City staff outlines building-permit review and inspection process, cites 2024 workload and enforcement options

Daniel Chavira, program manager for plan review and inspections in the City of El Paso Planning and Inspections Department, gave an informational presentation on June 5 outlining the building-permit review process, inspection stages and enforcement tools for unpermitted construction.

Chavira said the department's mission is to "ensure public health, safety, and welfare by adopting and using the building codes" and described the primary permit categories (commercial and residential), shell permits, tenant-improvement permits and accessory-permit types. He told the commission that in calendar year 2024 the department reviewed "a little bit over 3,000" project submittals and conducted just over 60,000 inspections. For new commercial projects the department averaged 12.3 business days to complete a review cycle and averaged 42.67 days from submittal to permit issuance (excluding time applicants take to return corrections). For new residential projects Chavira said the review cycle averaged under four days and issuance averaged about 13.5 days.

Chavira described the three main inspection stages (slab/underground, framing/roughs, and final) and said the department's goal is to complete scheduled inspections within 24 hours; he said the 2024 completion rate was slightly above 98 percent. He discussed modular and industrialized buildings under Texas law: when a structure is a Texas industrialized building, much of the building's review and inspection occurs under state-sanctioned inspection at the factory, and the city focuses on exterior connections and installation on site.

On contractor registration and enforcement, Chavira explained Texas does not require a state general-contractor license, so the city maintains a registration system and requires bond and liability insurance. He said the city can suspend registration for contractors who do not meet requirements and that permit history and insurance information are public records. On work done without permits, Chavira said homeowners who did work without a permit generally pay twice the permit fee to legalize work; contractors pay three times the permit fee if they performed unpermitted construction. He warned that unpermitted work often requires opening walls for inspection and, in extreme cases, demolition or zoning board relief.

Commissioners asked follow-up questions about manufactured homes, a permit breakdown map available on the city website, the purpose of shell permits, and how residents can report and verify contractor permits; Chavira said staff can provide a permit-map link and recommended residents ask to see a permit number (building permit numbers begin with a "B" and include the year) and contact Planning and Inspections to confirm a permit's validity.