Architect Self-Certification for Reno Plans?

Does anyone have experience with an architect or engineer self-certifying plans for a straightforward residential reno (ie, not a gut job and little to no structural work)? Our architect has maintained that there is a 2-4 month process for DOB approval, but the DOB website says approval is immediate when the plans are self-certified. Any perspective or good/bad experiences with self-certification would be appreciated! We are on a tight timeline and budget!

MJP

in Dept. of Buildings (DOB) 11 years and 5 months ago

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brownstnarchitect | 11 years and 4 months ago

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architects who knows what they are doing, e-files can get permits in about 1 week, this is how long it took for the last 5 jobs i filed, all were alt 2 with structural and additions. your architect can also do directive 14 (limited plan review) but i am not a fan of that because it puts a lot of contractor mistakes on the architect and requires a lot of oversight. good architect = happy clients.

brucef | 11 years and 5 months ago

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You are confusing dob approval of plans, which no architect can do, and certification that plans were followed, a different hurdle.

metalwork | 11 years and 5 months ago

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tinychicken post sounds more like it.Good luck with your reno

tinychicken | 11 years and 5 months ago

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looked into this myself, it seems as tho many self certs get audited ~ and if that happens it can slow you down and cost more $. There is also something different called “same day certification” it is different than self cert. the architect actually physically goes in and someone goes over and approves the plans in front of the architect and they certify them in one day. its a quicker process and i “think” it lessens the chance of getting audited. i got all this information is from talking to many different architects and doing online research, but double check on it bc everyone you speak to will tell you something different.

nf85 | 11 years and 5 months ago

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My understanding is that self-certification is more or less immediate. However, I think the architect (or whoever) has to have some special standing to be able to self-certify jobs. Also, when they self-certify they are basically swearing on their professional honor that the job has been done to code/as filed, so it may be a responsibility they’re very careful about taking on even if they’re able to (particularly if any portion of it will be done outside of their control). Good luck with your reno.