Every community wants safe, high-quality construction. But getting a new home from an idea on paper to a building permit can be a long and expensive process. For many projects, months can be spent reviewing architectural drawings, engineering documents and building plans before construction ever begins. Those costs are manageable for large developments, but they can become a barrier for small builders and first-time developers. Pre-approved building plans offer one way to simplify that process.
What Are Pre-Approved Plans?
Pre-approved plans are professionally designed building plans that have already been reviewed by a the responsible agency/organization before anyone applies for a permit. Instead of hiring an architect to design a home from the ground up and then waiting through multiple rounds of plan review, an applicant selects an approved design that has already met the building requirements. That does not mean every project is automatically approved.
Each property must still be evaluated for site-specific conditions like setbacks, grading, utilities, drainage, floodplain requirements, and zoning. Building inspectors still inspect construction throughout the project. The difference is that the architectural and structural review has already been completed.
Why Are Communities Exploring This Approach?
Housing discussions often focus on the cost of land or construction materials. Those are certainly important, but time also carries a cost. Every additional month spent redesigning plans, responding to review comments, or waiting for approvals increases financing costs and creates uncertainty for builders. Those delays are especially difficult for smaller projects that do not have large development teams behind them.
Pre-approved plans help create a more predictable process.
- For municipalities: they reduce repetitive reviews of similar building types and allow staff to focus their time on issues unique to each site.
- For builders: they provide greater certainty about what will be accepted before investing in design work.
- For homeowners: they can reduce upfront design costs while making it easier to navigate the permitting process.
The result is a more efficient path to meeting the standards already in place.
Communities Across the Country Are Using Pre-Approved Plans
South Bend, Indiana created a catalog of professionally designed homes, duplexes, carriage houses, and small apartment buildings specifically intended for neighborhood infill. The plans are available at no cost and were designed around typical lot sizes, local zoning regulations, and neighborhood character. The goal was to make it easier for residents and builders to develop vacant lots while reducing the time and expense associated with plan review.
Arizona has also embraced the concept. In 2025, state legislation encouraged local governments to establish pre-approved plan programs, and communities including Maricopa and Yavapai County now offer ready-to-use home plans that help streamline residential construction.
Although each program looks slightly different, they all share a common philosophy: when the same building types are reviewed repeatedly, it can make sense to review them once and allow future applicants to benefit from that work.
Two Arkansas Cities. Two Different Approaches.
The City of Rogers developed its Pattern Zone Program with clear goals in mind: encourage more infill development, improve architectural quality, and establish examples of missing middle housing. Rather than creating a complicated process, city staff intentionally designed the program so applicants can choose an approved plan and begin permitting without repeating architectural review. Site-specific requirements still apply, but the most time-intensive portion of plan review has already been completed.
Fayetteville's Permit-Ready Building Design Program offers more than 30 permit-ready designs for use within designated neighborhoods. Fayetteville City staff emphasize that this program also helps to identify opportunities to refine regulations, test new approaches, and better understand how the local market responds to permit-ready housing. That broad perspective demonstrates how a pre-approved plan program can serve as both a housing tool and a way for communities to continually improve the development process.
Although the programs differ, both communities demonstrate that pre-approved plans can serve multiple local goals.
Getting Started
A pre-approved plan program begins by asking a simple question:
What problem is the community trying to solve?
For one municipality, the priority may be encouraging construction on vacant lots. Another may want to reduce permitting timelines. Another may be looking for ways to support local builders or improve architectural consistency in new neighborhoods.Once those goals are clear, communities can identify the building types that best support them, establish review criteria and determine how the plans will be made available to the public.
Just as important, municipalities should think broadly about how they evaluate success. A program may reduce permit timelines, improve customer experience, modernize development regulations or provide more certainty for builders long before it produces large numbers of new homes.
The purpose of a pre-approved plan program is simply to offer another pathway to build more housing. For municipalities looking to reduce unnecessary delays, improve predictability, and make it easier to build housing, pre-approved plans are one practical tool worth considering.
