The 10-Business-Day Permit Shot Clock: How It Works and How to Enforce It

One of the most powerful — and least understood — parts of HB 803 is the permit "shot clock." It puts a hard deadline on the building department, and if they miss it, your permit is deemed approved. Here's exactly how it works and how to hold a jurisdiction to it.

What the shot clock says

Under HB 803 (effective July 1, 2026), when you use a qualifying private provider, the building department has 10 business days to review the plans or issue the permit — down from the prior 20-business-day standard. For minor single-trade residential work, the window is even shorter at 5 business days. If the department misses the deadline, the application is deemed approved.

Why this is a big deal

Permit delays are one of the biggest hidden costs in construction — carrying costs, financing, idle crews, and blown schedules. The shot clock flips the leverage: instead of waiting indefinitely on an overloaded department, you have a firm deadline with real teeth behind it.

How to actually enforce it

• Start the clock cleanly. Submit a complete application with your private provider's documentation so there's no dispute about when the window began.
• Track the date in writing. Record your submission date and calculate the 10-business-day deadline. Keep confirmation of receipt.
• Follow up before the deadline, not after. A polite note referencing the statutory deadline keeps it top of mind.
• Know the exceptions. The department can still address document completeness, local ordinances (like floodplain), and certain administrative or life-safety items — so a clean, complete submission is your best protection. Fire and zoning reviews are the most common example: in some cases they can pause the 10-business-day clock while those reviews are performed or their comments are resolved. Important distinction — they pause the clock, they don't stop it. Once the review is complete or the comments are addressed, the remaining days pick up where they left off, and the deemed-approved backstop still applies.
• Escalate with the statute in hand. If the deadline passes, reference the deemed-approved provision directly.

The private provider advantage

The shot clock only applies when a private provider is involved — it's one more reason the private provider route now beats the traditional path on timeline. Combined with same-day inspections and the HB 803 fee reductions, it turns permitting from an open-ended wait into a predictable, plannable step.

Tew & Taylor handles private provider plan review and inspections statewide and helps clients hold jurisdictions to the new timelines. See how the shot clock applies to your project.