Richmond Building Permit Timelines & Delays
Richmond's permit office was, for years, a byword for dysfunction: developers in 2017–2022 called it the worst they'd seen, with standard permits taking 45 days to two months. But the story has changed: after filling 71 vacant positions, the city cut standard permit turnaround to about five business days by late 2022, and it now runs a fully digital EnerGov Online Permit Portal rather than the paper files of the past.
Richmond permitting, the figures
The key published figures for this jurisdiction — each cited to its official source.
What the data shows
Richmond's permit office was genuinely dysfunctional through 2017–2022, but under new leadership it filled 71 vacancies and cut standard permit turnaround from 45 days–2 months to about five business days by November 2022 (Richmond BizSense; WTVR, 2022).
The 'paper filings' framing is now outdated: Richmond processes permits fully electronically through the EnerGov-powered Online Permit Portal, intake, plan submittal, payment, and inspection requests, and upgraded the system in November 2024 (City of Richmond, PDR).
Virginia's Uniform Statewide Building Code sets no fixed permit deadline: it requires action 'within a reasonable time' and issuance 'as soon as practicable', so Richmond's 10-business-day initial-review goal is an administrative target, not a statutory clock (13VAC5-63; City of Richmond).
Residential review is getting structurally easier: site-plan review averaged over a month around 2020 (some departments 40+ days) but fell to about 13 days by 2024, and a 2024 ordinance (effective July 1, 2025) exempts single- and two-family homes from site-plan review entirely (The Richmonder, 2025).
Most delay accumulates before technical review
The data points to the same lever everywhere: most delay accumulates before technical review, in completeness and resubmittal cycles. Permittable's Permit Review Diagnostic checks your plans against applicable codes and common reviewer issues before you submit — so your package is more likely to clear on the first pass.
Richmond permitting: FAQ
Is Richmond's permit office still slow?
Much less than its reputation suggests. After years of dysfunction through 2022, the city filled 71 vacant positions and cut standard permit turnaround from 45 days–2 months to roughly five business days by late 2022 (Richmond BizSense; WTVR, 2022). Its published goal is a 10-business-day initial review, tiered up by project value (City of Richmond, PDR).
Does Richmond still use paper permit filings?
No. Richmond processes permits through the EnerGov-powered Online Permit Portal, electronic intake, plan submittal, fee payment, and inspection scheduling, and upgraded the system in November 2024 (City of Richmond, PDR). The 'paper-to-digital transition' description reflects the office's older state, not how it works today.
Does Virginia law set a permit deadline?
Not a fixed one. The Uniform Statewide Building Code (13VAC5-63) requires the building official to examine applications 'within a reasonable time' and issue a permit 'as soon as practicable,' with no day count (Code of Virginia). That means Richmond's published 10-business-day target is an administrative goal, and past multi-month queues were a performance failure rather than something the code permitted.
Is residential review getting easier in Richmond?
Yes. Site-plan review that averaged more than a month around 2020 fell to about 13 days by 2024, and a 2024 ordinance effective July 1, 2025 exempts single- and two-family homes from site-plan review altogether, directly shortening the path for homebuilders (The Richmonder, 2025).
Sources
All figures on this page are drawn from Permits & Inspections (Planning & Development Review) — City of Richmond, VA. The city's published plan-review goals (10-business-day initial review; tiered by project value) and its fully digital EnerGov Online Permit Portal, after a documented 2021–2022 turnaround that cut standard permit time from 45 days–2 months to about 5 business days. Virginia's USBC (13VAC5-63) sets a 'reasonable time' standard rather than a fixed deadline. www.rva.gov/planning-development-review/permits-and-inspections. Specific tables, reports, and pages are cited inline with each figure above.
Virginia's USBC standard ('reasonable time' / 'as soon as practicable') is a statutory standard with no day count; the day/week figures here are measured outcomes or the city's published targets, not legal deadlines. The 5-business-day and 71-vacancy figures trace to a November 2022 City Council presentation reported by WTVR and Richmond BizSense; no recent City Auditor report independently re-measuring PDR turnaround was located, so treat current single-number averages as the city's stated targets.