Development Services Department

The CAR staff of the Customer Assistance Team is typically the first group that you will work with in submitting commercial projects for review by the Plans and Permits Section with the goal of obtaining a building permit. This team is located at the Cliff Morton Development and Business Services Center at 1901 S. Alamo. Our department’s mission is to serve the public with better than expected customer service by effectively facilitating the development process while protecting the health, safety, and public welfare of the community.

Goals & Objectives

•   Protect the health, safety, and quality of life of the citizens of San Antonio.
•   Improve cycle time for permits
•   Ensure consistency and quality of reviews and inspections
•   Enhance customer service philosophy to facilitate the development process

Commercial Application Submittal Process

The CAR team provides one-stop service for those customers seeking to submit an application for commercial building permits. The CAR team provides a completeness review of the commercial building application and all associated construction plans and documents. The objective of the completeness review is to reduce the need for the resubmittal of drawings that were disapproved because required information was missing. The team will perform a nontechnical summary review of your construction plans/documents with the objective of identifying any missing, critical elements prior to the actual start of the formal review process. If elements are missing, the team will communicate with you in a timely manner so that you are aware of any missing plans/documents. Your submittal documents will also be reviewed by the CAR team to properly assign/route your plans to appropriate City review agencies for their technical review and approval.

The review period for completeness and assignment of submittals for commercial building permits is three working days from time of submittal. If the application, construction documents and all required review agency documents are complete, the official city clock for plan review will start the day that fees are paid. If the submittal package is not complete, the design team/owner will be provided a list of items in writing that need to be submitted as per section 105.3.1 of the 2006 International Building Code (IBC). Until the required documents are submitted to the CAR team, the fees for plan review will not be able to be paid, the application will be deemed incomplete and the clock for plan review will not start. Incomplete applications will remain with the CAR team for a period of 180-days. If the application is still incomplete after this time, the application will be considered abandoned as per IBC section 105.3.2

An applicant submitting for commercial building permits and plan review has several options:

• An applicant may choose to bring in the application submittal package in person and will be served by the CAR team on a first
    come/first served basis. The applicant will be provided a number and will sit with one of the first available CAR team members to
    go over the submittal package for completeness. The applicant will be informed at that time as to the completeness of the
    package, the fees due if complete, and approximate time that the first review cycle for plan review will be complete.
   The customer will be asked to   pay the fee to start the clock for plan review.
• An applicant may wish to schedule an appointment with a CAR team member rather than waiting in line. The process will be the
    same as above; an applicant may choose to sit with the team member, for completeness review, and pay the fees to start the
    commercial plan review clock.
• An applicant may wish to drop the application package off for review and leave right away (mail in packages will be charged an
    additional fee – see the fee schedule). The CAR team has three working days to review the submittal package for completeness.
    Within the three days the applicant will be informed of any documents missing, and if complete, will be informed of the fees to be
    paid. Fees may be paid on-line, at a Link Center office, or in person at the Cliff Morton Development and Business Services Center.
    Once fees are paid, the clock for plan review will start. If the application was complete, the plan review clock will be postdated to
    the date the applicant brought in the commercial submittal package.

The CAR team highly advises applicants to schedule an appointment. Walk in customers will be handled on a first come - first served basis if there are vacancies between scheduled appointments. The time to go through the submittal process with a CAR team member may take 20 to 40 minutes depending on the complexity and size of the project. When making an appointment you will be asked some questions that will help us determine the time needed to review the package with you. You can schedule an appointment or email the CAR Team with questions at commercialintake@sanantonio.gov . Please see additional contact numbers below.

Checklists have been developed as information bulletins (IB’s) to assist in the understanding of the minimum information needed on commercial plans to be accepted for review.

•   IB 103a – Plan Review Submittal (Commercial Checklist)
•   IB 103b – Plan Review Submittal (Foundation Checklist)
•   IB 103c – Plan Review Submittal (Shell Building Commercial Checklist)
•   IB 103d – Plan Review Submittal (Interior Finish-out Checklist)
•   IB 107 – Fire Sprinkler Permit Application and Checklist
•   IB 122 – Fire Alarm Permit Application and Checklist

Click here for the commercial application. If you are submitting a project with multiple buildings on one lot with the same address, please click here for the multiple building form. A project with multiple buildings on separate lots with different addresses require separate applications for each address and will receive separate building permit numbers (AP #).

Click here for a list of current codes the City of San Antonio follows and will utilize for plan review. The city follows the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Texas Board of Architectural Examiners for requirements as to use of design professionals to design, stamp and seal projects.

Click here for code interpretations that may affect your design and plan review comments.

Click here for the Unified Development Code regarding traffic, parking, sidewalk, tree, landscaping, irrigation, drainage and other horizontal city requirements.

Timely service is a high priority in the Plans and Permits Section. For additional information regarding the plans review services such as walk-through, counter plan review, preliminary plan review meetings, plan review by appointment and mail in plans, click here. You can also check your escrow balance here. You can also view your estimated fees at our fee calculator here.

For information on the top ten delays in plan review click here.

A flow chart of the development process can be found here.

Should you have any questions, please contact us:

Customer Assistance Team
1901 S. Alamo
San Antonio, TX 78204
commercialintake@sanantonio.gov .

CAR Team:
Mark Celestino
Mark Celestino    mark.celestino@sanantonio.gov 207-0019
Alicia Castillo
Alicia Castillo       alicia.castillo@sanantonio.gov     207-0018
Roland Garcia
Roland Garcia     roland.garcia@sanantonio.gov    207-0017