Permit Expediters with a Contractor's Background
Our Process
We are based in Weston, Florida. We primarily handle permitting in Broward, Miami Dade and Palm Beach Counties. We have a great deal of experience procuring building permits for commercial and retail clients. Our founder has a wealth of knowledge and experience being both a licensed general contractor and a permit expeditor. This makes finishing the review process timely and efficient. Clients can have great comfort and confidence that our company will get them through the process quickly.
The Real Difference
What makes Advantage Permit Expediting different than other companies? Our founder has been in the commercial general contracting business for over 30 years. Why does this matter? It is important to understand the permit process from a contractor’s perspective. Our founder is able to better understand what the city or county plan reviewer is asking in their comments. He can suggest potential solutions and recommendations to satisfy the items in question.
A Contractor's Perspective on the Permit Process
Advantage Permit Expediting LLC is run by a licensed general contractor with more than thirty years in commercial construction. That background is the reason clients stay with us. Most delays in permitting are not caused by the building department being slow. They are caused by a submission that does not answer what the reviewer is going to ask, and by nobody following up once the application is in the queue.
We work from Maplewood, New Jersey, handling permits across Essex, Morris, Middlesex, Hudson and Bergen counties, and we continue to serve South Florida across Broward and Miami-Dade counties, where the firm has worked for years. Two markets, the same method.
How we work a permit
- Before submission — we review the drawings, the permit application and the supporting permit documentation against what that specific municipality requires. Missing product approvals, an unsigned form, an out-of-date contractor license on file: these are the small things that cost a full review cycle.
- At submission — we file with the correct department, pay and track the permit fees, and record the Notice of Commencement where the work calls for one.
- During review — we track the application through zoning, building, fire and any other department involved, so a stalled review is caught in days rather than discovered weeks later.
- On comments — we interpret reviewer comments and suggest the correction that will actually clear them, then resubmit.
- At issue — we collect the approved permit, deliver it, and schedule inspections where you want us to.
Who we work for
Property owners, general and trade contractors, commercial tenants building out a space, project management firms and architects. Work ranges from single-family renovations, additions, roofing, fencing and pools through to interior build-outs, shell construction, demolition and multi-family projects, along with the electrical, plumbing, HVAC and sprinkler trade permits that sit underneath them.
A full list of what we handle is on the services page, and the New Jersey side is covered in more detail on our New Jersey permit expediting page.
Frequently asked questions
Why use a permit expediter instead of filing it myself?
You can file it yourself, and for a simple permit in a municipality you already know, that is often the right call. The value of an expediter shows up when the project is larger, the municipality is unfamiliar, or the schedule matters. Knowing what a specific building department expects, and having someone track the application every day rather than checking in occasionally, is usually the difference between one review cycle and three.
Does your contracting background actually change the outcome?
It changes how reviewer comments get handled. Comments are often written in shorthand and describe a problem rather than a solution. Someone who has built the work can read the comment, understand what the reviewer is protecting against, and propose a correction the reviewer will accept. Without that, the usual pattern is to resubmit something that does not resolve the concern and lose another cycle.
Do I need a contractor license to pull a permit?
In most cases the permit is pulled by a licensed contractor, and the municipality will want the license, the business registration and current insurance on file before it will accept the application. Some jurisdictions allow an owner-builder permit for work on your own property, with conditions. We confirm what that specific municipality requires and make sure the paperwork is in place before submission rather than after it is rejected.
What permit documentation will you need from me?
Typically the construction drawings, the site survey, the contractor's license and insurance certificates, product approvals for the materials specified, and any engineering or energy calculations the scope calls for. The exact list varies by municipality and by the type of work. We tell you what is needed at the start so it can be gathered once rather than in stages.
Do you work outside the counties listed?
Often, yes. The counties listed are where we work most regularly and know the departments well, but we take on projects in neighboring jurisdictions. Tell us where the property is and what the scope is, and we will say honestly whether we are the right firm for it.