Effective July 1, 2008, all projects that meet the "Mega Project definition" will be subject to hourly permitting charges.

Mega Projects are defined as(Per Section 106 of Building Development Ordinance):

Any high rise project (bldg with height at or above 75 feet above Fire Department access, as defined by the Building Code);

• Any assembly project w/ a gross square foot area of 100,000sf or larger;
• Any mixed use project with a gross square foot area of 200,000sf or larger;
• Any commercial or industrial projects with a gross square foot area of 300,000sf or larger;
• Any institutional project with two smoke compartments or a gross sq ft area of 50,000sf or larger;
• Other projects of similar size or complexity, requiring staff resources comparable to the above, as determined by the Director or his designee.

Defining Multiple Building Sites for Mega Project Review Status

Designer/Owner information used to clarify Mega Project parameters.   "Other Projects" that may be included in the Mega Project review program. (See BDC ordinance Section 106 above.)

A "Mega Project" may include multiple buildings located on the same site. The projects on the site may be phased or built simultaneously depending on the scope of work and project schedule time lines. The combined square footage of all the buildings on the site may be used to determine project qualification as a "Mega Project."

Initial determination of Mega Project status shall be made by the Mega Project Manager with input from the On Schedule Project Manager. This determination is usually made when the application is submitted to the Mega Project Coordinators for scheduling.

The following examples represent information that will be assessed by the Project Managers to determine which path of review will be required for the project.

The total square footage of all buildings attached by structures, walls, tunnels or walkways is designed and constructed such that the total square footage of all connected buildings would exceed the ordinance criteria.

On multiple building sites where one or more stand alone buildings meet the criteria for a Mega Project all the buildings on the site may be reviewed as a single Mega Project.

Other criteria may also be used to further define "Mega Project" reviews to include; project ownership, whether single or multiple designers or design teams will be utilized for all site buildings and who will be in responsible charge for coordinating either individual projects or all projects on multiple building sites.   

Mega Accounts:

The Department of Code Enforcement requires that an account be established in order to proceed with the Mega Project Program.  The minimum amount of this bond is $50,000.  The owner, lead designer, or lead design firm may create this account.  If the lead design firm has an existing account, it is the responsibility of the lead designer to notify the Mega Plan Coordinator.  This account is a Land Use Bond account through the LUESA Revenue Collection Department.  The Mega Account can be set up after the initial Project Scoping Meeting with the review team, however, it must be in place prior to any further meetings or scheduling of projects will occur. Mega Project Accounts are required to be established through the LUESA Revenue Collection Department. You may contact them at 704-336-3801 for account options. For information on setting up a bond, click here.

Fees:

Customers will be invoiced monthly for Mega Project fees. If an account is not current and charges can not be billed to the account, further meetings and plan reviews will not be scheduled until the account is in good standing.  Detailed billing information will be available from Revenue Collection upon request.

An hourly charge of $125.00 will be assessed for the time associated with staff review, pre-review, or other administrative duties by the reviewer on the project. If necessary, management time spent for project meetings, preliminary code reviews, plan review, or other problem resolutions will require a separate hourly charge. Additional fees will be charged to the project account for attorneys or consultants required by Code Enforcement to resolve specific issues with a project. The hours will be billed in half-hour increments. Plans Examiners will track time dedicated to the review of the project daily.

Mega Projects will still be subject to phased construction fees if applicable.

Mega Project charges must be current prior to permit issuance.

Step by Step process

Step 1

A Point Person on the Designer side will be needed to help coordinate all presentations, preliminary reviews, and facilitate the Mega projects through the plans review system.

This point person will submit an OnSchedule application with an Address Verification Form.  The Address Verification Form must have the customer portion completed and signed upon submittal.  OnSchedule applications are available as a PDF on the forms page.

Step 2

Scoping  Meeting:

The Mega Plan Coordinator will schedule a scoping meeting with the design team, the master plan coordinator and the plans examiners.  The intention of this meeting is for the design team to meet with the reviewers to openly discuss the design and code logic for the project.  There is not a charge for the initial scoping meeting.  The point person will provide an agenda to the Mega Plan Coordinator prior to this meeting.  The point person will also take formal minutes at the meeting and provide these minutes to Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement within 3 days after the scoping meeting.  Drawings will need to be 70 – 80 % complete in order for estimation of hours to occur. 

The Master Plan Coordinator will be in attendance at this meeting to discuss the Master Plan Process.  For more information on Master Plan please click here. 

At the conclusion of this meeting, the plans examiners will determine the length of review time needed.  If for any reason the plans examiners do not have sufficient information to estimate hours needed for review, another meeting will be scheduled after the bond account has been established.  There will be a charge for this secondary scoping meeting.

If you have questions, you may call one of the Mega Plan Coordinators at 704-336-3837. 

Step 3

Review Slot notification:

An account must be in place prior to further interactions with Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement.  From this point forward, time devoted to the review and discussion of the project will be chargeable.

The Mega Plan Coordinator will verify an account has been established, formal minutes have been received.  If these items are in place, the project will be scheduled and the point person will receive notification of the review slot and the number of drawings needed for the review (submittal package), the number of hours scheduled, and the cancellation policy. 

Step 4

Gating Meeting:

A Gating Meeting is required on all Mega projects with all designers and Plans Examiners present. All Gatekeeping functions will be handled at the meeting. In the event that there are scheduling conflicts, those trades may hold breakout entry meetings with the full understanding that any failure to pass the Gatekeeping will result in halting the entire project until all submittal requirements are met. The Project will then need to re-schedule a review date.

This gating meeting may be scheduled up to 2 weeks prior to the submittal date, but no later than 2 days prior to the submittal date.  The submittal package will be left at Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement at the conclusion of this meeting.  If the package is incomplete, an additional gating meeting will be scheduled, time permitting.  If the package is not complete prior to the submittal date, the project will be cancelled and the designer will be charged $125.00 per hour for each scheduled B/E/M/P review.

Notification of cancellation must be received two weeks prior to submittal date.  If notification of cancellation is not received, the designer will be charged $125.00 per hour for each scheduled B/E/M/P review.

 Additional meetings may be scheduled prior to or after the gating meeting as requested by the design team or as required by the review team. 

Step 5

General Submittal Requirements:

These are given as a general guideline.  The submittal package will need to include all items relayed to the design team during the Scoping meeting and during any subsequent meetings or communications between the point person, design team and Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement.

All plans entering the system shall be complete and bound in appropriate sets (minimum 18" x 24"), not to exceed 40 lbs. per volume. Please note the Architect or lead Designer will be our point of contact. Please sign in so that you are processed when it is your turn for your project.

NOTE: Drawings that are submitted that state NOT FOR CONSTRUCTION or FOR PLAN REVIEW ONLY will be returned WITHOUT ANY PLAN REVIEW FOR CODE COMPLIANCE. Drawings submitted for review shall be finalized design drawings ready "FOR CONSTRUCTION."

For Charlotte-Mecklenburg Projects, The Following Are Required:

1.         A completed building permit application with its valid address verification form. The permit shall be complete with all contractors' license numbers, designated costs, and permit type, etc. NOTE: for multiple buildings or tenants there shall be a permit for every tenant and every building. 

2.         Construction documents with complete Building Code Summary (Appendix B) and the site and landscape plans. (Site, zoning, architectural documents, structural, fire protection, utilities-fire, plumbing, mechanical, and electrical plans.)  The number of sets of construction documents shall be as advised by the Mega Plan Coordinator at the time the project is booked for review.

3.         If the address is in the City of Charlotte or its ETJ, an additional one set of site plans are required for City Engineering in order to determine site improvements required for this project. City Engineering will notify the customer of the applicable requirements.

4.         If the project is one that requires review by the Department of Insurance (DOI), and the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM), their approval shall be received before the permit(s) will be issued. Typical OSFM project review includes buildings over 20,000 sq. ft. owned by City or County governments.

5.         Institutional projects will require the customer to obtain a review by the Department of Facilities Services (DFS). A separate set of construction documents must be submitted directly to DFS by the customer.

Customers should note it is critical to successfully complete submittal before noon the working day before your schedule review.

Step 6

The mega plan coordinator assigns the project tracking number once the plans are in house. The point person is informed of this number by automated email when the coordinator enters the project into the system. The coordinator assigns the reviews and/or holds required on the projects to be cleared before any permit(s) may be issued. The project number is required to track your project. The project number must be provided when inquiring about your project. The required plans examiners perform the plan review. A computer-generated notification is forwarded to the examiner's work plate in the order received. After reviewing the drawings for code compliance, the examiner will enter results in the computer. The customers may review comments and project status online.  For disapproved projects, the Land Development System will email comments to the lead Designers as each discipline closes.

For project status, contact your coordinator or by Internet at www.meckpermit.com.

Plans are Approved:

When all reviews are completed (approved or disapproved), the Land Development System notifies the coordinator, who then notifies the project's contact person that the documents are ready to be picked up.  Once your project is approved and the permit is ready to be released, you will be required to pay all associated fees from the permitting process or charge it to your account before the permit will be released.  The department's permitting software provides the minimum construction cost (based on ICC standards), which is used to verify the minimum permit cost. The drawings are sent to the Commercial Permit counter to hold for customer pick up. When you pick up the drawings, they are logged out to you and released to your custody.

Please recognize that although we interact with some outside agencies; we have no control over other agencies' work scheduling or requirements. Plans are sent to City Engineering daily. It is the customer's responsibility to provide submittals and obtain their approvals before a permit will be issued from the OSFM, the Health Department, and others, if required.

All Contractors named on the permit application must be licensed and bonded to work in Mecklenburg County.

Construction documents shall be picked up within five days of notification.

If no response is received the submitted project shall be discarded(recycled).

Plans are not Approved:

When a project fails in any trade, an exit meeting will be scheduled with the disapproved trade(s) and the designer(s).  This meeting will be scheduled through the Mega Plan Coordinator.   If there are any questions about the code or interpretations, the plans examiner will discuss and evaluate options, if you propose them. They will not recommend design changes; they will only review your proposed design for code compliance, not for design quality.  At the conclusion of the meeting, the customer will take the drawings.  It is the customer's responsibility to have the drawings corrected and resubmitted for plan review. It is highly recommend that you submit the re-review form for an appointment, immediately after you are notified to pick up documents.

When resubmitting drawings, a Re-entry Meeting shall be scheduled through the OnSchedule Coordinator. All Plan Examiners and Designers necessary shall attend this meeting. A scoping letter of all revisions to the project shall be submitted along with the revised drawings showing clouded changes. All Gatekeeping functions will take place as a part of this meeting and be included in the time estimated for the review. In the event that there are scheduling conflicts, those trades may hold breakout re-entry meetings with the full understanding that any failure to pass Gatekeeping will result in halting the entire project until all submittal requirements are met. The project will then need to re-schedule a review date.  ALL revised sheets shall be submitted at the same time. Return all sets of the original drawings with the revised drawings. Completed revisions will be given to the coordinators for entry into the Land Development system and distribution of work. Incomplete re-submittals will be returned to the customer.

Your assigned coordinator is your representative within the system and is your contact for all issues relating to your project status.  If you have questions on code needs or interpretations, contact the plan examiner(s) assigned to your project.