Permit Set vs Construction Set: What Goes in Each

A permit set is the package you submit with your permit application so a plans examiner can check the design against the adopted codes and local rules. It is built around code compliance, not buildability. Sources that describe it focus on zoning, safety and environmental compliance, and one description lists architectural, structural, MEP, site and landscape drawings plus supporting material for the authority having jurisdiction.

Building departments publish checklists that tell you what they expect. Across the checklists we found, the common items were:

Those items come from the El Segundo plan check page, the Fresno new residential plan check submittal and the Los Angeles Ready to Design criteria. Your city's list will differ, so start with its own checklist.

Set counts and sheet sizes vary. Section 107 of the International Building Code covers submittal documents, and local amendments change the details. Gig Harbor, Washington requires two or more sets with each permit application. El Segundo requires a minimum of three complete sets, and one example checklist sets a minimum sheet size of 18 by 24 inches. Many departments now take files through an online portal instead, so confirm the format before you print anything.

A construction set is the version the contractor builds from. In AIA terms, the construction documents phase produces drawings with all the information the contractor needs to price and build the project, and once complete the architect sends them to contractors for pricing or bidding if that is part of the agreement.

Compared with the permit set, a construction set usually adds:

• Interior elevations, cabinetry and millwork detail, and finish information
• Door, window and finish schedules
• Full written specifications
• Coordination detail between trades
• Any contract documents that govern both

Contractor-focused sources describe the permit set as often leaving out the finish details, schedules and full specifications a builder needs. The reverse also holds: a construction set can carry notes the plans examiner never asked for.

Terminology is loose. You will see the construction set called the "Issued for Construction" or IFC set, or "good for construction." On many projects the 100 percent construction documents set doubles as the bid set. Agree on names in your project kickoff so nobody builds from a set marked "permit."

The permit set can be a subset of the full construction documents. The construction set should be the complete package. When a project is small, one set can serve both jobs, and the 100 percent set simply goes to the building department as is.

Once the department approves your plans, they become the reference for inspections. In the California Building Code adoption of Section 107, one set of approved construction documents is retained by the building official and another is returned to the applicant to keep on site. Cities describe the same rule on their own pages: Duluth, Minnesota requires one set of reviewed plans on the job site for inspectors, and San Diego requires approved change plans to be kept with the original set on site.

Work then has to follow the approved documents. Changes that depart from them go back through review as amended documents. San Diego's information bulletin states that approved plans cannot be altered without the building official's authorization, and Los Angeles generally requires changes to be approved by the plan review engineer who issued the permit.

This is where the two sets drift apart. The construction set keeps evolving as the owner picks finishes, the contractor proposes substitutions and trades coordinate. If a change touches something the plans examiner relied on, such as structure, egress, fire-resistance ratings or accessibility, it needs to go back as a revision before the work is built. Changes to finishes that no reviewer looked at usually do not.

Cities differ on process. Oakland treats a revision as a change to the work or plans after permit issuance and keeps inspections under the original permit number. Novato, California requires revisions through its portal and will not approve illegible or unclear revisions. San Jose asks for a written, itemized scope of revisions with each set. Fort Collins separates a revision, which the applicant initiates, from a resubmittal, which is typically staff-initiated when corrections are needed. See the Oakland revisions page for an example of the revision path.

If the department sends corrections back before approval, that is a different path. See how to respond to a plan check correction letter.

1. Pick a single source of truth. Draw one model or one drawing file, and publish the permit set and construction set from it. Two separate drawing files drift within weeks.
2. Freeze the permit set by revision number. Record the exact sheet list and revision date you submitted. When you answer corrections, issue the revised sheets with new revision clouds and dates.
3. Mark every sheet's status. A title block line such as "Permit," "Bid" or "Issued for construction" prevents a framer from building from a sheet that still carries open correction comments.
4. Log changes against the approved set. Whenever the construction set changes, ask one question: did a reviewer rely on this? If yes, route it as a revision. If no, document it and move on.
5. Put the stamped set on site. Confirm the superintendent has the approved, stamped copy, and that the inspector sees the same sheets the contractor is building from.
6. Close the loop at final. At final inspection, the approved set, the revisions and the as-built conditions should tell one story. A mismatch is how a final inspection turns into a punch list.

Tracking which sheet versions went to which reviewer is document control work. The guide on construction document control covers it, and permit and inspection dates need their own tracking.

• Building from the permit set. It was written for a reviewer. It often lacks schedules and specifications, so the contractor guesses.
• Submitting the full construction set because "more is better." Extra sheets give the examiner more to check and more to comment on. Submit what the checklist asks for.
• Changing the construction set without telling anyone. If a revision affects an approved item, the inspector will compare the field to the approved plans, not to your latest bulletin.
• Skipping the local checklist. Departments publish submittal standards for a reason. A set that fails the intake check never reaches review. For timing once it does, see how long plan check takes.