Honestly, sometimes I think paper was slower but at least you could physically hand it over and know it landed on someone’s desk.
Right? There’s something weirdly satisfying about plopping a fat stack of plans on a counter and watching the city clerk stamp it. Now I just cross my fingers and hope my PDF didn’t end up in someone’s spam folder. Has anyone actually had a digital submittal go through on the first try, or is that just a myth? I swear, every time I upload, there’s some “missing attachment” drama...
I’ve had maybe one digital submittal go through clean, and even then I was waiting for the “you forgot page 7” email. It’s like the system is designed to make you second-guess yourself. I do miss that little moment of relief when the clerk would stamp your plans—felt like a real milestone.
Funny thing, last time I submitted online, I double-checked everything, even called to confirm the file size limits, and still got a rejection because their portal didn’t like my naming convention. Had to rename every single file. It’s wild how something so tiny can trip up the whole process.
Curious if anyone’s found a trick to make these digital portals less of a headache? Or are we all just living in fear of the dreaded “missing document” email...
It’s wild how something so tiny can trip up the whole process.
That’s honestly the part that gets me every time. I once had to resubmit a whole package because I used “_” instead of “-” in the file names. Didn’t even cross my mind that it would matter, but apparently their system just flagged everything as invalid. The old way wasn’t perfect, but at least you could talk to someone face-to-face and fix things on the spot.
I’ve started making a checklist for each portal since they all seem to have their own quirks. Still, I double-check and then triple-check before hitting submit... and yeah, still half-expecting that “missing attachment” email anyway. The process feels less human now—like there’s no room for small mistakes or questions.
Not sure there’s a real trick besides memorizing each city’s weird requirements. Sometimes I almost miss the paper cuts and stamp ink.
The process feels less human now—like there’s no room for small mistakes or questions.
Totally get this. I once had a PDF rejected just because I forgot to flatten the layers. Took me hours to figure out what the system was even complaining about. With paper, you could just walk up and say, “Hey, here’s what I meant.” Now it’s like the portal is judge and jury. I keep a running doc of “gotchas” for each city, but sometimes it still feels like rolling the dice. Miss those days when fixing a typo didn’t mean starting over.
It’s wild how a tiny oversight—like not flattening layers—can derail the whole thing. I’ve had submittals kicked back for a missing north arrow. Sometimes I wonder if the portals are just testing our patience... or creativity. At least with paper, you could charm your way through a minor error.
