Two approvals. We handle both.
Inside a gate, the community is a second authority on top of the building permit. We prepare the architectural review package and pull the permit.
The community is a second authority.
Outside a gate, the building department is the only approval. Inside one, the community also controls what you may build, how it looks, when work happens and who comes through the gate.
That changes the schedule, the paperwork and the logistics. Getting either approval wrong stops the job.
Outside a gate
- One approval: the building permit
- Selections can be made during the job
- Normal site access
Inside a gate 2 approvals
- Building permit (meets code)
- Architectural approval (meets community guidelines)
- Both run in parallel, at different speeds
How it generally works.
We prepare and submit the package for you. No folder handed over with a "good luck."
Submittal package
Drawings and specs: what you're building, what it's made of, how it will look. We prepare it.
Review board
A board that meets on a set schedule reviews the package.
Approval + conditions
Approval sets what may be built and how. It is separate from the building permit, not a substitute.
Final inspection
Inspections confirm the finished work matches what was approved. We coordinate them.
What the board wants to see.
Site plan
Where the work sits on the lot, relative to setbacks and the existing house.
Elevations
Drawings of what's being built: the shape, the height, the roofline.
Materials & colors
Named specifically: siding, trim, roof, windows, paint.
How it ties in
For exterior work: how the roofline meets and the siding matches, so the new work reads as part of the house.
The board approves specific materials and colors. Change one after approval and it's a resubmittal, which means another review cycle. We lock the selections the board needs before the package goes in.
Parallel, but not the same speed.
The building permit confirms the work meets code. The architectural approval confirms it meets the community's guidelines. You need both.
A permit can often be pulled quickly once documents are ready. The board's meeting schedule can't be compressed. We plan around it and tell you your community's calendar before we commit to anything.
Normal, and fixable.
Comments usually cover what neighbors will see: a roof color that reads differently in the sun, a trim profile that doesn't match, a siding texture the guidelines don't allow.
We revise the package and resubmit it for the next review. You don't take that on. We don't promise a board will approve a package unchanged.
18 communities across Bluffton, Hilton Head and Okatie.
Communities require contractors to be registered and insured. That protects residents from unlicensed, uninsured work and uncontrolled construction traffic.
We're registered across these communities and carry the general liability and workers' compensation coverage they require. Certificates are furnished on request.
The review body isn't named the same everywhere. Some use an Architectural Review Board (ARB), others use a different name. We confirm your community's current requirements before anything is submitted.
Type your community or town. We'll tell you straight whether we can build there.
Don't see yours? That doesn't always mean we don't work there. Call (843) 505-6126 and ask.
Bluffton
- Palmetto Bluff
- Belfair
- Sun City Hilton Head
- Hampton Hall
- Hampton Lake
- Colleton River
- Berkeley Hall
- Rose Hill
Hilton Head Island
- Sea Pines
- Hilton Head Plantation
- Moss Creek
- Long Cove
- Wexford
- Indigo Run
- Palmetto Dunes
Okatie and Beaufort County
- Callawassie Island
- Spring Island
- Dataw Island
Sorted before the first truck arrives.
Work hours
The community sets when construction may happen. We work within its windows, which vary by community.
Gate access
Contractor access and vehicle registration are handled before the job starts, so subs and deliveries get through without a daily call to the guardhouse.
Dumpster & materials
The community decides where the dumpster, material drop and construction parking go. We plan it in advance.
Four questions to ask any contractor.
A contractor new to working inside gates learns these at your expense: delayed approvals, stopped trucks and resubmittals.
Are you registered with my community?
Not "have you worked in gated communities." Registered with this one, specifically.
Will you prepare the architectural submittal?
If you're doing it yourself, the board process becomes your problem.
Do you carry the insurance my community requires?
The community sets the minimum. The contractor has to prove it with a current certificate.
Do you know its work-hour rules?
A crew that shows up at the wrong hour gets stopped at the gate.
No community's rules, fees, meeting dates, insurance minimums, work hours or review timelines. They vary and change, so we confirm your community's current requirements before anything is submitted.
Working inside the gates.
Do you handle the architectural review submittal, or do I?
Are you registered to work in my community?
Is the architectural approval the same as the building permit?
No call center. No project manager in between.
Jeremiah Burson answers the phone himself and walks every job. He takes on fewer projects at a time so he can.