How to respond to plan check corrections

Your permit came back with a correction letter. Here's how contractors and owner-builders answer it in one round: what the letter means, how to revise the plans, how to write the response, and what to send back.

Updated October 23, 2026 · General information, not legal or engineering advice. Requirements vary by jurisdiction.

What a plan check correction letter is

When you apply for a building permit, a plans examiner reviews your drawings against the building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, energy and zoning codes your city or county has adopted. Anything missing, unclear or not code-compliant comes back as a correction letter. Depending on where you are it may be called a correction list, plan review comments, a plan check letter or simply "redlines."

A typical letter has numbered items, each with a short comment, and often the code section and the sheet it applies to. Some reviewers also mark up the plans themselves with clouds and notes. Your job is to answer every item, change the plans where needed, and send everything back so the reviewer can approve it.

Step 1: Read the whole letter and sort the comments

Read every item before you change anything. Then sort them into a few piles:

• Drawing changes you can make yourself, like adding a dimension, a note, a detail or a missing label.
• Information or documents to attach, like product specification sheets, listings, HOA approval or a soils report.
• Engineering or design work that needs a licensed professional, like structural calculations or a stamped detail.
• Questions you need to ask the reviewer because the comment is unclear or doesn't seem to apply.

Sorting first shows you what's on your critical path. If you need an engineer, contact them on day one, since that is usually the slowest part.

Step 2: Look up the code behind each comment

Most comments cite a code section, such as IRC R314 for smoke alarms or NEC 690.12 for PV rapid shutdown. Read that section in the edition your jurisdiction actually adopted, and check for local amendments. Cities and counties often adopt the model codes with their own changes, and many publish them on their building department website.

Step 3: Revise the plans and cloud every change

Make each change on the drawings, then identify it so the reviewer can find it quickly:

1. Draw a revision cloud around each change.
2. Add a delta tag (a small triangle with the revision number) next to the cloud.
3. Add a line to the revision block in the title block with the revision number, date and a short description, such as "Plan check corrections, round 1."

Only cloud what changed in this round. Leaving old clouds on the sheets makes the reviewer re-check work that was already approved.

Step 4: Write the response letter

The response letter answers each comment in order, using the reviewer's numbering. For every item, restate the comment, explain what you did, and say where it is on the plans. A table works well:

Keep responses specific and factual. "See revised plans" or "Will comply" forces the reviewer to hunt for your change, and that's how a second round of comments starts.

Step 5: Resubmit the complete package

Before you upload or drop off the resubmittal, check that it includes everything the department asks for. Usually that's:

• The response letter, answering every item.
• The revised sheets, with clouds and delta tags, or a complete updated set if that's what your department wants.
• Any new documents: calculations, specification sheets, approvals or reports.
• The reviewer's marked-up plans, if your department asks you to return them.

Watch the clock as well. Under the model building codes, an application can be treated as abandoned if it isn't pursued for 180 days (IBC and IRC section 105.3.2), and many departments set their own deadlines for responding to corrections.

Tips for getting approved on the next review

• Answer every item, even the ones that need no change. Say so and explain why.
• Fix the cause, not just the comment. If the reviewer found one missing dimension, check the whole sheet for others.
• Keep the sheets consistent. When you change a size on the site plan, update the floor plan, elevations and schedules too.
• Call the reviewer when a comment is unclear. A five-minute call can save weeks.
• Don't add unrelated changes to a resubmittal. New work can trigger new comments.

Frequently asked questions