An applicant will create a Critical Structure (CRIT) record and link it to the associated building record if it is subject to the county’s Special Inspections Program (SIP).
ON THIS PAGE
This information is the most common for how to obtain the necessary approval for your project and is not representative of all the conditions you may encounter.
WHO SHOULD APPLY?
If your building record is subject to Special Inspections (SI), a Critical Structure (CRIT) record must be created to capture the Special Inspection (SI) requirements and then related back to the building permit record.
Note: The registered design professional preparing the design submission and/or the county plan reviewer evaluating the submission, will determine whether a specific project is subject to special inspection.
PLAN AHEAD
Before applying for a CRIT record, ensure you are aware of all applicable regulations and conditions that could affect your project.
- Fairfax County Special Inspection Program (SIP)
- Hire a registered professional engineer or a testing agency to perform the Special Inspections (SI). An approved agency responsible for laboratory testing or special inspections, or both, is required.
- Determine whether the Special Inspections (SI) program applies to your project.
- The Structural Engineer of Record, the Architect of Record, or the Building Plan reviewer will determine the required Special Inspections for your project.
- When applying for a CRIT record, you will be asked to provide the email addresses, company names, mailing address, phone number and license numbers for the following:
- Structural Engineer of record (SER),
- Special Inspection engineer of record (SIER),
- Owner representative,
- General Contractor (GC)
- Use the GIS Critical Structures Section Inspection Areas to track who your designated critical structure inspector is, based on your address.
- Types of Soils and Problem Soils
- Design codes and standards
To get a detailed description about additional regulations and conditions beyond what is listed above, visit our Plan Ahead page.
TYPICAL CRITICAL STRUCTURE PROCESS FLOWCHART
HOW DO I SUBMIT MY RECORD?
PLUS Application
Apply for your Critical Structure (CRIT) record online in PLUS to obtain your CRIT record number, then complete the online Critical Structure Meeting request form.
When applying for the CRIT record in PLUS, under the building tab, search for your building record number. Then click on the Make Changes link under the Action column for the row associated with your record number.
Note: you must be a listed contact on the main building record number, otherwise you will not have access to the “Make Changes” action. To update contact information on a building record, visit our Update Contacts page.
Once created, the CRIT record will be listed in your PLUS account.
If you need to update contact information on the CRIT record, or if you need to request access to a previously created CRIT record, please contact PLUSSupport@fairfaxcounty.gov
Once the CRIT record is submitted, changes cannot be made to the record. Please ensure the information is accurate to avoid any delays.
Request a Critical Structures Meeting
Visit the Special Inspection Program website and request a Critical Structures meeting.
Helpful Video:
SUBMITTING CRITICAL STRUCTURES THROUGH PLUS YOUTUBE VIDEO
What's Next?
Review Process
After sharing the CRIT record number with the Building Plan Reviewer, they may review your application for completeness and compliance with the building code and county Special Inspection manual requirements. You will receive an acceptance email.
Critical Structure (CS) Meeting
Once your Critical Structure Meeting request has been submitted, you will be contacted by county staff to confirm the date and time for a virtual Microsoft Teams meeting.
During the meeting the involved entities will be verified, the Special Inspection (SI) items will be finalized, and DocuSign emails will be circulated among the appropriate parties for their signatures on the Statement of Special Inspection (SSI) form.
When all parties have signed the Statement of Special Inspection form, the Statement of Special Inspection form will be emailed to the signatories. The status of the CRIT record will be updated to “In Progress” (Document Review).
Special Inspection Document Review
Once the permit is issued, you may be required to submit approved Special Inspection documents (shop drawings and other Special Inspection related submittals) to the Critical Structures team.
You may upload these documents in a CRIT record or email it to the designated County Critical Structure Engineer.
Following the completion of this review, the documents will be returned to the applicant with a County Review Stamp.
Inspections
Once construction has begun, all the Special Inspection items mentioned in the approved Statement of Special Inspection form are inspected by the registered professional Engineer or a testing agency.
The reports and test results of the inspections are then required to be submitted to the county in a timely manner.
These reports may be uploaded in the CRIT record or emailed to the designated county Critical Structures Engineer.
Close Out
When all the items identified on the Statement of Special Inspection form have passed inspection and a Special Inspection Final Report is submitted to the county, the applicant is required to notify the designated county Critical Structure Engineer.
The Critical Structures team will review and approve the Special Inspection Final Report and close out the CRIT record.
Once this happens, the Special Inspection requirements for the building permit Final Inspection are met.
