Coordination &
Response to Comments

Municipal coordination is the ongoing engineering work between initial submission and final approval — responding to technical comments, coordinating with municipal staff, preparing revised documents, and managing the back-and-forth with the City’s engineering reviewers until the application is approved. In Ontario’s development approval process, a first-round submission rarely concludes without technical comments from municipal engineering staff.

Responding to those comments effectively requires an engineer who understands both the technical issues raised and the reviewer’s underlying concern — because comment letters don’t always say exactly what needs to change. Experienced engineers who have worked on the review side can read between the lines of a comment letter and respond efficiently, without generating further comments on revised documents.

Municipal coordination also includes direct outreach to the reviewing engineer where a technical comment is ambiguous or where a design alternative needs to be discussed before a formal resubmission. This service is included in the scope for all Bous Engineering primary service reports, and is available on a standalone basis for projects where the engineering reports were prepared by others.

When You Need One

  • After receiving a technical comment letter on an FSR, SWM, or servicing submission
  • When a resubmission has generated new or repeated comments
  • Where the City or conservation authority reviewer needs to be contacted directly
  • When comment response letters need to be prepared alongside revised reports
  • As ongoing support through SPA or subdivision engineering approval

What’s Included

  • Technical review and interpretation of municipal comment letters
  • Preparation of written response to comments
  • Revision of engineering reports and drawings to address comments
  • Direct coordination with municipal engineering staff (phone, email, meeting)
  • Re-submission packaging and transmittal
  • Tracking of outstanding comments and approval milestones
“Comment response letters that addressed each comment individually — numbered, direct, with a clear statement of what changed in the revised document and where to find it — were far easier to process than narrative letters that discussed the comments in general terms. Reviewers are looking for confirmation that each issue was understood and addressed. A response that requires the reviewer to re-read the entire revised report to determine what changed is a response that will generate a follow-up meeting request.”

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