The 2021 Unified Development Code (UDC) Amendment process continues, and to date, there are a total of 76 proposed UDC amendments online; 56 of these were submitted by the Development Services Department.

The deadline to submit amendments is Feb. 1. Planning Commission Technical Advisory Committee (PCTAC) will begin reviewing proposals in February. After the application window closes, PCTAC will begin reviewing proposed amendments in live-streamed meetings, all of which are open to the public to participate.

As a reminder, all proposed amendments are tracked on our dedicated UDC webpage, in the Amending Tracking section. To learn more about the process, watch our UDC video for a complete overview. Closed caption is available.

The Planning Commission’s nominating committee will begin reviewing applications for positions on the Planning Commission Technical Advisory Committee (PCTAC) and forward the selected candidates to the full Planning Commission body for approval in January. The nominating committee will select candidates to fill three community member positions, a primary and alternate for the environmental position, and an alternate for the historic preservation position.

To learn more about the Planning Commission TAC, visit our website.

The Development Services Department (DSD) will be adopting the nine 2021 Building Codes and 2020 National Electric Code (NEC), the 2021 Property Maintenance Code, and updating the Sign Codes starting in the new calendar year.

The 2021 International Code Council (ICC) building, fire, and property safety codes and the 2020 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and NEC adoption process will begin with Committee Meetings of the Building-Related and Fire Codes Appeals and Advisory Board (BRFCAAB) in January 2022, after being on-hold last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 ICC and NFPA have a three-year cycle for updating the building codes adopted by DSD. The family of I-Codes, to include the Building, Existing Building, Fire, Mechanical, Plumbing, Fuel Gas, and Energy, and the NEC 2021 and 2020 editions, respectively, will be adopted and amended as part of Chapter 10 and Chapter 11 for Fire. The committees will review a single code at a time during weekly meetings that will be open to all trade organizations and to the public. The committees will provide recommended amendments to each code to be considered by DSD and City Council when adopting the national codes. This process is anticipated to take approximately 25 weeks and conclude in the Summer of 2022. Meeting information will be posted on the DSD website when scheduled.

A committee of the BRFCAAB will also meet to discuss Chapter 28 and updating the code requirements for the City of San Antonio’s Sign Code. These meetings take place in the Spring of 2022 and will be open to all trade organizations and the public.

DSD’s Code Enforcement will form a committee that will incorporate Building Standards Board and Neighborhood Code Enforcement Task Force members to review the 2021 San Antonio Property Maintenance Code and provide recommended amendments for consideration before adopting. All three code adoptions will be submitted to City Council in the Summer of 2022 for review and adoption. Please continue to visit DSD’s website for updates and information on Code Adoption Meetings.

We are pleased to share the FY 2021 Development Services Annual Report and Year in Review is now available. This report highlights our successes and announces upcoming projects we know you will be interested in.

A big thank you to all our customers for your business and support throughout the year. We anticipate 2022 will be a busy year and look forward to working with you. 

Reports for submitted and issued permits for commercial and residential building and trade work are available on the City's Open Data website. The information can be filtered by council districts, neighborhood conservation districts, and historic districts. We created a video to help you navigate through the data. You can also get this data using the BuildSA platform.

Variance reports and additional reporting groups like Housing, Building and Construction, Public Safety, and Service Requests can also be found on the Open Data SA website. 

For transparency and easy access to these reports, visit the quick links section on the DSD website and look for the Permit Reports icon on the right side of the page.  

Announcing the 2022 training lineup for Contractor Connect:

• Jan 13 – Mechanical
• Jan 23 – New Residential Building
• Feb 10 – Accela (BuildSA)
• Feb 24 – Strike Team
• Mar 10 – Plumbing
• Mar 24 – Electrical
• Apr 14 – New Residential (Spanish)
• Apr 28 – Existing Residential

DSD has scheduled several in-person training sessions. Each session runs from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Sign up in advance by calling 210.207.1111 or by signing up during one of your visits at our counter. For more information, visit our website.

The latest Information Bulletins (IB) are posted below:

IB 101 - Residential Packet Checklist and Application, posted 12/02/21

As a customer service initiative, this IB provides information to customer on types of New Residential permits they may be applying for and includes the new electronic submittal process in BuildSA.

IB 153 - Photovoltaic Systems, posted 12/06/21

Created in conjunction with CPS Energy, to assist with minimum requirements for submitting applications, plan submittals, permitting, inspection, testing and commissioning of photovoltaic systems (PV) installed in San Antonio. This bulletin has been updated to reflect the BuildSA submittal process. 

IB 235 - Commercial Minor Structures, posted 12/08/21

Provides information on permitting process for commercial minor structures. This bulleting has been modified to reflect the BuildSA permitting process.

For a complete list of additional online resources, visit the following sites:

·       Forms & Applications

·       Information Bulletins**

·       Code Interpretations

·       Rule Interpretations

·       Annual Report