Ran drafting for a small residential builder for years before going independent, and there's one mistake that delays more permits than anything else: dimension mismatches between the site plan and the floor plan.

It sounds trivial. It's not. Permit reviewers cross-check every measurement across sheets. If your site plan says the addition is 14'-6" from the property line and your floor plan implies 14'-2" once you add up interior walls, you get a rejection letter and a 2-3 week resubmission cycle — sometimes longer depending on the jurisdiction's queue.

The contractors who move fastest through permitting are the ones who catch this before submission, not after. A few things that actually help:

• Always dimension from the same reference point across every sheet (property line or building corner — pick one and stick to it)

• Double check that wall thickness assumptions match between structural and architectural sheets

• If you're hand-sketching and having someone draft it, over-communicate exact measurements — don't make the drafter guess from a photo

Most delays aren't about design quality. They're about consistency. Worth an extra hour of review before you submit.