Straight answers about how PermitJunkie works, what it costs, and where it can help — plus how we stack up against other AI plan-review tools.
Start free: upload a packet and see a redacted review summary with the issue count at no charge. A full permit report is a flat one-time fee, and workspaces can buy credit bundles for ongoing reviews. Cities and agencies are scoped by contract — no per-seat surprise on your applicants.
Building, structural, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, fire, zoning, and accessibility run as separate discipline desks — the same way a municipal reviewer writes separate correction comments. Licensing packets (food, liquor, public assembly) are supported through the same intake.
Jurisdiction code editions, adopted amendments, and enforcing-agency rosters are tracked in our jurisdiction intelligence layer. When an authoritative edition and snapshot are available, findings show that basis. Unknown or unverified authority is labeled and must be confirmed with the local agency.
Processing time varies with packet size, readability, and service health. Discipline desks can run in parallel, results appear as they become available, and recoverable failures expose a retry path.
Yes. Packets live in your private workspace with row-level access control, and reviews are scoped to your project. Nothing is shared with other applicants, and we don't publish your drawings.
No. PermitJunkie works applicant-first — you can review and fix a packet before submitting anywhere. City partnerships add jurisdiction-specific checklists and reviewer replay, but they aren't a prerequisite.
The questions homeowners and builders ask most — deck permits, correction letters, expediter fees, timelines, and costs. Specific requirements vary by city, so for local details see our local permit office guides.
In most communities, yes — attached decks, decks above a certain height, and decks with roofs or stairs almost always require a building permit, and many areas also require zoning approval for placement. Small, low, freestanding platforms are sometimes exempt, but the exemption rules are set locally and differ even between neighboring towns. Confirm with your city or township building department before you buy materials; building first and asking later usually means a stop-work order, a penalty fee, or tearing work out.
Which projects need a permit — full guide →It's the list of issues a plan reviewer sends back when your submission doesn't yet meet code. Each comment cites the section of code and what needs to change — a missing detail, an undersized beam, an incomplete form. Corrections are normal: most first submissions receive at least a few. The projects that stall are the ones that answer slowly or partially. Respond to every comment, not just the easy ones, and resubmit the complete corrected set so the reviewer can close them all in one pass.
How to clear correction letters faster →Expediter pricing varies by market and scope — flat fees for a single residential permit, higher flat fees or retainers for commercial projects, and hourly billing for ongoing representation. Fees are separate from the city's own permit fees. What you're buying is time and error-avoidance: an expediter who knows the department's checklist keeps you off the correction-letter carousel, which is usually where projects lose weeks. Always ask what's included (submittal, corrections, follow-up) before comparing quotes.
What a permit expediter actually does →Anywhere from same-day for simple over-the-counter permits to several weeks or months for new construction that needs zoning, engineering, and multiple trade reviews. The biggest controllable factor is your first submission: a complete packet reviewed once beats an incomplete packet reviewed three times. The second factor is how fast you answer correction comments — the review clock usually pauses while the letter sits with you.
Realistic permit timelines →Permit fees are set by each city, township, or county — commonly a flat fee for small jobs, or a fee based on project valuation or square footage for larger ones, sometimes plus plan-review and inspection fees. Because every jurisdiction publishes its own schedule, we link the official fee pages on our local guides rather than quote numbers that could be out of date. Find your city's page in our locations section for the official source.
How permit fees are calculated →Typical consequences are a stop-work order, a penalty (often a doubled permit fee), a requirement to open finished work so it can be inspected, or an order to remove the work entirely. Unpermitted work also surfaces later — during a sale, refinance, or insurance claim — when it can delay or kill the transaction. If you already built without one, most departments have an 'as-built' or retroactive permit path; it's more paperwork, but it legalizes the work.
Permit rules for common projects →The core set is usually a completed application form, a site plan showing the property and where the work sits on it, construction drawings with enough detail to review against code, and contractor or license information where required. Larger projects add structural calculations, energy forms, truss drawings, or trade-specific sheets. Missing documents are the single most common reason applications are rejected at intake, so assemble the full checklist before you submit.
Step-by-step permit guide →Often yes, for work on your own primary residence — many jurisdictions allow an owner-builder permit. Trade permits (electrical, mechanical, plumbing) are more restricted, and some places require licensed contractors for those regardless. Pulling the permit yourself makes you legally responsible for code compliance and inspections, and some jurisdictions ask you to sign an owner occupancy statement. If you hire a contractor, the safer practice is that the contractor pulls the permit.
Zoning approval is about where and what — whether the use, size, height, and placement are allowed on that parcel. A building permit is about how — whether the construction itself meets the building code. Many projects need both, and zoning usually has to clear first. A project can be perfectly built and still be denied because of a setback or lot-coverage rule, which is why the zoning check belongs at the very start.
Intake rejections are almost always completeness problems, not code problems: unsigned forms, a missing site plan, wrong fee, or a required approval (zoning, HOA, health department) not yet attached. Ask for the intake checklist in writing and fix every item at once — resubmitting with one thing fixed at a time restarts the queue each time. An intake rejection is not a plan review denial; the technical review hasn't started yet.
Avoid the common intake mistakes →CivCheck (now part of Clariti) sells guided plan review to cities, and applicants pay a prescreening fee inside those partner jurisdictions. PermitJunkie is applicant-first: you can review, fix, and hire before your city adopts anything. Details below reflect each vendor's public materials.
| Capability | PermitJunkie | CivCheck |
|---|---|---|
| Offering | ||
| Who can start today | Any applicant, contractor, or homeowner | Applicants in partner cities |
| AI plan review with code citations | ||
| Per-discipline correction comments | 8 parallel discipline desks | Multi-discipline prescreen |
| Marked-up PDF returned to you | Neon-highlighted defects + summary page 1 | |
| Marketplace provider discovery | Profiles distinguish reviewed evidence from self-reported details | |
| City / reviewer-side tooling | Gov edition | Core product |
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Free redacted review + issue count | |
| Applicant cost | Flat report fee or credit bundles | Prescreening fee on top of city fees |
| Cost to the city | Contract-scoped | Free to partner cities |
| Published price list | Yes — /pricing | Not published |
| Experience | ||
| Time to first result | Varies by packet size, document quality, and service availability | Varies by provider |
| Works before you pick a city | ||
| Mobile-first upload and review | Desktop-oriented | |
| Guided fix → re-review loop | Mission panel + next best action | Guided review |