Structural Peer Review Program Overview

The City of Chicago, Department of Buildings is now implementing its Structural Peer Review Program. This Program is designed to streamline the permit process at the City of Chicago Department of Buildings (DOB) by reducing the time and effort required for structural plan examination by DOB personnel. This program is voluntary, and the decision as to whether or not to use this program for a particular project will be made by the Project Owner. There is no additional fee to use this Program beyond the normal permit fees. The Structural Peer Review Program is available both under DOB's Standard Plan Review and Developer Services Programs.

A peer reviewer certified by DOB is retained and paid for by the Project Owner to perform the structural peer review (see "Reviewer Qualifications"). DOB neither selects reviewers nor does it hire structural review consultants under this Program. The review must begin in time to allow the final peer review report to accompany the permit application.

The peer reviewer will perform the structural peer review and work with the Owner and the Licensed Engineer of Record (EOR) to resolve all issues raised by the review. The structural peer reviewer shall prepare and submit a Final Peer Review Report to be submitted to DOB along with the structural drawings prepared by the EOR, the permit application and all other documents required by the Chicago Building Code.

Reviewer Qualifications: All structural peer reviews must be conducted by an Illinois licensed Structural Engineer with demonstrated expertise in the class of the structure being reviewed. As of June 1, 2003, any person conducting a peer review must obtain proof satisfactory to DOB that the reviewer has successfully completed a Structural Peer Review Code Seminar approved by the Commissioner. These seminars will be conducted approximately every three months. Please check our website for class dates and times. DOB will maintain a list of pre-qualified peer reviewers (individuals) for each of several different classes of project. An Individual performing a peer review shall have expertise with the technical issues anticipated in the proposed project. Until DOB's list of pre-qualified structural peer reviewers is developed, Owners must obtain the Commissioner's approval of the intended peer reviewer on a case-by-case basis.