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A popular Portland permitting program has drawn raves from licensed remodelers, and some industry professionals are even calling for expansion.

City officials are looking into the possibility of tweaking the program; however, they’re unsure whether growth is feasible.

Through the Field Issuance Remodel (FIR) Program, permitting and inspection processes are streamlined for licensed contractors, architects and engineers who either renovate or add to one-family or two-family homes. To qualify, remodelers cannot make any changes to either the foundation or the first floor of a home.

FIR started as a pilot in 2003 and became permanent in 2006; it now has 231 participants — and 38 on a waiting list. They pay a registration fee and then an hourly rate for services. Inspectors personally visit job sites and approve permits on the spot. Participants say the service can reduce the permitting process from several weeks to as little as one day.

Portland architect John Hasenberg, chairman of the Oregon Remodelers Association‘s codes committee, would like to see FIR grow. He said that while residential remodel applications have increased over the past two years, fewer than 20 percent of them go through the program.

Hasenberg noted that through FIR, the potentially adversarial relationship between builder/remodeler and building inspector becomes affable.

“The way that I describe FIR program is that instead of the inspector being the code police, he is more like a knowledgeable neighbor,” he said. “Everyone is after the same goal.”

Hasenberg said that adding inspectors would help the city meet increasing demand for remodel permits. The use of FIR by speculative remodelers, who sometimes file for up to 14 projects at a time, should not detract from the program’s success, he added.

“Why not do more of it?” he said. “Get more inspectors (and) train more people to do that rather than limiting how many people get into it.”

For that to happen, the city would need to determine whether a FIR program expansion would be feasible, said Fred Deis, section manager for the city’s Bureau of Development Services.

“We will want to get additional inspectors if we can get cost recovery,” he said.

Since the program started, it has morphed from including simple homeowner remodels to projects with additions of unlimited scope and size, Deis said. That has resulted in more applications and larger projects than intended originally, he said.

“It was not the original intent to have those larger remodels be part of the program,” he said. “We are supposed to be lean. We’ve got to look at that.”

Deis declined to comment on specific changes that could be made to the FIR program, saying the city still needs to consult with industry stakeholders. Expanding the program’s scope may not make sense, he said.

“You have a balance,” he said. “The normal program doesn’t just have contractors. There is a different mix of people using it. Can you turn the entire (planning) program into a FIR program? I am not sure that’s practical.”

Unlike the over-the-counter permitting process, FIR has four inspectors who visit sites and are paid by the hour. The speedier permitting process has drawn speculative remodelers who submit multiple applications. They then perform major overhauls and resell, or flip, homes that often are bigger than the originals.

Altering FIR too much could hurt the construction industry, Deis said, adding that he doesn’t see the program becoming the standard for residential remodels.

“It is constantly evolving in what the program should cover,” he said. “We are working with the marketplace to keep up with the contractors’ needs. If we overreach, the program is going to suffer and get bogged down.”

Discussions about FIR will involve city officials and members of a newly created advisory committee; it features members of the Oregon Remodelers Association and the Professional Remodelers Association, Deis said.

The advisory committee could address the issue of speculative remodelers bogging down the program, said Steve Heiteen, owner of Portland Remodel and a committee member.

Previously the city would have about a half dozen of these a year, Heiteen said. Now, more than one comes in every couple of weeks, and the system is being taxed, he said.

“Nobody’s talking about scaling it back,” he said. “But there are concerns that it’s being taken advantage of. The question is: How do we maintain this program in its original intent?”

One possible change, Heiteen said, could be to clarify what qualifies as a FIR project, perhaps by limiting eligibility to owner-occupied homes. That would eliminate much of the speculative remodeling work that currently qualifies, he said. Other revisions could be to limit a qualifying project’s size and how much of the home can be dismantled, he said.

“I believe that the FIR process is not set up for people that are flipping houses,” he said. “It’s for more standard remodels of people’s homes.”

For more information about the FIR program, visit .