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At HFA we believe in ‘The Power of 10’.
The Power of 10 is our 10-person permitting team led by none other than Amy Barton, the Permitting Program Administrator. Amy began her permitting career in 2005 and has helped lead the firm to a staggering number of 9,000+ permitted projects across the United States.
For those who don’t know what permitting is, here are a few FAQs that Amy and her team answer most often:
Q: What does the permitting team do?
A: They act as a liaison between the multi-disciplinary teams at HFA, the client, and the jurisdictions over the project location. Before construction begins, the HFA team gets the legal documents approved and sent to the appropriate jurisdiction, makes the required project changes, gets final approval and sends them on to the General Contractor (GC). This saves our clients from having to worry about the red tape of the project. Clients provide a start date and the permitting team does the rest.
*A jurisdiction is the authority of a city/county/state where your project is located.
Q: What are the benefits of having a permitting team?
A: Utilizing HFA’s permitting team saves you time and money because they can pool together their 79 combined years of experience to jump the figurative hurdles for you. They can also help adjust your project budget from the beginning based on the jurisdictional requirements since they know about requirements from all 50 states. (Including that sneaky Appendix B in North Carolina.)
Q: Do most A/E firms have in-house permitting teams?
A: No! HFA began fully developing its after 2005 and now has a full team, making HFA a true multi-discipline firm. Amy’s team acts as representatives for our architects and engineers because they communicate with the jurisdiction, allowing the professionals to focus on design and the permitting team to keep producing results.
Q: How are these ‘results’ produced?
A: Results are produced though HFA’s vast knowledge and longstanding relationships with jurisdictions. Amy says her team is aware of most design requirements and codes, meaning they can generally ward off any corrective feedback from the get go. Since HFA handles such a large number of projects, our relationships with jurisdictions across the nation stay fresh and current. Combine that with fixed fees from the start and it’s clear they are a package deal.
Q: How did Amy go from being a customer service representative to running the permitting program?
A: Amy says, “Travis Pruitt [her Gravette High School classmate and HFA Associate] bugged me until I turned in an application! But really, it was just HFA… they gave me a chance.”
So there you have it. Now you know the benefits of having a permitting team, where Amy went to high school, and, most importantly, the greatest power is The Power of 10.
The permitting team is made up by: Amy Barton, Cathy Yockey, Jody Ebert, Marlana Russel, Leticia Martinez, Michelle Sprain, Victoria Reiter, Sarah Lawson, Patty Lee, and Sara Karstetter.
