Committee will review proposal to start commercial construction before local and state approval of plans

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The legislative study committee for the commercial building process will review a proposal next week to let commercial developers start building before plan approval from state and local municipalities, as contractors and regulators search for a way to relieve project backlogs.

The 2022 Legislative Council Study Committee on the Commercial Building Permitting Process will review a proposal in the state Capitol on Wednesday to amend Wisconsin Statute 101.12 and give builders permission to start construction of a commercial building before plan approval.

The amendment would allow owners an exemption from both the Department of Safety and Professional Services and local municipalities for approval to start constructing footings, foundations, underground plumbing and building shells when they submit project plans for commercial building projects, the proposal text said. Designers who draft building plans are still on the hook if a company breaks ground early.

Construction industry leaders pushing for legislation to exempt projects from the plan review process want to relieve a piling project backlog as construction supply expenses continue to climb, ABC of Wisconsin legal and government affairs director John Schulze said. Industry leaders hoped having legislation come through the bipartisan study committee will encourage the governor to sign it into law, he added.

Steve Klessig, a member of the study council, said the proposal comes with a failsafe in case a plan examiner finds a problem in the plan before the building is erected. Starting a project early gives contractors a chance to set foundations and plumbing in the ground before Wisconsin winter sets in, he added.

In early 2022, State Sen. Roth Roger and Rep. Jessie Rodriguez submitted legislation that proposed building construction could commence without the owner giving their plans to the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services if their project fell under a specific set of exemptions.

One bill failed to pass after a senate resolution and Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the other.

“I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to passing unnecessary legislation that could ultimately compromise safety by undermining the department’s current process, which helps ensure public health and safety standards are met,” Evers said in a veto message.

The governor said his administration and former DSPS Secretary Dawn Crim had found a way to reduce plan review time in 2019 when building and plumbing plan review times were affecting construction and renovation projects.