Commercial construction delays are often blamed on slow city review or unpredictable inspectors, but Mike Marden, a registered architect and licensed general contractor at WDS Architecture in Phoenix, says the most damaging delays occur before a single document is filed. Clients and professionals alike make critical missteps in the pre-permitting phase that can add months to a project timeline.
One common problem Marden identifies is the “scripted answer” trap. Clients researching a commercial build-out often call the city, describe their project in general terms, and receive a response about typical timelines and documentation. They then treat that casual conversation as authoritative guidance. “They often say, ‘We already spoke with someone at the city. They said we just turn in this form and this is roughly the time,’” Marden says. “First of all, that’s not a documented conversation. There is no log number or record. None of that’s official. And everything on the checklist might not even apply.” The city employee is working from a generic script, not a project-specific assessment, so the checklist may include irrelevant requirements and omit critical ones. Clients who plan around that conversation are building on a shaky foundation, often discovering the discrepancy only after the review process begins.
Beyond the information gap, Marden points to a structural issue in how most commercial projects are sequenced. The conventional approach—complete design, submit for permits, wait for approval, then begin construction—treats permitting as a gate that must be cleared before anything else can happen. This sequential logic creates built-in delays. While permit review is underway, nothing else is happening. The client’s lease clock is running, the contractor is standing by, and trade partners are unavailable for other projects but not yet active on this one. Every week of permit review is a week of pure elapsed time with no construction progress. Marden also notes that the gap between design completion and construction start is often extended by contractor selection and mobilization, compounding the permitting wait. “Did you think about the gap where you’re bidding and trying to find a contractor, meanwhile, permits are ready and you’ve signed the lease?” he asks.
Marden says professionals who consistently meet their permit timelines do so not by moving faster through the standard process but by compressing the process itself. They engage the city early with preliminary questions, understand what specific inspectors in specific jurisdictions actually require, and begin construction activities that don’t require permits while the review is underway. At WDS Commercial, “We can start building the project as we’re turning in for a permit,” Marden says. “We’re the contractor, already contracted with the Owner, and have spent months participating in the design. If we are questioned or told to turn in drawings, well, we have already done that because we are also the Architect! We can go right up to first inspection with our work, gaining a month versus waiting on bid results, contracts, permits, and mobilization, losing a month or two.” This approach is only possible when the architect and contractor are operating as a single entity or are genuinely integrated from the start.
WDS Architecture’s dual credentials as both an architecture firm and a general contractor are central to how the organization approaches permitting timelines. Because the same office that produces the drawings is also the contractor, the firm can begin mobilizing for construction activities that fall outside the permit scope while review is underway—staging, layout, scoping, testing, demo, subcontracting, scheduling crews, and ordering materials—compressing the overall project timeline without cutting corners on compliance. The firm also draws on ongoing relationships with local jurisdictions to develop a realistic picture of what specific projects will require. “Over here, where we do this every day, we know what really needs to go in, how long it’s really going to take,” Marden says.
WDS also engages clients on permitting strategy during site selection—before a lease is signed—to help them understand how code compliance requirements, jurisdiction-specific rules, and existing building conditions will affect their timeline. Marden describes a common scenario: a location that appears attractive on price may carry permitting complexity that adds months to the schedule, while a more expensive option on a clean site may actually deliver a faster opening. “It’s like building a project twice, when dealing with existing conditions, removing what is there so that new material can be installed to meet code,” he says. A former restaurant space that looks ready for a new restaurant tenant may require extensive code updates that erase the apparent savings—something a client researching on their own would likely miss.
For business owners planning a commercial build-out in Phoenix, the practical implication is direct: the permitting timeline they’ve been told to expect likely understates reality, and the gap between that estimate and the actual timeline often originates in decisions made before a permit application is filed—not in city processing speed.
