AIA Austin’s Commercial Advocacy Roundtable’s mission is to actively engage with the City of Austin, the construction industry, and the commercial development community on behalf of architects in reporting and addressing issues that affect commercial architecture in Austin. Specifically, the committee acts as a liaison between the different entities to encourage and enhance commercial architecture in the City of Austin.

The committee’s primary goal is to actively seek concerns and ideas from the design community concerning commercial architecture, and relay those concerns and ideas to the City of Austin, the construction industry, and the commercial development community in a clear, transparent, and timely manner to facilitate solutions. A secondary goal is to actively engage and educate the design community with resources and procedures available, and enact sought-after changes.

In 2021 the Commercial Advocacy Roundtable will be working closely with the City of Austin in their review and adoption of the 2021 International Building Code, and will be organizing activities to distribute key changes to the new code adoption. We will post more activities and events on the AIA Austin calendar throughout the year. Check the calendar for meeting details, and don’t hesitate to contact the chair at any time.

Chair: Michael Hsu, AIA ()
Chair-Elect: Carlos Garcia, AIA ()
AIA Austin Staff Liaison: Ingrid Spencer ()

City of Austin Resources:

Recent Activity:

2015/2021 IBC Code
Code update from City of Austin In regards to the 2021 codes that go into effect on September 1st, 2021, the following will need to occur on August 31st, 2021 by 11:59 pm in order to have the project reviewed under the 2015 IBC: A fully completed and accurate Commercial Plan Review application is sent to Commercialreview@austintexas.gov and includes:

  • a detailed description and scope of work outline or narrative &
  • a completed Commercial Document Checklist form

The received date from the City of Austin’s email server will be the official time record if any discrepancies occur.

This email date will then act as the official submittal date; not necessarily the date it was fully accepted and/or processed by the CXU group (Intake).

ANY change to the scope or intent of the original application’s description of work, any increase in scope or area, any incomplete applications, or any missing pre-requisite documents or items not submitted in a timely manner, once the application is processed, will negate the application date. The project will then revert to the date that Intake accepts the full application package, which would then mean that the new code standards apply if this occurs on or after September 1st, 2021.

Helpful notes or things to consider:

  • In regards to a detailed description of work, since only certain items are required for the initial email, if the scope and drawings that are submitted later do not line up with the original scope, the City reserves the right to reject the application and require a new submittal. This will reset the date of application and would then enforce the new code standards.
  • If you ask for a “delivery confirmation (not a “read Receipt”) from your email provider; you will have a verification that our servers accepted your email.