approval process for the alternatives you are proposing. The Internet and e-mail discussion groups can be a big help here. Involving people with the right expertise or prior experience in addressing anticipated problem areas can help you develop the rationale for what you are proposing, often shortening the approval process.

Engaging with the Building or Planning Department

Take the high road. Before your first interaction with the building department, remember that attitude accounts for a lot -- if you begin the process expecting a fight, you will most likely find one. Start instead with the idea that you share common goals. Consider the building department to be a resource, rather than an adversary. By openly acknowledging the extra effort required to deal with alternatives, and the time constraints and responsibilities building officials face, you will demonstrate an appreciation for their process. Maintain a cooperative, open-minded and positive attitude, acknowledging also that they have the authority to approve alternatives that meet the intent of the code.

Pay attention to the relationships. Since this is partly a process of creating trust, both in your design or approach and in your willingness to meet the intent of the code, having a good relationship with the building department can be a big help. Lacking such a relationship does not doom the effort to failure, but it certainly can lengthen the process. If there is some bad history, a liaison with a good working relationship with the department can help. When there are disputes, respectfully stand your ground while giving careful consideration to the building official's point of view. If changing the system is part of your goal, remember that being a pioneer includes a level of responsibility for those who may follow; try not to make their path even more difficult.

Meet and share information with the building officials. When the project is well enough defined to discuss it, arrange an initial meeting to informally discuss the project and proposed alternatives. Try to include the decision makers and any sympathetic officials or inspectors you may have identified. Bring copies of your resource materials to leave with the code officials. Allow enough time for them to read and absorb what you have provided. Actually purchasing resource materials for the building department, rather than lending them, is a relatively small investment that demonstrates the seriousness of your commitment and your expectation of a successful outcome. These materials may streamline future permit applications and may also create sustainability or alternative material advocates within the department.

Get specific feedback from the building official. Expect questions, objections, and issues to be raised about the proposed alternatives, both during (or following) the initial meeting and again when the plans are submitted for approval. Always try to get these in writing. When not possible, such as in a meeting, attempt to list or restate their concerns and objections to verify your understanding of them. This makes it much easier for you to be responsive to your building officials' concerns. Follow meetings with a letter describing your understanding of what was discussed and agreed upon and asking for acknowledgement.

Resolving Conflicts and Specific Issues

Address concerns and objections with reasonable and factual responses. This is often a repeat of the initial steps to provide information, with a progressively narrower focus on specific issues. Demonstrate that you understand and respect both the merits and limitations of the proposed alternative, and that what you plan to do is safe, reasonable, and meets the intent of the code. This is an area where the influence of another code official familiar with the proposed alternative -- and supportive of it -- can be of enormous benefit. Sometimes it will be necessary to involve an engineer or other design professional at this stage to provide needed support for your position.

Network with others who have had similar experiences. When specific objections are not satisfied by the information that you have gathered and supplied to the building department, there are often lessons to be learned from the experiences of others who have gone through the process before. Whether through the Internet or other avenues, seek out the knowledgeable organizations, groups and individuals and study their successful approaches. The most valuable of these are often the experienced building officials who have approved and worked with the materials or methods in question, or who are open-minded and receptive to alternatives.

Show perseverance and patience. One of the ways to demonstrate that you are serious, that you're in it for the long haul, is through persistence. There is a fine line between perseverance and pestering. However, when you believe that what you are proposing to do is appropriate and meets the intent of the code, you should be able to pursue approval through all the legal means are available to you. It is often important for the building department to understand that you will not be easily discouraged. It can be useful to have others who are contemplating doing what you are proposing to make inquiries at the building department about the alternatives you are proposing, so that the building department knows that you are not alone in your interest.

Closing Strategies

Pursue your remaining options. If you don't get cooperation or can't get the approvals you seek, there are several options to choose from.

• Hold-harmless legal document(s)
. A strategy that has sometimes been effective is to offer the jurisdiction a letter or legal document, which holds them harmless and absolves them from all responsibility for the alternative materials and methods used. This approach has sometimes been used in conjunction with the issuance of an "experimental permit" whereby the jurisdiction maintains the right to inspect the structure at specified intervals over a period of years, to learn about the viability of an alternative approach without setting an open-ended precedent for approving the alternative.

• Reminder of registered architect's or licensed engineer's assumed responsibility
. In projects where an architect or an engineer has stamped the plans, the argument can be raised that they have already taken legal responsibility for the design when they placed their professional seal on the plans. This is a fact that is often ignored by building departments. When the building department demands a change in the design, it might be putting responsibility for the changed design on the jurisdiction, since it, rather than the design professional, is determining how the building is to be built.

• The local appeals process
. At the request of any denied applicant, the codes provide for an appeal process in which the building department must convene an appeals board meeting. A selected group of local or regional building professionals hears the applicant's request and supportive testimony, as well as that from the building department, and makes a ruling on whether to back or overrule the decision of the building official. Occasionally, building officials will request this process and join the applicant in support of the alternative in order to set a precedent and have wider backing for the decision. If, at any time, your application or appeal is referred to a higher level of code authority, be certain that your information resources and documentation is also provided to ensure that the case you made at the local level is also made at the higher level.

• Political pressure
. As a last resort, political pressure can be applied either through the jurisdiction's elected officials or through media attention with a story in the paper or on television or radio. Because these are public policy issues involving public agencies, they are inherently political processes. Publicity and political pressure can be effective tools to gain your immediate goals, sometimes even long-term change, but they should be pursued very carefully, because they can also result in lingering resentment and long-term resistance.

• Celebrate and offer thanks and share what you have learned
. If your efforts are rewarded by success be sure to celebrate! But also take the time to acknowledge and thank the building department and any cooperative officials. This paves the way for more success in the future. And finally, if you were helped by others, let them know about your success and if you are able, be willing to share the lessons you learned with others.

As published in the Spetember 2001 issue of Environmental Building News.