Building Efficiency: How Tampa and Lennar Homes Cut Plan Review Times by 30%

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Accela’s Noam Reininger and e.Republic’s Dustin Haisler host a session to explore how an innovative partnership between Tampa, Florida, and Lennar Homes transformed the city’s permitting process using Accela’s technology platform. Guests J.C. Hudgison, Tampa’s chief building official, and Chris Smith, vice president of forward planning at Lennar Homes, share how collaboration, open communication and modern technology eliminated friction, improved transparency and streamlined plan reviews. The discussion offers practical lessons on tailoring processes for diverse stakeholders, leveraging feedback loops and using digital tools to drive efficiency.

SHOW NOTES

Here are the top-five takeaways from this episode:

1. Why public–private partnerships are essential for tackling complex challenges like urban infill
   
   Urban infill projects often combine commercial-scale requirements with residential needs, making them uniquely complex. By partnering early, Tampa and Lennar created solutions that worked for both regulators and builders.
   
   
   2. How Tampa created a custom urban townhome record type that integrates multiple workflows into one streamlined permit
   
   Instead of forcing builders to manage multiple permits for utilities, site work and housing, Tampa combined elements of residential, commercial and site reviews into a single process.
   
   3. The role of Accela’s platform in increasing visibility, eliminating friction and improving communication between builders and the city
   
   Before Accela, builders had little transparency into permit status or inspection results. Now, they can track progress in real time, communicate directly with plan examiner and forecast project timelines with far greater accuracy.
   
   4. Insights on designing processes that serve residents and builders — from sufficiency checks to digital plan rooms
   
   Tampa added sufficiency checks to ensure applications were complete up front, reducing delays. Digital plan rooms streamlined feedback, making comments easier and faster to address.
   
   5. Advice for other jurisdictions looking to replicate Tampa’s success, from open communication to tailoring processes for diverse user groups
   
   Officials from the city and Lennar emphasized the importance of listening to builders, residents and design professionals regularly to understand pain points.
   

Our editors used ChatGPT 4.0 to summarize the episode in bullet form to help create the show notes. The main image for this story was created using DALL-E 3.

*Governing and Government Technology are divisions of e.Republic LLC.