Commercial Buildings, HVAC, and Energy

Plan Review

Plan review is required for commercial, industrial, and other public buildings 25,000 cubic feet or larger. Plan review is also needed for any size of school, high-hazard occupancy, and three-unit or larger residential building. The following plan sets are required:

1. Heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC), fire alarm, fire detection, and fire suppression ​​systems

2. Industrial exhaust systems

3. Stadiums, grandstands, and bleachers

Once your plans comply with the Wisconsin Commercial Building Code, you will receive a conditional approval letter which gives you permission to start construction of the project, pending local permitting requirements.

Where Do I Submit My Plans?

If the project is in a municipality with delegated authority to conduct plan review for buildings of that size, and the project does not involve a state-owned building or land, you may be able to submit to the municipality directly.

Use the Delegated Agent list to determine if your municipality has authority to perform plan review for your project.

If your municipality does not have the proper authority, submit your plans to DSPS via esla.wi.gov.

What is needed for plan review to DSPS?

1. Owner information

2. Designer/Supervising professional information

3. Site location

4. Building information

5. Plan set (signed, sealed, and dated)

6. Supporting documentation. May include, but is not limited to:

   1. SBD-8126, Checklist for Commercial Building Plan Review.

   2. SBD-8102, Special Inspections and Testing in Wisconsin.

   3. Structural Calculations (signed, sealed, and dated)

   4. Building Envelope Calculation (i.e. COMCHECK, or equal, signed, sealed, and dated)

   5. Heat Loss Calculations (signed, sealed, and dated)

   6. Worksheets

   7. Specifications

   8. Material Cut Sheets

   9. Copies of any previous correspondence with the Department regarding this application/project

   10. Other documents as directed in the checklist

7. Plan review fee payment.

See the eSLA Information page for user guides and general instructions. 

Permit

DSPS does not issue commercial building permits. See the local municipality covering your project location. However, note that a local permit is conditional on an approved plan review.

Inspection

Inspection of commercial building construction and installation is required in accordance with the local building permit and plan review conditional approval letter.

Building Materials and Product Approval

Product approval is generally voluntary. If a product meets the applicable codes and standards, then no further approval is necessary. If an alternative method of compliance is desired, then you may need a petition for variance for a specific project or a product ​approval. If a national evaluation service such as ICC-ES has approved a product under a code or standard that we have adopted without relevant Wisconsin amendment, then we will generally accept that approval in lieu of a Wisconsin approval.

Wisconsin product approvals are typically valid for 5 years unless there is a relevant code change. During the approval period, the product approval may be included with individual project submittals and used for the term of the project approval, which may extend past the product approval term. 

SPS 361.51 Alternate Standards

Look Up Manufacturers of Approved Building Materials

How do I request a product approval?

Applications must be submitted to DSPS via esla.wi.gov. You will need to provide:

1. Owner and designer/manufacturer information.

2. Product information.

3. Product review fee payment.

See the eSLA Information page for user guides and general instructions.

COMcheck and REScheck

Commercial Buildings

COMcheck is a Federal Department of Energy (DOE) software approved in Wisconsin for demonstrating compliance with commercial building envelope requirements and interior and exterior general lighting requirements ONLY (HVAC portions of the program are not acceptable). COMcheck can be used for commercial buildings or high-rise (>3 stories) multi-family buildings. Within COMcheck, a user is required to choose the code option of "2021 IECC" unless 2021 IECC section C401.2.2 is applied which would then allow the application of ASHRAE 90.1-2019, in which case the option "90.1 (2019) Standard" must be used.

Low-Rise Multi-Family Residential Buildings

REScheck is another software application from DOE used for demonstrating building envelope compliance for low-rise multi-family (3 dwellings or more, 3 stories or less, above grade). Within REScheck, a user is required to choose the 2015 IECC code type to demonstrate building envelope compliance.