In-Depth / February 2023

City of Des Moines Implements Changes for Home Builders

Story courtesy Brian Bishop courtesy of the City of Des Moines

Updates to the permitting and inspection process for new homes/ residential projects.

The City of Des Moines thanks local home builders and developers for choosing to build a project in the city. Your work is providing homes for generations in our community, and it is greatly appreciated.

The City of Des Moines has recently implemented many changes that affect the home building process when it comes to permitting and inspections.

NEW PERMITTING SOFTWARE

The City of Des Moines Permitting software has changed. We recently replaced our 20 year old permitting software with a new product called Energov. Energov allows for online permitting and drawing submittals. Even inspections can be requested through our Customer Self Service (CSS) portal on our website: here and here.
City of Des Moines staff are happy to assist you and your staff to learn our new permitting system and we can come to your place of business to demonstrate how it operates. Please feel free to talk with Brian Bishop at bdbishop@dmgov.org to schedule a time.
The new permitting systems allows builders to track permits, track the results of all inspections, request inspections, and receive the certificate of occupancy electronically as soon as it is issued.

RESIDENTIAL COMBINATION INSPECTIONS

The City of Des Moines has recently added combination inspections to all new homes. Builders can now request all inspections for new home projects.
In early 2021, the City of Des Moines Permit and Development Center embarked on a new initiative by launching a residential combination inspection program. Previously, when a new home was constructed in Des Moines, an inspection was required from each individual construction trade inspector. This required four different inspectors to approve rough-in inspections before drywall installation or final inspections before issuing a certificate of occupancy.
In April 2022, the Permit and Development Center began a pilot program with a small group of residential contractors to test out combination inspections. It has worked very well. The program assigns one inspector to each new home and that inspector is responsible for all of the trade inspections, much like neighboring communities that perform residential inspections. The City continues to employ inspectors who are masters in each trade, and they are called upon when an expert insight on certain trade installations is needed.
This new program required extensive training and additional inspection certifications for the 14 inspectors that are part of the program. These fourteen inspectors and the four senior inspectors have been training and collaborating on the inspection requirements for all aspects of residential building construction.
We have recently added new inspection staff, so you may have new faces coming to your jobsites. To locate your inspector please check Show Me My House.
This service is available now and will be utilized for all single-family home construction projects within the City of Des Moines. Builders can schedule directly with their inspector for all residential building inspections. Inspector contact information is available on the Permit and Development Center web page.

PERMIT/DEVELOPMENT CENTER WEBSITE

The Permit and Development Center website offers a wealth of information for everything regarding permits, inspections, code handouts, etc.
The website is http://dsm.city/pdc.
Please use our website to find the most up to date information regarding our permitting process.

REQUEST TO HOME BUILDERS

By adding combination inspections for residential projects, we ask that home builders serve as the main point of contact for scheduling inspections for projects. Please make sure that all trade work (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) has been completed prior to scheduling rough-in inspections.
Rough plumbing inspections are allowed to be completed prior to the electrical, mechanical, and framing in order to test the plumbing system.
These inspections can scheduled by the plumbing contractor or the builder, but the plumber must be present to conduct the testing.
Exceptions can be allowed due to circumstances for weather, product availability, etc., but please check with your inspector before requesting a rough-in inspection that doesn’t have all trade work completed. We ask that all scheduling for inspections be completed by the builder, except those noted above. Inspections scheduling through the Customer Self Service portal is the preferred way of scheduling inspections.

Hopefully these changes to our processes aid in better serving the home builders building in the City of Des Moines. Please feel free to contact Brian Bishop, Deputy Building Official, Development Services, City of Des Moines at 515-283-4958 with any questions or concerns.

Learn More. Please feel free to contact Brian Bishop, Deputy Building Official, Development Services, City of Des Moines at 515-283-4958 with any questions or concerns.