What ILMS is
ILMS is the City of Houston's umbrella system for the development review pipeline that sits between recorded plats and issued permits. The plan-review status portal is the public-facing slice of ILMS - it lets anyone look up an active project by project number, address, or applicant and see exactly where the project sits in the review process.
Three things to know up front:
- Plan review applies to commercial projects, multifamily, mixed-use, and most major residential renovations. Simple single-family residential work often skips ILMS plan review and goes through a faster permit path.
- Plan review is conducted by multiple city departments in parallel - not a single reviewer. Each department reviews drawings independently and signs off when satisfied.
- Plan-review approval is necessary but not sufficient for construction. Once plan review clears, the applicant still has to formally pull the permit, pay permit fees, and trigger inspection scheduling.
The plan-review lifecycle
- 01Pre-submittal
Architect and engineer prepare a submittal package: stamped drawings, calculations, structural details, MEP routing, fire-protection plans, stormwater analyses, and any project-specific narratives. Most submittal packages run 50 - 200 sheets for non-trivial projects.
- 02Initial submittal
The applicant uploads the submittal package to ILMS. The project is assigned a project number (used as the stable reference throughout review) and routed to the relevant departments based on the scope of work.
- 03Departmental review
Each affected department - Building, Structural, Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing, Stormwater, Fire, Public Works, Health, etc. - reviews the package independently. Each department issues comments, conditional approvals, or rejections. Comments are visible in the ILMS portal.
- 04Resubmittal
If a department rejects or conditions the submittal, the applicant revises the drawings to address the comments and uploads a corrected submittal. This iteration is usually called a "resubmittal" or "corrected submittal" and may go through multiple cycles.
- 05Final approvals
Once every required department has approved, the project enters a final status indicating that plan review is complete. The applicant becomes eligible to pay permit fees and pull the building permit.
- 06Permit issuance
After fees are paid, the building permit is issued. Construction can begin, subject to inspection scheduling and compliance with the approved drawings.
Departments that participate in plan review
The exact set of departments that review a project depends on the scope of work. The most common reviewers, with what each looks at:
Common review statuses
Each department's review carries its own status, and the project as a whole has an aggregate status. The common ones:
| Field | Status | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Submitted | Package uploaded; awaiting initial review. | |
| In Review | One or more departments are actively reviewing. Often the longest-running status. | |
| Approved | All required departments have signed off. The project is eligible for permit issuance. | |
| Plans Returned | At least one department has issued comments. The applicant must revise and resubmit. | |
| Pending Information | A department needs additional info or documents - often a soft hold while the applicant compiles. | |
| Approved with Conditions | Approved subject to specific conditions (e.g., field inspection of a particular detail). Counts as cleared for moving forward. | |
| Withdrawn | Applicant has voluntarily pulled the application. The project is dead at the city, though it may resurface as a new application later. |
How long plan review takes
There's no single answer, but the rough envelopes:
- Simple commercial TI (tenant improvement): 4 - 8 weeks from submittal to approval, often a single resubmittal cycle.
- Mid-rise multifamily: 3 - 6 months, multiple resubmittal cycles, often paced by stormwater and structural review.
- Large commercial / mixed-use: 6 - 12 months, several resubmittal cycles, can stall for a quarter on a single department.
- Healthcare / institutional: 6 - 18 months, additional health-department layers, very iterative.
What plan-review data tells contractors
Plan-review data is the cleanest signal of an active project that's actually moving. A plat tells you a developer has committed; a permit tells you the GC has been chosen; plan review tells you what the city thinks of the drawings, which department is reviewing, and how close the project is to permit issuance.
From a sales standpoint, the most useful plan-review-derived signals are:
- Applicant identity. Which architect or engineer is submitting? They often have ongoing relationships with specific GCs.
- Department review status. Which departments have approved? Which are stuck? Where is the project blocked?
- Resubmittal cadence. Movement implies a serious applicant and a project on track to permits.
- Scope description. The narrative submitted to the city often includes the most accurate description of the project you'll find pre-bid.
