Plan Review Comments: How to Read and Respond Fast

Plan review comments are the building department's written list of what your permit drawings are missing or get wrong, and almost every residential application gets some. The fast way through is simple: answer every comment, fix the drawings and cloud each change, then resubmit the complete plan set with a response letter that says exactly where each fix is. Do that in one clean round and you can often skip a second wait in the review queue.

This guide shows you how to read a comment letter, sort the comments by how much work they really need, write a response that a reviewer can check in minutes, and keep your application from expiring while you work. It includes a copy-and-fill response table and a worked example for a deck. The rules come from the model residential code and from published instructions in Austin, Seattle, Danville and Milpitas in California, Inglewood, Hawaiʻi County and Goose Creek, South Carolina. Your city's own instructions always win, so use these as a guide to what to look for.

The short answer

• Comments are not a denial. Under the model International Residential Code, a building official who finds that an application doesn't conform must reject it "in writing stating the reasons" (Section R105.3.1 of the 2024 IRC, Chapter 1). That written list is your comment letter. Answer it, and the review continues.
• Answer every comment, even the ones you think are wrong. Austin asks for a short narrative for each rejected comment that says how and where you addressed it, and warns that any unresolved comment means another rejection and possibly more fees (Austin Development Services).
• Mark your changes and send the whole set. Seattle wants every change clouded or circled and won't review single corrected sheets. It wants a complete plan set (Seattle SDCI). Austin and Danville also require full sets.
• Watch the clock. The model code treats an application as abandoned 180 days after filing unless it has been pursued in good faith, with written extensions available (IRC R105.3.2). Some places shorten the extensions, so check yours.

What a comment letter is, and what your city calls it

When your drawings arrive, each review discipline checks them. Zoning, building, structural, energy and sometimes fire, drainage or trees may all have a reviewer. If anything is missing or doesn't meet code, the comments are bundled and sent to you. The model code also says construction documents must be clear enough to show "the location, nature and extent of the work proposed" and that it will conform to the code (IRC R106.1.1). Many comments are simply the reviewer saying the drawings don't show enough for them to tell.

The document goes by different names, and knowing the local name helps you find it in your portal:

Sources: Austin, Seattle Services Portal help, Town of Danville (PDF), City of Milpitas (PDF), Hawaiʻi County Memorandum BLD-23-003 (PDF).

Wait for the full set before you start. In Seattle, you can't respond or upload anything until every assigned review is finished and the project status reads "Corrections Required." In Austin, the Master Comment Report goes out only once all reviews for the project are complete. If your city sends comments one reviewer at a time, it still pays to collect them all first, because a structural fix can change what the zoning reviewer sees.

How to read a plan review comment, line by line

Most comments, however they're formatted, contain the same five pieces. Find each one before you decide what to do:

1. The reviewer or discipline. Zoning, building, structural, energy and so on. This tells you who has to be satisfied and, often, who on your team should answer.
2. A comment number. Your response must use the same number. Reviewers check answers against their own list.
3. The location. A sheet number, a detail, or a cloud on the marked-up plans. In Seattle's system, each comment is linked to the spot on the plans it refers to.
4. A code or rule reference, when there is one. Look it up. The wording of the section often tells you exactly what the reviewer wants to see.
5. The ask. "Provide," "show," "clarify," "revise" and "verify" mean different things. "Provide" or "show" usually means information is missing. "Revise" usually means the design itself has to change.

Then sort each comment into one of these groups. This is the fastest way to see how big the job really is:

One example of the last group: in Austin, if the plot plan has to change, Austin Water must re-stamp it before you submit your update. Items like that can take longer than all of your drawing fixes put together.

Triage checklist: the first evening with your comments

• ☐ Download everything the city attached. Danville, for example, posts a coversheet, the comments, the conditions and separate resubmittal instructions.
• ☐ Read the resubmittal instructions first. File format, naming and upload steps are where avoidable rejections happen.
• ☐ Copy every comment into a numbered list or spreadsheet, keeping the city's numbering.
• ☐ Tag each comment with a type from the table above and with who will answer it.
• ☐ Circle any comment you don't understand. Austin tells applicants to contact the assigned reviewer, whose phone and email are on the Master Comment Report, and says reviewers answer within 24 hours. A longer conversation, or one with several disciplines, is a paid Plan Review Consultation there.
• ☐ Note any comment that changes the application itself, such as square footage, valuation or the scope. Austin requires a new, fully completed application when application information changes.
• ☐ Note your deadline. It may appear on the letter, in the portal or in your local code (see the deadline section below).
• ☐ Set a date for your team to return everything. A comment letter that sits for three weeks costs you three weeks.

If you drew the plans yourself as an owner-builder, you are the designer, and the response is on you. If a design professional drew them, they should answer the technical comments. Hawaiʻi County defines the corrections response letter as one "dated and signed by the licensed architect or engineer of record." Not sure whose job the paperwork is? Our guide on who pulls the permit, homeowner or contractor covers who is responsible for what.

Fixing the drawings: clouds, deltas and complete sets

Reviewers don't want to hunt for your fixes. Cities ask for the same few things, in slightly different forms:

• Cloud every change. A revision cloud is a bumpy outline drawn around the changed area. Seattle accepts clouds or circles. Austin asks you to highlight changes, for example with revision clouds, so staff can match them to your responses.
• Add a delta number. A delta is a small triangle with a number in it, placed next to each cloud. Hawaiʻi County uses one delta number for the whole resubmittal, so the first resubmittal is Delta 1, even if it contains several unrelated changes. It also requires a revision block on each sheet that summarizes the change and the reason for it. Inglewood asks you to list revisions in the revision box with the date and the type of correction.
• Resubmit the complete set. Austin, Seattle, Danville and Inglewood all reject partial sets or single replacement sheets. Seattle gives the example of a site plan it asked for: if you upload it as a lone sheet, it won't be reviewed.
• No hand mark-ups. Goose Creek states that "Red line drawings are not permitted" and that changes must be drawn to scale as part of the documents (City of Goose Creek residential packet (PDF)).
• Clean files. Seattle won't accept plans with the wrong orientation (they must be landscape), the wrong sheet size, missing sheets or missing responses. Inglewood asks for unlocked PDFs so reviewers can mark them up (City of Inglewood (PDF)).

Old clouds: rules differ, so check yours. For a new permit application still in review, Milpitas says clouds from earlier submittals "shall be turned off," so only the current round's changes are marked. For a revision to an already-issued permit, Milpitas says the opposite: all clouds and delta numbers from earlier rounds stay on the drawings. Hawaiʻi County has you leave previously approved, stamped sheets in the set and add the newly revised sheets in Cloud + Delta format. If your city's instructions don't say, ask the counter before you draw.

File names matter too. Milpitas wants each document named with the cycle number first ("2-Structural calculations" for the second round). Seattle warns that it can't rename your documents for you or delete wrong uploads. In Seattle's portal, don't put responses in the Attachments tab, which is view-only: your reviewer won't receive them. Use Make Changes and then Upload Documents.

The comment response letter: a template you can copy

The response letter is the most useful thing you send. Danville says outright that its purpose is to help the plans examiner and reduce review time, and that a resubmittal without one is incomplete. A good letter lets a reviewer check each item in seconds: comment number, what you did, and where to find it.

Start with a short header:

Re: Response to plan review comments, round [1]
Permit / application number: [number]
Property address: [address]
Prepared by: [name, role, phone, email]
Date: [date]
Summary: All [12] comments are addressed below. Changes are clouded and marked Delta [1]. One change was not requested by reviewers and is listed at the end.

Then answer every comment in a table like this:

Four rules make this table work:

• One row for every comment, in the city's numbering. Austin, Milpitas and Danville all expect a response to each comment. Even if two answers are the same, give each one its own row.
• Say where, not just what. Milpitas wants the letter to identify which details, specifications or calculations show the fix. "Revised" alone sends the reviewer searching.
• If you didn't make the change, explain it. Seattle asks for a code citation or documentation whenever you don't make a requested change.
• Flag changes nobody asked for. Seattle asks you to describe voluntary changes in your response. Milpitas wants a separate narrative listing the sheet and the change. Austin asks you to tell intake staff if a change affects a discipline that already approved your plans, so that reviewer can look again.

Format depends on the city. Seattle has moved to answering comments directly on its marked-up plan set using the reply function in Bluebeam or the comment panel in Adobe Acrobat, and expects replies from everyone on the team consolidated into that one set. If you receive a separate letter, answer it with a letter. Austin wants your responses, plans and supporting documents combined into a single PDF.

Worked example: a deck, first round of comments

Here is a made-up but typical case, to show the method. The comments are illustrations, not quotes from any city. An owner applies for a 12-by-16-foot deck attached to the back of the house, about 6 feet above grade. Two weeks later, five comments arrive:

Four of the five comments were missing information, and only one needed a design change. That's a common pattern for small residential projects. The owner's designer turned the corrections around in four days, clouded every change as Delta 1, rebuilt the full four-sheet set, and uploaded it with the response letter as one package.

What did a clean round save? If this house were in Austin, the city's published review time for an update submittal is 7 business days, compared with 10 business days for a first review of new construction or an addition (Austin's schedule effective July 1, 2026). A response that misses even one comment goes back into that line again. Austin also charges for updates after the first: if it's your second update or more, an invoice comes with the Master Comment Report. Seattle's target review time for corrected plans is two weeks.

When you disagree with a comment

Reviewers are sometimes wrong, or are reading an older version of a local rule. Disagreeing is fine, but do it inside the process:

1. Ask first. Call or email the reviewer with the comment number, and ask which section they are applying and what would satisfy it. Many "disagreements" turn out to be a missing detail.
2. Answer in writing with a citation. In your letter, explain why no change was made and cite the code section or attach documentation, as Seattle asks. Being polite and specific helps.
3. Use the department's escalation path. Seattle publishes one: contact a supervisor, who responds within 24 hours, then write to a manager, then the director (Seattle SDCI: Resolve a Permit Disagreement).
4. Propose an alternative formally. The model code allows alternative materials, designs and methods that meet the intent of the code. A request is submitted in writing, and a denial has to be in writing with reasons (2024 IRC R104.2.2 and R104.2.2.2).
5. Appeal as a last resort. Under the model code, an appeal must claim that the code was interpreted incorrectly, does not fully apply, or that an equivalent or better form of construction is proposed, and the board "shall not have authority to waive requirements" (IRC R112.2). Our guide to appealing a building official's decision walks through the steps, and the appeal letter builder helps you work out your deadline and draft the letter.

If the comment comes from zoning, such as a setback, height or lot coverage problem, a building appeal usually isn't the route. You either redesign or apply for a zoning variance. HOA conditions are a separate approval altogether; see HOA approval vs a city building permit.

Deadlines: don't let your application expire

An application doesn't stay open forever. The model code's rule is that it is "deemed to have been abandoned 180 days after the date of filing" unless it has been pursued in good faith or a permit has been issued. The building official can grant extensions of up to 180 days each, requested in writing with justifiable cause (IRC R105.3.2).

Local versions differ, and the difference matters:

• Model IRC: extensions of up to 180 days each.
• Wicomico County, Maryland: the same 180-day abandonment rule, but extensions of up to 90 days each (Wicomico County amendments (PDF)).
• Your city: may count from a different date, such as the date of the comment email, or set its own window. Check the letter, the portal and the local code, and ask if you can't find it.

If the review is dragging because you're waiting on an engineer or a survey, ask for an extension in writing before the deadline. Don't wait until after it passes. For the timing math, try our permit expiration calculator. If something has already lapsed, see how to renew, extend or close an expired permit.

How to get through review in fewer rounds

• Answer everything in one package. Austin rejects partial or informal updates, and any unresolved comment means another rejection.
• Keep the plans and the application in sync. If the scope, area or valuation changed, update the application. A change in valuation may also change your fee; see how building permit fees are calculated.
• Don't slip in extra changes. Unannounced changes look like errors to a reviewer and can restart a discipline's review. List them, or save them for after approval.
• Book a short meeting for confusing comments. Ten minutes on the phone usually beats a guess that costs another round.
• Fix the root cause. If three comments come from one vague sheet, redraw the sheet rather than patching three spots.
• Plan your schedule around one correction round. Our permit timeline guide shows how review cycles add up, and the step-by-step application guide covers what to include the first time.

After approval: changes still need review

Approval isn't the end of plan review. Under the model code, the approved set is stamped and one copy stays on site for inspectors (IRC R106.3.1). Work must follow it, and changes that don't comply with the approved documents "shall be resubmitted for approval as an amended set" (IRC R106.4). Goose Creek, for example, lists when it requires amended documents: footprint changes, changed window or door sizes or locations, added decks, porches or sunrooms, changes to the structural framing system, and changes to the exterior covering or roof system. Austin's revision form warns that once a revision is submitted, the permits go to a "pending" status, and "No inspections can be called until the revision is approved" (Austin Plan Review Revision Form (PDF)).

Building something that doesn't match the stamped plans is how a project ends up with a failed inspection or a stop-work order. If that happens, our correction notice playbook and stop-work order guide cover the next steps, and inspection prep from rough-in to final helps you avoid both.

FAQ

Does getting plan review comments mean my permit was denied?

No. Comments are the normal written list of what needs to change before the permit can be issued. Austin, for example, says all rejection comments must be addressed before approval, and you may repeat the step if comments remain.

Do I have to answer every comment?

Yes. Every comment needs its own response, even if the answer is "no change made," with a code reference or documentation explaining why. Austin warns that unresolved comments lead to another rejection.

Can I just upload the pages I changed?

Usually not. Austin, Seattle, Danville and Inglewood require a complete plan set with the changes clouded. Seattle won't review a lone corrected sheet.

How long does a resubmittal review take?

It depends on the city. Austin publishes 7 business days for update submittals, and Seattle's target for corrected plans is two weeks. Ask your city for its current resubmittal time.

What if I don't respond?

Under the model code, an application not pursued in good faith is deemed abandoned 180 days after filing, unless you get a written extension. Some local codes allow shorter extensions.

Can I talk to the plan reviewer?

In many cities, yes. Austin lists the reviewer's contact details on the Master Comment Report and says reviewers respond within 24 hours. Longer meetings may carry a fee.

Bottom line

Treat the comment letter as a checklist, not a verdict. Collect every comment, sort them, ask about anything unclear, fix the drawings with clouds, and send one complete package with a response for every numbered item. That habit, more than anything else, decides whether your permit takes one review round or four. If you're planning a bigger project, such as a room addition or a raised deck, budget time for at least one round from the start.

Last checked: November 2, 2026.

Official sources

• International Code Council: 2024 International Residential Code, Chapter 1 Scope and Administration (R104.2.2, R105.3.1, R105.3.2, R106.1.1, R106.3.1, R106.4, R112.2)
• City of Austin Development Services: Residential Plan Review
• City of Austin: Plan Review Revision Form (PDF)
• Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections: How to Respond to Review Comments
• Seattle Services Portal Help Center: How to View and Respond to Corrections
• Seattle SDCI: Resolve a Permit Disagreement
• Town of Danville, CA: Responding to Plan Check Comments from Building Division (PDF)
• City of Milpitas, CA: Resubmittal Requirements (PDF)
• City of Inglewood, CA: Plans Submittal Requirements (PDF)
• County of Hawaiʻi Department of Public Works: Memorandum BLD-23-003, Plan Format for Revisions and Resubmittals: Cloud + Delta (PDF)
• City of Goose Creek, SC: Residential Construction Information Packet (PDF)
• Wicomico County, MD: Amendments to the IRC and IBC (PDF)

PermitCove is an independent guide, not a government agency. Rules and review times change, so confirm the current requirements with your local building department.

Edited by Ahmed Khalifa, founder of PermitCove. Sources are linked inline; see our Editorial Policy.