Dallas’ problematic building permit process has attracted a new permit expediter to the block.
Chicago-based permit expediting and consulting firm Burnham Nationwide recently announced the opening of its new satellite office in downtown Dallas.
Burnham Nationwide plans to use its new office space at 1920 McKinney Ave. and its more than 30 years of national expediting expertise to help accelerate permit approvals, zoning, and code compliance for developers, architects, and general contractors in Dallas.
“We want to be the trusted resource that people go to when they have a project, big or small,” Matt Murray, national team director at Burnham Nationwide, told the Dallas Business Journal.
The different building permits that Burnham Nationwide typically obtains for its clients include approvals for mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and various other types of trade work. However, the Chicago-based firm said it could obtain most other permits depending on jurisdictional requirements.
While Burnham Nationwide can handle most types of permit submissions for nearly every kind of building and structure, the firm primarily specializes in retail projects and office tenant improvements under 10,000 square feet in size.
“Once the architect is getting close to their final drawings, they usually engage us and explain the scope,” said Marty Brown, the head of Burnham’s Dallas office.
After doing all the required research within a given jurisdiction, Burnham follows up by determining the requirements based on the project’s size, according to Brown.
Burnham’s team at the Dallas office provides the following expediting services: standard reviews (in-person and online via ProjectDox), expedited Q-Team reviews, over-the-counter reviews, 3rd party reviews, and right-of-way permits, among others, according to the description provided on the firm’s website.
Burnham isn’t the only national expediting firm to see Dallas’ hot real estate market and slow building permit process as an opportunity for profits and growth. As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the city of Dallas is a goldmine for permit expediters. Other national expediters with a strong presence in Dallas include Chicago-based Scout Services and Los Angeles-based Permit Place, to name a few.
“There are many challenges with the process in Dallas,” Steven Brescia, president of Scout Services, previously told The Dallas Express.
Despite the robust volume of commercial projects heading to Dallas, Brescia says the city’s Development Services Department (DSD) lacks the necessary staff to support such growth.
Development Service’s lack of trained staff was highlighted in a recent study by the Matrix Consulting Group at the end of last year and confirmed earlier this year by DSD Director Andrew Espinoza during an Economic Development Committee meeting with Development Services.
Permit approval times in Dallas have generally suffered under the leadership of City Manager T.C. Broadnax. While turnaround times in Dallas aren’t as bad as in other jurisdictions around the country, the city’s convoluted and difficult-to-deal-with building permit process has been known to drive developers and their projects to places outside Dallas proper.
When developers aren’t relocating their projects elsewhere, they often rely on expediting services through DSD or other professional paid expediters like Burnham Nationwide.