Permit Coordination in Columbus, Ohio

Transit & Flow Group handles Permit Coordination for construction and remodeling projects across Columbus and Central Ohio: identifying which permits your project needs, preparing and submitting the applications, tracking review status with your municipality, and managing revisions if a plan reviewer requests changes. This is a range-priced service, scoped to your project once we know its size and municipality. Describe your project in the Estimate Builder for a preliminary online estimate.

Is this the right service for you?

Permit Coordination fits a homeowner in one of these situations:

• You are planning a remodel or addition and are not sure which permits apply, structural, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, or zoning, and want someone to sort that out before work starts.
• You have plans or a contractor lined up but need the paperwork submitted, tracked, and followed up on with your local building department.
• A previous application stalled because of missing documents, an incomplete drawing set, or a reviewer comment nobody responded to, and you want it moved again.
• You are working with an outside contractor who is not handling permitting themselves, and want Transit & Flow to manage that piece of the project independently.
• You want one point of contact for permit status instead of calling the municipality yourself between other obligations.

This service is distinct from Inspection Coordination, which is a separate page. Permit Coordination is about obtaining and managing the permits themselves, the applications, drawings, fees, and approvals that authorize the work. Inspection Coordination is about what happens after: scheduling and being present for the municipal building inspections that occur at defined points once permits are pulled and work is underway, a rough-in inspection, a framing inspection, a final inspection, depending on your scope. Most construction and remodeling projects need both services, generally in that order. Permits get pulled first, inspections follow at each project milestone. If your project needs both, we typically set up Permit Coordination and Inspection Coordination together so nothing falls into a gap between the two.

How pricing works

Permit Coordination is scope-based, range pricing. What sets the price:

• Number and type of permits required. A single trade permit (electrical only, for example) costs less to coordinate than a project needing structural, electrical, plumbing, and zoning approval together.
• Your municipality’s process. Columbus, Dublin, Westerville, Grove City, and the surrounding townships each run their own permitting office with different submission formats, review timelines, and fee schedules. A jurisdiction with a slower review queue or more document requirements takes more coordination hours.
• Drawing and documentation needs. Some permits need only a simple site plan; others need stamped structural drawings from an engineer. We identify what your specific project needs rather than assuming the larger package by default.
• Revision cycles. If a plan reviewer comes back with comments or requests a change, we manage that round trip. Projects with straightforward, well-documented scopes usually clear review with fewer revision cycles than complex additions or structural changes.

Municipal permit fees are set by the jurisdiction and vary widely across Central Ohio, from a simple single-trade permit on a small remodel to a structural addition that touches several departments. Those fees are paid to the municipality, separate from what Transit & Flow Group charges to identify, prepare, and manage the applications on your behalf. We confirm the actual fee schedule for your jurisdiction in writing before anything is submitted. Enter your project details and photos in the Estimate Builder for a preliminary online estimate. Final scope and price subject to verification once our team reviews your project.

What’s included

• Identification of which permits your specific project requires, by trade and by jurisdiction
• Preparation and submission of permit applications and required documentation
• Payment coordination for municipal permit fees (fees themselves are separate from our coordination cost)
• Ongoing status tracking and follow-up with your local building department
• Managing plan reviewer comments and resubmitting revised documents as needed
• A single point of contact so you are not the one calling the municipality
• Where stamped engineering drawings are required, we identify that requirement early and confirm in writing how they will be arranged and what they will cost before the application is submitted

What’s not included

• The municipal permit fees themselves, which are paid to the jurisdiction, not to Transit & Flow
• Design or engineering work beyond what is needed to support the permit application
• Inspection Coordination, the scheduling of and attendance at the municipal inspections that follow once permits are issued; that is its own service, and most projects book both
• Zoning variance hearings or board of appeals representation beyond standard permit submission
• The construction work itself, which is scoped and priced separately by trade

Permits and inspections may be required for most structural, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work in Central Ohio, and requirements vary by municipality and by scope.

Why permit coordination matters in Central Ohio

Central Ohio’s patchwork of municipalities is exactly why this service exists as its own line item rather than an afterthought bundled into construction. Columbus proper, Franklin County’s suburbs, and the surrounding townships do not share one permitting office or one set of forms. A project in Dublin follows a different submission process than the same scope in Grove City or unincorporated Franklin County, and getting that wrong, submitting the wrong form to the wrong office, is a common way homeowners lose weeks before work even starts.

Older housing stock adds another layer. Homes in Clintonville, German Village, and Bexley often carry additions and system upgrades over many decades, which means a current remodel sometimes surfaces prior unpermitted work that needs to be reconciled before a new permit can move forward. Newer construction in Dublin, New Albany, and Lewis Center tends to have cleaner permit histories, but larger structural changes there can still trigger multiple permit types at once. Either way, sorting out what is actually required, and in what order, before you start swinging a hammer saves real time later.

Our process

1. Describe your project online. Scope, address, and any plans or contractor details go into the Estimate Builder for a preliminary online estimate.
2. Permit needs review. We identify which permits your specific project requires and what documentation each one needs.
3. Application and submission. We prepare and submit the paperwork to your municipality, with fees coordinated on your behalf.
4. Tracking and follow-up. We monitor review status and respond to reviewer comments without you having to make the calls.
5. Handoff to inspections. Once permits are issued, we can coordinate the Inspection Coordination service to schedule and attend the required inspections through completion.

Services completed by appropriately qualified professionals where required.