Simplified Interior Renovation: What Documents You’ll Need and How to Save Time

Imagine this: you’re renovating a 30-ping old apartment. Following the standard procedure for ‘general interior renovation,’ you’ve prepared a stack of blueprints and structural calculations as thick as a dictionary. Once submitted to the city government, your documents embark on a lengthy bureaucratic journey. Reviewers scrutinize every sprinkler head’s location, every wall’s thickness, leading to rejections, revisions, and resubmissions. Two months pass, the apartment remains a ruin, your construction crew has moved to other projects due to the permit delay, and your mortgage interest continues to accrue.

However, on a parallel track, another homeowner renovating a similar apartment opts for the ‘simplified interior renovation’ application. Their architect prepares just a few key floor plans and a signed ‘certification form.’ After submission to the review agency (like the Architects Association), a construction permit is issued within a week. In some municipalities, it can even be processed on the spot. No lengthy back-and-forth, the project starts on schedule, offering a sense of security that’s invaluable.

This isn’t just luck; it’s the benefit of ‘tiered management’ and ‘professional certification.’ The core value of a simplified interior renovation application lies in its significant reduction of required documents and streamlined review process. This article delves into this administrative revolution, analyzing which documents are omitted compared to general applications, how much time is saved, and how to leverage this fast track to get your renovation project off to a head start.

Challenges of General Applications: Why the ‘Standard Process’ Ignores ‘Time Costs’?

For projects that don’t meet the criteria for simplified renovation (e.g., buildings above the 10th floor with a floor area exceeding 300 square meters), the standard ‘two-stage review’ process is mandatory, often a nightmare for homeowners and designers alike.

The Lengthy Two Stages: Separating Plans and Completion

General applications strictly adhere to the ‘review plans first, then construct, then inspect’ rule. The first stage, ‘plan review,’ requires detailed comparison by the building administration department or a commissioned agency. Once approved, a ‘construction permit’ is issued, allowing work to commence. After completion, a second stage, ‘completion inspection,’ is necessary to ensure the site matches the approved plans exactly. The administrative time for these two stages often exceeds the actual construction time, leading to significant time-related costs.

Dual Tracks of Fire Safety Review: Waiting in Parallel Universes

In the standard process, interior renovations and fire safety equipment are often reviewed separately. This means you’ll deal with two authorities: the building administration for renovations and the fire department for sprinklers and alarms. If the fire safety plans are rejected, you won’t get the interior renovation permit either. This parallel review system, often lacking horizontal coordination, frequently causes projects to stall, leaving homeowners in endless waiting.

The Burden of Complex Drawings: Over-Inspection of Details

General applications demand extremely detailed drawings, including precise cross-sections, detail drawings, and even structural calculations (if alterations are made). Reviewers meticulously check every detail against regulations; for instance, a 1 cm difference in corridor width could lead to rejection. While this focus on detail ensures public safety, it can feel like overkill for a simple home renovation.

How Administrative Science Rewrites the Rules: The Role of Certification and Document Reduction

The design logic behind simplified renovation is ‘trusting professionals.’ The government delegates review responsibilities to licensed architects or professional technicians, exchanging ‘speed’ for ‘certification.’

New Core Element: The Architect’s ‘Responsibility Transfer’ (Professional Visa)

In simplified renovations, the most crucial document isn’t the government’s approval letter but the architect’s certification:

• Document Reduction: Since the architect certifies compliance with regulations, there’s no need to submit cumbersome structural calculations or detailed drawings. Government agencies (or associations) perform a ‘formal review,’ checking only for completeness, not intricate design details, significantly speeding up the process.
• Combined Process: Under specific conditions (e.g., small renovation area, no alteration of fire compartments), simplified renovation can even combine ‘construction permit’ and ‘completion inspection.’ This means submitting for the certificate of compliance only once after completion, a highly efficient process known as ‘simplified two-stage combined review.’

New Core Element: The Fire Safety Plan ‘Exemption’ Benefit (Exemption Benefit)

For most residential simplified renovations, if no fire safety equipment is altered (e.g., sprinkler head locations unchanged, smoke detectors not removed), a ‘statement of non-alteration of fire safety equipment’ is usually sufficient, exempting the need for fire department review:

• Statement Replaces Drawings: The power of this single document lies in saving the time and cost of drawing fire safety plans and undergoing the review process. This is one of the most ‘tangible’ simplifications in simplified renovation compared to general applications.

Beyond a Checklist: 3 New Dashboards for Measuring Application Efficiency

We need to know not just what to prepare, but also ‘what’s missing’ and ‘how much faster’ it is. Establishing an efficiency evaluation standard allows you to precisely manage your project’s timeline.

Key Metric: Paperwork Reduction Rate

Compare the volume of documents for both application methods:
General Application: Requires a full set of architectural plans, fire safety plans, structural drawings, original material certifications, potentially 5-10 cm thick.
Simplified Renovation: Only needs current condition plans, design plans, renovation material list, green building material certificate copies, and the certification form, typically 1-2 cm thick. Thinner documents mean less administrative resistance.

Tactical Metric: Document Comparison Matrix (General vs. Simplified)

This table shows exactly where simplified renovation ‘saves’ you:

• Review Unit: General Application: Building Administration + Fire Department (dual track). Simplified Renovation: Architects Association / Review Agency (single). Efficiency Difference: Eliminates inter-departmental bureaucratic back-and-forth.
• Fire Safety Plans: General Application: Must be meticulously drawn and submitted. Simplified Renovation: Exempt from submission (submit non-alteration statement). Efficiency Difference: Saves fire safety engineer certification fees and time.
• Application Process: General Application: Plan review -> Construction -> Completion inspection. Simplified Renovation: Notification to proceed (or combined two-stage). Efficiency Difference: Construction waiting period reduced from months to weeks.
• Architect’s Certification: General Application: Requires certification but still undergoes substantive review. Simplified Renovation: Certification equals responsibility (formal review). Efficiency Difference: Significantly lowers the chance of rejection.

Key Metric: Waiting Period for Commencement

This is the number homeowners care about most.
General Application: Typically requires **1-2 months** after submission to receive the construction permit (longer if rejected).
Simplified Renovation: Once documents are complete, through the association’s review, a construction permit (or notice to proceed) is usually obtained in **3-7 days**. For homeowners with mortgage pressures, this one-month difference translates directly to money.

The Future of Renovation Applications: A Choice Between ‘Trust’ and ‘Efficiency’

The implementation of the simplified renovation system is fundamentally a trust agreement between the government and professional practitioners.

Will you leverage this systemic advantage by engaging a licensed professional architect or renovation contractor, exchanging certification for speed? Or will you continue to test the boundaries of regulations, accepting unknown administrative risks?

When you see that concise document list and the subsequent rapid notice to commence construction, you’ll realize: the legal path isn’t always the longest. Through the ‘simplified renovation’ highway, the road to your dream home is actually closer and smoother than you ever imagined.