Homebuilders Save Time and Money in Submitting for Single-Family Residential Permits

In July 2017, after working with residential architects, homebuilders, and home developers for several years, Focus Engineering & Surveying realized that many of our residential design and development clients needed fully-graded site plans. By providing the plans with our signature customer service and reasonable rates, we could provide real value to our clients. We created the Vertical Engineering Department, led by Jason Barker.

All single-family homes, whether spec, tract, or custom, need a site plan in order to apply for a permit with their City or County approval agency. “Over time, we’ve seen an increase in the cities and counties that require grading and drainage in their site plans,” explains Barker. “We believe this is a trend that will continue.” The Vertical Engineering department provides fully-graded site plans, saving our clients time, money, and headache. “The homebuilder doesn’t have to think about the elevation of the house or how they’ll get drainage away from the house,” explains Barker. “The designer doesn’t have to worry about doing the site plan, so it saves them time and effort.” And it’s one step they can skip in submitting to the city for permitting.

A traditional site plan shows the footprint of the home and where it will sit on the lot in order to meet setback requirements, but it does not show grading. The assumption is that the contractor needs to decide the elevation of the home – but it doesn’t need to be that way. With a quick 3-5-day turnaround and a very reasonable fee, Vertical Engineering designs the elevation of the home, showing how the home sits in relation to the curb and gutter, and the grading and drainage for the site. “We take all of the code requirements into consideration and the site plan is done right,” says Barker. “We save the design team a couple of hours, the contractor a couple of hours, and we save them all the headache. With our quick turnaround, there is no bottleneck.”

Vertical Engineering services maximize the placement, performance, and function of single-family residences, whether spec, tract, or custom homes. We provide site plans, grading plans, drainage plans, subdivision lot fit analysis, subdivision rough grading analysis, and custom landscape architecture. We also offer competent drafting support to architects and home designers.