Submission & AHJ liaison · Sample

The plan-check correction email — and how we make it disappear.

Most permit submittals get at least one round of corrections from the AHJ. The email below is anonymized from a real City of Phoenix Electronic Plan Review (EPR) correction we received and resolved. It's a representative example of what this step actually looks like — and what we do the moment it hits the inbox.

From: Electronic Plan Review · City of Phoenix <[plan-review]@phoenix.gov>
To: Designer of Record · APD
Subject: EPR Administrative Review — Corrections Required
Date: Recent · Sample · Anonymized

Dear Designer of Record:

We have conducted the Electronic Plan Review (EPR) Administrative Review of your Application and Plans for Permit. This review assures that your submission meets electronic document submittal guidelines to allow the project to proceed. The corrections required are:

Floodplain clearance form — missing / incomplete

Property Address: [redacted — within a Phoenix designated floodplain area]. Please complete page one of the attached Floodplain Clearance Form, then upload and resubmit the entire “packet.”

Here is what is needed for floodplain to complete their review:

Floodplain Clearance form, page 1, filled by the customer
Provide floor plans that show the scope of work
Provide a cost estimate from your general contractor

If you have questions or need assistance, please contact Floodplain at 602-262-4960 or floodplain@phoenix.gov.

Sincerely,
Electronic Plan Review
[Plan Reviewer]
City of Phoenix
Planning & Development Department

Response playbook

What we do the moment this email lands.

The same correction email lands differently for a contractor than it does for us. They see a setback; we see a checklist. Here is the exact sequence we follow.

01
Acknowledge within one business day
The client and GC get a confirmation email within 24 business hours: 'EPR correction received. Subject: floodplain clearance. Target resubmission: 5 business days.' This sets expectations and prevents the GC from calling the AHJ themselves, which usually slows things down.
02
Map the correction to a deliverable owner
Each numbered item gets an owner. Floodplain Clearance form page 1 → owner. Floor plans showing scope → APD. Cost estimate → GC. We send the owner-side asks the same day with a deadline.
03
Pre-call the reviewer if ambiguous
If the correction can be read more than one way (this one is straightforward; many aren't), we call the reviewer before resubmitting. A 10-minute phone call is worth more than another round of plan check. AHJ contact info from the email goes straight into the project tracker.
04
Resubmit with a corrections-response letter
Every correction item gets a numbered response in a single PDF that uploads alongside the revised set: '01 — Form completed and attached. 02 — Floor plan revised; scope-of-work boundary added at sheet A1.1. 03 — GC cost estimate attached.' Reviewers love this. It cuts second-round corrections roughly in half.
05
Confirm receipt and log
After resubmission we log the EPR portal status and email the client a one-line update. The corrections-response letter lives in the project file for any future audit. The whole round, end-to-end, typically takes 4–6 business days.