City Hall, First Floor
201 North Broadway
Escondido, CA 92025

Phone: 760-839-4671
Fax: 760-839-4313
Hours: Monday–Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

*The temporary counter hours are OPEN from 1-5 p.m until 3/29/24*

The Development Services Department is comprised of five divisions working together to protect life and property, to improve the quality of life and the environment, and to address the City's housing needs.

Divisions:

• Building
• Code Compliance
• Engineering
• Planning
• Housing and Neighborhood Services

 Electronic Plan Review Changes

The City of Escondido has an exciting update regarding the Electronic Plan Review process.

ProjectDox is the City of Escondido’s new Electronic Plan Review system. ProjectDox provides an enhanced approach for applicants to submit their projects for plan review and transparency in viewing project status. It allows for cohesive workflows among the City Departments while delivering a user-friendly applicant experience. For additional information on ProjectDox, refer to our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) below. 

Community Training: The City and ProjectDox hosted a virtual training on March 14 from 2:30 – 4 p.m. to make the transition as seamless as possible. The PowerPoint slide deck can be found by clicking this link. Questions asked during out Community Training are provided (and answered) under the FAQs below. 

Please note: the Development Services front counter hours will be temporarily limited to 1 - 5 pm from March 11 through March 29 to allow staff time to make the transition from the previous review platform to the new ProjectDox. This will also allow our partners to have the dedicated attention of the City team should they have questions.  

ProjectDox will go live on March 18

• If you have an active case, and you have already submitted documents and drawings in OnBase, it will continue in OnBase.
• New projects submitted will be in ProjectDox.

General FAQs

1. What is Project Dox?  ProjectDox is the City of Escondido’s new Electronic Plan Review system. 
2. What if I have an active case in plan review with Development Services? If you have an active case, where you submitted documents and drawings in OnBase, it will continue in OnBase.
3. What if I have a new project for plan review and I submit on, or after, March 18? For any NEW projects submitted, you will do so in ProjectDox.
4. How do I submit a new project through ProjectDox?  To begin a new submittal through ProjectDox, start at the City's Portal. For permits not available through the Portal, please contact the respective division via email or phone to begin the application process. 
5. What should I know before I begin my ProjectDox submittal? ProjectDox allows for real time viewing of City comments by the applicant in an effort to boost transparency; however, applicants should click here to read about when comments are final. ProjectDox also requires a specific Naming Convention for project plan upload. Click here to view the Naming Convention requirements. 

 

ProjectDox Technical FAQs

• I submitted a new application request through the City's Portal, what do I do next? This will depend on whether you are a New Applicant or Existing Applicant--see below:

New Applicants - Ensure to create a log in by going to your “New Account Request” email.

• What do I do if I am an Existing Applicant in ProjectDox? (This is not anticipated during the first week of launch) 

Existing Applicants - You will receive a Project Invite email to view your project, and upload and submit. Note: if review cycle is pending, you can only view preliminary comments but cannot respond until review cycle closes.

• How do I upload and submit drawings and documents in ProjectDox? 

► Once you submit via the City's Portal, you will receive an email to "Start Task". Ensure your pop-up blocker is disabled. 

► Continue through the Task as prompted. Step 1 of your Task will be to upload your Drawings and Documents.

♦ Drawings are plan sheets, and must be single pages and follow the City's Naming Convention identified below. 

♦ Documents are any supplemental information documents required, such as application forms, technical studies, and project descriptions. Documents may be multiple pages and should be named to identify what the document is (e.g., "Application", "Signature Authority", "Air Quality Memo", etc.) 

 

• How do I view my Project Status and access preliminary comments in ProjectDox?  Login to ProjectDox to view your project's status and review preliminary comments. You will find comments made by the Review Departments under the Review tab of the project. Comments can be filtered by department or viewed all at once.
   
• If my plan set is multiple pages, do I have to upload them as individual sheets or as one document? Plan sets must be uploaded into the "Drawings" folder and may be no more than one-page per upload. Applicants may batch upload several one-page files at a time into the "Drawings" folder. One-page files uploaded into the "Drawings" folder must be named according to the City's standard Naming Convention. For all other documents related to a permit, such as technical reports/studies, application forms, and supplemental information, Applicants may upload multi-page files into the "Documents" folder.
   
• What if I have multiple response-to-comments letters from members of my development team, such as designers, engineers, architects, etc.? If an Applicant exported their Review Comments out of ProjectDox and into an Excel file, they are able to subsequently upload the exported Excel file back into ProjectDox and their responses added in the Excel document will upload directly into the Review Comments in ProjectDox. An Applicant may upload multiple Excel files (of the original exported Excel file) so they do not have to wait for all team members to respond on one Excel document. 

Disclaimer Applicant must understand and acknowledge the City of Escondido has implemented a live-comment application process and that an application submittal will receive several comments, questions, and/or inquiries from a variety of City disciplines. Applicant must understand that the application submittal’s review cycle is finished when all City disciplines have submitted comments, questions, and/or inquiries unless otherwise noted by the City. Comments, questions, and/or inquiries made by the City of Escondido, its officials, officers, agents, and employees are subject to change upon the receipt and review of new information by other City of Escondido officials, officers, agents, and employees within the application submittal review cycle period. Therefore, Applicant must understand and acknowledge that any members of application team, shall not respond to live-comments made during a review cycle and shall wait to respond to all live-comments until the application submittal’s review cycle is finished.