Why Architects and Contractors Need a Permit Expediter When Working Across Greater Los Angeles Jurisdictions
If you’re an architect, designer, engineer, or contractor, your expertise is designing great projects and bringing them to life—not becoming an expert in the permitting procedures of every jurisdiction in Greater Los Angeles. Yet, if your firm works across multiple jurisdictions, understanding how each one manages permits can have a significant impact on project schedules, client satisfaction, and your team’s productivity.
Many professionals assume that because every jurisdiction enforces the California Building Code, the permitting process should be fairly consistent. In reality, while the goal is the same, the administrative process can be completely different from one city to another.
At The Permit Lab, we manage permits throughout greater Los Angeles every day, and one of the biggest lessons we’ve learned is that successful permit management isn’t just about understanding building codes—it’s about understanding how each jurisdiction works.
The Same Goal, Different Workflows
Regardless of the jurisdiction, every building department is working toward the same objective:
Protect public safety.
Verify compliance with the California Building Code.
Enforce local zoning and land use regulations.
Coordinate reviews from all required agencies.
Issue permits for safe, code-compliant construction.
While the destination is the same, the journey is very different.
Each jurisdiction has developed its own permitting software, internal routing procedures, communication methods, and document requirements. Those differences may seem administrative, but they directly affect how quickly projects move through plan check.
Let’s look at three examples: City of Los Angeles, County of Los Angeles, and the City of Burbank.
City of Los Angeles: Multiple Portals for One Project
The City of Los Angeles uses several different online systems depending on which departments are involved in your project. Most building permit applications begin through the Department of Building and Safety’s ePlan system. However, that’s often only the beginning.
If your project also requires review from another department, that review is generally handled through an entirely different portal. For example, if your project requires a landscape plan approval by City Planning, you’ll need to submit a separate application through the Planning Department’s online system. The same concept applies when approvals are required from agencies such as the Bureau of Engineering or the Department of Public Health.
What starts as one building permit application can quickly become several interconnected applications, each with its own portal, workflow, review timeline, and document requirements.
Successfully managing permits in the City of Los Angeles means understanding not only the technical requirements of the project, but also when each department should become involved and how one approval may depend on another.
Los Angeles County: One Portal, Many Moving Pieces
Los Angeles County approaches permitting differently. Most projects are managed through a single online platform: EpicLA. At first glance, this seems much simpler than navigating multiple portals. Everything starts in one place. However, as your project moves through Building and Safety, Regional Planning, Fire, Public Health, Public Works, and other reviewing agencies, EpicLA generates numerous correction letters, referral notices, subpermit numbers, approval documents, routed files, and communications.
For someone unfamiliar with the system, it can become difficult to determine:
Which department currently is doing review.
Which review is complete.
Whether a correction requires action.
Which documents are the most current.
Whether the project is waiting in queue or needs additional information.
Although everything is centralized within one portal, the volume of information moving between departments can quickly become overwhelming if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for. Knowing where to look often becomes just as important as understanding the review comments themselves.
Burbank: A Different Workflow Altogether
The City of Burbank follows a completely different process. Unlike many other jurisdictions, Burbank does not currently provide applicants with an online portal where every step of the review process can be monitored. Instead, communication takes place primarily through email or directly with City staff. The City also has specific requirements regarding how plans should be submitted, how files should be named, how supporting documents should be organized before submission, and permit notification sign posted on the property.
Once you’ve worked in Burbank, the process becomes familiar. However, for firms submitting their first project there, the learning curve can be steep. Without an online dashboard showing review status, permit management relies heavily on proper submissions, communication, and timely follow-up.
Like every jurisdiction, Burbank has developed its own workflow—and understanding that workflow helps projects move more efficiently.
Why This Matters for Architects and Contractors
Architects and contractors already have enough on their plates: design coordination, preparing construction documents, coordinating with engineers and other consultants, meeting with clients, responding to RFIs, construction administration, scheduling, and managing multiple projects. Permit management is just one piece of an already demanding workload.
Now imagine navigating several jurisdictions at the same time. Each has its own online portal, submission requirements, document naming conventions, communication methods, review timelines, and internal workflows. On top of that, someone has to monitor the application, check for new plan review comments, coordinate responses from the design team, and make sure revised documents are submitted correctly.
It’s easy to see how permit administration alone can consume valuable hours that would be better spent designing projects, coordinating consultants, or managing construction. When permit management is only one of many responsibilities, it’s understandable how a review document could be overlooked, a correction letter missed, or an agency referral not followed up on. These aren’t design mistakes. They’re administrative workflow mistakes. But they can still delay the client’s project by days—or even weeks.
Why More Firms Are Partnering with Permit Expediters
Permit expediting is often misunderstood. Some people think a permit expediter’s role is simply submitting plans and checking on their status. While those tasks are certainly part of the process, that type of service is more commonly associated with a permit runner. True permit expediting goes much further.
An experienced permit expediter becomes an active member of the project team, managing the administrative side of the permitting process from start to finish. That means understanding each jurisdiction’s workflow, anticipating potential issues before they become delays, coordinating between consultants, tracking multiple agency reviews, and helping keep the project moving toward approval.
A professional permit expediter understands:
Which agencies must review your project.
When separate applications are required.
How each jurisdiction routes plans internally.
Which review comments need immediate attention.
When to follow up with reviewers.
How to coordinate responses between architects, engineers, contractors, and reviewing agencies.
How to identify administrative bottlenecks before they impact the project schedule.
For architects and contractors, this means less time navigating permit portals, following up with agencies, and tracking review comments—and more time focusing on design, coordination, and construction.
The best permit expediters don’t simply move paperwork. They manage the permitting process.
Why The Permit Lab Is Different
One of the reasons The Permit Lab takes this approach is rooted in how our company was founded.
Our founder is both an architect and an urban planner. The Permit Lab was built on the belief that effective permit expediting requires more than understanding permitting procedures—it also requires understanding the projects themselves.
Our value goes beyond managing the permit process—we understand the design process as well.
Because of our architectural and planning background, we understand construction drawings, zoning regulations, land use, development standards, and the technical language used by architects, engineers, contractors, and planning staff. We can often identify potential permitting issues early, communicate effectively with the project team, and better understand the intent behind design decisions.
That perspective allows us to do more than simply track permits. We become a knowledgeable resource throughout the permitting process, helping bridge the gap between the design team and the reviewing agencies.
While architects focus on designing great projects and contractors focus on building them, we focus on navigating the permitting process with an understanding of both the administrative requirements and the technical aspects of the project.
The Permit Lab Becomes an Extension of Your Team
At The Permit Lab, we work alongside architects, designers, engineers, contractors, and developers throughout greater Los Angeles.
Whether we’re coordinating multiple department submissions in the City of Los Angeles, tracking reviews through EpicLA for Los Angeles County, or managing submissions and follow-up with the City of Burbank, our role remains the same. We monitor permit status, coordinate agency communications, organize submissions, manage review comments, and help prevent administrative issues from becoming project delays.
Instead of asking your team to become experts in dozens of permitting systems, we become an extension of your team. Our goal is simple: keep your projects moving while you focus on what you do best.
Final Thoughts
Every jurisdiction has its own way of managing permits.
The City of Los Angeles relies on multiple department-specific portals.
Los Angeles County centralizes most reviews through EpicLA.
Burbank follows a more personalized process that depends on careful document preparation and direct communication.
None of these systems is inherently better than another—they’re simply different.
Understanding those differences—and having someone dedicated to navigating them—can save your firm valuable time, reduce administrative burdens, and create a smoother experience for your clients.
If your firm regularly works across Greater Los Angeles jurisdictions, partnering with an experienced permit expediter allows your architects, designers, engineers, and contractors to focus on the work they do best while we handle the complexities of permit management.
Contact us to see how we can help you with one or multiple projects. To learn more about us and how we work, visit our About page and Services & Fees page.