Building division launches 'Quick Business Counter'

SAN DIEGO — The County’s Department of Planning and Land Use (DPLU) introduced a “Quick Business Counter” on February 2 to handle building permit business that can be completed in 15 minutes or less.

The new service is offered from 8 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday at building counters and is expected to reduce wait times for customers whose permits shouldn’t take long to complete.

“The idea is to help those people who literally have ‘quick business’ by creating a special line for them,” said DPLU Director Eric Gibson. “This way customers won’t be caught waiting for long periods of time behind those applicants who have larger, more complicated permits to process. This is all about customer service.”

Gibson said the department would reassess the quick counter’s effectiveness after 180 days.

The quick counters will handle only permit business that can be taken care of in about 15 minutes, such as: electrical, plumbing and mechanical service upgrades, septic to sewer conversions, copper re-piping and replacing water heaters.

Other permits, such as those to build single-family homes and commercial projects, will continue to be handled at the Building Division’s regular counters.

The new service is just one of several actions the DPLU has taken to improve its service to customers.

Over the last year, the department has introduced online tools to research permit and property histories, apply for permits, check counter wait times and estimate building permit costs and has consolidated land use counters.

For more information, visit http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/dplu.