Ok, so in my line of work I generally have to come down to the Building Department a lot… whether its to pick up plans or submit revisions, etc. Overall, my experience with the building department has been on the positive side. Being in the construction field for over 4 years you start to build relationships and get to know people. However, they laid off a bunch of people past two years and only a few that I actually know remain. Everyone is pretty helpful even if you don’t know what you are doing. All you have to do is just ask and if they don’t know they will send you to someone who does know the answer. They started doing this DMV type get your number deal about a couple years ago which I think helps the process run smoother. Be prepared to wait since there have been a lot of layoffs there is less people working there and the process can be very time consuming. They have free wifi to use on your phone though as you are waiting!